Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  A few days had passed.

  It was afternoon tea time in San Francisco, United States.

  Eddy Lewis sat at the table in the lounge and enjoyed the coffee in his hand, with a plate of blueberry waffles on the table in front of him.

  The mist that had persisted for a long time finally dissipated and the afternoon sun came in through the window behind him, just covering his body and making his newly shaved bald head look dark.

  It is thought that Mark Twain once said, “The coldest winter I have ever encountered was the summer in San Francisco.”


  The California cold current blew from the Pacific Ocean, whilst the hot summer wind blew from inland but was blocked by the north and south mountains. The cold and hot air currents could only meet at the bay of San Francisco, thus often creating heavy fog.

  The summer weather in San Francisco was complicated. While Silicon Valley in the South Bay Area enjoyed the sun, residents of San Francisco wore thin down jackets.

  The food at Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation was excellent. Although it wasn’t as good as the massive feasts of the top earners in Silicon Valley, it was delicious and provided afternoon tea.

  Eddy’s gaze fell on the wall on the side of the lounge, which was covered with photos of Foundation members. His gaze fell on his photo, in which he wore Foundation-printed sportswear and grinned at the camera. It was taken by a colleague when he participated in the annual Bay to Breakers San Francisco Bay Cross Marathon, an important charity event that the Foundation regularly participated in every year in May.

  He seemed to be grown fatter than last year…… He looked at his picture, stared at the sweet waffle in his hand, hesitated a bit, and bit down on it hard.

  The news was broadcast on the TV in the lounge. He generally used the sound of the TV as background sound, but today’s news guest was a person who has had many connections, so it caught his attention.

  “Today we invited Dr. James Murphy from the CDC to explain to us the recent worrying chronic diseases.” The news host said, “Hello, Dr. Murphy.”


  “Hello.”


  A middle-aged fat man with male pattern baldness sat in the guest seat. He nodded cautiously towards the host and the camera.

  “Dr. Murphy, Mule Deers infected with chronic slow-occurring diseases have recently been found in some parts of the central United States. Because of its strange symptoms, especially the aggressive conditions that will appear in the later stages of the disease, people are calling it the zombie deer. People are worried that perhaps this disease can be transmitted to people by deer. What can you tell us about this disease? “The moderator guided the topic.

  “Uh……” Dr. Murphy pushed his glasses, “First of all, there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to people……”


  “However, it is said that Canadian researchers have experimented with monkeys, who are primates like humans, have been infected.” The host’s job was to dig deeper to arouse the interest of the audience, improve the program’s ratings and his own popularity. Of course, he did not want the program to be too dull, so he interrupted.

  “Yes, I have heard of this experiment. Simply put, the experiment was carried out by feeding five monkeys with infected deer meat. Three years later, three monkeys were found to be infected with the disease.” Dr. Murphy nodded. “But I need to emphasize that the monkeys being infected does not necessarily mean humans will be infected as well…… ”


  “But the possibility of human infection exists, doesn’t it?” The host insisted on this, “Should people be warned not to hunt deer or eat their meat anymore?”


  Dr. Murphy seemed annoyed by the constant interruptions. He raised his voice and said, “I can’t rule out the possibility of human infection, but that experiment was based on the premise that the monkeys were fed a lot of deer meat every day. Normally, humans can’t eat that much deer meat, so I don’t think it would be dangerous to eat a small amount of it as long as they’re sold over formal and legitimate supply channels. However, do try to avoid eating wild deer meat, especially the deer’s brain and spinal cord. Although, I don’t know anyone who would like to eat deer’s brain and spinal cord. ”


  “Is it okay to eat only the deer meat?” The host asked.

  Dr. Murphy was dissatisfied with the host’s deliberate attempts to put his words out of context and replied, “I didn’t say that!”


  “You said that eating deer meat isn’t dangerous,” the moderator pointed out.

  “Listen to me, I didn’t say that!” Dr. Murphy was almost mad sitting by the table and responding to the host.

  “Haha!”


  Eddie Lewis put a piece of waffle in his mouth, chewed it with ease, and took another sip of coffee to relieve the sweet feeling.

  He thought of a good memory. At previous events organized by the Foundation, he had met Dr. Murphy and spoke with him for a while. He knew that he was straightforward and not good with words, but today he was unlucky to encounter a host with a sharp tongue and bad mouth.

  He ate the waffles with his coffee, stared at Dr. Murphy embarrassing himself on TV with a bitter smile and decided to watch the news as if it were a talk show. He had little interest in the news itself; as Dr. Murphy said, who would like to eat deer’s brain and spinal cord? Eddy didn’t even eat deer meat.

  He lived in the United States long enough to become used to the sensationalism of news programs throughout various networks.

  During the past few years, he was invited by a friend to go on vacation. When the friend walked into the forest with him to hunt, he encountered a beautiful doe. He raised his gun and aimed at its heart.

  However, the deer suddenly turned its head and saw him.

  He saw the watery eyes of the doe as if begging him not to kill it.

  He also noticed that its belly was a bit big. Maybe it was pregnant, but he was not sure.

  He hesitated for a long time but still couldn’t pull the trigger. He and his friends could only sleep hungry that night.

  This was his closest encounter to deer meat, after which he argued with that friend. Since then, he never went into the forest to hunt deer again.

  On TV, the battle between Dr. Murphy and the host was still going on, but Eddy’s tea time was already over. He already packed his coffee cup and saucer. He planned to call his friend after returning home from work in the evening. This friend hasn’t been in contact with him for a long time since the hunt, and he wanted to check in on how is he.

  He returned to the office with a stack of invitations still on his desk.

  To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the foundation, the Foundation was preparing to invite some guests to the event. The invitees either made significant contributions to the foundation, were highly respected in society, or left an impact in the history of the foundation. They had witnessed the growth and progress of the foundation.

  Eddie checked the invitations one last time and planned to send them before leaving from work.

  The farthest invite would cross the Pacific Ocean and be sent halfway across the world.