Food Safety Storm Part Two

If it had merely been a standard report, it would have been fine; after all, while the media had reported little in the past, it was not entirely unheard of.

The crux of the matter was that the University of Bulgaria Daily had actually conducted follow-up reports, pointing out the purpose of adding mercury compounds to food, the prevalence of this phenomenon, and providing a detailed introduction to its dangers.

They even listed dozens of products, including cheese, sausages, and canned goods, all containing large amounts of mercury additives. As a result, the Bulgarian public, who had been immersed in "happiness," suddenly discovered that their wonderful lives seemed no longer sustainable.

Wiki burst into his home, excitedly saying, "Irene, look what I bought! Fine Spanish sausage!"

"What? Wiki, have you read today's newspaper? Do you know what a mercury compound is? It's a heavy metal! Think about it, we are eating metal! God, this is truly terrifying!"

"This will cause irreversible damage and might even affect our children! Why would you still buy..." Irene said nervously.

Similar stories played out in countless households across Sofia. For a time, all long-term storage food products across Bulgaria became difficult to sell.

A spectacle unfolded on the streets of Sofia: families with slightly more wealth stepped out of their homes, throwing away all the long-term storage food they had purchased.

Garbage heaps became food concentration camps, which, in turn, benefited the beggars on the streets.

Naturally, such reports hindered the capitalists' path to wealth and invited retaliation. Splashing feces at the newspaper office or mailing bullets to the editorial department were considered minor antics, but soon, a major incident occurred.

On the morning of November 1st, a stranger threw a bomb into the University of Bulgaria Daily. However, because it happened in the early morning, there were no casualties.

Yet, this act did not intimidate the University of Bulgaria Daily; instead, it infuriated them, as well as all sectors of society.

Upon receiving the news, the Sofia police immediately provided security for the University of Bulgaria Daily, arrested the suspect, and began to focus on monitoring the capitalists whose interests had been harmed.

The next day, the front page of the University of Bulgaria Daily published an article titled, "Come, Terrorists, We Are Waiting."

In the article, the editors of the University of Bulgaria Daily reviewed the cause and effect of the events, from the initial splashing of feces to the final bomb attack, and emphasized the latter, equating unscrupulous capitalists with terrorists.

They then stated that they and their colleagues were also afraid of death and full of love for life, but when it came to the safety of the Bulgarian people, freedom of speech, and the moral character of a journalist, the University of Bulgaria Daily would never compromise.

Following the publication of this article, the entire public opinion sphere was outraged. They expressed their support for the University of Bulgaria Daily one after another, and to demonstrate their social responsibility, they joined the crusade against such incidents.

Consequently, more and more problems were exposed. From the initial mercury compounds, it had expanded to pigments extracted from coal tar—aniline purple—and dozens of other additives, large and small, were revealed.

The issue of food safety was magnified; from the dozen or so items initially listed by the University of Bulgaria Daily, it now covered almost every product on the market.

Experts and scholars from the University of Bulgaria suddenly discovered they had a new purpose, stepping forward to provide theoretical support for these reports.

Some scholars even declared that if food safety issues were resolved, the average life expectancy in Bulgaria could increase by ten years, adding fuel to the fire of public opinion.

For a time, Bulgarian food processing companies became targets of public scorn, with all sectors of society demanding that the government take measures to crack down on unscrupulous capitalists—no, they should be called "terrorist capitalists."

Ever since the University of Bulgaria Daily equated terrorists with food capitalists, the term "terrorist capitalist" was born, becoming a synonym for unscrupulous merchants.

Amidst the outcry, a winter of discontent arrived for food processing companies. Large quantities of products were manufactured only to find no market, piling up in warehouses waiting to mold.

At the same time, thanks to labor protection laws, capitalists could not arbitrarily lay off workers. Under the pressure of public opinion, no one dared to report to the government; if the government investigated and the workers were dissatisfied, they might leak the factory's situation, and the government would surely make an example of them.

The capitalists gnashed their teeth in hatred toward the University of Bulgaria Daily, and they wished they could grind the mastermind behind the bombing into dust.

Powerful capitalists were better off and could absorb the losses, but it was a bitter struggle for the small-time capitalists, who could only grit their teeth and hold on.

The clear-headed ones were already looking for an exit. They knew that with the situation blown up this large, the government would have to find a few scapegoats to satisfy public opinion.

Klo-Ivan was one such capitalist, running a slaughterhouse in Sofia. Ever since the food safety crisis broke out, he had been restless.

"God, this is truly terrible! Damn University of Bulgaria Daily, sons of bitches! I never offended you, why stick your noses in other people's business? And that idiot who threw the bomb, is his brain filled with paste? I hope I never find out who you are, or I will definitely make you regret it..."

Now, he could be heard cursing the University of Bulgaria Daily for meddling more than once a day, though he cursed the idiot who threw the bomb even more.

However, Klo-Ivan was quite sharp. His first move was to appease his workers, and then he began to look for an exit.

Klo-Ivan knew very well that after such a major incident, the government would definitely crack down hard, and getting through it easily would not be simple.

As for food safety, Klo-Ivan was a capitalist, and water-injected meat was naturally standard. Besides, how could the meat in a slaughterhouse be sold out every day? Chemical additives were certainly used; after all, everyone did it.

Klo-Ivan activated his entire network of connections, regardless of the cost, but unfortunately, no one in the government dared to take the bait.

Klo-Ivan knew he was in big trouble. If he didn't handle it quickly, it would be hard to escape later.

He immediately began looking for a buyer, no longer caring about the price; as long as someone was willing to take over and could settle the subsequent trouble for him, everything else was negotiable.

Unfortunately, in the current state of Bulgaria, everyone was trying to escape, so who would jump into the pit?

After all, food capitalists equaled terrorist capitalists; industry insiders were struggling to save themselves, and even if outsiders wanted to take advantage of the bargain, they had to consider the label of "terrorist capitalist."

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