All the reporters from various media outlets were stunned by the shocking news, leaving them momentarily dazed. This brief confusion allowed McCall and his team to leave the scene smoothly. Once they finally regained their senses, the reporters realized the experts had already departed. After carefully assessing the situation, they noticed that Mu Lin’s clinic was now refusing interviews, and the experts had left. The only remaining source of information was their previously published news.
In a rush, all the journalists swarmed back to their offices to re-examine their earlier reports. After thorough research and in light of the day’s events, they concluded that they had indeed been deceived by the Y government. As a result, television networks began detailed critiques, while newspapers published special editions analyzing the entire incident. They clearly explained how they had been misled due to a secret understanding between the two governments, with Mu Lin’s clinic and the media becoming mere pawns for the politicians.
Since this was a live television program, Jones’s questions and McCall’s responses were directly broadcast into countless households. The timing of the broadcast, during the lunch break, meant that many people were able to watch the news. Several television networks even rebroadcast the program. In no time, the entire U country was shaken by this news, and people rushed onto the streets to seek more detailed information.
The citizens of U country are naturally among the most self-important in the world. To them, “world news” means news happening within U country. News from other countries is considered local news, which they generally ignore.
The earlier phase of the Mu Lin clinic incident had already stirred up media frenzy, and the gambling industry added fuel to the fire, pushing the event to new heights. It had essentially become a nationwide news event with widespread public participation in both media attention and gambling bets.
Due to the superficial information uncovered by the media in Y country, U citizens believed that Mu Lin’s clinic had a chance of winning. Thus, many placed bets that the clinic could cure the patient within a year. Although the stakes were not high, they believed this was due to the government’s negligence in verifying the facts. In their eyes, a small clinic like Mu Lin’s naturally wouldn’t have the authority to examine patients in Y country, so the government should have been responsible for thoroughly reviewing the patient’s records.
Now, the government had used a green channel to send a dying patient to a private company in their own country, colluding with the Y government to undermine their own domestic business. Although this company belonged to an Asian-American, he was still a citizen of U country. Moreover, each clinic offered free treatment to two ordinary people every month. Such a compassionate enterprise deserved strong government protection. Now that this company was in conflict with a foreign government, the U government failed to protect it adequately, which in turn caused them to lose their gambling bets. Therefore, the government’s health department bore inescapable responsibility.
These people gathered in increasing numbers in the bustling areas of various cities, and eventually spontaneously organized marches. Their slogan was: “Oppose the collusion between the government and foreign governments, protect the honor of our citizens and safeguard their legal property from government-backed encroachment!”
Since the number of people participating in the gambling was enormous, nearly reaching nationwide participation, the protest marches grew larger and larger. Normally, in U country, if an organization wanted to hold a demonstration, they only needed to submit their proposed ideas, number of participants, time, and route to the police in advance. The police would then reasonably arrange the event based on traffic and public safety conditions.
However, this protest was spontaneously organized by the people without prior notification. Moreover, most of the police officers in the police department had also participated in the gambling and turned a blind eye to the situation. If not for their duty, they might have even joined the protest themselves.
By the time the protest marches filled the streets, causing traffic jams and paralyzing the entire city, the government finally realized the seriousness of the situation. However, by then, it was already nearly impossible for city governments to communicate with each other.
As the protest marches expanded, all major streets became impassable, disrupting normal travel and preventing people from going to work. Some sensible companies and businesses simply declared holidays for their employees. Government departments in various cities were also unable to function effectively due to employees’ inability to commute.
In the evening, some radical youths, hooligans, and ruffians took advantage of the night to begin looting, smashing, and burning. They destroyed and robbed shops, set cars ablaze, causing chaos in the cities, which gradually spread and expanded. Residents in each city began staying at home for safety, and a panic began to spread throughout the city, eventually reaching every corner of the country.
The next day, seeing the chaos and panic continuing to escalate, the president, following the advice of national security officials, announced a state of national emergency on television. He urged all citizens to remain calm, return home, and cooperate with the government to maintain national order. If the situation still could not be improved, the government would take further action. The president promised to address the Mu Lin clinic issue by negotiating with the Y government and providing a satisfactory explanation to the entire nation.
Subsequently, large numbers of fully armed National Guard units flooded the streets, declaring a state of emergency. They began working with the police to restore order. This was the first time in the country’s history that a state of emergency had been declared due to an incident involving an ordinary private enterprise.
On the third day, the U country’s health minister announced his resignation, citing his own dereliction of duty in failing to properly screen patients brought in from Y country, which had triggered the protests and damaged the reputation of the U people and government.
After the police and National Guard arrested a large number of troublemakers based on solid evidence, and with the implementation of the national emergency, people’s sense of terror gradually faded. By the fourth day, order in various cities had begun to slowly return. The government then announced the lifting of the national emergency. Everything gradually returned to normal.
During these days, spontaneous protest marches, city paralysis, looting incidents, the declaration of a national emergency, the resignation of the health minister, and the deployment of the National Guard to maintain order and arrest troublemakers occurred one after another. All these events happened so suddenly, without any warning signs.
After experiencing these events one by one, people’s moods fluctuated dramatically. Just then, the media reported another incident, instantly lifting people’s worried and disheartened feelings from the depths of despair back to the heights of hope, causing their emotions to once again experience a dramatic shift from sorrow to joy.
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