Pierre Beaumont exited his limousine outside the presidential palace of China. He wasn't particularly impressed. While China had experienced impressive economic development, it was still a polluted shithole. Nothing compared to Switzerland, which had great cities and beautiful mountains just a short drive away!
Pierre reminded himself of his plan. He had added a grain of Selenium hydride to a jar of Elvish honey. It was a dangerous plan. Pierre needed to get Jing Xi to ingest enough selenium to become infectious, but not so much so that he got the symptoms. Making Jing eat the right amount of selenium added honey to get the right level was almost impossible. Pierre sighed. He would have to settle for making Jing eat Brazil nuts. It was a risky and conspicuous plan, but it was the only way to get the dosage right.
Pierre reached the reception area of the presidential palace, where an attendant told him to stay and wait. Pierre looked at his luxury Swiss watch. He would get upset if Jing kept him waiting. Pierre was certain that Jing would keep him waiting. They didn't like each other, and for now, Jing was the more powerful of the two. Although that was about to change. Pierre smiled when he thought about how he would reform the world and enrichen himself.
***
Jing Xi felt jittery and frustrated. The men he had sent to kidnap Eileen Lu, had failed miserably and had ended up in hospital. Eileen's contact, the Australian agent Jared Pond, had evaded the country, no doubt carrying a copy of the virus testing video. Jing thought of his next step. It would be easy for him to have Eileen arrested and killed, but he desired her body, which he couldn't have if she was officially arrested. Jing thought evil thoughts about Eileen. Raping her and then letting the Hei Bai virus kill her would be a great pleasure. But first, he needed to deal with Jared Pond. Jing walked over to Tzi Cheng and whispered:
- Contact our Australian friends and make sure that Jared Pond doesn't release the virus testing video on the Internet.
Tzi nodded and rushed away to make the arrangements.
One of the palace attendants approached Jing:
- Chairman Xi. Pierre Beaumont has arrived and he waiting for you in the sun dragon room.
Jing:
- Good. I'll be there shortly.
Jing reflected over his options. On the one hand, he wanted Pierre to wait for him. Pierre was a lowly banker, and as such he should wait for the emperor. But on the other hand, Jing had nothing else to do, so wasting his own time to make Pierre wait for him was irrational. Jing sighed and realised that he was better off meeting Pierre straight away. That way he would get this issue dealt with.
***
Pierre faked a smile as Jing greeted him. This would be difficult, but he had to overcome the difficulties.
Pierre:
- Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice, Chairman Xi.
Jing:
- Extraordinary circumstances, requires extraordinary measures. How can I resolve this problem with my Credit Suisse account?
Pierre:
- As the CEO of the World Bank, I can call them and make them reactivate the account.
- But first, let's exchange gifts. I brought you this jar of honey and these Brazil nuts. I have heard that nuts dipped in honey is a delicacy.
Having said this, Pierre froze for a second. What if the combination of the contaminated honey and the brazil nuts would cause a full virus outbreak in Jing's body? Pierre shook it off, he was here now, and he could only roll with it.
Jing looked at Pierre for a while and then he dipped one of the brazil nuts in the honey and smiled:
- You are right, Pierre. Nuts and honey are a great combination.
Pierre:
- Yes of course. Let's have one more, but without the honey flavour. They have a great and unique flavour, don't they?
Jing, picked up another nut, hesitated for a while, ate the nut, and replied:
- Yes. They are a favourite of mine. But we can't have more than this, we need to save ourselves for morning tea.
After saying this, Jing pointed in the direction of a set table. He handed his attendant the nuts and honey and they walked to the table.
Jing:
- Traditional Chinese breakfast.
Pierre looked at the food and taunted:
- Oh, I was hoping for bat soup. Nothing beats the emergence of another virus.
Jing's gaze blackened but he contained his anger. Jing:
- So, why did you insist on meeting me today?
Pierre:
- I wanted to discuss some changes to your Silk and Belt Road project. It is clashing with our Human Rights Project in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Jing:
- Since when does the World Bank care about human rights?
Pierre:
- I don't care about human rights per se, but they are a great tax write off and good for the reputation of the bank.
Jing:
- Bah. When China first became wealthy, we thought that we needed to pretend to care. But we soon realised that no-one gives a shit as long as the money flows.
Pierre:
- Interesting approach, but let's discuss how we can synchronize our projects in Almaty. The world will be a better place, if we coordinate our efforts.
Jing nodded and they discussed their business interests in Almaty for half an hour. After half an hour, Jing was getting itchy. He thought about whether he had inadvertently activated the Hei Bai virus. It couldn't be the case. He had antibodies to the virus in his body now, so his selenium tolerance should have gone up. He rushed back to his office he told Biyu to summon Dr Bao.
***
Song Bao:
- Your blood test shows that you must have ingested over 300 micrograms of selenium. Lucky that you already had some tolerance to the Hei Bai Virus.
Jing:
- How is that possible? Those nuts should have contained less than half of that.
Song Bao:
- Perhaps there was something special with the nuts. Do you still have the bag?
Jing:
- No, I gave it to one of the attendants, Mie Yung. I told him to throw it away.
Song Bao:
- Well, I better find him and retrieve the contents of that bag. You stay here and recover. The virus is receding already and your excess selenium should be depleted in a couple of hours.
Jing nodded. While he hated hiding away in his office, he could show himself in public until his terrifying skin rash had disappeared.
***
Pierre Beaumont studied the virus in a microscope. He had taken a huge risk, travelling to China and getting himself infected by Jing Xi. But it would be worth it. He had the virus dormant in the blood and with a controllable virus in his hand, he could control the world markets and the world. The future was his!