Homo Sapiens

A young man sitting to Wang Haoran’s left suddenly stood up.

”I’ve made my decision, but I’d like a six-month observation period in addition to the 200,000 security deposit. Three months is too short.”

But the female interviewer shook her head. ”I’m sorry, those are the company’s requirements. We can’t change them at this time. Three months is more than enough for you to make up your mind.”

The man’s brow furrowed, and he sat back down.

The female interviewer was well aware of why the company only offered a three-month cooling-off period.

Three months was a very suitable timeframe. If an employee wasn’t a good fit, they could leave directly, and the company wouldn’t have to worry about leaks or reassignments.

This was because the first three months usually consisted of pre-employment training, initial adaptation work, and assignments in non-confidential positions.

If they entered a Class B position in the company, it meant they would be exposed to some confidential information. This was especially true for technical personnel, as many of them started in Class B positions.

The company didn’t have time to spend half a year evaluating whether an employee was suitable. Three months was the absolute limit for this mutual evaluation.

Technical personnel who didn’t immigrate, especially with their entire families, found it very difficult to enter core positions.

After all, people who brought their entire families over were highly unlikely to be spies, placing them in a category of initial trustworthiness.

As for those with fabricated families, or those who claimed to be orphans, the company would conduct genetic testing and a secondary background check.

Employees who were identified as orphans were usually sent directly to work at overseas branches for long-term, covert observation.

Li Qingye was extremely wary of all outsiders, even those from his own homeland.

He refused to believe there weren’t moles from other factions planted among these technical applicants.

Therefore, he required that core positions could only be filled by people whose entire families resided within the company’s fully-operated zones, people the company had groomed from a young age, or graduates from Aoyama University’s accelerated programs or Hongshawa University.

If someone was truly willing to bring their entire family over just to be a spy, Li Qingye would actually have a sliver of respect for them.

Unfortunately, being a spy within the global operational zones of the Homo Sapiens Company was an extremely dangerous affair.

After all, the Internal Affairs Division and the Security Division were not to be trifled with. With surveillance insects and monitoring stations everywhere, not even a cinematic superspy like 007 could escape from such an environment unscathed.

The young man seemed to be wrestling with his decision.

However, another man, a somewhat reserved guy with glasses, made his decision first.

”I’ll sign. When do I go to the Hongsawaddy headquarters?”

The third interviewer, a bald, middle-aged man, said with a smile, ”Please come inside to sign the contract. As long as you pass the three-month probationary period, we will arrange for the immigration of you and your immediate family.”

”Okay.” The man with glasses had, in truth, already resigned himself to his fate.

After a period of internal struggle, three of the seven people who came to interview at Qingye Aviation decided to sign. This included the man with glasses, Wang Haoran, and the spiky-haired young man who had initially asked about an extension.

The other four said they needed to go home and think about it.

On their way out, Wang Haoran struck up a conversation with the man with glasses next to him. ”Hey, man. I’m Wang Haoran, graduated from Beihang University this year. Hope we can look out for each other.”

”Mu Ziying. Shen Hang. Graduated last year.” Mu Ziying’s reply was terse.

Wang Haoran, who was already getting a headache thinking about how to convince his parents, asked a bit sheepishly, ”Brother Mu, did your family have any objections to you going to Hongsawaddy?”

”Mhm,” Mu Ziying replied, his expression impassive.

Faced with such a cold person, Wang Haoran didn’t know what else to say, so he just quickly called for a ride home.

In the autumn wind, yellow leaves drifted slowly to the ground.

Wearing a worn-out down jacket, Mu Ziying arrived at the back kitchen of the restaurant where he worked part-time. After changing into a uniform, he began his busy evening shift.

The shift supervisor for the waiters saw Mu Ziying, who had already changed into his uniform.

”Ziying, how did the interview go?”

”I got it, Uncle Qin!”

”Oh? Well, congratulations! When do you leave?”

Mu Ziying replied while wiping a table, ”In a week. I’m putting in my notice the day after tomorrow.”

Uncle Qin clapped him on the shoulder. ”Alright then. After we’re done tonight, I’ll treat you to a late-night meal to celebrate. Here’s to your bright future.”

”Thanks.”

The city lights began to glow under a hazy moon.

Mu Ziying busied himself with his work, as if the bustling prosperity of the city had nothing to do with him. Life had long since smoothed away his sharp edges. For the sake of survival, he didn’t look down on the job of a restaurant waiter.

Biologically speaking, there’s no fundamental difference between humans and cockroaches. After all, hundreds of millions of years ago, they shared a common ancestor.

As long as the environment isn’t too harsh, creatures like cockroaches and rats can always find their ecological niche.

Just like Mu Ziying, who was willing to compromise on anything for the sake of survival.

...

「Meanwhile.」

After returning to his basement rental, Wang Haoran quickly ate a boxed meal and then stared at his phone, lost in indecision.

Finally, he called his father.

”Hello... Haoran? Have you got enough money to spend lately? I’ll send you two thousand tomorrow...”

Hearing that familiar, raspy voice, Wang Haoran’s heart ached. His eyes instantly welled with tears, and his voice trembled slightly as he spoke:

”Dad! It’s okay, I found a job. You don’t need to send money.”

”You found a job? That’s good, that’s good.”

”Dad, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

”What’s there to be formal about between father and son? Spit it out. Your mom is calling me to dinner.”

Wang Haoran licked his dry lips. ”Dad! My job is down south... If I pass my probation, the company requires me to live there permanently. It might not be very convenient for me to come back to Jin City in the future...”

”Is that so...” The voice on the other end of the line fell silent.

Wang Haoran quickly added, ”Once I get settled, I plan to bring you and Mom down south to live with me. That way, we won’t have to travel back and forth.”

”But... someone needs to tend to the fields at home! How about your mother and I just come visit you down south in the future? Living there permanently... that’s definitely not right...”

Wang Haoran knew it would be like this. He hadn’t even told his father about the immigration part, instead swapping concepts by using ”down south” as a substitute for Hongsawaddy.

”Dad, don’t worry. If I pass my probation, I’ll bring you both down south to live a comfortable life. Just let Third Uncle farm our few acres of land!”

The father and son went back and forth for over half an hour. In the end, Wang Haoran steeled himself and used the excuse that his girlfriend was in the south and wasn’t used to the northern climate, asking his parents to come over to help take care of their future children.

As for the fact that he didn’t actually have a girlfriend, Wang Haoran wasn’t worried at all. When the time came, he could just say they broke up. The priority was to trick his parents into coming over first.

Of course, all of this was predicated on the job in Hongsawaddy truly offering the compensation stated in the contract. Otherwise, he would never bring his parents there.

「One week later.」

Mu Ziying, Wang Haoran, the spiky-haired young man, and over a hundred other young people who had been hired by other subsidiaries of the Qingye Group boarded a plane to Modu.

They were going to Modu because the Qingye Group had recruitment branches in both Modu and Yangcheng. These new hires were gathered together to fill a chartered flight to Yangon, Hongsawaddy.

In reality, the Qingye Group carried out this kind of recruitment every single month.

Although the Soldiers and managers had a vast wealth of knowledge, the problem was that spreading them across dozens of subsidiaries, secret bases, the Security Department, and the Internal Affairs Department left them stretched thin.