The group was rambunctious about their on-screen appearance but when they got to the comments section, they quietened down.
The room suddenly sank into dejection.
"… Xiao Di, the comments are from those who don't know the truth. You don't have to take it seriously."
Zhao Chun spoke first and tried to suppress her anger, "They don't know anything or understand you. They only listened to Mo Liu Gui's words and came here to attack you. A bunch of brain dead idiots, don't be bothered by them."
"Exactly. They all acted on Mo Liu Gui's words and without evidence they came here to mess with you!" Even Zhang Jie Meng who had always been a tolerable person was enraged.
"They must've hired the water army." Han Chao was also irritated, "Otherwise, how could there be so many of them?"
"It's time our country has some sort of regulations against these water armies. They just don't have a conscience." Lin Jun Feng puffed his chest in anger.
"Just because Mo Liu Gui showed them a piece of medical record, they unconditionally believed everything else she said! Isn't that a little strange?!"
"….."
Mo Di was touched looking at his friends whose thoughts were only on how he was being bullied instead of how his reputation would affect the team.
He smiled and comforted them back, "I'm really fine, you guys are the ones who shouldn't be paying too much attention to the comments online."
"Xiao Di, you don't have to hide it if you're really upset. None of us here will laugh at you." Xian Yu Chao said with a wrinkled smile.
"That's right Xiao Di. You're the youngest here so don't try to be an adult. You can tell us anything and we'll figure out a solution."
Zhao Chun looked at Mo Di and said, "Mo Liu Gui presented the medical record and had the water army behind her, all of these don't look good for you. We have to do something. No… We should hire a water army too! We should get them to condemn the Mo family as well!"
"Yes, yes, yes, that's a good idea!" Xian Yu Chao agreed loudly.
Mo Di shook his head, "There's no need. Hiring the water army now won't restore my reputation, it'll only make a mess."
"Then what should we do?"
Everyone was worried.
"I have a plan. It'll be implemented tomorrow, you guys rest assured." Mo Di smiled at them, "And I have my brother helping me. Even if you don't have confidence in me, you should know how trustworthy my brother is."
"That's right, we have boss Mu on our side! Surely he won't allow Xiao Di to be slandered and bullied!" Lin Jun Feng hammered his right fist into his palm.
"Really?" Han Chao was still unsure. Of course he trusted Mu Tian Heng but now that things have gone too far, could he still turn this around?
"Really." Mo Di patted his shoulder and said, "Haven't you noticed that I've been totally chilled? You should know me by now, if I was truly bothered, I would've been working on a solution instead of chatting here with you guys."
"So now that I'm this relaxed, it proves that I really have a plan."
"What's the plan?" Xian Yu Chao asked.
"This… I have to keep it a secret for now because my brother is not done with the preparation yet. But you all can rest assured that I'll be fine and so will our team."
"So…" Mo Di smiled, "You should instead be thinking about what you'll be wearing on stage tomorrow."
…..
The next day, the group continued their work as usual.
Mo Di continued to browse the malicious comments during their break with indifference even when he knew that the Mo family was trying to use this opportunity to whitewash themselves as a victimized family wrongly accused by the public. Mo Wu Hang finally showed his face online and posted several hateful comments.
As for Mo Liu Gui… feeling that she had won the battle, posted several long pretentious statements on Weibo:
'I hope everyone will stop abusing Xiao Di. Because I have been misunderstood, slandered, and insulted before I really understand what a terrible feeling it is to have thousands of people scolding you. I hope you won't use this treatment against him, after all, Xiao Di is my brother, I don't blame him at all.
My relationship with Xiao Di is not as bad as what has been stated on the internet. Xiao Di had some misunderstandings towards me but he still respected me. I believed that once our misunderstandings are resolved, we will become a family again. I miss the time when my family was still whole. That was the happiest point in my life. I wish that by the time of the next Spring Festival, my family will return to those happy days.
I hope that everyone will stop this attack on Xiao Di. He is my brother and he always will be. I can never be angry with him and will always forgive him. Because I am his sister, it is my responsibility to care for him and that will never change. Therefore, I will be upset if you keep attacking him. I hope everyone will forget about this matter.'
'….'
Mo Liu Gui's post was the catalyst that pushed this matter to its climax and effectively made the public's condemnation of Mo Di reach its peak.
Of course, there were still clear-minded people who stood on Mo Di's side. Those who had seen the conclusive evidence that Mo Di was the one victimized by the whole Mo family would not blindly believe everything that Mo Liu Gui said. The problem was that even though they said something on the forum, their posts would inevitably be drowned out by a lot of harsh criticisms from the fans and water army.
From the start, as Mo Di monitored the uproar on the internet, he simultaneously created a little program to help analyze the statistics. Where things stood at the moment, it seemed that the hype had reached a standstill. After Mo Liu Gui's fans rose to ten million, it had stopped rising.
Now…
It was time to change the lead role in this play of flipping black and white.
Mo Di smirked and took out his phone to call Mu Tian Heng.
The quarter-finals of the competition would officially commence at 8pm but there would be a rehearsal process first. And so, after dinner at five-thirty, the team gathered in the recording room.
The group finally stopped mentioning the online debacle with Mo Di because they were all too nervous.
Lin Jun Feng slapped Xian Yu Chao on the shoulder and stammered, "Look… Look at your unpresentable appearance. Why, why are you shaking?"
"Shoo, I wasn't shaking! You better worry about yourself, why are you stammering?"
"Look at how awkward the two of them are," Pang Qiang Lang hiccuped as he talked to Han Chao.
Han Chao: "…" Don't think that I don't know that whenever you're nervous, you would have hiccups!
Apart from Mo Di, the only ones who managed to keep their cool were unexpectedly Zhao Chun and the introverted Zhang Jie Meng.
"I've spent half an hour with the new beauty products I just bought. How is it? Does my face look smaller?" Zhao Chun turned her face left and right for Mo Di to see, "Xiao Di, what do you think?"
"….." Mo Di really could not tell the difference but he still complimented her, "It does look a little smaller and prettier."
"Haha, I'm so happy." Zhao Chun laughed heartily.
'Girls are quite easy to please,' Mo Di thought silently to himself.
After the makeup artist was done with everyone, the rehearsal began. However, certain parts at the end could not be rehearsed in advance so the session did not take very long.
After the rehearsal, it was half-past seven and the audience had slowly filled up the seats.
Before their phones had been confiscated, Mo Di had called Mu Tian Heng.
Mu Tian Heng first asked about his rehearsal. He then said, "Everything has been arranged. Commissioner Wang had already sent someone to Qin Cheng Yi's place. After he's in custody, the truth will be revealed. You don't have to worry about anything, just focus on the ceremony."
"Ok." Mo Di was not worried at all because this time, Qin Cheng Yi had been caught red-handed.
Mo Di said gleefully, "Brother, remember to tune in. It's my first time on TV, you have to tell me if I look bad in front of the camera."
Mu Tian Heng's voice was as gentle as ever, "You'll definitely look good. My family's Mo Di is always the best looking."
Mo Di smiled and his dimples deepened.
Soon it was eight in the evening.
The quarter-final round was not only broadcast live on television but also on various streaming websites. So once it started, countless netizens began to bombard the message board.
Some were there to show their support, some to guess the results but… Many others were there to make trouble.
'As long as Mo Di doesn't withdraw, I'll continue to boycott the game competition.'
'The game committee is dead. How could they let someone with such a bad character participate? Stop watching this kind of show!!!'
'Mo Di, apologize to Mo Liu Gui!'
'Go to hell Mo Di!'
'Mo Di is really not a good person. He maliciously bullied his sister while his sister continued to be kind to him. He's so disgusting it makes me nauseous!'
'That's right. Little Rose is too benevolent. Even when she was the victim, she still encouraged everyone to stop targeting Mo Di and she said she would always forgive him. She really touched my heart.'
'That's why Mo Di is so hateful and disgusting. If Mo Liu Gui was any weaker, she would've committed suicide. Mo Di should die die die!'
'Compared to the angel Mo Liu Gui, Mo Di's character is extremely bad.'
'…..'
Out of the blue, a post worded in bold and bright red font cut off the incoming comments that were about to denounce Mo Di.
'Hahahahaha! Those who posted before and those who're about to post, you should go check the hot search first before coming back here to save yourself the embarrassment!'
'What a phenomenal face slapping scene! I can't believe I actually get to live in one! I'm going to PrintScreen this to capture the names of all you idiots who blindly follow Mo Liu Gui!'
'Mo Liu Gui is just incredible! First she deliberately revealed that she had depression to show how kind and caring she was and also to discredit Mo Di, creating an online trend to revile Mo Di.'
'When questioned about the authenticity of her illness, she actually produced a medical report and showed the world how she had been a victim of misunderstanding and had the netizens eating out of her hands. And most importantly, she pretended to be all-forgiving while making Mo Di look like the bad person.'
'And now finally, her phony depression has been exposed by the police, and even the doctor who fabricated the report has been arrested. Mo Liu Gui is really a poisonous white lotus.'
'F**k! I just came back from reading the hotsearch! My whole family and I were shocked thinking back to every gesture of kindness she showed before! She's too vicious!'
'OMG! Mo Liu Gui is shameless and despicable! She completely disrespected the actual patients with depression and stepped on her own brother at the same time. Unbelievable!'
'Ai, Mo Liu Gui is so beautiful but she's poisonous on the inside. It's true that we can't judge a book by its cover.'
'Where are you? Those who scolded Mo Di so enthusiastically before? Are you hiding because your face is swollen or that your tongue fell off and you can't speak?'
'Upstairs, maybe because that slap was too powerful it caused their teeth to fall off as well.'
'Hahaha this is just too exciting!'
'…'