This director is vindictive.

The final welfare festival finally came to a close amidst the wailing and howling of the "godfathers".

But this isn't over yet; the aftermath of this welfare festival will probably keep popping up on the trending topics list for quite a while.

Many people in the industry are privately cursing: "Chen Mo is a bastard, he's really inhuman. He's about to retire but he's still causing so much trouble. He's practically running the trending topics list all to himself!"

However, these people could only endure it. After all, if they could just wait another half month until this plague truly subsided, they could set off firecrackers to celebrate.

There's no way around it, Chen Mo's welfare festival became a traffic black hole as soon as it started airing, sucking up all the trending topics of other celebrities.

Those popular celebrities wanted to buy a trending topic, but when they saw the price, it was outrageously expensive—there was nothing they could do, as Chen Mo had been monopolizing the trending topics for a while, so the price naturally skyrocketed.

The key point is that even if you buy it, it's useless. You'll be squeezed out in no time, or you'll be ridiculed by everyone.

The funniest thing is that the fans of those popular celebrities are usually quite powerful, right? They control comments and dominate the charts all the time. But compared to Chen Mo's hundreds of millions of "adopted sons" in his live stream, they are simply weak.

These "adopted sons and daughters" fought like locusts in their scramble for benefits, crushing even the most popular fans into nothingness.

Of course, Chen Mo's status meant that even if they were unhappy, they could only endure it. After all, he was a big director, and he had capital and celebrities, so he naturally had a suppressive influence.

The story of the hundred millionaires remains one of the hottest topics at this year's Welfare Festival.

After all, those who know, know what it means to be a billionaire on Douyin.

But this millionaire status is without exception.

This only made more netizens feel more indignant. If there hadn't been these examples of one hundred millionaires becoming rich overnight, then even if Chen Mo had left the entertainment industry and the welfare festival had stopped being held, they would have just missed an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Although the benefits are very valuable, there are also many people sharing them.

Many people can only manage to snag a few hundred yuan worth of benefits at most.

Although this is already quite generous compared to other benefits, it's really just for fun.

But it's an opportunity to become a millionaire!

Thinking you can get rich overnight by buying lottery tickets is pure wishful thinking; those who know, know.

However, Chen Mo's welfare festival lottery, to some extent, can be considered the only relatively fair lottery for netizens.

At least Chen Mo managed to win even his haters' prizes. Moreover, observant people noticed that while many of these winners were already wealthy, none of them had connections!
So, in this respect, it's exactly what everyone dreams of!

The so-called worry is not about scarcity but about inequality.

If someone else is lucky and you are unlucky, you might feel a little envious or jealous, but it's not that serious.

But if there's something fishy going on, then it's a different story.

Even shopping mall raffles are often rigged; what about trust between people? It's getting weaker and weaker.

But Chen Mo did it; he treated everyone equally.

This makes everyone very happy.

Therefore, after the welfare festival ended, a lot of netizens were lamenting, "What a waste! What a waste!"

"Damn it! I'm just one number short! My number ends in 6637, can I have half of the 6638?" (Image: kneeling and pounding chest emoji)

"I went to the bathroom for three minutes during the lottery draw, and when I came back I realized I missed out on a fortune! Guys, that poop is worth a million!"

One netizen commented, "I suggest enshrining this poop, after all, it's worth millions in excrement!"

"Hilarious! My mom asked me why I was kneeling while using my phone, and I said a cash transport truck just ran over my wallet."

Top comment: "Armor truck? That's Chen Mo's printing press!"

Some even resorted to performance art-style mourning:
"From today onwards, my ID will be officially changed to 'Mistake-to-Be-Millionaire Hermit'. Bio: A chosen one who narrowly escaped becoming a millionaire."

Copycat IDs instantly appeared: "Cuoyi Zhenren" (meaning "True Man of Wrong Billion"), "Cuoyi Daozhang" (meaning "Taoist Priest of Wrong Billion"), "Cuoyi Fangzhang" (meaning "Abbot of Wrong Billion").

"Damn it, originally, if it didn't work this year, we could try again next year. As long as it's fair and just, the average winning rate would be average, so the chance of getting rich overnight still objectively exists! Then I suddenly realized, damn it, this is Chen Mo's last year. Instantly, I felt more heartbroken than if I had given up. So, did my original wish come true? Now all I can do is mourn it?"

I silently lit three cigarettes over Chen Mo's photo, a tribute to the chance I'd had to become rich overnight!

"Now that you've said that, I feel heartbroken and can't breathe. I usually buy lottery tickets just for fun, and I'm not envious of others winning because objectively, I can't win a big prize, and the director wouldn't agree to it. But Chen Mo's lottery draw, I'm really envious and jealous!"
And now there's another source of hatred: Godfather @ChenMo, can you replicate this one time? Even if it doesn't work, just let me give up!

"I strongly condemn Chen Mo; I feel like I've been mentally attacked!"

This topic quickly expanded upon.

The post on Douban was quickly reposted to various platforms, with the title "Rational Discussion: Should We Seek Compensation for Emotional Damages from Chen Mo If We Didn't Win the Prize?" immediately sparking a wave of creative thinking among netizens.

The original poster, "Humanity is Sober," wrote: "Chen Mo's actions are a typical example of 'psychological fraud'!"
First, they paint you a picture of a million-dollar prize, then you watch others win, and finally, the whole internet is flooded with posts about their "godfather"—the sense of disappointment is no less than failing to snag a coupon on Singles' Day!

According to Article 55 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, false advertising entitles the plaintiff to claim three times the amount of damages. A class-action lawsuit is recommended, demanding that Chen Mo compensate each person with 3 yuan in emotional distress damages!

The reason this post went viral is mainly because it really hit the sore spot for countless netizens who didn't win the prize!
The post was instantly flooded with comments:

"Wake up, OP! Are you sure you want to sue? Last time, Chen Mo's legal team sued a media outlet that spread rumors until it went bankrupt, and in the end, they donated all the compensation to left-behind children—you're not just throwing your life away, you're directly giving money to children in mountainous areas!"

The comments section was flooded with: "Hilarious! Chen Mo: Is this for real? Come quick!"

"I support the original poster! Not only did I not win the prize, but my mom also confiscated my phone because I shouted 'godfather' too loudly—this loss should definitely be blamed on Chen Mo!"

A netizen downstairs added a witty remark: "I suggest adding 'family relationship breakdown compensation,' with the claim amount being: a new mobile phone."

"I strongly support defending our rights! Chen Mo deliberately made the list of winners so transparent, wasn't he just trying to provoke us unlucky people? I suggest adding 'public execution' to the list!"

Reply: "Transparency is a crime? Then you might as well sue the sun for being too bright and blinding you."

"Based on a peak of 3 million viewers in the live stream, if each person loses 3 yuan, Chen Mo would have to pay out 9 million yuan—wow, that's 8 million yuan more than the cost of the lottery! Is the poster sent by Chen Mo to launder money in reverse?"

"After careful calculation, with 3.2 million viewers in the live stream giving away 100 prizes, the winning rate is 0.0003125%, which is lower than the probability of being struck by lightning. But why do I still feel like I lost a hundred million?"

Reply: "Because you didn't lose a hundred million, but you missed the chance to become a millionaire!"

"What we're lamenting isn't missing out on millions, but that parallel universe that Chen Mo awakened and then strangled with his own hands—'I could have become incredibly rich'!"

Reply: "Shut up! You talk too much! Waaaaah, my parallel universe!"

"You can curse all you want, but when the winners were announced just now, who wasn't yelling 'I made a huge mistake' while frantically taking screenshots? You say you're demanding compensation, but your actions speak louder than words!"

Chen Mo never expected that the billion-dollar welfare festival would end up with a 100 million cash prize draw taking the lead.

However, this did give the publicity department of "Domestic Violence" some inspiration.

Since this millionaire is so popular, can we continue this trend?
Although this movie is based on a realistic theme, movies are still commodities, so it's reasonable to spend money on marketing and distribution, right?
Although this is Chen Mo's final film, that alone is enough for movie fans to go see it. But for promotional purposes, the more exciting the better!
Of course, since this was Chen Mo's last film, the publicity department didn't dare to make decisions on their own and quickly reported the plan to Chen Mo.

The plan was actually quite simple: use movie tickets as lottery tickets for promotion. Of course, they couldn't say it like that during the promotion; they would just say, "A reward is offered!"
Actually, this is quite a sensitive issue, since it's completely different from the previous lottery.

The previous lucky draws were completely free; no one had to spend a single penny.

So, it's nothing.

But if movie tickets are sold like lottery tickets, then there's a big problem.

Of course, there are always ways to be flexible.

However, Chen Mo was also hesitant.

Selling movie tickets as lottery tickets is definitely impossible and illegal.

However, replicating the option of creating another hundred millionaires is something that could actually be considered.

In terms of promotional effect, it was absolutely explosive.

But, won't this lead to a situation where the priorities are reversed?
In fact, Chen Mo didn't have many ideas about the film's promotion and distribution, because this was the last one.

He wasn't that concerned about box office performance.

But since they're considering withdrawing, and given how enthusiastic the fans and netizens are, it's definitely worth considering.

"How about this, let's not use this for promotion. Let's not say anything for now. We'll reveal the surprise after the movie is released. Hmm, let's mark all the ticketing channels, and even mark them on the movie tickets so everyone can keep their ticket stubs. We'll just say there's a surprise!" Chen Mo said after thinking for a moment.

That's right, Chen Mo doesn't plan to use this for the first wave of publicity, because that would be too blatant.

But it's still possible to give movie fans a surprise.

Soon, the countdown to the release of the movie "Domestic Violence" began.

Online pre-sale channels have also been opened.

Because this film is so special, it is Chen Mo's last work.

Therefore, other films wisely avoided releasing during this film's release window.

Apart from those that had already been released, other new films chose to avoid the same release window.

The main issue is that everyone knows this movie is a death sentence for anyone who touches it!
Some netizens who pre-booked movie tickets suddenly noticed that the notification after successful booking seemed different from before.

"Important reminder: Please collect your physical ticket before watching the movie, and keep the ticket stub after the movie—there's a surprise for you!"

This unusual notification was quickly screenshotted and posted on social media by sharp-eyed netizens.

Initially, this message didn't attract much attention, but as more and more ticket buyers shared screenshots of the same notification, the topic "#What's the surprise in the 'Domestic Violence' movie ticket?" began to spread rapidly.

As of press time, the topic has climbed into the top ten of Weibo's trending topics list, with over 2 million views.

"This is definitely Chen Mo stirring up trouble again!"

One netizen commented: "This happens right after the last welfare festival ended. This bastard never lets anyone have a moment's peace!"

The comment quickly garnered tens of thousands of likes.

"Chen Mo's surprises are always worth looking forward to. Anyway, I've already picked up the tickets. Even if I can't watch the movie yet, these tickets are still worth keeping!"

"The person upstairs is right. Chen Mo never disappoints. We should definitely keep this movie ticket safe!"

Industry analysts point out that this practice of including "surprises" on movie tickets is unprecedented in the history of mainland Chinese cinema.

Considering that the film's director, Chen Mo, is about to retire from the film industry, this "surprise" is likely a special farewell gift he has prepared for his fans.

Of course, the exact nature of this surprise has become a hot topic of discussion, with various speculations emerging online:
Some netizens think it might be a lucky draw, others speculate it's a special souvenir, and still others have come up with wild ideas, saying, "Maybe Chen Mo will bring the main cast and crew to the cinema after the screening."

Meanwhile, the reporter also interviewed the cinema staff.

The other party revealed that this "surprise" notification suddenly appeared in the ticketing system yesterday, and they were not clear about the specifics. However, it was confirmed that this was a special setting requested by the film's production company.

Although Chen Mo did not respond to the surprise, nor did he reveal what the surprise was.

Unexpectedly, the results exceeded expectations.

Because of its "surprise" and status as "Chen Mo's final film," the movie tickets for "Domestic Violence" have been given special significance.

A wave of "movie ticket collecting craze" has actually emerged!
Many bizarre scenes have occurred in offline cinemas.

There was a queue in front of the automatic ticket machine at the cinema to collect tickets. But things are different now. We live in the digital age. Although automatic ticket machines still exist in many places, electronic ticket verification has become the norm.

All you need to do is show a QR code.

But now, things are different.

The most bizarre thing is that the tickets these people bought weren't for any currently showing movie, but for the yet-to-be-released film "Domestic Violence"!
Then they all posted their tickets online.

One of the movie tickets even had a very early ticket number because it was picked up early.

After posting it online, I received countless private messages from people wanting to buy this movie ticket with a long string of 0s and a 9 at the end.

The highest price was actually ten times the price of a movie ticket.

However, the owner of the movie tickets did not sell them. Instead, he started buying up movie tickets with special ticket numbers at a higher price.

For example, tickets in the top 100, such as tickets like 666 and 888.

What happened next was utterly absurd: numerous buy orders appeared on Xianyu (a Chinese online marketplace), causing the value of these movie tickets to skyrocket.

If you said it was a banknote serial number or something, I could understand, but this is a movie ticket, which leaves many people completely baffled.

Ultimately, it can only be attributed to the so-called "surprise" printed on the movie ticket!

This phenomenon has also sparked a lot of discussion, after all, it's just a machine-printed movie ticket.

Some media outlets have conducted a special discussion and report on this topic.

They interviewed theater staff, who said that this was the "first time in mainland film history" that a surprise was marked on the tickets. Combined with the irreplaceable nature of Chen Mo's retirement from the entertainment industry, this batch of movie tickets naturally possesses collectible rarity.

Tickets with serial numbers ending in 001-100 have been jokingly referred to by netizens as "potential lottery tickets" due to their association with "hundreds of millionaires." Tickets with serial numbers ending in 666 or 888 on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace) have even been resold for up to 50 times their face value.

In conclusion: When a movie ticket becomes a trinity of emotional futures, social currency, and investment target, the Chinese film industry may be witnessing a perilous leap from the fan economy to the 'digital collectibles economy'.

The ultimate suspense of this trend still hinges on Chen Mo's yet-to-be-revealed "surprise"—it could ignite the market, or it could become a touchstone for testing fan loyalty. (End of Chapter)