Public opinion storm
"Minister, this is the video just released by Country M. This is a preliminary summary of global public opinion."
The secretary placed the video and an emergency report in front of Zhou Zhenguo, and then looked up at Zhou Zhenguo's face.
Zhou Zhenguo looked at the small tomato in the video with a gloomy expression.
How do they get samples?
Zhou Zhenguo couldn't figure it out.
They successfully captured the spider, red-handed. The entire box of vegetables is still sealed in the evidence room.
They thought they had plugged all the loopholes.
But now, Country M not only provided samples, but also research reports.
Unless... unless they got another box instead of that one...
Zhou Zhenguo's pupils suddenly shrank.
He thought of an overlooked detail.
There was a period of time, neither long nor short, before the spider was caught.
And the spider admitted it so quickly, as if he had a backup plan.
Zhou Zhenguo stood up suddenly and grabbed the coat on the back of the chair.
"Prepare the car, go to West Suburb No. 7 and interrogate Spider."
No. 7 Western Suburbs, a secret detention center.
In the interrogation room, Spider was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.
The iron gate opened from the outside.
Spider slowly opened his eyes, and when he saw Zhou Zhenguo, a smile appeared in his eyes, as if saying: You are finally here.
Zhou Zhenguo did not sit down, but just looked down at him and placed a tablet in front of him.
On the screen, the experimental video that shocked the world was playing.
"Explain." Zhou Zhenguo only said two words.
Spider glanced at the screen, and the curve of his mouth became a little bigger, even with a hint of mockery.
"What do you want to explain? Explain the magic of the YX factor, or explain your country's selfishness?"
He asked in fluent Chinese, "Minister Zhou, you should congratulate me. I have completed the task."
"When you were arrested, we seized all the vegetables." Zhou Zhenguo spoke each word with a fixed gaze on him. "How could you possibly have ended up in Country M?"
"Why not?"
Spider laughed out loud as if he had heard a joke, "Minister Zhou, it seems that your country's counterintelligence training is still at a very elementary stage.
You actually believe that I would put all my hopes in one basket?"
He straightened up, leaning forward slightly, a sly glint in his eyes.
"I admit that your response speed exceeded my expectations.
You caught me and intercepted the box. That box of vegetables was indeed our target.
Because it is large in quantity and high in value, it is enough to support a complete study.
For this, I am even willing to expose myself and attract your full attention."
Spider paused, admiring Zhou Zhenguo's expression.
“But in any major operation, I always have a backup, a humble backup.
That way, even if I get arrested, I can still complete my mission and send the backup."
Zhou Zhenguo couldn't help but clench his fists at his sides.
"I just picked out the smallest tomato from the pile of vegetables." He stretched out his thumb and index finger to measure the size.
"I put it in the suitcase of another M countryman on a business trip and wrapped it in Medog. Luckily, your staff didn't find it, and luckily the tomato was small enough."
"And that big box," he spread his hands with a bright smile on his face, "from beginning to end, it was a bait to attract you."
“You successfully caught the bait and are gloating over it.
The real seeds had already left China on a flight."
There was dead silence in the interrogation room.
Zhou Zhenguo closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the shock and anger in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only a bottomless chill.
He lost a move.
Country M sacrificed an ace agent and the entire Shangjing intelligence network just to get a tomato.
What a big deal.
That’s cruel enough.
"It seems we underestimated your desire for the YX Factor," Zhou Zhenguo said slowly, his voice now calm. "We also overestimated your bottom line."
The spider regained his composure and said, "It is not a desire, Mr. Minister."
“When a force powerful enough to overturn the world emerges, any means are justified.
This is not our bottom line, this is human instinct."
…
When Zhou Zhenguo came out of West Suburb No. 7, it was already completely dark.
The cool evening breeze blew on his face, but it could not dispel the depression in his heart.
He lost, and lost unexpectedly.
Country M staged a trick to escape just to get vegetable samples.
Zhou Zhenguo clearly realized that things were beginning to get out of control.
The atmosphere in the office was depressing.
"Minister, foreign public opinion has completely gotten out of control," an analyst reported.
"Also, although we immediately activated the highest level of network control, the video released by Country M still leaked in through some channels."
Despite the existence of firewalls, the Internet is not truly impenetrable in the information age.
Internet technology geeks, overseas students, and multinational gamers were the first to know about it.
At first, they just sent screenshots and video links in the group.
"Holy crap, is this true? Country M says our country has developed a magical vegetable that can cure illnesses and prolong life?"
"Is this photoshopped? The special effects look so real. The speed of cell repair is so fast that even a biology teacher would cry."
"Wait, that screenshot of the online store at the end of the video... a delicious vegetable store? Why does that name sound familiar?"
Looks familiar, of course it looks familiar.
Some people remembered the hot search, the mysterious online store selling sky-high priced vegetables, 600 yuan per pound, which can strengthen the body, cure diseases and prolong life.
At that time, I just thought it was exaggerated marketing, but now I think about it, isn’t it the online store that the United States mentioned!
Within a day, the top trending search had changed.
#Delicious vegetable shop#
"So, the tomatoes I bought back for 600 yuan a pound are not ordinary tomatoes, but the carriers of the YX factor that Country M mentioned?
Is this a miracle drug that can regenerate cells? I even scrambled eggs with it yesterday?!
"Brother above, you are not alone. My mother thinks it is too expensive and can't afford to eat it. She cuts a small piece every day and soaks it in water to drink. She says that after drinking it, she feels energetic.
I laughed at her psychological effect at the time, but now I just want to kneel down and apologize to my mother, and ask if I can have a lick of the glass of water.
"I finally understand why my grandfather's gout didn't relapse after eating the cucumbers from this shop!
I thought the old man had prayed to a god and it had shown him some kind of power, but it turns out he had actually prayed to a real god!"
"Case solved! I've always wondered why this store's vegetables are so ridiculously expensive, don't offer free shipping, and have such a snotty attitude, yet they sell out instantly every time they put them on the shelves.
It turns out that those of us who spend money are not the unlucky ones, but the chosen ones who have gotten lucky!"
The comment section turned into a large-scale Versailles scene and confession meeting.
Those who had complained about the prices before now wished they could go back in time and slap themselves in the face.
Those who once scoffed at the sky-high prices of vegetables, after seeing the trending searches, beat their chests and stamped their feet, feeling that they had missed out on 100 million yuan.
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