Chapter 88

"Nothing! Really! We weren't doing anything! Really!" Chen Zhao swallowed his saliva and laughed, "Haha, what can just the few of us do?"

"They were probably watching some internet videos." Zhao Chun was leaning against the door and massaging her face. She put a facial mask on and continued, "I just happened to hear something about a variety show and the mention of a certain Mo family."

Mo Di's eyes slightly changed. He asked with a firm expression, "Tell me what's going on?"

"I, I…. I have nothing to do with it!"

Xian Yu Chao snuck behind Lin Jun Feng and stammered, "I, I, I don't know anything! I'm innocent!"

Pang Qiang Lang glanced at Lin Jun Feng and realized he would not be able to fit behind him anymore and looked around for another spot to hide.

Lin Jun Feng was turning green. He grabbed both Chen Zhao and Xian Yu Chao and pushed them to the front, "Shoo, shoo, shoo, how the heck are you two innocent?!"

Han Chao, who was the most mature amongst them decided to be their spokesperson to clear up the air, "Xiao Di, about this, let me explain."

The others stayed as quiet and still as a statue.

Mo Di frowned, "Go ahead."

Han Chao fidgeted and said with a little hesitation, "It started when we went for a stroll this morning and overheard a couple talking. The man was saying something about a special online interview that would feature a well-received new actress. He even said the actress was so popular that she might help boost the program's ratings."

"En. And?"

"The person also said that there will be a lucky draw event and the winner will be able to get the actress's signed photograph, and it's a never before shown photo."

Han Chao was becoming increasingly embarrassed.

Wanting to save Han Chao from his predicament, Pang Qiang Lang stepped in, "It's Xian Yu Chao who wanted the photo! He's the one who went over to ask about the show."

"Who said I wanted the photo?! It was curiosity! I was just curious!" Xian Yu Chao stuck out his neck.

Pang Qiang Lang ignored him. "The man told us the name of the program but no one knew who the guest would be. This was to give the audience and fans a surprise. Her name would only be announced two hours before the broadcast."

"Yes, it was the Salted Fish who went to ask about the show! After coming back, he camped in front of the computer until eight-thirty when they revealed the name of the special guest… Turns out, that person was Mo Liu Gui!"

"Xian Yu Chao told us about this and we had a discussion… We decided to watch it for a bit…" Chen Zhao continued timidly, "That's what happened."

"En, the interview lasted thirty minutes. We watched it till the end and that's when you came back," Han Chao added.

"So… That's all there is to this?"

Mo Di was at a loss for words. Although he hated that the people around him were blindly addicted to Mo Liu Gui in his previous life, he had absolute trust in his friends in this life. He believed that they would not be smitten with Mo Liu Gui and stab him in the back. It was just watching an interview, did they have to be so scared of him knowing?

"You were all trying to hide this? Am I such a tyrant? It was just watching a video, you guys acted like you just committed a crime."

"But… But we really did not want you to see or know about this interview." Han Chao sighed and decided to be frank, "Because this interview is a little troubling. We did not want you to be unhappy that's why we were all flustered and tried to hide it from you."

"What's wrong with it? She couldn't possibly have mentioned me in her interview, could she?"

Mo Di had his doubts and asked calmly, "What did she say in the interview?"

"The whole interview was focused on promoting her movie and TV series but at the end, there was a short interaction between her and the host," Han Chao paused, licked his lips then continued, "When she was asked what gave her the deepest impression during childhood, she said it was you. And…"

"And also that she had suffered from depression before."

Chen Zhao couldn't help but say, "She must've done it on purpose! She's trying to make you look bad and gain sympathy from the public."

"Depression?"

Mo Di only thought that it was a ridiculous claim. How did she even think to come up with that?

"Mo Liu Gui said that she had depression before?"

"She said that it was last year during her third year of high school that she had severe depression. She had also kept quiet because she did not want her family to worry and had been determined to overcome it alone. It was because of that that she could not look after you better. That in turn caused the misunderstandings between you and everyone else in the family to reach an irreconcilable stage. She blamed herself for this, for not being able to take care of you and caused you to turn away from family…"

Zhao Chun who was standing at the door scoffed loudly.

"Gosh, she obviously just wanted to use Xiao Di as a scapegoat. The host asked her about her childhood and she talked about last year? Wasn't she already sixteen or seventeen last year? The hell that's called childhood."

Zhao Chun was so irritated that she had to fan herself with her hand, "Isn't she a little drama queen? Claiming to have depression, is there even a medical certificate?"

Han Chao: "Not at the moment."

"En, without a medical certificate, and yet she claimed to have severe depression. She even tried to show how considerate she was for not telling her family and decided to go through the pain alone. Ok, what a considerate girl but at the same time she had to mention Xiao Di? By saying that she could not care for him during her times of hardship which caused those misunderstandings was simply implying that Xiao Di was ignorant of her illness. Just because she did not care for him, he became insensitive and difficult which eventually caused everything that happened. Was she trying to flip what they did to him just because of some stupid claim like this? Hmph! I'm so mad!"

"Of course I know that's not what happened, I'm just analyzing here." Zhao Chun saw Mo Di looking at her attentively and immediately stated her allegiance, "I'm one hundred percent on your side! Sister Chun can clearly see her little tricks. She's nothing… Ah my mask!"

Zhao Chun's facial mask dropped on the floor, causing her to suddenly scream.

Zhang Jie Meng came from behind her and casually said, "You've had it on for twenty minutes already, it's about time to take it off."

"But this one's super expensive! I have to use it for thirty minutes to get my money's worth!" Zhao Chun bent down and picked up the mask, "It's under seven seconds, it's fine, it's fine, bacteria haven't gotten to it yet."

Zhang Jie Meng: "…"

"Sister Chun is right!" Xian Yu Chao slammed his palm on the table.

He felt something odd about Mo Liu Gui's speech before but he did not understand what it was, only that it made him feel uneasy. Now that Zhao Chun had analyzed things for him, his mind was finally unclogged.

Han Chao had a worried look, "Xiao Di, what should we do about this?"

There was not much change in Mo Di's expression. He took out his phone and looked at the hot search.

Sure enough, the topic 'Mo Liu Gui Severe Depression' was in the fortieth position but after a refresh, it had jumped to the twentieth place.

At this pace, it would not take long for it to reach the top five.

Mo Di entered the thread that currently only had a little over ten comments.

Some of the comments praised her while discrediting him. The tone sounded neutral but the context was very persuasive and consistent. Clearly, this was done by a very experienced group of water armies.

'My heart goes out to her. Such a kind and beautiful girl being blamed by everyone for so long. There is too much malice in this world and it's always aimed at good people.'

'Such heartache! My Liu Gui is so kind-hearted and sensible. She had severe depression and yet she still cared for others. I feel so distressed for her. Little Rose, can you stop worrying about others and take better care of yourself? Don't always put others first, some people are not worth it. Heartache, heartache!'

'Little Rose is just too perfect, understanding, and kind. She's the most perfect girl I've ever known. That younger brother of hers is a bit disgusting and selfish.'

'My heart aches!'

'I'm too sad for her! Little sister, don't be scared, I'll protect you!'

'Isn't Mo Liu Gui the white lotus from before who's very good with pretending? What now? Trying to whitewash? Does she think that no one would remember this?'

'Upstairs is a troll! Your mom is dead!'

'She's not a white lotus. Get lost troll!'

'I didn't know that Mo Liu Gui is such a beauty with a big heart, I'm a passerby turning into a fan.'

'Where is the medical report? People can't just casually claim to have depression to gain publicity ok? This is stepping on patients with real depression just to get some sort of hype!'

'The anti-fans are back. How could you so mean to a girl that suffered from severe depression? Heartless! Beware of retribution!'

'In comparison, Mo Di is quite selfish and disgusting…'

'It's depression, poor thing, hug hug. Things will get better, we support you.'

'….'

"Xiao Di?" Seeing Mo Di still engrossed with his phone, Han Chao called out to him, "Are you ok? You don't have to think too much about this. She's just trying to whitewash, everyone who has eyes can see that. The internet has memories."

"No no no, Brother Han, you can't underestimate the power of these publicity stunts and the ability of the water army. Once they have enough funding and a manuscript, the internet is their home ground. Things on the internet may be eternal but people's memories aren't. You've heard of Xu Chen Rong?" Zhao Chun babbled away.

"I know," Chen Zhao nodded, "The renowned goddess who's still captivating even in her forties. She's super elegant."

"That's her. Did you know that she once hit someone while driving drunk? When she was caught by the traffic police, she attacked them and later accused them of sexually harassing her."

"!!!" Chen Zhao: "I did not know that!"

"See, you didn't even know about that," Zhai Chun sighed, "So what if it stayed on the internet? It's the netizens' memories that move on too easily. If Mo Liu Gui wanted to whitewash herself by pulling Xiao Di down, we have to retaliate in time or she will win this one."

Mo Di finally logged off his Weibo.

He looked at the group and said, "Yes, the netizens do tend to forget things quickly. Even the water army and the ignorant passersby who are scolding me would probably have forgotten about me in a month or so."

"Xiao Di?"

Chen Zhao frowned, "That won't do. Don't you want to clarify? You're too magnanimous, you shouldn't be made to play the scapegoat!"

"I never said that I was going to sit still."

Mo Di had a smirk on his face, "A face slap should be done at the right time, otherwise, it won't hurt where it counts."