Edward Baker couldn’t stop worrying, so he decided to stay in the hospital for two days for observation and undergo a comprehensive physical examination. He asked Walter Baker to drive John Foster and Emily Carter back to the branch office dormitory first.

The inpatient department consisted of two brick buildings, unpainted, with the red bricks exposed and bearing traces of rain erosion.

The interior of the wards was also quite basic, much like a rural township clinic back home.

The medical staff were mostly locals, especially the nurses bustling around the bedsides—all local women, with dark skin and sturdy builds, dressed in pink uniforms, making Edward Baker, lying in bed, feel not the slightest bit of romance or sense of ceremony.

After dropping John Foster and Emily Carter off at the branch office dormitory, Walter Baker didn’t go home either. In the early hours, he drove back to the hospital, borrowed a recliner from the doctor, and slept in the corner of the ward in his clothes.

Seeing this, Edward Baker felt a twinge of complicated emotions and guilt.

……

……

Local security was chaotic, and Edward Baker and John Foster got a deep sense of it on their very first day in Degulamo with branch manager David Sullivan.

Dongsheng Group’s main business was grain, oil, and construction materials. In recent years, they wanted to expand into overseas markets, and as the vanguard, they were ordered to survey the local market at the first opportunity.

They transferred flights in Italy, and before arriving in Degulamo—known as the Pearl of West Africa and the Paris of Africa—their hearts were still filled with excitement and anticipation as they flew over the Atlantic, which sparkled like a sapphire set into the earth.

It was as if countless broad-minded African girls, as vast as the Atlantic, were waiting for their favor.

The arrival hall at Degulamo International Airport was so basic it resembled a rural grain depot back home, standing alone in the open fields.

Seeing this scene as soon as they got off the plane made them immediately abandon any fantasies about the so-called most prosperous city in West Africa, though it wasn’t a major blow.

After leaving the arrival hall, they hailed a local taxi and headed to the China Business Center established by the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Degulamo.

Halfway there, the taxi stopped. The driver pulled out a gun and pressed the cold barrel against David Sullivan’s head.

David Sullivan was a bit airsick and was sitting in the front passenger seat, while Edward Baker and John Foster sat in the back.

They didn’t know exactly how David Sullivan felt with a gun to his head, but they were sure the driver hadn’t pulled over and drawn a gun just to have a heart-to-heart.

The three of them handed over all their cash, phones, and anything else the robber might fancy, in the friendliest manner possible, and watched as the thief drove off with their car. The sense of desolation in their hearts was indescribable.

Did they really need anyone to teach them firsthand about Degulamo’s chaotic security?

The three of them moved into the China Business Center. David Sullivan immediately used his poor English as an excuse to hole up inside and refused to go out, pushing Edward Baker and John Foster to handle all the paperwork and complete the market survey.

The group quickly decided to set up an office in Degulamo, and once again, it was Edward Baker and John Foster—the scapegoats—who nervously ran around registering the branch, choosing a location, and handling office and dormitory rentals.

Because of these experiences, even if they hadn’t later heard about the endless cases of violent robberies targeting Chinese businesses or the many rumors of local employees colluding with criminal gangs, David Sullivan and John Foster were extremely wary and dismissive of local hires, with no goodwill at all.

Although the group mainly wanted to set up one or two footholds in Africa for now, without any real intention to expand business there, Edward Baker and the others still had to build the framework for the West Africa branch. Every so often, they had to conduct market research, meet with a few agents or potential clients, just to show they weren’t simply collecting salaries for nothing.

No more employees from the group were willing to come over, so hiring local drivers, cooks, and clerks for the West Africa branch was essential.

David Sullivan, after all, was a veteran backbone of Dongsheng and usually stayed in China, rarely coming over. John Foster tried to minimize contact with local staff as much as possible.

Edward Baker was just an ordinary employee at Dongsheng, and since John Foster was his direct supervisor, anything that needed to be coordinated with local staff was pushed onto him.

Who else could Edward Baker complain to besides himself?

At the branch, he was the go-between for David Sullivan, John Foster, and the local employees; whenever Walter Baker and the others had any issues, they would come directly to him.

Of course, apart from learning Yoruba from Walter Baker and doing his regular work, he also deliberately avoided deeper contact.

However, after being cared for by Walter Baker these past few days, if his instincts were right, Walter Baker genuinely saw him as a trustworthy friend.

Damn it, it was that intuition again!

……

……

“You draw a card first, then you can either tell me the suit truthfully or lie to me, and I’ll see if I can guess whether you’re telling the truth or lying…”

The next morning, Edward Baker underwent several tests at the China-Card Friendship Hospital, but nothing was found. He stayed at the hospital through lunch, waiting for the last two test reports in the afternoon.

With nothing to do in the ward, he asked Walter Baker to buy a deck of cards and played a suit-guessing game with him.

“I have a club in my hand…”