This director is vindictive.

Chapter 555 The Art of the Final Farewell: Retirement Countdown!
During a break in the discussion about movies about domestic violence, Yang Mi suddenly put down her tablet and looked at Chen Mo thoughtfully: "Wait, so could this domestic violence movie be your last work?"

The room fell silent instantly.

"Yup!"

Zhang Yuqi paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "I was so focused on discussing the plot that I almost forgot about what you said about retiring from acting!"

She suddenly lowered her voice, her eyes shining brightly, as if she wanted to stir up trouble: "How about we leak some information beforehand? That way, when it's officially announced, it won't be too sudden?"

Liu Yifei paused, adjusting the collar of her cheongsam. "I agree. You've left such a deep impression on the audience over the years. If you suddenly announce your retirement, your fans definitely won't be able to accept it."

“Moreover, at your age, you’re still considered a young director in the industry. If you were to announce your retirement now, it would really cause a major upheaval,” Liu Yifei continued.

"By the way, your wedding with Yifei is going to be the last one anyway, either next Valentine's Day or Qixi Festival. I also agree to let them know a little bit in advance," Fan Binbin added.

"and many more!"

Zhao Liying suddenly interrupted, "Do you remember the marketing strategy for Avengers: Endgame? Marvel started laying the groundwork for the 'Endgame' concept a year in advance."

She gestured excitedly, "We can design a 'Chen Mo's Directorial Career Countdown' project, adding a commemorative bonus episode to each re-release of his classic works, and finally broadcasting it live during the premiere of his wedding promotional video—"

"Announcing a collective retirement from the entertainment industry!"

Yang Mi suddenly chimed in, "This is amazing! This is way more explosive than fashion weeks or anything like that!"

Gao Yuanyuan frowned and looked at Chen Mo: "But wouldn't this be too commercial? You've never liked creating hype."

Zhang Yuqi, however, said dismissively, "What's commercialization? We're all retiring from the industry, can't we go crazy one last time?"

"Sister Yuanyuan, don't worry. We're not faking our retirement; we're really retiring. If it's real, then there's no need to be too commercial. The few of us, plus our Master Chen, are retiring together. If we don't create a buzz in the entertainment industry and leave some unforgettable memories, wouldn't it be a waste of all our years in the industry?" Fan Binbin said dismissively.

"Don't worry, Sister Yuanyuan. Although I don't like those fancy gimmicks, just like Sister Binbin said, since we're all retiring from the entertainment industry, and you've all decided to retire with me, that's a fact. So there's no need to worry about it being too commercialized. If we're going to do it, let's do it big. So, you can think about it more. This time, I'll listen to you." Chen Mo said with a smile and a hint of doting.

"Then we'll have to think about it carefully." The women couldn't help but become interested.

“Since the master wants us to go big, how about we devise a plan to dominate the trending topics for the rest of the year?” Zhang Yuqi, that fierce woman, was not afraid at all.

"This is difficult, isn't it? You can only quit once. You can't just say you're quitting and then not quit, and keep doing that, right? Kukuku." Yang Mi said with a slight smile.

"I think we can try a different approach."

Jing Tian said softly, "Instead of releasing information officially, it's better to let the fans discover the clues themselves."

"For example, when you give an interview, Chen Mo, you can hint at something, such as 'It's time to hand over the baton to the new generation of directors.'"

“This is too obvious. I think we can do it this way. If we announce our retirement from acting, we will naturally need time to arrange things, such as clearing up some endorsements and finishing up some work. Once these things are done, we don’t need to publicize them. People will find out on their own and wonder if we are retiring from the entertainment industry,” Yang Mi said.

Zhao Liying suddenly interjected, "I have an idea! We can learn from Marvel and do a 'ten-year plan,' except we're doing a 'retirement countdown'—"

She counted on her fingers and said, "First, Chen Mo can start to reduce his public appearances so that the media notices that 'Director Chen has been keeping a low profile lately'; then the rest of us can also turn down some commercial activities to create the question of 'why these top stars have collectively disappeared'. Then, as Mimi said, we also need to clear out some endorsements and do some wrap-up work. In this way, the suspicion will deepen, after all, these are all pieces of evidence."

“That’s great!” Zhang Yuqi immediately replied.

"Once the topic has gained enough traction, I'll have the paparazzi 'accidentally' capture photos of us looking at houses together. I've already thought of the headline—'Shocking! Chen Mo and a group of actresses purchase an overseas estate, suspected of preparing to immigrate!'"

Gao Yuanyuan shook her head helplessly: "You guys are being too deliberate."

"That's exactly what we want—deliberate!"

Fan Binbin smiled slyly: "Once the rumors have spread like wildfire, we can have our studios issue a vague statement saying 'planning a new stage in life'—isn't that much more interesting than making a direct official announcement?"

Liu Yifei suddenly interjected softly: "Actually, we can turn the wedding into a performance art piece."

Her slender fingers gently traced the embroidery on the cheongsam: "Just like in 'The Grand Wedding in a Cheongsam,' let's give all the audience a perfect curtain call with a grand farewell performance."

Chen Mo watched them chattering away and suddenly asked, "You didn't actually need to withdraw with me."

The women fell silent upon hearing Chen Mo's words.

Fan Binbin and Gao Yuanyuan are doing alright; one of them has already retired, and the other had planned to retire a long time ago.

However, compared to them, the remaining ones, whether it's Zhao Liying, Yang Mi, or even Liu Yifei, are still relatively unexpected for them.

"Well, to be honest, I'm really a little reluctant to part with it," Yang Mi suddenly said with a touch of melancholy.

"If you can't bear to leave, then don't quit. There's no need to force yourself just for the sake of a collective retirement gimmick," Chen Mo said.

"Oh dear, I haven't finished yet! Actually, it's just that I'm a little unaccustomed to it right now, but it's not like I'm retiring immediately. I have enough time to adjust. And to be honest, it's kind of silly to think about it. We don't lack anything now, so why keep ourselves so busy all the time? So, retiring is fine. Actually, if we could, who wouldn't want to retire?" Yang Mi gave Chen Mo a charmingly flirtatious look. Zhao Liying added, "Mi Mi is right. Why not enjoy life instead of working yourself to the bone?"

Chen Mo finally spoke, his voice carrying the unique control of a director: "Alright then, let's make that domestic violence film our professional finale, using social issues to lighten the somber mood of retirement. As for our collective farewell..."

His gaze swept over each of his female confidantes present, a mysterious smile playing on his lips: "Do you remember that last line from 'The Truman Show'?"

Everyone was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter in unison. Yang Mi even laughed so hard she leaned back on the sofa: "My God, you even make your retirement from the entertainment industry look like a movie post-credits scene!"

"Of course, we also need to consider the feelings of the fans, so we need to lay the groundwork, just like Liying said, let everything fall into place naturally. Actually, at this point, there is an advantage to us withdrawing."

Because the best farewell is to retire gracefully at the peak of one's career, leaving behind an everlasting legend.

The room fell silent. The sunlight moved silently, casting long shadows. In that instant, they all clearly realized: this was not just a joke, but the end of an era.

"That's it?"

Zhang Yuqi broke the silence, her voice filled with barely concealed excitement.

Chen Mo stood up, his figure as upright as a pine tree against the backlight. He stretched out his hand, palm up: "To our youth that will eventually retire."

One slender hand after another was placed on top of the other, like petals blooming layer by layer. The last hand to be placed on top was Liu Yifei's—the ring on her ring finger gleamed in the sunlight, as if foreshadowing the beginning of a brand new chapter.

Outside the window, a radio in someone's house was playing the theme song from "The Grand Wedding in a Cheongsam." The melodious tune drifted in, providing the perfect background music for this historic moment.

The battle for "fashion discourse power" with the luxury alliance ultimately ended in a mess at the fashion show.

Finally, Huayun partnered with several luxury brands to jointly launch co-branded products featuring Chinese elements.

This collaboration is a win-win situation for both parties. After all, in the area of ​​Chinese elements, through the welfare week and a series of subsequent operations, Huayun can be said to have gained absolute say.

However, the dominance of luxury alliances cannot be broken overnight, especially overseas.

So, in the end, a cooperation was reached.

However, in the following period, many people were surprised to find that neither Chen Mo nor his women had been trending on social media for a long time.

Wang Wei, the editor-in-chief of the marketing account "Octopus Entertainment," stared at the computer screen, his finger sliding across several recent news items about Chen Mo that he had compiled.

"Chen Mo is absent from the XXX Film Festival! This is the third A-list international film festival that Chen Mo has missed in the second half of the year."

As an entertainment self-media personality, Wang Wei has a very keen sense of trends.

His intuition told him that there must be something wrong.

Suddenly, he remembered the sensation caused by Fan Binbin's retirement from acting.

Suddenly, his whole body trembled! A flash of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Immediately search for the latest news related to Chen Mo's "female confidantes".

Yang Mi expressed her gratitude for the long-term collaboration with Versace, but stated that she will not be renewing her contract upon its expiration.

"Liu Yifei unilaterally terminated her cooperation with the Blue Blood brand, with the penalty for breach of contract reaching eight figures."

"Jing Tian."

These news stories, taken individually, are nothing special, after all, they are very common in the entertainment industry. But the question is, is it really that coincidental?

These female celebrities are all currently very popular, and their relationship with Chen Mo is widely known.

Suddenly, so much related content appeared, and the news was remarkably consistent.

This made Wang Wei feel like he had discovered a new continent, and he was full of energy.

He tirelessly collected and summarized relevant information, eventually arriving at a conclusion that even he found hard to believe.

Chen Mo and his confidante are making their final preparations.

Or rather, it's like making the final "cut"!

"This is definitely not a coincidence! But how is this possible?" Even Wang Wei found it hard to believe.

Although if my guess is true, it would definitely be a news story that could cause a major earthquake in the entertainment industry, this is just too outrageous, isn't it?

(End of this chapter)