"No wonder the foreign population is so small! Just a bouquet of flowers, and it almost sent Evans to his maker!"
*Evans?!*
Wendy Lynch tilted her head at the name, which was obviously foreign. She didn’t have a habit of watching Western TV shows, and she could probably name fewer than ten foreign celebrities in total. Besides, "Evans" clearly wasn’t the name of a famous star. Even so, the name gave her a vague sense of familiarity.
She wondered where she had heard it before. After pondering for quite a while, a memory suddenly flashed through Wendy’s mind.
In the conference room.
Ms. Campbell had been instructing Bowen Rhodes, who was in charge of the department’s hospitality, "Evans, the head of Verdant Company in The Republic of Somerland, will arrive at Lyndale Airport on Wednesday morning. Regarding his reception and accommodation..."
Wendy couldn’t remember the rest of the conversation. After all, the matter Ms. Campbell had mentioned had absolutely nothing to do with her. The only reason she even remembered that small fragment was because the meeting had taken place on Monday, which wasn’t that long ago. If more time had passed, she probably would have forgotten the name entirely.
However, since Evans was mentioned in the email, Wendy’s interest was instantly piqued. She immediately opened a search engine and typed: *Verdant Company, Evans*.
She hit enter, and the page instantly refreshed, popping up several pages of related information. Verdant Company, formally known as Verdant Beauty Co., Ltd., had its headquarters located in the Gaulian Republic. While the company couldn’t compare to major beauty brands like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, or Elysian Beauty, it still boasted total assets of over a billion US Dollars.
Thanks to its strong research and development capabilities, coupled with highly cost-effective products, it had capitalized on the global economic downturn of recent years. Many consumers had abandoned luxury cosmetics in favor of these high-value emerging brands. With all these favorable conditions stacked together, Verdant Company had been conquering the mid-to-low-end beauty market in recent years.
After reading the company’s profile, Wendy roughly deduced the purpose of their visit. Barring any surprises, Verdant Company was likely preparing to go all out on a massive promotional campaign. After all, if it were just a minor project, they would have simply sent a low-level manager to negotiate. There would be absolutely no need for the head of operations in The Republic of Somerland to come in person.
Wendy worked at a company called Titan Engine, whose main business was marketing and promotion. While most people might not have heard of Titan Engine, the vast majority had certainly heard of—and frequently used the products of—its parent company: the world-renowned ByteDance.
Evans was most likely coming over to discuss promotional business. Of course, the specific details of the deal were far beyond the paygrade of a lowly intern like Wendy.
Having familiarized herself with the information about the company and Evans, Wendy fell deep into thought. The complaint in the email seemed entirely unrelated to her, yet in her eyes, all information originating from the future was precious. She carefully reread the entire email before her gaze landed once more on those two seemingly inconspicuous lines of complaint.
"No wonder the foreign population is so small! Just a bouquet of flowers, and it almost sent Evans to his maker!"
Although Wendy wasn’t involved in the hospitality team’s work, she had heard from other colleagues that for important clients, the reception staff wouldn’t just arrange accommodation and transportation; they would also present flowers or small gifts. After a brief analysis, Wendy deduced that Evans most likely had some kind of severe pollen allergy.
Foreigners seemed to have an abundance of allergens. Peanuts, almonds, mangoes, flowers—many of these seemingly common things could trigger allergic reactions in them. The phrase "almost sent him to his maker" indicated that Evans’s allergic reaction was absolutely severe. If he truly suffered a medical emergency due to a pollen allergy, the entire reception would turn into a catastrophic failure.
Whether or not the collaboration could continue would be the least of their worries. By ruining such a massive business deal, Bowen Rhodes, who was directly responsible for the reception, would undoubtedly be in deep trouble. If the situation was serious enough, Bowen would likely be fired on the spot.
After just a moment of contemplation, Wendy came up with a solution. Since the client was allergic to pollen, she could simply leak this information to Bowen. Out of caution, Bowen would definitely call Verdant Company to inquire about the situation, thereby preventing the accident.
With this in mind, Wendy pulled out her phone, ready to contact Bowen. However, when she opened her WhatsApp contacts, she realized they hadn’t even added each other as friends.
Just as Wendy was considering whether she should ask Ms. Campbell for his contact info, a thought suddenly popped into her head.
As long as the allergic reaction didn’t actually happen, bystanders would never be able to fathom the severity of the consequences. Bowen’s reaction to her warning would probably amount to nothing more than a casual word of thanks. If they were good friends, helping him out would be a given. However, they were nodding acquaintances at best.
After mulling it over for a moment, Wendy shook her head and dismissed the idea. Doing so would indeed prevent an accident, but... what good would it do her? Every piece of information from the future was incredibly important. Casually squandering future knowledge was an absolute waste of a heavenly gift.
As the executive of the client company, if she could assist or even save Evans, she would absolutely earn his favor and gratitude. In turn, the subsequent collaboration between the two parties would likely go smoothly. And as the one who facilitated the partnership, she might just be able to end her three-month internship early and become a full-time employee.
Wendy immediately logged into several major international social media platforms. Soon enough, she located Evans’s profile. She typed a few keywords into the search bar, and a moment later, a post updated three years ago appeared on the screen.
[My very first trip to the ER, and it’s all because I was in the same room as Casablanca lilies.]
Beneath the caption was a photo of Evans wearing an oxygen mask in a hospital room.
Wendy immediately zeroed in on the keyword: *Casablanca lilies*.
Casablanca lilies were a type of flower found in practically every florist shop. Because of their strong fragrance, most standard bouquets included a few of them to enhance the scent. Next, Wendy searched for information regarding floral allergies. Flowers had the potential to cause two types of allergic reactions:
1. Contact dermatitis.
2. Irritant respiratory reactions.
The former occurred when the skin came into contact with the lily’s pollen or sap, triggering an immune system response. Patients typically experienced erythema and itching, and in severe cases, blisters or peeling.
The latter was caused by certain volatile aromatic compounds in the floral scent that irritated the respiratory or nervous systems of sensitive individuals. Patients would suffer from dizziness, nausea, and headaches. In severe cases, they could experience difficulty breathing or even asphyxiation.