Locustland | 'House Sister' and her shady parents brought down by MSM microblog crusade

The report cited only a few details followed by addresses and a revised accusation the following day, namely that the newspaper had learned Zhai's "post-90s" daughter - so far unnamed but now known widely as "House Sister" - is the listed owner of 11 flats (the largest reportedly 2,777 sq ft), but the move paid off when Zhai's former office took to its Sina Weibo account on December 28 and confirmed Sing Pao's accusation.

The Zhengzhou housing administration added that an investigation has been launched, but in the meantime it hopes to protect the privacy of those involved, and nothing has been posted to its microblog account in the days since.

People's Daily started following the story that same day (also keeping all this confined to Sina Weibo), going on to reveal that the 11 properties in question were purchased in late 2010, long before her father resigned from his administrative position.

Then late on Sunday, People's Daily noted on its microblog account that the Zhengzhou propaganda department had just announced authorities in the city have begun a formal investigation into the situation.

It was also on Sunday that initial media coverage of this story finally appeared. In its report, republished on Tuesday by People's Daily, Beijing News carried quotes from unnamed whistleblowers and employees at a Zhengzhou property developer allegedly used by Zhai to get his hands on the flats held by his daughter.