This director is vindictive.

In fact, Chen Mo can fully understand the despair of the victims' families in this "moral kidnapping" incident.

When a person is driven to the brink, they will cling to any straw they can get their hands on—even if that straw is some vague, intangible influence of a celebrity.

The root of the problem lies in the fact that the unique nature of cross-border telecom fraud cases leaves victims' families with nowhere to turn for help.

Because it involves cross-border travel, many Chinese people living in a stable domestic society find it hard to imagine the world beyond their borders.

At the same time, the difficulties of cross-border case handling are not clear.

In fact, any case that involves cross-border transactions presents numerous challenges.

Although we live in the mobile internet era, many people may have seen a lot of online help requests and think that as long as they encounter a problem, they can seek help online.

But in reality?

Is it really?

As someone with capital, Chen Mo knew all too well the ins and outs of the business.

No news event that goes viral online happens naturally.

For the platform, the stage of attracting traffic has long passed; it is now a mature business operation.

Therefore, that traffic is often clearly priced!
Ordinary people's requests for help are quickly overshadowed by entertainment gossip and celebrity scandals;
Unless it's a naturally unique and representative trending event, it's simply impossible to get on the trending topics list or get traffic support from the platform without spending money.

Secondly, the public is driven by curiosity.

Telecom fraud cases are no longer news; stories of being "scammed to go to Beijing" have even become topics of casual conversation, making it difficult to maintain sustained attention. Most importantly, the public opinion has shifted.

Or rather, the overall environment has changed.

Initially, the public generally sympathized with the victims of telecom fraud, but as more details of the cases came to light: some were lured by "high-paying jobs" and knowingly took the risks;
Some cases are so outrageous that people can't help but complain: how could anyone fall for such an obvious scam? Where's their brain?

Another common situation is that some people, after being deceived, become perpetrators in order to protect themselves; the dragon slayer ends up becoming the dragon himself. How can anyone sympathize with such people?

Even worse, some people remain stubbornly unrepentant despite being repeatedly advised to return.
Gradually, the "victim blaming" theory began to spread.

"Serves you right! Who told you to be greedy?"

"Trying to gain something for nothing, and what's the result?"

"The authorities are constantly promoting anti-fraud efforts, yet you insist on jumping into the fire!"

"Now you know to call for help? Where were you before?"

This deteriorating public opinion environment has left the families of truly innocent victims even more isolated and helpless.

Unable to seek help effectively through formal channels or gain sustained attention online, they are left with no choice but to resort to desperate measures—placing their hopes on celebrities, even if those hopes are ridiculously slim.

Chen Mo knew very well that what seemed like "moral blackmail" from these family members was actually a last-ditch effort in desperation.

Ironically, the criminal group that should be held truly responsible remains at large, while the desperate family members and the celebrities forced to respond have become opposing sides in the battle for public opinion.

Of course, whether someone is behind this, and why these people suddenly thought of morally blackmailing celebrities, still requires further investigation.

On a clear morning after the downpour, Chen Mo stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city. Thanks to the Ministry of Justice's swift and decisive action, the online outcry of moral blackmail had subsided considerably, but sporadic "help requests" still stubbornly sprouted up like weeds.

Chen Mo was not surprised at all by this.

"Mr. Chen, public opinion monitoring shows new developments."

General Counsel Ouyang Jing strode over, her tablet displaying the latest trending topic: #SevenFairiesRefuseToHelpInDying#. "A family member cried on a live stream, saying that the threshold for the official reward we sponsor is too high. Even with clues, such as the specific location of the victim, it is still difficult to provide effective rescue!"

"Some people believe that your approach is more about silencing public opinion than actually being effective!"

Chen Mo nodded; that was perfectly normal.

After all, the other party is definitely not in China. For example, it might be a certain industrial park overseas. The place is there, but the problem is that it's not in China!

Even if the police found out, they couldn't act immediately to rescue the person.

That was on someone else's turf. You could communicate with their law enforcement through official channels, but it was still very difficult to rescue people immediately.

However, it is actually quite useful, because if concrete evidence is obtained, even local officials abroad will have to provide an explanation.

Of course, efficiency is out of the question.

Unless the public opinion situation is really serious and the impact is huge.

Take this case of three fans going missing, for example. On the one hand, it's because they hadn't left the country yet, and on the other hand, it's because the impact was too bad.

It wasn't just because of Chen Mo; the retirement ceremony for seven female celebrities was also highly valued by the Tianjin Culture and Tourism Bureau and local officials.

The huge bounty further propelled them, which is why they were able to be rescued so quickly.

Liu Yifei, who was arranging flowers in the living room, pricked her finger on a rose thorn and drew blood.

Yang Mi sneered and tossed her phone onto the sofa: "Yesterday you complained we weren't taking action, today you complain our actions aren't thoughtful enough, are you going to send a private jet to pick us up tomorrow?"

Chen Mo raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down, his voice steady: "Don't rush, there's definitely something fishy going on behind this."

Fan Binbin frowned, his fingers unconsciously tapping the sofa armrest: "Having been in the industry for so many years, I'm all too familiar with this kind of organized manipulation. You see, even though we've already cooperated with the police and done what we were supposed to do, the public opinion is still being deliberately guided towards us."

She pulled up several trending topics on her tablet and tapped the screen heavily with her fingertip: "The speed at which these topics are gaining traction is clearly abnormal. Every now and then, a new batch of accounts is stirring up trouble."

Zhao Liying leaned closer to take a look and said in confusion, "But what are they after? We're not police officers, we can't expect to rescue people ourselves, can we? That's too outrageous."

"Wait!" Gao Yuanyuan suddenly sat up straight, her eyes lighting up. "Could it be because of the bounty? Think about it, that 1000 million bounty was so effective last time!"

Before she could finish speaking, Yang Mi gasped, "You mean, these people want to force us to offer another exorbitant bounty?"

The living room fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Chen Mo.

He frowned slightly, his fingers tapping lightly on his knee, clearly deep in thought.

"There are two possibilities."

Chen Mo spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of seriousness: "The first reason is just as Yuanyuan said, they simply want us to issue another bounty. After all, the last bounty did indeed get many people with 'special channels' moving. As long as they see someone or rescue someone, no matter what method they use, they can directly receive the bounty."

But now, through cooperation with the authorities, this path has been blocked.

Furthermore, the different bounty conditions make it difficult to motivate bounty hunters.

He paused, his eyes sharpening: "But the second possibility is more dangerous—what if these most vocal 'family members' are actually in contact with the other side?"

"what?!"

Zhang Yuqi was so shocked that she jumped up from the sofa: "You mean these 'family members' who are crying their hearts out online are actually accomplices of the kidnappers? Just to trick us into paying the reward?"

Chen Mo nodded heavily, then shook his head: "They might not be accomplices, but what if they contacted these families, or the people who were tricked into going there contacted their families?"

"Think about it, if the kidnappers control the hostages, then arrange for the hostages to contact their families, and manipulate these 'family members' to put pressure on us online, forcing us to pay an exorbitant ransom, isn't that a disguised form of kidnapping and extortion?"

Liu Yifei's face turned pale: "So those so-called 'fan evidence' might all be props prepared in advance? Just to prove that the victim is our fan, so that we have to pay money?"

Jing Tian bit her lip and added, "Besides, they're confident we won't take any risks—if something happens to the hostages because we don't pay, the public will tear us apart."

Fan Binbin suddenly sneered: "No wonder some 'family members' have prepared such complete information, such as super topic level and merchandise purchase records. So this is what they were waiting for."

Chen Mo looked at the darkening sky outside the window and said softly, "I hope I'm just overthinking it. But if that's really the case..."

His gaze suddenly turned cold, and he said disdainfully, "Then these people are just courting death."

Chen Mo considered himself to be a fairly law-abiding person.

But if the other party really sets their sights on him, then Chen Mo will show them what it means to have money to make the devil turn the millstone!
Yao Jing's palms were sweaty as he held the recording pen.

He originally just wanted to do an in-depth report on "The Living Conditions of Families of Victims of Telecom Fraud," interviewing a single mother who broke down in a rented room in an urban village—her son was lured to the north with a high salary, and in the video, he was beaten black and blue, but it was her own son who asked for money.

"They said if we couldn't raise 200,000 yuan, they'd cut off our kidneys."

The woman trembled as she showed the bloody video on her phone, the screen reflecting the swollen bags under her eyes: "But I worked in a textile factory, and I couldn't save this much money even in twenty years!"

At the time, Yao Jing casually mentioned, "Why don't we try contacting Chen Mo? They just spent ten million to find three fans."

He regretted it as soon as he said it—this suggestion was like telling a beggar to knock on the door of the richest man to beg for food.

Three days later, while browsing Weibo, he almost sprayed coffee onto the camera.

Under the trending topic #SevenFairiesSaveMyChild#, there was a photo of a single mother holding up a poster of Yang Mi from her son's bedside. Even more alarming, the comments section had turned into a massive moral blackmail session:

"My daughter has checked in on the Super Topic for 1580 days, and now she's just waiting to die in the KK Park!" (Attached: a tattoo of "Forever Love Honey" on the girl's wrist) "My son went to work in Mianbei to buy a phone endorsed by Liu Yifei, and now..." (Attached: a screenshot of the location of the fraud park)
Yao Jing trembled as she opened her private message list. The single mother had sent more than a dozen voice messages, the last one choked with sobs: "Reporter, hundreds of people are adding me on WeChat every day, teaching me how to make a big scene. Some even offer to Photoshop my pictures!"

What chilled him to the bone was a call from the editor-in-chief of a marketing account: "Xiao Yao, your topic has exploded! We just established the 'Victims Mutual Aid Alliance,' and it has millions of daily active users!"

In the background, you can clearly hear the editor shouting, "Make the Zhao Liying fan tag even bigger!"

His intuition told him that this was profiting from someone's misfortune, and that Chen Mo was not someone to be trifled with.

But when he frantically contacted the families he had interviewed before to try to clarify things, he heard even more absurd demands: "Isn't Chen Mo rich? He offered a 10 million yuan reward to save three people and spent tens of millions of yuan in total. We only need 500,000 yuan. 500,000 yuan will bring my child back!"

"Just have Yang Mi post a Weibo message; she has a lot of followers."

"Zhao Liying can offer rewards for her fans, and my child can also be her fan, so why can't she do the same?"

Yao Jing was completely stunned; it could be said that he underestimated the complexity and dark side of human nature.

He slapped himself hard. If he hadn't been so rude and said that, perhaps he wouldn't be in this situation now.

However, something even more terrifying happened once again.

At 3:17 a.m., a live stream titled "[Urgent Help] Save the Child" suddenly appeared on Douyin's trending list.

In the scene, a woman around fifty years old is kneeling on the cement floor, her withered white hair sticking up like straw. Behind her, the wall is covered with yellowed celebrity posters—the most prominent being a still of Zhao Liying from "The Journey of Flower," with traces of transparent tape still remaining at the corners.

"Please, everyone." The woman's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, and she suddenly began to kowtow repeatedly towards the camera. Her forehead slammed against the concrete floor with a dull thud, and a few drops of dark red blood immediately seeped into the cracks in the floorboards.

The barrage exploded instantly:

"Holy crap! This auntie's head is all broken!" (with a horrified emoji)

"Did you see the background poster? It's someone looking for the Seven Fairies again!" (Screenshot circling Zhao Liying's poster)
"Call the police! Something's wrong with him!" (Gift: First Aid Kit x10)

The woman showed no reaction to the barrage of comments on the screen, mechanically repeating the act of kowtowing.

She held up a photo, trembling—a boy in a high school uniform with the words "KK Park Prisoner Day 47" photoshopped onto him.

When the number of online viewers exceeded 100,000, the live stream suddenly went black. The platform displayed a message: "This content is suspected of violating regulations and the live stream has been interrupted."

But the screenshots had already spread virally. The hashtag quickly appeared on Weibo's trending topics list.
#Mom begs for help via live stream# (Breaking news)

#FirefliesAgain# (Hot)

#A New Height of Moral Kidnapping# (Boiling Point) The comment section is completely torn apart:

"It breaks my heart to see this." (Tearful emoji)

"Even after the Seven Fairies retired from the entertainment industry, they're still being exploited?" (Angry.jpg)

"Is this aunt's son really in the north?"

"How many times has this happened? Although I sympathize with the other party, this method is really unacceptable!"

"It doesn't look fake, but we can't make this mistake!"

"Yeah, something just doesn't feel right!"

An hour later, Douyin issued an official statement: "After investigation, the user is suspected of inciting public opinion through extreme rhetoric and behavior, and the account has been permanently banned. The platform has contacted the local women's federation for assistance."

The police arrived at the victim's home immediately, but the victim remained silent and only kept pleading for help.

They found a video on the other party's phone showing the other party's son being beaten bloody and crying, begging his mother to give him money to save him!

Although the vast majority of people stood on the side of opposing moral blackmail this time.

After all, everyone knows that this kind of loophole cannot be opened, as that would be a complete compromise with telecom fraudsters.

However, there are always some people with ulterior motives who try to confuse the public.

A popular online influencer with millions of followers, known as "Keyboard of Justice," posted a long article late at night: "Can we leave this anecdote open? But it's terrifying to think about! Both cases involved fans in danger, but Tianjin solved the case in 48 hours and recovered millions of yuan, while our fellow countrymen who were also scammed only deserve 5 yuan each?"

The accompanying image is a carefully crafted comparison table—the left side shows the police report when Zhao Liying's fans were rescued, and the right side shows today's anti-fraud announcement, with the difference in amount marked in red circles.

"At the same time, this opening is Pandora's box that was opened by that multi-million dollar bounty!"

The comment section was instantly flooded with numerous anonymous accounts:
"As expected, biological daughters and goddaughters are treated differently." (Tongue-out emoji)

"I heard those three from Tianjin are rich kids? No wonder~" (eating melon.jpg)

Even more insidious was a questionnaire posted by a certain relationship blogger:

"If your daughter were scammed, what do you think would be the easiest way to save her?"

A. Become a top-tier fan B. Be rich C. Be beautiful D. Wait to die
In the voting section, 72% chose A, and the most upvoted comment was: "I suggest opening a training course on 'How to Become a Valuable Victim'" (doge emoji).

A trending post on Hupu (a Chinese sports forum) directly challenged the idea with the title: "Rational Discussion: Is Chen Mo's move a targeted marketing campaign?" The original poster, known for his "clear-headedness," provided a timeline:
1. Fans disappeared 2. Bounty was used for publicity 3. Movie box office soared 4. Now he is establishing a public welfare persona.

The most insidious part was the last sentence: "Of course I support cracking down on telecom fraud, I just hate being treated like a fool."

A verified editor on Weibo accidentally reposted: "If aid has to be divided into different levels..."

Although it was deleted immediately, the screenshot had already spread across the entire internet.

Netizens started making jokes: "From now on, resumes should have a section for 'Super Topic Level'" (laughing and crying emoji).

Although a large number of accounts were quickly banned across the internet, this targeted attack on public opinion came to an abrupt end.

However, the impact has still been felt.

Chen Mo was genuinely so angry he laughed.

"Very good, you really think of me, Chen Mo, as a great philanthropist!"

This was the first time the women had ever seen Chen Mo with this expression.

Fan Binbin came over and gently massaged Chen Mo's temples: "Don't be angry! It's not worth it!"

"Anyway, we've already left the entertainment industry, so their manipulation of public opinion won't have much of an impact on us!"

The seven women chattered amongst themselves, trying to calm Chen Mo down as he was about to explode.

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "The instructor said, 'A good start prevents a hundred more!' It seems we were too lenient before!"

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.

Chen Mo picked it up and saw that it was an official person in charge he had contacted before.

After finishing the call, Chen Mo shook his head and chuckled.

The other party was there to comfort him and hope he would remain calm!

But I can't control myself at all!
They're really taking advantage of us!
"They want a bounty, right? I'll give it to them! Ten million isn't enough! A hundred million, US dollars, is that enough? I'd like to see if they're alive to spend it!" Chen Mo said coldly.

This time, none of the women tried to persuade Chen Mo.

They knew that Chen Mo was usually very gentle and rarely acted so domineeringly or irritably.

Clearly, this incident has greatly angered him.

Soon, Chen Mo picked up his secure phone and made a call overseas.

Over the years, Chen Mo has made considerable investments overseas, even more so than in China.

The cryptocurrencies invested in back then are now worth an astonishing amount.

Doesn’t it cost money?
He can abide by the law domestically, but what about abroad?
Okay, of course he'll abide by the law. After all, a reward isn't illegal abroad!

So very quickly, the other side of the world became a sensation.

Because a bounty of up to one hundred million US dollars was suddenly posted.

Chen Mo's fangs were revealed at this moment. Of course, no one had any proof that this was a bounty posted by Chen Mo.

It doesn't matter anymore.

One hundred million US dollars is a huge sum of money for anyone, especially for those special groups.

The key point is that some things are indeed not so easy to get through official channels.

But some things are truly the easiest to solve with money. (End of Chapter)