I am a Big Player
Chapter 293 - 291. Angry Youth An Si (Second Update)_1

Chapter 293: 291. Angry Youth An Si (Second Update)_1

After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the plane finally landed at the airport in Kathmandu. As soon as I stepped outside, I saw a burly Caucasian man holding a poorly written sign in Chinese with the words "Ren He" on it, and An Si waved to him.

Then An Si whispered, "This is the team leader of the guiding company for this expedition, Smeier, an American. I’ll translate whatever he says for you."

"No need," Ren He said with a smile, stepping forward and speaking in fluent English, "Hello, when do we set off for the camp?"

"Oh, not yet," Smeier said, surprised by Ren He’s fluent English and standard West Coast accent. He continued, "Two Japanese climbers will arrive in 30 minutes. The other five team members have already reached the camp. We need to wait for those two Japanese climbers before heading to the camp. But... is this companion also participating in the Mount Everest summit? If there’s an addition, it’ll cost extra."

What Smeier referred to was An Si, whom he assumed was also part of the group climbing Mount Everest. He didn’t mind adding another person, but it would cost more—an embodiment of the commercial guiding company’s principle that money is the measure of all things. Moreover, Smeier knew Ren He was wealthy, so he was particularly hoping to scrape a bit more off him.

"He’s not going," Ren He said calmly. "He’ll just stay at the last station of the camp and wait for me."

Smeier shrugged in slight disappointment, "Alright, then we’ll leave as soon as those two Japanese climbers arrive."

In truth, Ren He had felt somewhat irritated upon hearing that there were already five teammates at the camp. The optimal team for a Mount Everest summit is seven people, sometimes it could go up to eight, but that is the standard team size.

Now, counting up, the team would reach nine people?

Keep in mind that every additional person means wasted time because there are many places on Mount Everest where the rope can only accommodate one person at a time, which are the paths blazed by climbers. Ropes are strung temporarily between two boulders, and climbers take turns crossing there.

Even on some of the ascents, the rope might only be intended for a couple of climbers. One more person means a bit more time is wasted.

There is a well-known principle on Mount Everest: descend by 2 p.m., because if you’re later than that, your life is in the hands of fate. No one can predict the weather at that time, so it’s a race against time for everyone.

From just the numbers, Ren He could tell just how greedy the guiding company was. With that thought, he asked, "I’ll give you an extra ten thousand US dollars to arrange for me to go first. I want to be the first to summit and the first to come down."

Money was something Ren He was not short of. He only cared about not being dragged to his death by others.

When Smeier heard this, he was overjoyed, "No problem, absolutely no problem!"

Sometimes in a group, due to fitness levels, the time to reach the summit can differ by two hours, and who can say whether a storm will hit during those two hours? Maybe Ren He was using money to alter the fate of others, but did he have another choice? Sacrifice himself for the sake of others? He wasn’t that noble.

In fact, if it weren’t for such profit-driven guide companies, no other company would be willing to take a 16-year-old boy with no high-altitude experience to the summit. Any company with a conscience wouldn’t take his money but would advise him to train more.

However, since Ren He had the money, and other guide teams would not accept him, he believed his actions were justifiable.

Smeier was somewhat incredulous. He really didn’t understand the world of wealthy people: why would someone pay an extra ten thousand dollars just to be the first to summit? But, earning money was always good.

This time, the team members mostly paid 50,000 US Dollars for the guiding fee, except for Ren He, who paid 100,000 US Dollars. He was a big fat sheep ripe for the taking. Since there was money to be made, Smeier naturally wanted to satisfy the investor’s demands.

After waiting for nearly 50 minutes, they finally saw the last two Japanese teammates. Ren He held no hatred towards the Japanese public; after all, there are good and bad people everywhere. The so-called national and familial hatreds during wartime don’t discriminate between civilians or combatants, because there’s no time to distinguish whether you’re a good person or a bad one. But in times of peace, it’s different—holding onto hatred brings no benefits to oneself.

Ren He’s aunt had once studied in Japan and told him about the country, where there were still quite a few people who knew the historical truth and opposed the right-wing extremists.

So when Ren He first heard from Smeier that there would be two Japanese teammates, he had no particular reaction. But now, seeing them in person, his attitude was not so friendly.

The weather in Kathmandu was fairly warm and sunny at the moment. The two Japanese men walked out of the airport in shorts and short-sleeved shirts, and Ren He immediately noticed the Nazi symbols on their right arms! Ren He narrowed his eyes; this was the emblem of many Japanese right-wing fascists, not something ordinary Japanese would tattoo on their bodies.

Ordinary citizens were ordinary citizens, and right-wingers were right-wingers. Ren He clearly understood this separation.

Upon seeing An Si and Ren He, the two Japanese men frowned and asked, "Korea? China? Are you physically capable of reaching the summit of Mount Everest?"

Ren He immediately found their challenge amusing. The last person who dared to provoke me was that ignorant, bratty kid... You guys have guts, indeed. In fact, the thinking of Japanese right-wing extremists tended to be quite radical. They hated China, as they believed China limited Japan’s development. The word "China," as they used it, was inherently offensive, and Ren He was really sick of these right-wing extremists.

However, he didn’t say anything and just smiled at Smeier, "Let’s get going."

Ren He noticed that An Si was still a bit agitated and tugged at him, "Let’s go. Karma will deal with the scum."

An Si was still feeling indignant, "These damn Japanese are too arrogant. Can’t you just kick them off the mountain when we climb? My Japanese is terrible, but I could tell they were definitely cursing us, with swear words." He had a Japanese teammate before who was very unfriendly, so An Si could get the gist of what they said.

"Ha ha, forget it," Ren He laughed, not expecting An Si to be such a hothead. But he himself wouldn’t go to such extremes; after all, he was just an ordinary person and wouldn’t commit murder. However, this wouldn’t be the end of the matter.

The two Japanese were chattering away in Japanese behind them, almost tempting Ren He to impulsively learn some Japanese with his last perfect reward and retort. But then he thought better of it—why stoop to their level with insults when issues could be addressed properly? Why not sit down and sort it out instead of resorting to low-class swearing?

Smeier asked for their opinions on whether they wanted to stay in Kathmandu for the night to rest and take in the local culture of the Nepalese capital. Ren He simply smiled and declined, opting to go directly to the 6,000-meter-altitude campsite instead!

In fact, the journey from Kathmandu to the 6,000-meter campsite took a pretty long time, including several days of acclimatization in the villages in the valleys, and Ren He didn’t want to waste time.

The route from Lukla to the Himalayas required heading north through the Dudh Kosi gorge.

And it was from here that they would gradually step into the realm of ice and glaciers, where just on the first day they would have to walk across four rivers.

However, after crossing the third river on the third day, Ren He turned and looked back at the two Japanese men with a laugh. The right-wingers didn’t know what had happened, but Ren He’s laughter made them feel uneasy...