Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1825: Chapter 1728: Major News

”You still don’t know?”

When Zhao Qihui saw the intense and cautious demeanor of Li Gang, he immediately knew that this man was trying to protect Huo Sining’s privacy. On one hand, he marveled at how well Huo Sining managed relationships, having people like him to protect her. On the other hand, he also suspected that this man might not be aware that Huo Sining was under heavy attack online, becoming the target of public criticism.

Sure enough, when Zhao Qihui asked, Li Gang was momentarily dumbfounded, then confusedly asked, ”Know what?”

Zhao Qihui sighed inwardly, then took out his phone, scrolling through Twitter as he explained to the Li Gang couple:

”Miss Huo is a public figure; every move she makes is scrutinized by the masses. No one reported on her staying in the disaster zone to save people, so everyone assumed that she was evacuated from the disaster zone on the day of the earthquake.”

”Recently, due to some celebrities being accused of fraudulent donations, Miss Huo has been dragged into it, hence there are many people attacking her online.”

”One newspaper accused her of fraudulent donations of eighty million, and then netizens started to scold her for being ungrateful. Now, Miss Huo is under attack, not just online, but in reality, people have reportedly gone to her store to cause chaos. Her situation right now is probably quite dire.”

Hearing Zhao Qihui’s words, Li Gang and Liu Yan were immediately shocked: ”What? There’s such a thing happening?”

The couple had been so overwhelmed with work lately that they had no time or energy to pay attention to online matters. So, no one anticipated that in just these brief two to three days, such a major incident had erupted outside.

”This... this is too absurd, too excessive. Miss Huo has been saving lives in the Qingcheng Mountain area for ten days, and many can testify for her. Those outside don’t know the danger and hardships involved. We who’ve experienced it firsthand are the ones qualified to comment on Miss Huo’s character. These people know nothing, yet they insult others this way; it’s infuriating!”

Liu Yan admired Huo Sining; during this time, she had heard her husband talk about Huo Sining’s rescue efforts many times. She had already considered this girl a savior of Qingcheng Mountain. Unexpectedly, this girl was being slandered, and even as an outsider, she felt shaken, filled with righteous indignation, let alone the actual person involved, Huo Sining.

”This can’t be. These people must have been instigated by that magazine. As direct witnesses, we have the authority to speak; we must clarify this matter for Miss Huo, ensuring she doesn’t suffer an unjust accusation. Given Miss Huo’s character, I don’t believe she would resort to fraudulent donations; surely someone is scheming against her!”

Li Gang said urgently, then his gaze shifted to Zhao Qihui, suddenly brightening:

”Comrade, I see integrity in your eyes; you should be a fair and just reporter. I trust you wouldn’t distort facts and stir up trouble. You want to interview us, fine, but I hope you can publish what we say word for word. We hope to clear Miss Huo’s name, ensuring our Qingcheng Mountain savior isn’t misunderstood and doesn’t suffer unjust accusations!”

Zhao Qihui had been waiting for this. Seeing Li Gang willingly agree to the interview, he immediately nodded:

”Alright, go ahead and speak; I’ll record it carefully. The camera is on; whatever you know, just say it. I will verify each point later.”

Li Gang nodded, beginning with how he and Liao Ping, along with a few others, went to seek out Huo Sining to redress their mistakes, describing in detail the scene they encountered upon arrival, seeing disaster victims lying on the ground, and the survivors rescued by Huo Sining and several sixteen or seventeen-year-old youngsters from the hotel.

Then he talked about Huo Sining leading them in rescue efforts, performing surgery on a child with a coagulation disorder, and finally about Huo Sining joining the rescue team at West City Reservoir.

After Li Gang finished speaking, Zhao Qihui was left in awe. If Li Gang hadn’t called three other police officers to testify, Zhao Qihui might have doubted whether what Li Gang said was true.

These four were police officers, and Huo Sining was an official figure. Zhao Qihui worried these four might have been planted by Huo Sining. Upholding the journalist spirit of restoring factual truth and being impartial, Zhao Qihui randomly sought out several people on the street for interviews.

The result left Zhao Qihui dumbfounded.

In Meishan Town, he interviewed six or seven people, and three knew survivors who had been rescued by Miss Huo during the earthquake at the hotel, and one of them had witnessed Huo Sining saving people on the spot.

”I was there at the time. That Miss Huo, clad in protective gear and a helmet, initially we didn’t realize she was a twenty-year-old girl, thought she was a doctor from some hospital. She carried emergency medical supplies, treated wounds of rescued individuals on the spot, and for an entire afternoon, she didn’t drink a sip of water or take a rest, solely focused on saving lives. My sister was carried out of the hotel by her, if it weren’t for her emergency hemostasis, my sister might not have lasted till the rescue team arrived.”

At this point, Zhao Qihui fully believed Li Gang’s statements. It appeared these people were telling the truth, not lying.

Considering this, the flight the boss mentioned for the afternoon could only be postponed. For now, it looked like he wouldn’t be going back.

Zhao Qihui’s eyes lit up with a glimmer, subconsciously stretching his body in excitement, feeling invigorated, as his journalist spirit was reignited.

To gather more evidence, Zhao Qihui compiled the information he had collected, systematically organized it, and followed up.

He tracked down the child with a coagulation disorder and the rescue team at West City Reservoir, eventually finding the West City Reservoir area, interviewing two children surnamed Hua rescued by Huo Sining from the flood, and connecting with a Qing City Military Region captain. Thus, piecing together everything Huo Sining had done in the earthquake disaster zone over the ten days.

By the afternoon, Zhao Qihui had thoroughly investigated the various information; he hastily returned to the tent set up by the Yangcheng Weekly and promptly called the editor.

The editor, Yin Hong, was deliberating whether to follow suit and do a special report on the earthquake. Yangcheng Weekly had always emphasized the quality and cutting-edge nature of its news reports; following suit on such news, Yin Hong was somewhat reluctant, but not doing anything felt like something was missing.

Just then, she received Zhao Qihui’s call, and upon clearly understanding what Zhao Qihui was saying on the other end, Yin Hong trembled with excitement, exclaiming:

”Hurry and send over the article and interview video; such big news needs a grand feature page. I’ll use your report shortly!”