Ou Minghan searched everywhere but found no gossip accounts willing to take his leak.
In the end, an annoyed Ou Minghan directly paid for several gossip accounts and broke the news himself. Afterward, he spent a considerable sum of money to hire many internet trolls to spread the word and generate buzz, finally managing to amplify the heat of the leaked article.
However, at the beginning of the leaked article, it was merely stated that Ye Zhi was not of the Ye family's bloodline, having been abandoned at a hospital by her biological parents and subsequently adopted by the Ye family.
Following this, the article, with a tone of great sympathy, described the place where Ye Zhi was abandoned. It highlighted that the area was severely patriarchal, where abandoning infants and even more cruel acts were common occurrences for the sake of bearing sons. The article then detailed those tragic situations.
Finally, the article, in a mocking tone, praised Ye Zhi's luck, stating that if she had survived in her original family, she would likely only be an ordinary "Zhao Di" who hadn't even finished junior high, married early, had one son after another, or worked hard in a factory to buy a house for her younger brother. It further implied that Ye Zhi's failure to find her biological parents was due to her disdain for her origins and unwillingness to support them.
Throughout the leak, Ou Minghan did not use overly aggressive language, knowing that it would only evoke public resentment and make people less likely to believe him.
Therefore, he did not directly attack Ye Zhi, intending to use this method to strip away her aura. He wanted everyone to see that Ye Zhi's only asset was her good fortune; otherwise, she was an utterly useless person of humble origins.
Once Ye Zhi lost her halo, people would naturally stop fawning over her.
However, Ou Minghan did not expect the public's reaction to this leak to be the opposite of what he anticipated.
"Are they spreading rumors to Ye Zhi now? It seems some people can't sit still with Ye Zhi's recent popularity? This intense jealousy, why does it feel so much like something a petty man would do!"
"I don't care who Ye Zhi's parents are. I just care if you need a son, Miss Ye. I eat when I'm hungry and take shelter when it rains. Look at me, Father Ye!"
"Putting aside whether this is true or not, I just want to say, is there anything wrong with not supporting those who abandoned their children? If this happened to me, and they dared to shamelessly come to me for support, I would sue them for abandonment first! Let them rot in prison for their old age!"
"Are you sick! What did we 'Zhao Dis' ever do to you? Yes, our original families had problems, but we are also working hard to break free from our original families and live for ourselves! What right does that article have to look down on people with such a condescending attitude!"
...
Seeing these comments, Ou Minghan was furious.
Why were people's focus so skewed? Why didn't they believe it at all? And why didn't they care about what kind of people Ye Zhi's parents were?
Shouldn't they look down on Ye Zhi's origins just like him? After all, Ye Zhi couldn't compare to most people in this regard!
What angered him even more was that many people started calling Ye Zhi "Father Ye," and since he presented himself as the "Nation's Husband," if she continued to release such articles, wouldn't he be a generation below Ye Zhi?
Ou Minghan refused to give up. He urged the trolls to continue hyping up the heat, but the momentum never picked up. Instead, many of their accounts were blocked by major websites.
Ou Minghan felt both helpless and unwilling, but he had no other more reliable evidence, so he had to let it go for now.
Zhan Ruoqing noticed this and indignantly called Ye Zhi. "It must have been that scoundrel Ou Minghan! Only he would resort to such a cheap and despicable tactic! Ye Zhi, I think you should thoroughly investigate and sue Ou Minghan!"
Ye Zhi chuckled, "The heat for this matter wasn't very high to begin with, and not many people believed it. If I sue, wouldn't that just give him more attention? Others might even think I'm guilty."
"Give him attention, so be it! Who told him to spread rumors that you're not the Ye family's biological daughter!" Zhan Ruoqing was furious.
Ye Zhi's expression was calm, "I'm not, actually."
"Ah... I... This..." Zhan Ruoqing suddenly became flustered and didn't know what to say.
"Are you trying to comfort me?" Ye Zhi smiled faintly. "No need, no need. I'm 25, not 15. I completely don't care who my biological parents are. After all, I don't need them to prove anything!"
Zhan Ruoqing suddenly enlightened, "Exactly! Unlike some people, you don't need to use the identity of a Duke's daughter to prove how unique you are! I think some people just shout about what they lack the most! Ou Minghan deliberately used origins to attack you, he must be insecure about his own origins all the time!"
"That's actually true," Ye Zhi agreed. Although Ou Minghan used his parents as an excuse to get revenge on the Ye family, he never mentioned his biological parents to the public, only his adoptive parents.
His insecurity was buried deep in his heart, which was why he thought he could attack her using origins and embarrass her.
It was just a pity that Ye Zhi truly didn't care.
They chatted for a few more minutes and then hung up.
In the evening, Ye Zhi went to Qi Xuan's home. She found that the butler seemed exceptionally warm towards her today, as if taking care of her emotions. Upon hearing that she was hungry, the butler immediately led her into the dining room and had dish after dish served.
Ye Zhi was slightly taken aback, "Is dinner this lavish today?"
The butler looked at her affectionately. "I heard the young master say that you'll be inviting many people to the company for a tour tomorrow and discussing business with them. Eating well today will help you be more energetic tomorrow!"
"Thank you, Uncle Butler!" Ye Zhi smiled faintly and didn't ask further.
After the butler left the dining room, Ye Zhi approached Qi Xuan and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with Uncle Butler today? He's acting a bit strange..."
Qi Xuan looked at her tenderly, his eyes filled with pity.
Seeing Ye Zhi looking at him intently, he sighed softly and asked truthfully, "The butler heard the rumors about your background. Ye Zhi, are those rumors true?"
"So it's about that," Ye Zhi realized, and nodded. "It's true. But Uncle Butler is really something; I'm not that fragile!"
Qi Xuan was not too surprised. He asked gently, "Have you thought about finding your biological parents? If you need help, I can help you find them..."
"No, no, no!" Ye Zhi waved her hands repeatedly. "There's no need to look for them. I don't need to know who my biological parents are."
"Are you worried..." Qi Xuan hesitated slightly, then asked, "Did they abandon you?"