Mo Di couldn't believe what he just heard. How can someone name a puppy garlic?!
But seeing Mu Tian Heng's satisfied manner, Mo Di did not have the heart to reject him.
The name is quite… flavorful.
"What do you think, little one?" Mu Tian Heng was filled with amusement all the while paying close attention to the little guys' expression.
"Haha…. That's pretty good." Mo Di let out a forced laugh and looked at the 'garlic' in his arms.
The 'garlic' was staring at him with its innocent and moist black eyes.
Mo Di: "…" No, he had to fight for the cute little 'garlic'!
Mo Di raised his head and smiled at Mu Tian Heng: "Brother, that's a good name but garlic is such a common ingredient that's being eaten every day. Our Suan Suan is innocent."
"Um, that makes sense." Mu Tian Heng repressed his urge to smile, he would like to see how his family's Mo Di steer this one.
"So little one, do you have any good suggestions?"
"Well…the name you picked is great. Suan Suan… it's a solid and energetic name. And the reduplication is also very cute, cough…" Mo Di was not able to continue with his self-contradictory words anymore, "why don't we switch up the word a little to give him a more unique name?"
Mu Tian Heng was about to burst out laughing but he kept his composure: "So what word would you like to use?"
"How about… Suan Suan! The suan from ji suan ( = computing/calculating). It still retains the name you gave but its meaning is closer to home since we're both good at computing. It can be our mascot! That's three birds with one stone! Brother, what do you think?"
"Suan Suan?" Mu Tian Heng who was racking his brains to think of a better name for the puppy to appease Mo Di was saved by his suggestion. His little one is just too cute, and also very quick-witted.
Mu Tian Heng could no longer hold back and reached out to touch Mo Di's hair. He smiled and said: "Indeed, that's a very good name."
A smile spread across Mo Di's face immediately. He pinched Suan Suan's hairy ears.
Suan Suan, you should remember and be thankful to me, I'm the reason you managed to escape from that pungent name.
"Alright, let's stop bothering Suan Suan for now. It's time to eat, what do you want for dinner?"
"Anything will do." Mo Di replied.
"Anything will do….that's actually harder to deal with." Mu Tian Heng at Mo Di with gentle eyes. After a moment, he smiled and said: "How about steak? We still have some left from the last time."
"Ok." Mo Di nodded decisively. When he said 'anything will do', he really meant it, he was not going to refuse anything.
"Then I'll go make it. You can stay in the living room and wait."
"Brother, I want to be your assistant." Mo Di refused to stay idle. He put down Suan Suan and went to the kitchen.
"There's no need, it's nothing complicated. I don't need an assistant. And…" Mu Tian Heng looked at Suan Suan with a contemplating look, "if your name wasn't changed, I might actually let you in to help improve the taste, but now, let's just forget it."
Mo Di was so humored he let out a laughter. He held Suan Suan's paw and said: "Ha ha, Suan Suan, did you get it? You're seasoning!"
…
While Mu Tian Heng and Mo Di were basked in warmth and sweetness, the Mo family was in a turbulent state.
Mo Shi Guo looked at his son with a heavy expression. He picked up a stick and lashed at Mo San Zhi. "You disgraceful thing! This is just great. You stayed in America all these years and this is what you learned?! To be a pervert?! To like men?! To be a homosexual?! I'm going to beat you to death! You're a disgrace! I'm going to kill you…"
"Uncle! Please stop! Please don't hit third brother anymore!"
Seeing the cane landing on Mo San Zhi, Mo Liu Gui rushed over to block for Mo San Zhi. "Uncle, don't hit him anymore. Brother didn't do anything wrong."
"He didn't do anything wrong? How can this not be wrong?! Xiao Gui, stop defending him. I have to kill this shameless thing today! I can't let him bring men back and disgrace our family!"
"Xiao Gui… Xiao Gui, stay away. You don't have to defend me. If it were to hit you by mistake, I'll be even more distressed." Mo San Zhi was extremely moved. He looked at Mo Liu Gui and only felt that his sister was the best, no one else came close.
He would not allow her to be hurt by anyone.
"Third brother, I can't just stand and watch you get beaten like this." Mo Liu Gui's eyes turned red as she looked at Mo San Zhi then at Mo Shi Guo. She pleaded: "Uncle, don't hit him anymore. If this continues, he might be hospitalized. Then the one who's hurt will be you."
"That's right, Shi Guo, don't hit him anymore, please…." the second aunt was sobbing next to him. She held Mo Shi Guo's hand and begged: "Please, Shi Guo, we can still correct his wrong but you can't keep hitting him like this."
Mo Liu Gui added: "Uncle, third brother was led astray by that Song Yu but he's over it now. He doesn't like that man anymore, why are you still punishing him? Doing this will only hurt him."
"I don't believe that he can change just because he said so!" Mo Shi Guo's eyes were bloodshot with indignation. "I refuse to recognize this pervert as my son!"
"Dad, I've changed. I've really changed!" seeing Mo Liu Gui's wink, Mo San Zhi got the cue and quickly expressed his regret and grievances: "Dad, I know that I was wrong but now I've gotten over it. At that time I was seduced by Song Yu. He made me like him. You don't know this but he's really good at seducing someone."
"But when I came home, I realized that I was misled by him, I have no feelings towards him. I wanted to break up with him but I did not expect him to come here to look for me. He knew I was planning to break up with him, that's why he said those scandalous words. Dad, he wanted to ruin me."
"I don't like him at all. Now I'm just disgusted with him. Dad, I don't like men, I still like women!"
"Shi Guo! Shi Guo, look! Our son already knew his mistake, he's changed. Don't hit him anymore!"
The second aunt cried and grabbed the cane in Mo Shi Guo's hand, "Sanzhi was under that vixen's bewitching, he's better now. He knows he was wrong before, he still prefers girls. Please forgive him, forgive him…"
Mo Shi Guo was infuriated: "You stay quiet! Spare the rod and spoil the child. I have to make him remember this day for life! I …"
"Enough!" Suddenly, the patriarch sitting on the main seat called out in anger. He placed his teacup on the side table.
Mo Shi Guo looked at the Mo patriarch: "Father…"
"Stop your shouting! Do you still think of me as your father?!" the Mo patriarch's breathing was heavy as he raised his voice in anger: "He'd already repented, do you still insist on sending him to the hospital?! What happens when this spread and people started asking questions? Are you going to tell them that because he is homosexual that's why you hit him till he was hospitalized? Do you know what shame is?!"
"Father, this…" Mo Shi Guo threw the stick in his hand but he was not soothed, "you're just making up excuses for him. We can't just let this slide."
"Why not? Isn't it enough that he knew his mistake and changed? What else do you want him to do? He already said that he doesn't like men, if you don't believe him then what, you're going to force him to say that he does?" The Mo patriarch stared at Mo Shi Guo.
The second aunt continued to cry.
"Alright, daughter-in-law, don't cry anymore." The Mo patriarch picked up the teacup and took a sip. His mood eased a little and he said: "San Zhi is already twenty-seven, he's not young anymore. It's time for you to find him a partner. Tomorrow, go have a chat with your peers, see if there's a suitable girl. Set up a date for them and let him be in a relationship."
"Yes, I understand father." the second aunt wiped her tears and agreed.
Mo San Zhi who was still on the ground dared not say anything. He slowly got up but remained kneeling.
…
What happened in the Mo villa, Mo Di did not know for the camera they planted was not in the living room. But how things would turn out, he had long predicted it.
There was no way he would let the Mo family swindle a marriage.
Although their conversation was not recorded by Song Yu, it was caught on the camera. He only had to distort uncle Song's voice and trim out his name, then he could put this on the internet.
However, there was something else he had to do. That was to take the audio file and the photos in Song Yu's hands and mail it to the Mo's circle of friends and the upper-class families of the capital.
Of course, he couldn't be presumptuous. This matter, he would have to ask for Song Yu's permission before doing so.
Song Yu agreed on the spot. He was even happy to do so.
"After I left that place, I really regretted not recording those words. I'm just worried those scums will try to dupe another poor girl. I wanted to put those evidence on the internet but without a good cause, it will just backfire and it'll be harder to deal with that jerk if we don't strike when the iron is hot."
"We have the audio, coupled with your pictures, this should nail him good." Mo Di smiled and replied. "Thank you uncle Song, I'll send these to several families in the capital first. The second aunt's disposition is extremely proud. No matter how bad her son is, in her heart, only the ladies from the noblest of families are worthy of her him. Therefore, we shall start with those."
"This'll be a good show." Song Yu said: "Let's see how they're going to be crushed by those families."
"This won't be enough to crush them but they won't be able to get out of this unscathed."
When Mo Di and Song Yu ended their conversation, the files and documents were also neatly compiled into a package and sent out to the influential families in the city.
Prior, he had wanted to post this directly on the internet but thinking over, doing that would not be as effective.
In case the Mo family denied and claimed that it was falsified. Even were they to acquiesce this matter, they could still declare that although their child was homosexual, they would not deceive anyone into a sham marriage. This ending was not enough of an impact, after all, being gay is not wrong.
But once they expose their truthful and disgusting thoughts and plans, the scorn that awaits them is the truly rewarding outcome.
By then, Mo San Zhi would've lost all his standing.
However, all these would still depend on whether his guess was accurate. In case the Mos. change their spots, then … maybe the sky would fall.
At noon the next day, Mo Di knew that his guess was accurate.
As the saying goes, a leopard cannot change its spots, a dog can't change its habit of eating dung.
Um…the second part isn't right, his family Suan Suan doesn't even have that habit.
That very morning, the second aunt dressed up elegantly to visit the Li family, a second-class family in the capital. She wanted to matchmake Mo San Zhi with their third daughter.
Madame Li was inevitably furious after she had seen the materials last night. She refused the proposal on the spot. And because they were a cultured family, even when angered, she still kept her temper in check. Besides, she did want to discuss this matter in the open and hence, did not tear off the second aunt's face.
On the other hand, with the second aunt's proud nature, she did not think too highly of the Li family. But one was that the Mo family had met with a large setback recently and they could not be considered as prestigious as before, the second was that the Mo patriarch had ordered her to swallow her ego and pick a second or third rate family's lady to propose. This was why she suppressed her anger and reluctantly picked the second class Li, Zhao, and Sun family.
Never would she have thought that she would be rejected so quickly and adamantly. Her anger erupted, she stated that the Li girl was not worthy and that she really did not think anything of their family.
At this point, no matter how restraint Madame Li was, she was not a clay doll. Seeing how the second aunt was not only shameless but even dared to despise their daughter, Madame Li began to feud with her. The Li patriarch was not as patient, he ordered the security guards to collect the dirty things from the public toilet and chased the second aunt away with it.
What a nasty aftertaste….
In short, the second Madame of the Mo family became the laughing stock of the whole upper circle of the capital in just one short afternoon. The Li family also took down the surveillance in their villa and spread it around, all the while denouncing Mo San Zhi and his mom.
The Li family's deed saved Mo Di the trouble of having to intrude into their surveillance to retrieve the footage. He took it directly from the email that was sent out. Together with the previous batch of materials…
He posted them all on the internet and even helped it push into the top ten spots.
That afternoon, Mo San Zhi was on fire.
But what he gained was not fame but infamy.
There was no exceptions but an all-out abuse towards him:
"What kind of garbage is this? Isn't it too f**king disgusting?"
"Sh*t! This Mo San Zhi's character is degraded. He's got a handsome face but the inside is just not human!!"
"God, what a scum! Not only did he lie to his boyfriend into becoming his closet lover, he even pretended to be heterosexual to deceive other girls! Sh*t! Disgusting disgusting!"
"Mo San Zhi's boyfriend is pretty tough. Did he post these photos on purpose? Well, whoever posted this, thank you very much for letting everyone see clearly the scum man and his family. No girls will be deceived by him again!"
"Not just girls but boys should stay away from him. Don't ever agree to be with him! This garbage is an animal, he's not worth it!"
"The Mo family is really an eye-opener. Before this they abuse their own kid, now this… what a wonderful family! Boycott the Mo enterprise!"
"…"
Mo San Zhi's name instantly became a stink bomb for the whole country. His photo was made into a sticker: "Wanna date? Men or women, I'll be especially scummie"
All the business collaborations that Mo San Zhi was planning were rejected. No one wanted to work with him. The designers that once agreed to jump ship with him have all blacklisted him.
Even the Mo family was affected. In less than four hours, their stock value fell by nearly eight percent!
Witnessing the whole thing play out, Mo Di couldn't help but applaud. He rubbed Suan Suan's tiny head and gave him a piece of snack to celebrate.
What Mo Di did not know was that there was another happy event that he did not anticipate.
Li Zhao, Mo Liu Gui's broker, wanted to help her gain some popularity since she had just finished with her filming. Even when he had already paid, after seeing the heated hatred for Mo San Zhi and the Mo family, he contacted Weibo again to pull down the hot search he just bought.
Li Zhao was infuriated! His previous artist had never caused him so much torment and dislike!
Some time ago, the hot searches he bought for her were always pushed down. Now, even when she had better backing from the Qin family and he was about to go all out to promote her, this had to happen!!
After the previous video with Mo Di, the Mo family and Mo Liu Gui's popularity were already low. Now with this new event, with such a brother…
How is he going to promote her?! How?!
There was no way he could boost her popularity without being berated!
He'd lost his resolve to take care of this artist!!!