I Have 10 Trillion Dollars only Usable For Simping
Chapter 1285 - 887 It seems like we’ve met before

Chapter 1285: 887 It seems like we’ve met before

"I won’t disturb you two on your climb."

Clearly.

This face-blind business tycoon was not blind, at least sufficiently aware of Tanki Liuli’s presence.

Unlike Jiang Chen, his fame was far greater, so after the exchange ended, this grassroots representative promptly excused himself.

Inside the octagonal pavilion.

Jiang Chen watched his departing figure as he descended the mountain.

The business world is rife with scheming and deceit, but Niu Jili was indeed different from most entrepreneurs, aligning with Jiang Chen’s assessment—a relatively straightforward and sincere person.

Whether Hippo or the rising upstart Kanyi Dao, they were merely pure e-commerce platforms. However, Su Da was entirely different.

Beyond just being an e-commerce platform, it had established a complete logistics and warehousing system and was the first company in the industry to make grassroots courier drivers formal employees.

One must admit.

This business tycoon, who hailed from the countryside, truly was a person with ideals and aspirations. After all, merely imitating his model could reduce costs significantly.

People always pay a price for their ideals.

That’s why Su Da repeatedly faced difficulties. Even he himself had turned gray overnight.

"Among the three major e-commerce platforms, which one do you prefer to use?"

Like a stone sinking into the sea, there was no response.

Jiang Chen turned his head, looking at the tranquil face beside him, and then smiled awkwardly.

It seemed he had asked the wrong person.

To this day, Taoist Duanmu was still using a phone watch, without even owning a smartphone.

"Let’s keep climbing."

Jiang Chen let out a breath.

Since they were here, they couldn’t quit halfway.

The two stepped out of the octagonal pavilion and continued their climb upward.

"How about we have a race?"

Having completed his business, Jiang Chen’s interest spiked as he looked up at the seemingly endless series of steps. "Let’s race to the summit. Whoever loses agrees to one condition from the other. How about that?"

The Taoist nun sister remained her usual silent self.

"Alright, then let’s start."

Jiang Chen, taking her silence as consent, wasted no time and bolted upward without a shred of gentlemanly decorum.

Though his stamina was indeed impressive, surpassing most young people, unfortunately, today he had clearly picked the wrong opponent.

After sprinting up seventy to eighty steps, Jiang Chen, now slightly out of breath, turned his head only to see that impeccable visage still beside him, seemingly unfazed and moving as if on flat ground, without the slightest hint of exhaustion or fluctuation.

Jiang Chen stopped, and she stopped as well, always accompanying him, never seizing the opportunity to overtake.

Competing with an opponent who lacked competitive spirit was indeed boring.

Of course.

Maybe he wasn’t even qualified to be her rival in the first place.

Even without reaching the summit, the winner and loser were apparent, and Jiang Chen’s competitive spirit was thoroughly shattered. After exhaling his frustration, he could no longer muster the will to continue striving.

With a bitter smile, he took a deep breath and shamelessly declared, "Let’s call it a tie this time."

In terms of position, the two stood side by side on the same step. Claiming it was a draw wasn’t entirely wrong.

The subsequent climb returned to a normal pace.

Actually, without needing to reach the summit, the outline of the Forbidden City became visible from a stretch just below the peak.

Looking down from above, it was even grander and more majestic.

Jiang Chen stopped, finding a suitable spot to pause and take in the view.

From different heights, perspectives indeed varied widely.

After appreciating it for a moment, Jiang Chen turned his head to find Taoist Duanmu gazing elsewhere.

Following her line of sight, he saw the wooded area by the mountain path.

Only bare branches remained, stripped clean.

In April on Earth, the vibrant blooms had faded, marking the time when spring’s flowers had nearly all withered away.

Though only barren trunks were left, there were still many people wandering among the woods, taking photos.

"What kind of trees are those?"

Jiang Chen casually asked.

"Don’t know."

Surprised by her response, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but find it odd. In his understanding, Tanki Liuli, having grown up on a mountain, might be clueless about modern society, but surely she would excel as a naturalist, intimately familiar with birds, beasts, flowers, and trees.

"Do you know them?"

For once, Tanki Liuli asked him a question, seeming more interested in those barren trees than ordinary worldly riches.

Jiang Chen wanted to elaborate, to showcase his knowledge, but upon closely studying those trees, his limited understanding left him clueless. He couldn’t seize this moment.

Expertise is specialized.

After all, he studied economics, not ecology.

He could fabricate something, no doubt.

But he wasn’t the kind of shameless person who would resort to lies.

"I’ve never seen them before."

Since the Taoist nun sister rarely asked him a question, Jiang Chen felt obligated to provide an answer.

Not recognizing them wasn’t a problem. Technology had advanced tremendously nowadays.

So Jiang Chen pulled out his phone, aimed its camera at the grove, and zoomed in.

With the help of recognition tools, the answer would appear.

Cherry trees, categorized scientifically under Rosaceae, Prunus genus, and subgenus Cerasus—a subset of deciduous small trees. An important ornamental species for early spring, widely used in landscaping, suitable for planting on slopes, yards, roadsides, and even in front of buildings...

As expected.

The result popped up quickly.

"It’s cherry..."

Jiang Chen was about to enlighten the Taoist nun sister but hadn’t yet lowered his phone when a woman suddenly entered the frame.

Or rather.

She passed through the frame.

A long black dress, smooth flowing hair. Seeing that profile captured by the lens, Jiang Chen froze mid-sentence, quickly lowering his phone before peering in the camera’s direction.

It wasn’t a trick of the eyes.

Nor a phantom.

Visible with the naked eye, the woman in the black dress was indeed there, walking down the mountain path, coincidentally captured in his phone’s view.

Jiang Chen instinctively squinted slightly, clutching his phone, then quickly stepped towards her.

"Miss."

The surrounding area was crowded, and no one knew who he was calling out to.

The woman in the black dress showed no reaction, continuing her descent along the steps.

She undoubtedly was an elegant woman. Though here for mountain climbing, she wore high heels, albeit with a relatively short heel.

"Miss."

Jiang Chen called again, now closer to her from behind.

The close proximity finally made the woman in the black dress aware. She stopped and turned around.

Behind her.

On the steps above.

Jiang Chen saw her full face, his pupils tightening slightly.

Yet she showed no signs of surprise. Her enchanting presence seemed to exude a faint and mysterious alluring scent. Her eyes, tinged only with mild curiosity, carried an irresistible, mesmerizing power.

"Do you need something, sir?"

Her voice had a unique lazy magnetism, vaguely familiar.

Koda Kaoru.

And the masked face he’d seen in video meetings alternated in his mind, finally merging with the face of the woman below the steps.

Jiang Chen paused for a moment.

"Miss, have we met before?"

The black-skirted woman, with a beauty capable of devastating nations, blinked, then smiled softly.

"Sir, using such a pickup line is really quite cliché."