Homo Sapiens

”Yanxiu?”

Chen Yanxiu whipped his head around. Taking a closer look, he recognized a familiar figure. ”Jingcai? Is that you? Long time no see!”

The man looked haggard, his eyes bloodshot. He said with excitement, ”It’s been four years since we last saw each other. I never thought we’d meet here. It must be fate!”

After the two sat down, Chen Yanxiu gestured to his wife and made an introduction. ”This is my wife, Liu Meizhu. Meizhu, this is my college classmate, Zhao Jingcai.”

”It’s nice to meet you.”

Liu Meizhu smiled and nodded as well. ”Hello.”

Chen Yanxiu asked again, a hint of surprise in his voice, ”Jingcai, didn’t you work for General Electric? What are you doing here?”

”Don’t even mention it. General Electric closed several of its factories in North America last year, and I got laid off,” Zhao Jingcai replied miserably.

Chen Yanxiu found this very confusing. Zhao Jingcai was an automotive computer designer. Logically, even if General Electric had laid him off, there was no reason he should have had to leave North America.

”What happened to you in North America?”

Zhao Jingcai sighed. ”My eyes. After I was laid off, I was in a car accident that damaged my corneas. I spent all my savings on hospital bills and nearly went bankrupt.”

”So what about your eyes now?” Chen Yanxiu asked, staring at them.

Zhao Jingcai explained, ”I just had surgery a few days ago. They implanted an Artificial Cornea. I’m now working in the Kampung automotive computer design lab at Nanyang Electronics.”

”When it comes to treating eyes, the company’s technology is truly number one in the world.” Chen Yanxiu felt very sympathetic toward Zhao Jingcai. After all, if you had vision problems in North America, it would definitely be hard to find a job.

Zhao Jingcai was still shaken by the memory. ”I had no other choice. I had to take a leap of faith. I packed up my family, bought plane tickets, and came straight to Xing Island. If we had stayed in North America, who knows, I might have ended up a homeless man on the street.”

”You made the right choice,” Chen Yanxiu said, deeply empathetic.

He had never lived in North America long-term. But four years as an international student, followed by two years at Texas Instruments, gave him a deep understanding of the continent.

America’s wages were, admittedly, very high, and the cost of living was very low. These were undeniable advantages.

But on the other hand, America was also a capitalist world where profit was paramount. Once you went bankrupt and lost your home, the consequence was becoming a homeless person—the kind who could never get back on their feet.

An even more serious problem was that if you lost your ability to work and didn’t have commercial insurance or enough savings, it was incredibly difficult to survive.

This was clearly Zhao Jingcai’s situation. The cost to treat his eyes was exorbitant, and his vision couldn’t be restored. Since there were no Homo Sapiens Company hospitals in North America, he ended up exhausting his insurance payout and all of his savings after more than a year of treatment.

Luckily, Zhao Jingcai was sharp. After calculating his wife’s salary, he realized it would be incredibly difficult for her to support him, two elderly parents, and three children.

A while ago, after careful consideration, he sold his house and car in North America and came straight to Xing Island with his family.

Zhao Jingcai continued, telling Chen Yanxiu about his experiences since arriving.

”In terms of being humane, the company is absolutely the best in the world.” After being saved from what felt like the brink of ruin, Zhao Jingcai’s sense of identification with the Homo Sapiens Company had risen to an extremely high level.

Liu Meizhu, who had been playing with her young daughter, suddenly spoke up. ”I’m not so sure about that. The subways and airports here don’t seem to have any accessibility ramps or tactile paving for the blind.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jingcai just smiled. ”You may not be aware, but the company doesn’t install accessible ramps or tactile paving because it’s simply not necessary.”

”Why isn’t it necessary?” Liu Meizhu asked, confused.

But Chen Yanxiu seemed to have thought of something. ”Does the company provide treatment for all disabled groups? There must be a catch, right? Not all illnesses can be treated, can they?”

”And that’s what makes the company so great. It’s committed to ensuring all employees can live with dignity. Building special ramps or reserved seating areas isn’t their goal, because that just puts labels on people.”

Now a zealous advocate for the Homo Sapiens Company, Zhao Jingcai continued his impassioned explanation:

”So, the company is dedicated to helping everyone with disabilities live a normal life. And it’s clear they’ve succeeded.”

”I don’t have too many doubts about eye treatments, but what about other diseases?” Chen Yanxiu was still somewhat incredulous.

”You just don’t understand the true level of the company’s medical technology yet. Qingye Medical has already solved most diseases, with the exception of neurological disorders.”

”Really? The company’s medical technology has reached that level?”

Zhao Jingcai nodded. ”Even for Alzheimer’s patients, the company uses chip technology to ensure they won’t get lost and can move freely around the city.”

Just as Zhao Jingcai said, the Homo Sapiens Company had indeed solved many diseases. Even if a cure wasn’t possible, they could ensure the patients lived long, dignified, and pain-free lives.

For example, there were mechanical prosthetics built from optoelectronic chips and precision components, exoskeletons to assist the elderly, and nanny-type intelligent multi-legged robots.

There were also various implantable artificial organs, including the Artificial Cornea, artificial eyeballs, cochlear implants, artificial teeth, and artificial voice-assisting devices.

And quick-clotting hemostatic sprays, hemostatic patches, and the unpublicized Symbiotic Insect.

These products solved problems like paralysis, motor disorders, missing limbs, vision and hearing impairments, muteness, Alzheimer’s, hemophilia, and the physical decline associated with old age.

In other words, aside from a few brain-related disorders like mental illnesses, the Homo Sapiens Company had already conquered the vast majority of diseases.

Even cancer could now be treated by the Homo Sapiens Company with custom-targeted drugs—a technology that was actually the civilian version of the ”gene bomb” technology invented by Li Qingye.

Under these circumstances, there was no need for the Homo Sapiens Company to build accessibility facilities, tactile paving, or special seating. This was because the vast majority of people with disabilities could live normal lives.

And the small number of patients with mental illness or intellectual disabilities also didn’t need accessibility facilities, as these individuals lived in special sanatoriums and did not appear in regular society.

After listening to Zhao Jingcai’s explanation, Chen Yanxiu and his wife finally understood why the Homo Sapiens Company had no need for accessibility facilities.

Liu Meizhu held her young daughter and said, ”With company benefits this good, there must be a lot of disabled people who want to join, right?”

Zhao Jingcai nodded. ”Indeed. But most disabled patients are also part of the workforce. As long as it’s not a neurological disorder, they can work and live normally after treatment.”

The Homo Sapiens Company didn’t turn away disabled people who came seeking help; on the contrary, they were welcomed with open arms.

After all, this special group was a classic example of a marginalized population. There were about 350 million disabled people worldwide, the vast majority of whom lived at the bottom of society.

Once they were ”redeemed” by the Homo Sapiens Company, their loyalty would be extremely high, and they could easily be converted into ”New Human” employees.

Take Zhao Jingcai, for example. He was now a somewhat fanatical supporter of the Homo Sapiens Company.

Only those who have experienced endless darkness can truly cherish the sun before them.