I am a Big Player
Chapter 317 - 315, Spending Money to Avert Disasters (Second Update)_1

Chapter 317: 315, Spending Money to Avert Disasters (Second Update)_1

Time rewound to a week ago, An Si waited with a heart full of questions after raising his own.

"Haha, you’ll find out soon enough, but make sure to pay close attention when buying. The oxygen bottles commonly used on Mount Everest now are too rudimentary for my needs; I want those that are lighter and smaller in volume," Ren He instructed.

"But why do you need so much equipment?" An Si still didn’t understand. The equipment list added up to enough for several people, and items like the shell jackets, all in the same size, were clearly marked.

What Ren He was now having An Si prepare was for a return to Mount Everest! Not only was he going to challenge the first-ever speed descent on skis, but he was also planning to take the Qinghe Club back to Mount Everest!

Going up by himself was no longer a big deal for him. This time, he was going to lead four new climbers to the summit of Mount Everest!

Though he faced great dangers on this trip, a careful consideration revealed the truth: every member of the Qinghe Club had met the physical standards, their fitness levels honed over a long period exceeding that of Yang Xi.

Moreover, why has commercial climbing on Mount Everest been so successful? Isn’t it because it’s not too difficult? If Ren He hadn’t waited too long at the Hillary Step the first time, he had the capability to go straight down from the North Slope with no danger at all. By the same logic, Ren He could handle all the duties that other leaders perform, and even do them better.

Ren He now had sufficient confidence to bring the whole Qinghe Club with him and lead them safely back down.

How does a travel study group’s outing compare? The collective ascent by the Qinghe Club to Mount Everest’s summit—what does that signify?

At that moment of reaching the roof of the world, everyone’s soul would undergo a sort of sublimation, a spiritual experience gained from overcoming the limits of nature and life. For the members of the Qinghe Club, summiting Mount Everest would have a lifelong impact.

Especially for someone like Liu Jiamin who played the piano. Ren He had promised to give her an opportunity to elevate her emotion in performance, and now, summiting Mount Everest was the perfect choice. While a teaching mission had transformed them as if reborn, it still wasn’t enough. Now it was also time to teach them the importance of physical training, to show that a fit body means more choices in life, not sighing over a corpulent body when one wishes to embark on an exciting adventure.

Among these supplies were also some new additions for Ren He himself; he needed to replace his shell jacket and climbing boots, both of which had worn out to some degree during his free-solo climbing, so he planned to don new gear for the summit.

Because of this new plan, Ren He and An Si even decided to stay in Nepal, while Yang Xi took a flight to Thailand and then continued her journey back to the Capital from Bangkok.

She had been away for too long, and Yang Xi herself couldn’t guarantee if Su Ruqin knew the truth by now. When Ren He thought about this, he felt somewhat uneasy. Throughout his stay in Nepal, he was prepared to face his mother-in-law’s wrath at any moment...

This time was different from before. Yang Xi flying all the way from China to Nepal was almost like eloping with her, and he could barely imagine his mother-in-law’s reaction if she found out the truth...

Too terrifying...

An Si helped Ren He contact a Sherpa team with two summiting experiences to safeguard the mission. Not only that, Ren He even paid 300,000 US dollars to formally contract the Sherpas. In addition to ensuring the safety of the Qinghe Club, these 11 Sherpas, with 300,000 US dollars as compensation, would protect the other members of the Club during the ascent, and if any accident occurred on the mountain, they were obligated to carry the members down.

This was the way to spend money to prevent disaster. Ren He was not stingy, and besides, it was the club’s activity fund. He simply wanted to show the children of the Qinghe Club a broader world.

Although Ren He wanted to lead them to the summit of Mount Everest, he didn’t want these kids to eternally rest there. This money, including for all the equipment, would later be taken from the Qinghe Club’s funds. A 5-person club activity costing 3 million RMB—who else in China could achieve that?

No, only the Qinghe Club.

Some say that with enough money, the Sherpa people can carry you up the Hillary Step to experience the thrill of summiting Mount Everest, which is an exaggeration, but having them escort and protect you is certainly within their means.

It was at this time that An Si urgently contacted Liu Erbao to bring over the filming equipment; Ren He planned to take on the challenge of being the first to speed descend ski under the precondition of ensuring the Qinghe Club’s safety. Such an event must be recorded with complete footage, and the equipment Liu Erbao and the others brought was to be mounted on Ren He, while they would return to the mainland and ascend the North Slope from Tibet to the 7400-meter altitude camp. There, at the necessary passage for Ren He’s speed descent, they would set up the cameras and then wait for Ren He’s next challenge!

It can be said that this time Ren He and his team were more fully prepared than the recent Everest summit journey they had just experienced. Moreover, Liu Erbao was so excited that he could hardly sleep when he heard that he could also participate; he rushed over with a large group that very afternoon, dropped off the equipment and told Ren He how to use it, then immediately returned to the mainland en route to Tibet.

So now, everyone was a bit puzzled by the actions of Liu Erbao and his team, because they could not imagine at all that Ren He planned to summit again from the South Slope and then ski down from the North Slope!

To ordinary people, it’s simply unimaginable!

Ren He finally announced his plan in the internal communication group of the Qinghe Club: "Have you heard about Knight’s summiting of Mount Everest?"

Liu Bing went crazy on the spot: "Heard about it, so awesome! Damn, reading the China Travel Magazine got me so pumped!"

"Me too!" Jiang Haoyang, Li Yifan, and Liu Jiamin echoed.

"Hmm, then I’ll take you all up Everest," Ren He said nonchalantly.

"Pfft!" This time, Jiang Haoyang really did a spit take: "Are you joking, sir?"

Liu Bing, Jiang Haoyang, Li Yifan, and Liu Jiamin were all stunned; wasn’t that too bold a thought, summiting the Forbidden Zone for Life at an altitude of 8,800 meters just like that?

In fact, Ren He had thought about this for a long time. Some say you need at least three years of preparation for summiting Everest, with the first year being dedicated to physical fitness training—firstly, to significantly improve endurance, cardiorespiratory function, leg and core strength, and back carrying ability at lower altitudes.

But when they talk about a year’s time, they are calculating weekends only—how much time is that? Ren He and his team now had an abundance of time, and being in the prime of their lives, as long as they had sufficient leg and core strength and could trek for over an hour with a 20 kilogram load, they definitely had the qualifications to challenge Everest. Ren He could even use his superior physical fitness to share the load for others, all he needed were enough chocolates.

Any youth who still has blood pumping through their veins couldn’t possibly be indifferent to the prospect of summiting Everest; their only concern would be the possibility of dying on the mountain if they couldn’t make it up. Ren He’s plan was to start the necessary fitness training early and then take them on a journey to Everest! It could be said that Ren He had already thought of this plan when he began physical fitness training with the Qinghe Club.

Of course, for Liu Bing, Jiang Haoyang, and the others, even if someone could conquer Everest while still in high school, it was nonetheless Everest.

Hence, only after he had made the journey himself could Ren He truly know if taking the Qinghe Club there would result in a complete disaster. Those were lives at stake; he would never lead others into danger without assurance.

Now, he was ready, and so was the physical fitness of everyone in the Qinghe Club.

"With the club covering all expenses, would you like to be the first team from No.4 Middle School to summit Everest?" Ren He asked calmly.