Edward Baker was “kissed” by George Baker and survived. Over the past two days, not only has Brian Baker treated him with unusual warmth, but even the villagers who came by to watch the commotion—Edward Baker's intuition told him—looked at him with a complex mix of fear, curiosity, and a desire to get close.

　　That damned intuition again!

　　……

　　……

　　Edward Baker was still a bit weak, so he lay on the wooden bed covered with a straw mat in the morning, listening to Walter Baker and Lily Clark chat idly, and took the opportunity to learn some Yoruba, a language he was still not very familiar with.

　　At noon, the plump cook from the chief’s family had just brought over a local traditional “delicacy”—a thick soup of mutton stewed with onions, tomatoes, and various beans, seasoned with cloves and salt—when the sound of a car approaching came from outside.

　　Edward Baker and Walter Baker pushed open the door and stepped out, seeing John Foster park the branch company’s old Toyota in front of the chief’s grain-drying yard, immediately surrounded by a large group of local children eager to watch the excitement.

　　John Foster was startled when he saw Edward Baker and Walter Baker.

　　He was just pushing open the car door to get out, his body frozen for a moment, and it wasn’t until the company’s accountant, Emily Carter, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, shouted excitedly that he snapped back to his senses:

　　“Edward Baker, you’re okay! You really scared us to death!”

　　John Foster had joined Dongsheng Group three years before Edward Baker, and he had graduated after completing his undergraduate studies, making him eight years older than Edward Baker, who had dropped out of high school and was only twenty-one this year.

　　A year ago, the two of them, along with the group’s middle manager David Sullivan, were sent by the company to Degulamo City to set up the West Africa branch.

　　David Sullivan served as the general manager of the West Africa branch; John Foster, with a bachelor’s degree and three or four years in the company, became the head of administration and marketing at the branch, and was also Edward Baker’s direct supervisor.

　　As for Edward Baker, who had dropped out of high school, when he arrived in Degulamo City just over a year ago, he wasn’t even twenty yet, and he hadn’t been with Dongsheng Group for two years.

　　If it weren’t for his decent English and the fact that no one else in the company was willing to be stationed in Africa, he, as a workshop technician, would never have had a chance at this opportunity.

　　However, after arriving at the West Africa branch, he was destined to be a jack-of-all-trades.

　　After the Degulamo branch was established, the group’s decisions became somewhat erratic, and there was no significant investment or market business directed toward Africa in the early stages.

　　Apart from hiring two local employees—a driver and a cook—the group showed no sign of expanding the West Africa branch over the past year; even the full-time accountant, Emily Carter, was only sent to Degulamo City three months ago.

　　The branch’s general manager, David Sullivan, spent most of his time back in China, so usually it was just Edward Baker and John Foster stationed in Degulamo City, and later joined by Emily Carter, but they still had nothing to do.

　　John Foster was unremarkable in appearance and not even 1.7 meters tall. If he had any redeeming quality, it was a somewhat refined and scholarly air.

　　Back in college, he managed to win over a beautiful junior, and later got her into Dongsheng Group through the HR department, marrying her soon after.

　　Edward Baker didn’t know why John Foster was willing to leave his lovely wife of less than a year behind in China to fight for an overseas posting himself.

　　Maybe it was because John Foster, who wasn’t particularly outstanding in any way, felt he had to work hard to build a successful career, so he could fend off the pack of wolves eyeing his wife and keep her—who was still relatively innocent for now but who knows if she’d be corrupted by this materialistic society in the future?

　　John Foster had abandoned him and Walter Baker in George Baker village when his fate was uncertain. Of course Edward Baker felt some resentment, but though he was young, he’d already taken plenty of beatings from society.

　　Especially his four months in detention had taught him: the more critical the moment, the more you have to keep your cool...

　　Otherwise, even if he stabbed out John Foster’s eyes with a wooden fork right now, it wouldn’t solve anything!

Chapter 3: Favor

　　Once John Foster came back to his senses, he anxiously pushed aside a few curious children and walked over “happily,” unable to hide his shock as he sized up Edward Baker for a long while. Seeing Edward Baker’s cold reaction, he finally thought to explain his earlier actions:

　　“You were bitten by a viper. Walter Baker and I carried you back to the village, and you were already in bad shape. I was afraid that if I took you back to Degulamo and ran into the police on the way, we’d be in big trouble—and there’s no cell signal here, so we couldn’t contact anyone. So I decided to let Walter Baker stay, and I went back to Degulamo to report to Manager Sullivan…”

　　Nonsense!

　　Everything John Foster said was nonsense!

　　No matter how vivid and flawless John Foster’s display of surprise and joy was, no matter how Oscar-worthy his acting—no matter that there was no logical flaw in his words, Edward Baker’s first thought, or rather his strong intuition, told him that John Foster was lying.

　　Still, John Foster hoped Edward Baker would believe him; it was written all over his face:

　　Think about it—a Chinese guy with a local black driver, driving a Toyota through the wilds of Ogun State at night, with a corpse in the car. Even if you could explain it to the police, you’d still get extorted for a hefty sum, right?

　　Edward Baker was just over twenty—how much could he have been hardened by society? There was no reason for him not to believe it!