House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 440: The Shift in Public Opinion

On Mo Fei’s Weibo, the battlefield in that comment section was still in the midst of a heated war of words, with Mo Fei’s fans and Yang Yi’s book fans forming two opposing forces, neither willing to back down.

At first, Yang Yi’s book fans did indeed remain restrained, but later they completely lost control. Since they couldn’t criticize Mo Fei, they angrily turned their attacks toward the person Mo Fei’s fans strongly supported, “Mu Li’ang”!

However, just as they were arguing intensely, the fans watching the concert on the front lines sent back messages one after another.

“Stop arguing! Mu Li’ang and Yang Yi are actually the same person!”

When the first person said this, Mo Fei’s fans simply didn’t believe it.

“Mu Li’ang’s real name is Li Ang. What does that have to do with Yang Yi? Even if you’re talking nonsense, don’t make it that ridiculous, okay?”

The claim that Mu Li’ang’s real name was Li Ang seemed to have come from speculation on some variety show, but after being reported carelessly by gossip tabloids that talked nonsense and passed around by word of mouth with countless errors and omissions, the claim was actually taken as true by many people.

That was also why, after Yang Yi appeared, no one had even considered the possibility that he was Mu Li’ang!

However, very soon, the friends watching the concert on the scene began sending back more and more messages. The claim that Yang Yi was Mu Li’ang appeared repeatedly at the forefront of the battlefield, making it impossible for the two groups that were arguing before to continue, and they all began looking into the truth.

“It should be true. I have a friend who’s at the concert. I just called him to ask, and he said Mo Fei had just announced it. Everyone at the venue was completely stunned!”

On Weibo, the two groups were also a bit confused!

Yang Yi is Mu Li’ang? Then what were they arguing about before? They were practically flooding the Dragon King’s temple and failing to recognize their own people!

Now, the credibility of this news was getting higher and higher. Although it was only Mo Fei’s side of the story, it could basically already be considered conclusive proof!

It should be known that in this world, public figures were legally responsible for saying such things. If Yang Yi wasn’t Mu Li’ang and had impersonated him, he would have gone to prison if it was discovered!

Moreover, if Yang Yi was impersonating Mu Li’ang, Mo Fei would also offend the real Mu Li’ang. It would be far too unreasonable to pay such a heavy price just to tell a lie like this!

Just as the two groups fell silent and awkwardly looked at each other from afar, the friends at the front finally remembered the other things, since they had previously been too busy breaking the news that “Yang Yi is Mu Li’ang.”

“Yang Yi sings incredibly well. I thought he was a real singer. It’s really a pity that he never debuted!”

“Mo Fei and Yang Yi sang a new song at the concert. It was a duet between the two of them, and it was incredibly good and incredibly sweet. Could it be because of the power of love? They’re releasing songs faster now too!”

A new song? Many netizens expressed their envy, jealousy, and resentment, and some fans who had bought tickets but ultimately didn’t go because they were so angry about this gossip regretted it terribly.

The revelations weren’t limited to just these. The friends who were there at the concert were so happy that they proudly spread the secondhand information to the others.

“Mo Fei’s daughter is super cute! It turns out she’s already known Yang Yi for five or six years. They actually kept it hidden from the whole world for so long!”

“So the newspaper’s guess that Mo Fei’s previous retirement was because she was having a child were right. I really admire Mo Fei’s courage!”

“Yang Yi was also incredibly handsome. Just take that leaked photo with a grain of salt—I thought he looked really cool in person! And he sang so well too. I wonder when he’ll make his debut!”

As one bombshell after another was dropped, the two groups who had been cursing each other so enthusiastically finally began to quietly withdraw.

Mo Fei’s fans were very embarrassed. They felt like they had been cursing for two days, only to find out that they had made a big mistake. A small number of people still sincerely apologized, but the majority could only choose to pretend that nothing had happened.

Although Yang Yi’s book fans had withdrawn from the battle, they seemed to have forgotten that they had previously criticized Mu Li’ang. They returned to Yang Yi’s personal forum in high spirits, as if they had returned triumphantly, proudly discussing Yang Yi’s new identity there.

“Great Yang Yi really is an extraordinary genius! He’s amazing at writing books, and he’s so good at writing songs too. I went to listen to the songs he wrote, and they’re all really good.”

“This is what a true creator is! I just want to know, is there anything Great Yang Yi can’t do?”

“He won’t do book signings…” someone said with a hint of resentment.

However, someone soon said, “Yang Yi had always been very low-key before, probably because he didn’t want his relationship with Mo Fei to be exposed, right? Now that he’s already half a public figure, can’t he hold a book signing for us?”

Exactly! That was highly possible!

The book fans excitedly @-mentioned the staff of Sahara Publishing House, hoping to get a satisfactory answer from them.

However, they couldn’t get an answer from Yang Yi about the book signing for the time being, because Yang Yi still had other things to attend to.

In the evening, as Mo Fei’s concert was nearing its end, many media outlets noticed Mo Fei’s fans “switching sides,” and quite a few people also passed the news on to the media.

This explosive news left many media reporters feeling incredulous, and they all began verifying it.

However, very soon, they didn’t need to verify it themselves. At around 11 that night, Mo Fei’s Weibo was updated.

It was likely written by Mo Xiaojuan on her behalf. It introduced the situation that Yang Yi was Mu Li’ang, explained and apologized to the public for having concealed the truth before. Finally, of course, she included what Mo Fei had specifically instructed her to say: she hoped that the media and fans would give Xixi the space to grow freely.

Attached to the Weibo post was a photo taken by the on-site photographer, showing the family of three together on the stage.

“Scrap it! Get me a new headline right now!” Who knew how many media reporters would have to work overtime tonight!

Sure enough, the next day, the front-page headlines of major newspapers and entertainment tabloids were about Mo Fei’s marriage and the fact that Yang Yi was Mu Li’ang!

In fact, before mobile internet had fully developed, many people still relied on print media to learn about what was happening in the outside world. So, when people who got up early to read the newspapers saw this headline, they were so shocked that their jaws nearly dropped!

“Holy crap, Mu Li’ang and Yang Yi are the same person? Then why did Yang Yi choose such a stage name?”

However, Yang Yi had no intention of explaining this, and it would become an unsolved mystery in history.

Still, it could be said that after one night, the direction of public opinion had completely changed!

Originally, a group of people were gloating over Mo Fei’s misfortune, thinking that she would suffer greatly in this storm of public opinion. But now, many people were blessing Mo Fei, hoping that her marriage would be happy and fulfilling, and also hoping that she and Yang Yi would release more works.

Of course, the heat surrounding this matter hadn’t died down yet.

On Monday, a Hong Kong media outlet reported on the response Chen Yijie had given when they interviewed him about the matter.

“Haha, yes, Mu Li’ang is Yang Yi! I’ve known for a long time, and I also knew that he and Mo Fei were a couple! It’s just that Mr. Mu Li’ang had asked me not to tell anyone about it. I’d been holding it in for so long, and it was really hard! Now I can finally say it!”

With Chen Yijie’s confirmation, no one would ever doubt the fact that Yang Yi was Mu Li’ang again.

But Yang Yi, who was at the center of public opinion, had already returned to Jiangcheng. Mo Fei still had to take part in some commercial activities in Shanghai, so he and Xixi returned first.

Although the matter of the exposure had been properly resolved, Yang Yi wasn’t happy. He was going to find the person who had stabbed him in the back!

Who exactly did it?