Chapter 671 - 669: Trouble to show the health code
"Ah, I had such a good sleep!"
When the Import and Export Management Bureau and the Immigration Management Bureau were swamped with work, Zhang Menglong had just woken up from his sleep.
The ingredients had already been prepared in the refrigerator of the hotel suite, and Lu Yiyao had also prepared breakfast.
In the living room, everyone seemed somewhat listless, after all, they had all come with high expectations; some senior brothers and sisters had even spent a lot of money on DSLR cameras, but now, with the weather sunny outside, they could only stay cooped up in the hotel.
"Why do you all look so unhappy?" Zhang Menglong asked while eating.
"Menglong, didn't you say that they would come to us today? Why is there still no movement now?"
"Yeah, we're not really going to be stuck in this godforsaken place for three weeks, are we?"
"What's the rush," Zhang Menglong pointed at the wall clock, "it's not even 10 o'clock yet. But I guess they're already busy to the point of desperation now."
"Huh?" Everyone was puzzled; Zhang Menglong had only made a phone call last night, could it have taken effect already? How much influence and execution power would that require?
"You can turn on the news and have a look, maybe there's already news about it," Zhang Menglong said with a smile.
Zhu Mengchao turned on the TV and randomly switched through channels, and one of the screens showed the port, bustling with activity.
The port is now in complete chaos, with a large pile of cargo accumulated on one side. Some goods that should have been shipped early in the wee hours were still in the same place, and new containers continued to arrive. The port was now busier than a vegetable market.
The mood among the merchants was uncontrollable. Nothing was happening in the country, in fact, the remaining cases had been cleared two days ago. So why was there suddenly a pandemic outbreak out of the blue?
Many of those entrepreneurs had connections in the healthcare system, and after making inquiries, they found out that all this talk about a severe pandemic and new virus strains was completely unfounded—it was all made up, moving in the shadows, a product of sheer imagination...
Even some businesses had suffered tremendous losses in just a few hours. How would these losses be accounted for?
The Import and Export Management Bureau had to give an explanation, didn't they?
And what about the cranes and workers who were ready for work, now being told that there was no work left? It's common knowledge that many workers get paid by the job, not all countries have a complete employment system—no work means no pay!
A large number of workers were now crowding at the docks; some were cursing through loudspeakers, others had somehow obtained banners and were demanding an explanation.
"What's the situation? Menglong, do you have such good relationships with these enterprises that trade with South Africa?" one of Zhang Menglong's seniors asked. "They canceled the deals so quickly?"
"Don't tell me you've started using your old tricks of coercion and temptation again? If they don't listen to you, do you buy them out? That seems like your style of doing things."
"Sorry," Zhang Menglong shook his head, "I control 80% of South Africa's import and export business, directly or indirectly they are all my enterprises. I'm their boss. If I tell them to stop, they have to stop for me!"
"Brilliant!"
"Damn! Junior, your industry chain is so wide, my apologies for underestimating you!"
"This move really impresses your senior sister."
"???"
"Senior sister, cut out the flirting!"
...
Everyone was educated in the High-Grade system, and they could guess the consequences of this situation: South Africa definitely wouldn't just watch its national foreign trade system collapse. So in the end, as Zhang Menglong said, they would have to come and beg him.
How long could they hold out?
If there really had been an outbreak, that would have been a different story; preservation of life is most important, being alive with food and water would be good enough.
But the key point now is that there is no such issue at all. Who knows who spread that fake news? There had been actual problems, but now they had created such a mess, and the people from the Immigration Management Bureau owed the entire nation an apology!
What good did spreading a fake pandemic do for them? This was definitely a conspiracy!
At this moment, countless phone calls were hitting various related departments. You could see the degree of public and social pressure everyone was under. Forget about a three-week quarantine period; they probably couldn't last three days!
In the afternoon, the relevant departments remained as stubborn as ducks, and finally, an extreme incident erupted.
The Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration and the Health Bureau were actually attacked by some businesses!
The staff of the Health Bureau was really depressed, they were just following orders, and all they did was put on a show near the airport, so why had the public's anger been vented on them?
Dr. Amini's head was wrapped in a white bandage, just moments ago, as he was maintaining order, his head was struck hard with a stick.
The businessman had mortgaged his car and house to the bank, raising several million USDs, prepared to ride the wave of this global industrial boom and make a killing.
The deal had been struck, the contract signed, they were just short of handing over the goods, once the goods were exchanged, 10 million USDs would be directly in his account, he could redeem all the mortgaged properties and then make a tidy profit of several million USDs.
But now, his goods had already been waiting at the port for half a day, and the business partner was telling him that due to the epidemic, cooperation would have to be delayed until after epidemic control, maybe another month!
In another week, the bank would come to take his house and car!
And there wasn't even an actual epidemic, when the hell was this supposed to be delayed until?
In anger, he and many other similar businessmen rushed to the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration and gave Dr. Amini a good thrashing.
"It was all your great idea!" Dr. Amini looked at his assistant, but he couldn't blame him too much, after all, at that time he really had no other choice, and he had nodded in agreement to this plan.
"What do we do now? The virus mutation, the aggravation of the epidemic, if it was just bluffing Zhang Menglong that would be one thing, but now the whole country knows about this, those who believed it have started hoarding goods in supermarkets, and they've even begun to pillage and plunder.
Those who don't believe, like these foreign trade businessmen, are now anxious enough to kill, if this is not resolved soon, maybe someone will lob a gas cylinder in here in a moment.
"Director, it's the call from above!" a subordinate handed him the phone.
"Dr. Amini! I am aware of your situation, leaving this matter to you to handle was indeed troublesome, but now we have a new strategy!"
"A new strategy?" Dr. Amini sighed, "Sir, if I may be frank, I think the decision to go against Zhang Menglong from the beginning was a mistake."
"But what's done is done, we can only persist in this error," said the person on the other end of the phone, "Within three days, someone will deal with Zhang Menglong, what you need to do now is ensure that Zhang Menglong is kept stable over these three days, at any cost, he must not make any moves. After three days, this person will cease to exist in this world."
"How certain are we?" Dr. Amini asked.
"99%! And the 1%, unless he's not human!"
"Alright, three days, is it?" Dr. Amini hung up the phone.
"Director, just now..."
"Let's go, to find Zhang Menglong!" Dr. Amini said, "Go and apologize to him, whatever his conditions, we accept them all, as long as the economy can be stabilized within these three days, as well as Zhang Menglong."
Dr. Amini's assistant did not speak, but he knew that Dr. Amini must have his own thoughts in making this decision.
"Let's go now!"
...
The hotel where Zhang Menglong and his associates resided had been thoroughly transformed overnight into a so-called "quarantine hotel", where hardly anyone could be seen, all the staff had also received temporary training, which indeed seemed very serious.
He and his assistant arrived at the top floor presidential suite and pressed the doorbell of the room.
"Who is it?" a young voice came from inside the door.
"Mr. Zhang, may I ask if it's convenient to open the door? I am Dr. Amini, the director of the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration."
"Oh, it's not convenient!"
"???" Dr. Amini was stunned for a moment, what kind of person was this, could they not play by the common sense?
"Sorry, I heard that the epidemic in your country is quite serious, if you would like to come in, please first show your health code!"
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