Homo Sapiens

While Li Qingye was sharpening his blades...

「A few days earlier.」

On the same day the Soldiers secretly captured Watanabe and his men, Li Jinglan received instructions from Li Qingye. He had no choice but to hurriedly leave Dart Port and head to Manila to catch a plane.

Bafate, who was driving, escorted Li Jinglan, Kang Nan, and the others as they rushed toward Lima South City.

Although Dart Port was also on Luzon Island, it was about 300 kilometers from the capital, Manila. Since it had no railway, they had to go to the neighboring Lima South City to catch a train.

That evening, Bafate’s convoy arrived in Lima South. Homo Sapiens Company had set up an office there to arrange transportation and accommodation for internal personnel.

For example, the vehicles of the escort convoy would be temporarily stored at the Lima South Office, to be picked up on their return trip.

The person overseeing the Lima South Office was part of Homo Sapiens Company’s Internal Affairs Department, and the one in charge was a Soldier.

Inside the pre-arranged hotel.

Something about Li Qingye’s sudden arrangements felt wrong to Li Jinglan. He hadn’t been able to call Watanabe on the way over because Bafate was there.

Now that he finally had some private time, he quickly picked up his phone.

BEEP BEEP BEEP... ’The number you have dialed is not in service... Please try again later...’ BEEP BEEP BEEP...

’What’s going on? Did something happen?’ A bad feeling welled up in Li Jinglan, and he quickly called his secretary, Lime, over.

”Lime, use your phone to call this number.”

Not understanding the situation, Lime dialed the number in confusion, but she couldn’t get through either. Li Jinglan’s unease intensified.

Extremely agitated, he paced back and forth in the living room.

Lime, standing to the side, asked cautiously, ”President Li, could it be that their phone is broken, or maybe they haven’t paid their bill?”

As if grasping at a life-saving straw, Li Jinglan quickly calmed down. He suddenly noticed an app on his phone and remembered one of its features.

He quickly opened [AhstsAPP]. Although the two of them had never added each other as friends, the instant messaging app supported communication between non-contacts, as long as you had their information.

The app was widely used in Southeast Asia, Xiangjiang, Taiwan, and East Japan. As a senior executive at a commercial company, even if one didn’t use AhstsAPP frequently, they would typically have it installed on their phone or laptop for communicating with clients.

Soon, Li Jinglan had composed a message.

More than ten minutes later, as Li Jinglan’s mood grew increasingly grim, he suddenly received a reply.

[Mr. Li, is something the matter? Why can’t I reach you by phone?]

Li Jinglan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied.

[Mr. Watanabe, sorry to bother you. I was suddenly notified about a business trip to Xiangjiang for about two weeks. I was worried something had happened on your end when my calls wouldn’t connect. We can discuss that other matter next time.]

[OK. I’ll arrange for the right people to make sure it’s foolproof. Here’s to us striking it rich!]

After seeing this, Li Jinglan was completely reassured, and their communication ended.

Just then, he was bitten several times on the neck by mosquitoes. He swatted a few of them, leaving his hand smeared with blood. His whole body also felt sticky and uncomfortable, drenched in sweat from his earlier anxiety.

Suddenly, he caught sight of his secretary, Lime. A wave of heat surged through him. Tossing his phone aside, he pulled her into the bathroom.

As his secretary, Lime naturally knew the unwritten rules of the job.

Soon, the sounds of a female soprano and a male bass echoed from the bathroom, performing the primitive rhythm of life.

「The next morning.」

A refreshed and invigorated Li Jinglan boarded the train to Manila with Kang Nan, Bafate, and the others.

...

”Boss, General Manager Li is on his way to Manila. Mission accomplished,” reported the head of the Lima South Office over the phone.

”Yes. Carry on.”

”Understood, Boss.”

Because they were using a public communications channel, they both kept the call brief, and the conversation avoided any explicit details.

...

After getting off the plane, Li Jinglan and his group rested for a day in Xiangjiang.

Then, Li Jinglan began to work on his assignment. The task was to negotiate with the Xinhai Company, a previous partner, to have them help procure a batch of scientific research equipment. Since much of the equipment was sensitive, both sides proceeded with caution.

Over a week passed quickly, but the negotiations weren’t going smoothly, mainly because they couldn’t reach an agreement on some of the equipment.

After all, much of the equipment was sensitive under the Wassenaar Arrangement. And while Luzon wasn’t a restricted region, the fact that the boss of Homo Sapiens Company was Chinese posed a problem.

After another fruitless day, Li Jinglan sent Bafate and Kang Nan away and drove himself home to his house in Xiangjiang.

Exhausted from the long day, he lay on the sofa, idly flipping through TV channels.

Seeing her husband’s exhausted expression, his wife took out the Australian Wagyu short ribs she had just bought the previous day, preparing a special meal for him.

Half an hour later, the short ribs, seared to a golden-brown, were served with white asparagus and cherry tomatoes. A bottle of Romanée-Conti had also been opened.

”Dear, dinner is ready.”

”Kai, stop playing on the computer and come eat.”

Li Jinglan turned off the TV. At the dinner table, he skillfully sliced into the beef. The Maillard reaction produced a rich, seared crust on the steak, filling his mouth with the aroma of meat and fat.

After a few bites of the short rib, he took a sip of red wine.

”Hah, this Wagyu is really worth its thousand-yuan-per-kilo price tag... Huh...?”

Halfway through his thought, Li Jinglan suddenly had trouble breathing. His face flushed red, he grew dizzy, and then his heart abruptly stopped.

”Dear? What’s wrong?”

Panicked and at a loss, Madam Li quickly called for an ambulance.

Outside the emergency room of Xiangjiang Hospital, Bafate and Kang Nan, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, stood silently to one side. Li Jinglan’s family waited nearby, their faces filled with grief.

Over twenty minutes later, a light above the emergency room door went out. The attending doctor emerged, his face full of regret, and announced to everyone:

”I’m very sorry. The patient has lost all vital signs.”

”SOB... How could this happen?”

”Dad...”

Kang Nan inquired about Li Jinglan’s condition and learned that he had gone into sudden anaphylactic shock, causing respiratory distress and cardiac arrest. He was already dead on arrival at the hospital.

He asked in confusion, ”Doctor, can an allergic reaction really be that severe? According to Madam Li, Manager Li only ate steak and asparagus. He often ate Western food on his business trips and never had a reaction before.”

The doctor offered an explanation based on his medical knowledge:

”I can explain that. A red meat allergy isn’t always congenital. It can be acquired through a tick bite, which causes the body to develop the allergy. In cases of a severe reaction, it can certainly be fatal.”

Once he understood the cause, Kang Nan’s doubts were dispelled. He offered his condolences to Li Jinglan’s family before calling Li Qingye to report what had happened.

Upon hearing the news, Li Qingye, who was in Luzon, immediately instructed Kang Nan to take over Li Jinglan’s responsibilities. He was to sign the contract with Xinhai Company as soon as possible, but the previously discussed sensitive equipment was to be removed from the deal.

He also instructed Kang Nan to express the company’s condolences to Li Jinglan’s family and to provide them with a compensation payment.