Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Based on his experiences from his mom, Li Younan feels that girls tend to enjoy soaking in baths more than boys.

Just think about ’Jingxiang’ in ’Doraemon’ from his childhood; she seemed to spend half of her time bathing.

Of course, as a man, there’s something he must admit: he is indeed looking forward to soaking in a hot spring with a girl.

That said, this anticipation cannot be too exaggerated... Even if they were to soak in a hot spring, they couldn’t be completely undressed.

After all, they’re outdoors, which is not very safe, so they should wear swimsuits.

It took about half an hour to climb up, while going back took even less time for Li Younan, less than 20 minutes to reach the car.

At this moment, Li Younan noticed a drone slowly gliding over the deployed folding solar panels and landing in its small hangar, completing its storage.

Li Younan blinked, realizing Liu Li probably saw the whole process of him finding the hot spring, saving him the hassle of explaining.

Li Younan entered the car cabin, where Liu Li had just come over from the driver’s seat.

Without beating around the bush, Li Younan smiled and asked, "Did you see what I found?"

"Yes, but from the drone view, it wasn’t clear—is it a big hot spring?"

Li Younan nodded, "It’s a pretty decent hot spring."

At this, Liu Li hesitated for a moment.

Recently, following Li Younan around, she started gradually overcoming her agoraphobia, which was worth celebrating. Naturally, she was quite excited about the hot spring.

At home, she had a fairly large bathtub. After going out with Li Younan, she wouldn’t impulsively demand a bathtub on the RV; showering every day was quite comfortable, considering how few other RV travelers, especially those living in their cars, could enjoy such good conditions.

But as Li Younan guessed, showering never feels as good as soaking in a bath, especially looking at that wide, unattended hot spring, which seemed very inviting.

Yet, after thinking for a bit, Liu Li still shook her head and declined, saying, "I won’t go, I’ll wait for you in the car."

Li Younan replied, "Local people say the hot spring has plenty of minerals that can cure many ailments, including psychological ones. In a somewhat exaggerated tale, someone in a wheelchair came for a week’s bath and ended up leaving the wheelchair behind."

Still, Liu Li shook her head, "I... I can’t climb up there."

Li Younan froze for a bit, seeing Liu Li with a slightly helpless expression, realizing he had forgotten about this.

Liu Li then lowered her head, embarrassed, saying, "Though I’ve been spending more time outside lately, I still don’t know when the panic will set in." She glanced at Li Younan and softly said, "I don’t want to be a burden to you, and I really can’t climb up there."

In the video, Liu Li saw Li Younan nimbly climbing the several-meter-high cliff with ease; honestly, only someone like him could easily find this wild hot spring, while typical hiking enthusiasts would likely miss it.

Li Younan paused, then suddenly smiled, "Do you trust me?"

Liu Li blanked, "What?"

Li Younan’s eyes sparkled with confidence, "I’ll get you up there."

...

In a short while, Li Younan was back at the cliff he had reached earlier, but this time, Liu Li was with him.

This time, they weren’t empty-handed; both carried small bags containing change of clothes.

Li Younan’s bag was slightly larger, carrying more things.

For Li Younan, taking someone who can’t climb up there was actually quite simple; just make good use of the rope.

In his car, he certainly didn’t forget to bring along the crucial parachute rope.

Li Younan told Liu Li, "Wait here for a moment."

As he spoke, he took off his things.

Liu Li nodded, hesitated again.

At that moment, her hand was tightly gripping the corner of Li Younan’s clothes.

Li Younan said, "Don’t worry. Just think of me being right beside you."

Liu Li took a deep breath and gently released Li Younan’s clothes.

This was her first time losing physical contact with her supporter after leaving home and the RV, standing on an open outdoor scene.

She knew that the only thing left to rely on would be the mental connection; stepping back, she quietly watched Li Younan.

Fortunately, the familiar corporeal response didn’t come, and she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Liu Li was fine, Li Younan then turned and started climbing.

Just as naturally as walking, Li Younan climbed the cliff like an agile monkey, disappearing onto the platform in no time.

A moment later, a parachute rope came falling down from above.

Li Younan appeared again, gripping the rope to rappel down like a special forces soldier.

Watching Li Younan’s skillful moves felt like a movie scene to Liu Li, leaving her a bit dazed.

Without wasting time, Li Younan helped Liu Li tie the safety rope around her waist, then told her, "We’re going up together now."

Liu Li silently nodded.

Then, Li Younan turned around and slightly crouched down.

Liu Li recalled what Li Younan said earlier—he was going to carry her up!

Honestly, if someone else had said this, and with such confidence, she’d think they were crazy.

Even though she’s not heavy, she’s still an adult!

Li Younan turned his head, "Trust me."

Liu Li gritted her teeth, then quietly approached, gently hopped onto Li Younan’s back.

She instantly sensed the masculine aura from Li Younan.

It wasn’t a smell, but a kind of aura, making her feel safe, instantly liking it, though immediately her face began to blush.

The position not yet adjusted, Li Younan instinctively lifted Liu Li’s thigh to adjust her posture.

As if weightless, Liu Li was lightly jolted up with a gentle nudge.

This guy is really strong, Liu Li thought.

Because of the mountaineering skill, a girl like Liu Li who weighs less than 100 pounds is practically weightless for Li Younan, since his skill reduces the burden by 50 kilograms from his true weight experience.

Li Younan turned his face slightly and said, "Hold on tight to me."

Liu Li quickly closed her eyes and held Li Younan tightly.

The fragrance of the girl, along with her breath, reached Li Younan’s ear, making it tickle and feel very pleasant.

Next, the climbing began. Although Li Younan was very confident, to be on the safe side, he still chose to clip a safety buckle after climbing up each small distance.

Thus, even if his hands weren’t gripping tightly, he could ensure Liu Li wouldn’t fall.

But Li Younan was just too steady. In no time, he had climbed up the small cliff with a girl on his back.

After climbing up, Liu Li then saw that Li Younan had firmly fixed the other end of the parachute rope to a large tree.

As they continued upward, there were several more cliffs like this, and Li Younan took Liu Li up each one in the same manner.

About an hour later, Liu Li and Li Younan finally reached the small hot spring pool.

...

Among the things Li Younan carried was a cylindrical foldable changing room.

In fact, this thing was initially intended as a wilderness toilet, but it’s just right to use as a place to change clothes.

Of course, he didn’t need to use it, at least not before starting to soak.

Li Younan was already wearing swim trunks underneath his clothes and quickly removed his outer clothing to get into the water to test the temperature.

To ensure there wouldn’t be any rocks in the wild hot spring to hurt his feet, he didn’t choose to jump in but instead sat by the pool side, testing the temperature with his foot before slowly sliding in.

Throughout the process, Liu Li watched from the side.

While in the water, Li Younan felt that perhaps due to psychological effect, this kind of natural hot spring really felt much more comfortable than the artificial ones.

One big reason might be that this hot spring has running water, constantly refreshing itself.

The hot spring water was incredibly clear, soaking in it eased both body and mind.

Li Younan stood up, the water reaching just to his chest, not too deep.

He found a relatively lower spot to sit down slowly and then looked to Liu Li on the shore and said, "Come down, it’s really comfortable."

Liu Li looked at Li Younan, pacing hesitantly along the poolside, hands behind her back, seemingly very conflicted.

At this moment, Li Younan brought out his ace: "You’re already here..."

"You’ve come up pretty difficultly, aren’t you going to try it out?"

Those simple words "You’re already here" made Liu Li pause, her expression finally became resolute, and she silently slipped into the changing room Li Younan had set up for her.

After dawdling for about ten minutes, Li Younan was almost asleep in the water when he finally heard movement from the changing room.

The zipper opened, revealing first an adorable little white foot, followed by a fair smooth calf, and thigh...

Liu Li, wearing a blue slip dress, stood there somewhat embarrassed.

Unlike Li Younan, who had brought swim trunks on the 318 route—who would think to bring a swimsuit on 318?

So she could only wear a slip dress... But at least she was wearing something, it wouldn’t be so awkward.

Liu Li took a deep breath, silently telling herself that, essentially, this was no different from swimming together with others in a pool, everyone was wearing clothes, what did it matter?

She sneakily glanced at Li Younan’s shapely chest muscles exposed above the water surface and quickly averted her gaze, then silently walked to the pool side and sat down, carefully extending her feet into the hot spring.

The warm steam immediately enveloped her.

It felt really nice.

Liu Li lightly tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and a wonderful sense of joy suddenly surged from deep within her.

She didn’t know where this joy came from, just like the hot spring underfoot gushing out heatedly from the rock crevice.

She looked up at the sky, her mind flashing with many images: what was she doing here? Thinking back half a month ago, she was still hiding by the window at home watching the sky, and now, she was in a nameless mountain valley, sitting by a nameless wild hot spring, looking at an even clearer sky.

She unconsciously brushed the water with her foot.

Li Younan quietly watched this scene from a distance, suddenly reminded of Jia Jingwen’s version of Zhao Min, the first shot during the opening credits was her brushing the water with her foot.

Liu Li soaked her feet for a while before finally preparing to enter the water.

She didn’t look toward Li Younan; instead, she slowly moved herself down.

Li Younan cautioned, "Be careful."

Liu Li huffed, "I can swim, I could swim since elementary school!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she slipped and fell, splashing water upon impact with a "splash" sound.

Li Younan was rendered speechless.

But with this level of water depth, there was naturally no danger.

Though embarrassedly flailing in the water for a bit, Liu Li managed to stand up.

Just at that moment, Li Younan found himself unable to stay calm.

Soaking in a slip dress posed a problem that neither of them had considered before, which was... With this material, once soaked in water, it becomes faintly transparent...

Li Younan forced himself to remain composed.

Luckily Liu Li didn’t notice anything amiss, she even sheepishly tidied her wet hair and said, "That was a mistake."

"Oh." Li Younan responded calmly with just one word.

Now Liu Li started to earnestly experience the hot spring, swimming forward a bit, soon finding a comfortable spot like Li Younan, resting her head as she closed her eyes contentedly.

Hmm... It really is comfortable.