This director is vindictive.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was time for the live broadcast of the 814 Welfare Festival. This year's Welfare Festival was held a little earlier than usual, but its popularity was astonishing, far exceeding any previous edition.

However, while netizens were eagerly anticipating the event, they also felt a sense of loss. Everyone knew that such a lively scene might never be seen again. After all, Chen Mo was the founder of the 814 Welfare Festival and the soul of the entire event. If he withdrew, it's uncertain whether the festival would remain as popular as it is now, or even whether it could continue operating at all.

So the official Weibo account of the 814 Welfare Festival became a place for people to express their feelings.

"I really hate to see it go. I've been following it since the first year, and I look forward to the 814 Welfare Festival every year. If it's gone, I'll feel a sense of emptiness."

"With Chen Mo gone, this event is probably doomed. No one can replace him; it's all thanks to him that it's been going strong."

"This year's Welfare Festival came earlier, and it's far more popular than previous years. There are definitely more prizes too, but why do I feel a bit uneasy? Sigh, there will only be fewer and fewer good things like this in the future!"

"I used to complain that the welfare festival was becoming more and more commercialized, but now I think it's good that it's still going on. I'm afraid that in the future I won't even have the chance to complain anymore."

"Is it possible to find someone else to take over? Although it's not very optimistic, at least we can have something to look forward to."

"Looking back, the 814 Welfare Festival was a product of the Chen Mo era. No one else would have the same feel for it."

"How to put it? It's both joyful and heartbreaking. Let's cherish it while we can, everyone understands."

"I hope Chen Mo can give a proper farewell in the end, instead of leaving quietly, at least to give his old fans an explanation."

"Without the welfare festival, it feels like we've lost a regular event. I don't know what to do on August 14th anymore."

Amidst everyone's sighs and exclamations, the time for the live broadcast drew ever closer.

On the eve of the welfare festival's broadcast, even before the live stream officially started, the number of people waiting online had already surged in like a tidal wave.

Thirty minutes before the broadcast started, the platform's servers experienced a rare brief lag—real-time data showed that the number of people waiting exceeded 150 million, far surpassing the peak of the same period last year.

The barrage of comments refreshed at a rate of tens of thousands per second, almost flooding the countdown screen: "It's so laggy it's making me question my existence. But it's worth it for Chen Mo's last time!"

"A screenshot to commemorate this historic moment; we may never see this number again."

"Even the haters came to see him off, who understands?"

"No, Chen Mo just retired, he didn't die. That's going too far."

The live stream has started.

When Chen Mo appeared in the live stream, the number of people watching online simultaneously worldwide broke all previous records.

A total of 3 million people were online at the same time.

Fortunately, given the success of previous editions, the platform has made ample preparations and contingency plans.

The title of the live stream has been quietly updated to "[814 Welfare Festival - Final Chapter]", with the words "Chen Mo Era, Thank You for Being There" written in small print under the gold border.

This title is pretentious, using phrases like "Chen Mo era," but surprisingly, no one seems to find anything wrong with it.

After all, this isn't just bragging, it's genuinely awesome!
The Chen Mo era truly lived up to its name.

At least the 814 Welfare Festival was indeed created and built by Chen Mo.

"Thank you for being in the Chen Mo era. Tsk tsk, don't you all think I'm shameless? I'm blatantly bragging about myself?" Chen Mo said with a smile to the hundreds of millions of viewers in the live stream.

"Actually, I really did it on purpose, haha!"

The screen was immediately flooded with comments about "Chen Mo's era".

"Well, this is probably the last time I'll be in this live stream with everyone. I don't know if the Welfare Festival will continue in the future, but it certainly won't be hosted here anymore."

"Since this is the last time, I won't hold back anymore! Tonight's theme is simple: 'Boasting'!"

"As the name suggests, 'bragging' means first and foremost praising yourself! So in the first stage, everyone should think carefully about what your strengths are—confidence is the most important thing in life! Tonight, let's be bold and praise ourselves to the fullest!"

Chen Mo's words immediately amused the viewers in the live stream.

In the past, there were so many activities during the welfare week, such as farewells, reunions, breakups, life milestones, and smiles, which were all pretty standard.

Chen Mo's topic for tonight, "Exaggerated Talk," was particularly abstract.

Humility has always been a traditional virtue of the Chinese people.

But Chen Mo did the opposite, letting everyone praise himself.

Chen Mo looked at the rapidly scrolling comments, smiled, and said with a hint of relief and teasing in his eyes, "It seems everyone is still a little shy. Okay, since we're going to 'talk big,' I'll set an example first—what is my greatest strength, Chen Mo?"

At this moment, not only are viewers across the internet watching, but Chen Mo's confidantes, his children, and his friends are also watching.

The only protagonist tonight is Chen Mo.

But when it comes to such an unusual topic as self-praise, everyone is particularly curious about how Chen Mo will play the game.
He paused deliberately, then said, "What are my strengths? First of all, I'm handsome! I wouldn't say I'm the most handsome in the world, but at least in the directing world, I'll say it without hesitation: I, Chen Mo, am absolutely the most handsome!"

Chen Mo originally thought that if he praised himself like this, everyone would probably collectively call him shameless.

Unexpectedly, the comments section was flooded with phrases like "Chen Mo is the most handsome" and "the most handsome director in history."

Fan Binbin and other close female friends of Chen Mo laughed so hard they almost fell over when they saw Chen Mo boasting like that.

However, her eldest daughter watched the live stream intently and said, "Mom, Auntie, what are you laughing at? Dad is the most handsome!"

"Grandpa, Grandma, aren't you right? Dad is so handsome!" The little girl, true to her nature, immediately became dissatisfied with her mother and aunts' reactions and sought the support of her grandparents.

"Yes, yes, your dad is the most handsome!" Chen's parents naturally doted on their little darling, even though they also thought their son was shameless. They could only play along without really understanding why.

At the same time, Chen Mo continued, "But, the reason I'm so successful, well, I'd say I'm quite successful, is actually because of a secret! Do you all want to know?"

Chen Mo kept everyone in suspense, and the viewers in the live chat immediately started spamming "Want to!"

Of course, everyone else was also curious about what the secret to Chen Mo's success was.
But Chen Mo replied in a serious tone, "Of course it's because I have thick skin. I've been in this industry for so many years without being forced out!"

The live stream chat immediately erupted in laughter and comments:

"Hahaha, I'm impressed by this self-deprecating self-praise!"

"It's really thick, otherwise how could it withstand our daily complaints about the stingy prizes during the welfare festival (doge)?"

"But you're right! Without a strong mentality, you would have been torn to shreds by trolls long ago!"

"No problem. Shamelessness is invincible. If he weren't thick-skinned enough, how could he dare to be a scumbag?"

Seeing the atmosphere lighten up, Chen Mo took the opportunity to guide the conversation: "Alright, it's your turn! Don't be shy, we're not playing the modesty game tonight—come on, let's have a chat in the comments, everyone tell us what you're best at!"

As soon as Chen Mo finished telling the audience to brag, the entire live stream room exploded! The comments scrolled wildly, one after another, as lively as fireworks—"Me! The King of Staying Up Late! I haven't slept before 3 a.m. in three years!" "So what if it's a ten-yuan takeout? I can eat like I'm in a five-star hotel!"

"A coward like a quail in real life, but fearless in online flame wars! The keyboard warrior is here!"

"I can find the same pair of socks that Chen Mo wore wrong three years ago in five minutes! I've been a professional at finding the same items for twenty years!"

The AI ​​happened to capture this piece of content related to Chen Mo and extracted it.

Chen Mo's face immediately darkened: "Slander! This netizen, you're slandering me! Go ahead and brag, I'll wear the wrong socks? You must be dreaming!"

This immediately triggered another round of laughter from the entire live chat.

Some people even wrote long posts to brag: "My boss said he was going to fire me three years ago, but now my salary has doubled! Slacking off? I call it high efficiency and energy saving!"

The tech guys backend were stunned—the live stream's interaction volume exploded, more than double that of last year's peak! The server almost crashed due to the overwhelming demand, and they had to add ten backup machines to stabilize it.

On Weibo, the hashtag #WelfareFestivalSelf-PraiseContest# immediately topped the trending list, with netizens showing off their "glorious achievements":
"Even though I knew this was the last welfare festival, I really had a blast tonight!"

"This isn't a live stream, it's practically a talent competition among netizens!"

"After Chen Mo left, no one has ever taken us out to have so much fun again."

Seeing everyone's enthusiastic participation, although there was a lot of self-praise, there was a hint of bitterness between the lines.

But the art style is indeed quite unique.

Of course, there are also many genuinely and seriously "bragging about their strengths".

"I suddenly realized that I'm actually quite outstanding. Although I'm not as handsome as Chen Mo, I'm at least 80% good-looking. I don't have any bad habits, and I earn over 10,000 yuan a month, which is more than 90% of people's income. Tsk tsk, thinking about it this way, I suddenly realized that I'm really quite outstanding!"

"I'm also very successful. I'm beautiful, have long legs, a great figure, and earn tens of thousands a month through my own hard work. Although I smoke, drink, and go to nightclubs, I'm still a good woman, right?"

"I have long hair, long nose hair, and lots of body hair. Are those advantages?"

"I do it N times a night."

"I pee in a split like I have unkempt hair."

At first, Chen Mo found it quite interesting.

But gradually, the style inevitably started to go astray. He was left speechless.

Especially when he saw people showing off things like nose hairs, hair, and body hair at night, or even several times a night, Chen Mo was speechless.

Especially that guy, are you sure he was bragging? What the hell is it that he can show off peeing like he has unkempt hair?
However, it's precisely because the comments scrolled so fast that these silly netizens went completely off the rails.

After all, as long as the comments scroll fast enough, no one will realize it's them.

However, the AI ​​deserves a bonus; it even extracted these bizarre "self-praising remarks."

Chen Mo read it aloud, and the group of silly netizens were dumbfounded.

Social death, social death in the truest sense!

Although it's just his online name that's been deleted, some people's friends still know his online name!

Of course, this was just a minor incident.

Soon, the exciting moment arrived: the distribution of benefits.

This year's Welfare Festival was incredibly popular, and it was Chen Mo's last one, so businesses were even more willing to support it.

Therefore, the intensity has doubled compared to previous years.

"It seems everyone is quite confident in their strengths! I hope you can remember your performance today, remember your highlights, and remember this confidence. To the netizens who were just selected, don't be embarrassed. You've already beaten countless people by being chosen from hundreds of millions of people. You probably only had such an amazing record when you were born!"

"Moreover, the selected individuals will receive an upgraded perk! With your 'go-for-it' spirit, you're perfect for taking selfies—each of you will receive a brand-new Xiaomi phone! Let you win again!"

Many netizens were initially mocking these silly netizens for being ridiculous, but as soon as Chen Mo finished speaking, they all turned into envy, jealousy, and hatred.

is not that right?

Every person who comes into this world has defeated hundreds of millions of opponents.

And they actually achieved their second peak in life. Being selected by Chen Mo from hundreds of millions of people and brought to the live broadcast room to be ridiculed is also an achievement, right?
Not to mention, everyone else has to enter a lottery to get a phone, with hundreds of millions of people participating, but they can just get the reward directly. Doesn't that mean they've won another round?
"As for the rest, don't be envious or jealous. This year, the merchants have been unusually generous, with the benefits doubled compared to previous years."

Everyone can start the prize draw now!

After the first round of welfare distribution, the second phase quickly followed.

"Having just finished praising myself and recognizing my own strengths, let's move on to discovering the strengths of others. So, choose someone in your life whom you dislike or hate the most, and find their strengths. Praise your competitors, the people you dislike, or the people you broke up with."

If boasting is somewhat acceptable, then Chen Mo's second-stage theme left many people dumbfounded.

There's nothing wrong with praising yourself, but it's a bit odd to ask them to praise people they don't like or hate.

Is it so hard to admit that others are better than you?
Yes, it's difficult!
But if you dare to admit that others are better than you, especially your competitors or people you dislike, then that's also a strength, isn't it?

Chen Mo chuckled as he watched the chat in the live stream suddenly become hesitant, even filled with question marks, as if he had anticipated the audience's reaction. He cleared his throat and said in a relaxed tone, "What, you all think this topic is too offensive, right? Okay, then I'll set an example for you."

The netizens were immediately wide awake.

After all, this is watched online by hundreds of millions of people across the internet at the same time, comparable to the Spring Festival Gala, right?

"So who should I choose? I've got it, Director Zhang will do. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike him, it's just that he's definitely my competitor, right?"

He casually clicked on a screenshot of a Zhang Yimou movie poster, zoomed in, and the screen showed Zhang Yimou frowning and deep in thought in a classic scene.

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and said, "See? When Zhang Yimou makes a film, he emphasizes 'steadiness, accuracy, and ruthlessness'—steadiness in box office, accuracy in aesthetics, and ruthlessness in polishing the script. You all always say that my welfare festival is too commercial, but without this bit of commercialism, where would the prizes that are upgraded every year come from?"

He deliberately dragged out his words: "Besides, how many years has Zhang Yimou been criticized for 'form over substance'? He still wins awards left and right, doesn't he?" The live stream chat briefly froze before suddenly erupting:
"??? Brother Mo, are you making fun of yourself or subtly criticizing us?!"

"Hilarious! Using a big-name director as a scapegoat, typical of you!"

"Got it, next year's Welfare Festival will be renamed 'Man Jiang Hong: Welfare Edition', right?"

Chen Mo glanced at the comments and laughed, "Hey, isn't this making things lively? Longtime fans know, this is Chen Mo's style—"

He suddenly stopped laughing and lowered his voice: "Just like Zhang Yimou's movies, no matter how many people say 'they've changed,' as long as he's in it, the audience will still recognize that brand."

The screen was instantly filled with comments like "Tears in my eyes" and "Don't cut this!" (End of Chapter)