I am a Big Player
Chapter 291 - 289. The Other Side of Yang Xi (Fourth Update)_1

Chapter 291: 289. The Other Side of Yang Xi (Fourth Update)_1

By the time Ren He and An Si arrived at the terminal of the Capital Airport in the morning, the place was already bustling with countless people moving in and out, some looking hurried, others leisurely.

Upon arriving, Ren He was astonished to discover that Liu Erbao’s entire team was already standing at the entrance, frantically waving at him. An Si explained, "He invited me for drinks today, and when I mentioned I had to go to Nepal, I ended up briefly sharing our plans. I really couldn’t brush off his persistent questioning."

"No worries," Ren He smiled and walked over to Liu Erbao and his group. It was only 7 a.m., and he hadn’t expected them to come this early, especially without informing him. It must have been meant as a surprise.

Actually, Ren He had not planned to tell any of his friends, as he didn’t want them to worry.

At the Qinghe Fund, Ren He had already sent Elder Zhou the operational plan for Harry Potter without mentioning his departure, much less his destination.

As for Uncle Fang and Auntie Wang, Ren He felt a strong rapport with them. Before leaving, he gave them ten months’ salary in one go, ensuring they would have enough to pay their daughter’s tuition fees even if he couldn’t return.

Only with Yang Xi did he have nothing settled so far; he didn’t even know how to explain.

In fact, in the realm of 21st-century extreme sports, Mount Everest doesn’t have a higher fatality rate than skydiving; its difficulty isn’t as high as certain other extreme sports and could even be considered mid-tier at best within the entire scope of such activities.

The statistics make it clear: the fatality rate of climbing Mount Everest is 3.6%, whereas some extreme sports can reach up to 30%. In comparison, if one has persistence and talent, climbing Mount Everest isn’t an overly difficult endeavor. For someone with physical fitness like Ren He, it’s not much different from a regular mountain climb.

Although Mount Everest is the world’s highest peak, among the fourteen mountains exceeding 8000 meters in elevation, its difficulty only ranks 11th. What does that mean? It’s even surpassed by the likes of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Gongga, which are almost divine in nature.

The reason it’s not as tough is that even though it’s high, the South Slope has been developed to the point where average people, with training, can venture upon it. The real human limits are tested on those divine mountains, where climbers scale nearly hundreds of meters of vertical ice walls using ice axes.

But that doesn’t mean people don’t die on Everest. Otherwise, where would those landmarks come from?

Firstly, climbers must possess superb physical fitness and systematic training to tackle it; secondly, the weather is the greatest threat.

Looking back on Mount Everest’s greatest tragedies over the years, they were usually due to sudden storms. Temperatures could plummet to dozens of degrees below zero in an instant, freezing people solid unless favored by the heavens, as no one can survive in such conditions.

Under such a climate, the human body would gradually become colder as all heat gets instinctively directed to protect the internal organs—also known in professional terms as the core area. The temperature in this area is specifically called core body temperature. Once the brain realizes the situation is beyond hope, it allows heat to radiate to the limbs, leading some to feel extremely hot and remove their clothes, only to die once undressed.

In that climate, some have had their core body temperature instantly drop to 23 degrees Celsius. What does that imply? It means their death is certain, with no chance of survival.

And for Ren He, the shadow looming in his heart was precisely the weather. In that dream, he faced a sudden storm that killed a team of seven, including the guide himself.

Of course, this goes to show how terrifying the extreme sports challenges that Ren He would face in the future are. People generally think that high-altitude skydiving is the most dangerous. But how many know that low-altitude BASE jumping is the real life-threatening activity?

Imagine, before you’ve even deployed your parachute, you’ve missed the opportunity to do so... and then come into close contact with the ground...

If it weren’t for that vivid dream, Ren He would tell Yang Xi calmly, but now it’s different.

He’s always been lucky, but there are times when everyone’s luck runs out. In fact, when risking life for adventure, one should always be prepared for the possibility of perishing.

In the past, Ren He always felt confident that nothing would happen to him. Even when TK, represented by An Si, offered him a huge insurance policy, he saw it as unnecessary. But it wasn’t until now that he truly gained the awareness that a person living on the edge should have.

Liu Erbao and his group didn’t say much. They each hugged Ren He and then laughed, "Brother, you’re awesome! We can never reach the heights you’ve achieved in our lifetime!"

Only those who knew the truth understood how impressive Ren He’s challenge of Mount Everest was. Keep in mind, Ren He wasn’t a professional mountaineer. What was he? He was the leading figure in parkour, the number one person in cycling—what did those have to do with climbing snowy mountains?

They even knew that Ren He had never before ventured into mountains above 6,000 meters, and this time, 6,000 meters was merely the starting point.

"Brother, come back safely so we can have a drink together!" Liu Erbao was the last to hug Ren He, and those were their final words. After speaking, they turned, got in their cars, and drove away.

Liu Erbao and the others’ characters were always inscrutable, acting on a whim. Ren He knew they didn’t want to go through the process of saying goodbye.

Ren He took a deep breath and calmly texted Yang Xi: "Don’t worry about me, I’ll come back."

At that moment, he missed Yang Xi like he never had before, and a fierce desire to survive suddenly flared within him. He was convinced that he would not be defeated by that shadow, that even if he encountered a storm, he would make it back alive to continue enjoying life.

Upon receiving that message, Yang Xi felt an ominous premonition, as if a dark cloud had suddenly cast a shadow over her, blocking out the sun. She urged the driver to speed up to the school, and no sooner had she gotten out of the car than she dashed into the classroom of Grade 1, Class 5 amidst the astonished looks of her classmates!

Upon entering the classroom, she found, as expected, that Ren He was not there. If it were any other day, Ren He would have already been in class!

She thought about the time Ren He had avoided her while making a phone call, and the name in the call log. Suddenly, she turned and sprinted out of the school. Her nanny’s car had already left and wouldn’t return until after school, so Yang Xi stopped a taxi at the school gate: "Driver, to the TK Building in Chaoyang District!"

Almost the entire school knew that Yang Xi had abruptly run off like a mad person, then dashed out again; they simply couldn’t imagine what could make her so urgent. Where had her usual composure gone?

Yang Xi arrived at TK Corporation and demanded from the reception: "Is Mr. An here?"

"Mr. An flew out on business this morning. We don’t know where he’s gone—it’s confidential," the receptionist stammered, taking quite a while to realize after Yang Xi’s swift departure: Was that Yang Xi? It couldn’t be, right? Why would Yang Xi come here...

Yang Xi stood at the entrance of the TK Building, lost in confusion for a long time. When she tried to call Ren He, his phone was already switched off, and she had no idea when it would be turned back on.

Where should she look for Ren He?

So it turned out that what Ren He hid from her wasn’t an affair, but a life-threatening venture!

It must be something big this time; otherwise, he wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye. She wasn’t against him engaging in extreme sports; standing in front of the TK Building, Yang Xi was on the verge of tears from urgency, not even knowing where to start looking for Ren He.

Suddenly, Yang Xi’s eyes brightened as if she had thought of a clue!

When Liu Erbao and the others returned to the factory, they began their routine singing practice. But scarcely had they started when the factory’s big iron gate was kicked open!

There stood Yang Xi, her eyes red with unprecedented fury, demanding: "Where has Ren He gone!"

A disheveled little girl, for the sake of love, had kicked open that huge iron gate, stunning a group of grown men!

"Uh... Nepal, he’s gone to climb Mount Everest..." Liu Erbao spoke, clearly in pain. No matter how tight-lipped he usually was, at that moment he couldn’t bear not telling Yang Xi, fearing she might go crazy if he didn’t.

Without another word, Yang Xi turned on her heel and left—leaving the group of men flabbergasted.

After a long silence, Liu Erbao suddenly burst out laughing: "A girl like this is the perfect match for our Ren He brother, what a pair! Birds of a feather!"

...

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