Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

The dream of an essential oil massage won’t be realized tonight.

Li Younan had gone to a foot massage place with his roommate before, naturally one of those very legitimate, clean shops, where all the technicians were aunties and a few uncles.

Back then, he had experienced being massaged with essential oil.

But the memory wasn’t very pleasant overall.

Li Younan suspected the auntie’s hand strength could crush a walnut with ease.

As she tirelessly worked on Li Younan’s back, she smiled and asked, "Young man, does it hurt?"

Originally, Li Younan was about to say yes, but just then, his friend next to him, with a contorted face, answered first to another auntie asking the same question, "It hurts!"

And then got ruthlessly laughed at by that auntie: "The young man’s kidneys... aren’t very good, huh."

So when it was Li Younan’s turn, he said expressionlessly, "Not really, not too painful."

After saying that, he instantly felt the pressure on his waist increase.

But he still maintained an indifferent expression, even calmly shook his head, relaxed and carefree.

Eventually, the auntie began to doubt herself.

That day, Li Younan put on a huge act, and his travel companions thought he was incredibly tough.

The price, however, was a large bruise on his waist.

For several years after, whenever he thought of essential oil massage, he would remember that piercing pain and the pretentious endurance to uphold masculine dignity.

However, who wouldn’t think that if the person massaging behind him was Sister Long, with her gentle strength, it would be very comfortable.

But it seems he might have upset Sister Long now, so that thought can only be put to rest.

Might as well sleep.

Li Younan took out the mattress and blanket from the storage cabinet and laid them out. Only then did Sister Long slowly emerge from the bathroom, nonchalantly walked to the side, lowered the elevating bed, and sat on it.

The privacy curtain was pulled up.

Pretty good.

Li Younan still savored the beautiful feeling of Sister Long’s slender and somewhat cold hands on his back earlier.

Being a lone man and woman sharing a room for such a long time, it would seem unnatural for him not to have some thoughts.

However, generally speaking, Li Younan is not very good at pursuing girls.

He has had a few relationships in the past. Apart from Yang Ting, there was one in high school and another in junior high, but with Yang Ting included, it was always the girls who took the first step, so he really doesn’t have much experience in taking the initiative in this area.

Yet, Li Younan quite enjoys the current feeling.

Regarding his own conditions, he naturally isn’t completely unaware, like an idiot; he knows he’s not lacking in female company.

If he were merely pursuing pleasure and excitement, given his circumstances, there are many ways to obtain that easily.

For many guys, having such conditions could be a boastful point.

But compared to the dry satisfaction of physiological needs, Li Younan now feels that if there’s a girl he can quietly embrace, feeling her breath and body warmth, it would feel even better.

With such floating thoughts, Li Younan was overtaken by drowsiness, his eyelids becoming heavier, accompanied by the faint sound of a girl removing her clothes echoing by his ears, prompting visions of some alluring images.

He finally fell into a deep sleep.

...

When he woke up in the morning, sunlight was already filtering through the window gap.

Li Younan never fully closes the blackout curtain on the window when he sleeps at night; he leaves a gap.

Because in the wilderness, there isn’t much light pollution, so whether or not you use the blackout curtain doesn’t really affect sleep.

He stretched, and then surprisingly saw Sister Long wearing a cook’s outfit, frying eggs on the indoor electric stove.

Noticing that Li Younan had woken up, she turned her head towards him, smiled, and softly said, "Good morning."

Li Younan blinked; this was the first time Sister Long woke up before him.

In the morning, they often exchanged greetings, but it was mostly initiated by Li Younan, because every time he made breakfast and returned to the RV, Sister Long was usually brushing her teeth.

Li Younan was a bit stunned, nodded, "Good morning."

Today is another sunny day.

...

It’s April now. It’s been a full half month since they departed from Chengdu, and their pace is much slower compared to most tourists attempting route 318.

Now they are still at the last stop before entering Tibet, with high altitude, oxygen deprivation, and magnificent scenery being the main themes of this journey.

But besides the beautiful scenery, the living conditions are not bad either. Compared to most others making the trip to Tibet, their camper van has accounted for everything possible, and the two of them are not lonely on the road.

At this moment, the journey is still far from its end.

The clouds started gathering in the sky, but the sunlight was still intense, and between heaven and earth it was clear and bright.

There was still unmelted snow on the roadside, but the tracks on the road had already crushed the melted snow.

Li Younan drove the car, not in a hurry to head to the next stop.

This is Batang, and driving west for another thirty minutes will take them across the Jinsha River Bridge, reaching the ultimate destination in the hearts of 318 road trippers... Tibet.

The altitude here isn’t considered high, just over 2500 meters.

At this moment, the direction Li Younan is heading is opposite to Lhasa’s. There are really a lot of hot springs here, with all kinds of wild hot spring clusters along the way.

The number of tourists entering Tibet isn’t particularly high right now, and there aren’t as many cars on the road as one might imagine.

Li Younan’s plan for today is to find a wild hot spring for a good soak.

Li Younan has always had a peculiar filter when it comes to soaking in hot springs. For him, soaking in hot springs is almost synonymous with "vacation."

In Li Younan’s perception, beach sunsets, sunshine, and soaking in hot springs are on equal footing.

Moreover, now that he has attained an intermediate level in swimming, soaking in hot springs interests him even more.

Throughout this journey, Li Younan and Sister Long haven’t stayed in a hotel even once, spending all nights in the camper van.

Even though all the basic facilities in the van are complete without any shortcomings, the prospect of showering still holds other expectations.

After all, the bathroom space is limited, allowing only for showers, and the shower water is stored in the van’s water tanks.

Though rationally, Li Younan knows the two water tanks store more than enough water, his subconscious prompts him to use it sparingly. So every shower is more about cleansing than relaxation.

His mom, who loves bathing, often brainwashed him, saying, "Bathing is a very relaxing thing. Whether it’s a shower or soaking in a bath, you must soak for more than twenty minutes, let your body’s capillaries and pores fully open, and only then will it be truly comfortable."

Next, after entering Tibet, there will be hot springs large and small along the way.

Li Younan couldn’t help but think of his mom’s influence.

Soaking in a hot spring really is that comfortable... should he try finding one?

He stopped the car at the entrance of a mountain valley.

The road into the valley was too difficult for the car to traverse.

Li Younan had looked up some guides and checked the geothermal resource distribution of this area before. There was a high probability of finding a wild hot spring in this unnamed valley.

But before that, he had to temporarily leave Sister Long in the car.

Without bringing anything else, he just wore a pair of hiking shoes and ventured into the valley on foot by himself.

This valley showed no signs of development. After walking for over ten minutes, it turned into a wild path.

For Li Younan, climbing a hill of this degree was naturally no pressure at all.

Soon after, he noticed what seemed to be mist rising from a mountain in the distance, and his heart leaped with joy—geothermal heat, combined with a mountain spring, equals a hot spring.

Continuing towards the rising mist, he quickly encountered several cliffs that required climbing to ascend. They weren’t particularly high, so Li Younan effortlessly climbed up them.

Looking around, it was evident that an average person wouldn’t be able to reach here, ensuring the wildness of this hot spring.

Li Younan continued forward. Because of the geothermal heat, the vegetation here was sparse, so he didn’t have to push through dense shrubs, enabling him to climb more easily.

After roughly over twenty minutes, he finally reached the spot where he saw the mist earlier. He noticed—this was a hot spring spewing from cracks in a cliff, with a high water temperature, emanating heat that could be felt at the source.

Li Younan conservatively estimated that the temperature was surely high enough to boil an egg, so directly soaking in this water would be asking for trouble.

His gaze followed the hot spring stream downward, observing the water flowing directly from under the rockface, leading in another direction. He continued to explore along the stream.

The farther he descended, the cooler the water became.

After walking only a few dozen meters, this hot spring stream tumbled down from a rock wall into a pool below.

Standing above the pool, Li Younan saw that the pool was about ten square meters in size, with a depth roughly estimated at 1.3 to 1.4 meters. It was surrounded by rock walls, with no path nearby—making it difficult for an average person to find.

He found a small path leading closer to the pool and crouched down beside it. He dipped his hand into the pool to test the water temperature, then smiled slightly—it felt around 40 degrees Celsius, perfect for bathing.

Having found a hot spring so easily, Li Younan was naturally thrilled.

But then he hesitated. For him, reaching this place was no problem, but it would be quite troublesome for Sister Long to climb up here.

Since this place had great privacy, he was rather hoping Sister Long could come and try it too.

After thinking it over, his eyes twinkled, and he turned back.