Right now, there’s one last thing to take care of, and Li Younan quickly composed himself. He took out his phone and called Yang Ting.
It seemed as if Yang Ting was trying to retaliate for not answering his previous three calls. As soon as his call was connected, it quickly turned into a "The user you are calling is busy" message, evidently being hung up by her.
Li Younan didn’t get upset. He sent Yang Ting a WeChat message to ask if she was home. Only after sending it did he realize he had been blocked by her.
He chuckled to himself. He thought about it; there wasn’t much stuff left at Yang Ting’s place. Other than a laptop and some clothes and shoes, there was really nothing else worth taking.
And those clothes, Li Younan thought, were mostly summer outfits.
Because Yang Ting felt that winter clothes took up too much space, she had forcibly made him send them back home a while back.
According to Yang Ting, the wardrobe was only so big and couldn’t fit so many clothes; besides, winter clothes weren’t worn anyway.
In reality, Li Younan didn’t have a lot of clothes. He only occupied a small section of the wardrobe, less than a quarter, while the rest was crammed full with Yang Ting’s clothes, including winter clothes.
Is it domineering?
Actually, these were all minor issues that Li Younan didn’t really care about; it’s just now in hindsight, he felt a bit wistful.
Since they were summer clothes, they weren’t worth much money. If it really came to it, leaving them behind wasn’t a big deal.
As for the laptop, it was something he bought when he just started university, and its specifications and performance were well outdated, left unused most of the time.
Thinking about this, Li Younan realized there wasn’t much worth tidying up at that home. If Yang Ting needed those clothes, she could keep them; if not, it wouldn’t hurt for her to chuck them in the trash.
With this realization, Li Younan decided not to call Yang Ting anymore. It was still early enough to prepare for the ensuing plans.
His plan, of course, was to pursue his dreams.
When he was very young, his mother took him to live in the county town, which wasn’t easy for a single woman.
His mother was a quiet woman who preferred staying comfortably at home when there was nothing to do. From a very young age, Li Younan had very few memories of traveling far.
In childhood, when he read about famous places in his textbooks, the teachers would ask, "Who among you has been there?" His classmates would eagerly raise their hands, and he’d look at them with envy.
Despite this, Li Younan never blamed his mother, nor ever made a fuss asking her to take him to those places, as his mother graciously accepted his choices.
His first real trip away was when he went to university. For the first time, he took a long-distance bus and a high-speed train to a place thousands of kilometers away, where he attended university in a culturally and environmentally different setting from his hometown.
This experience was undoubtedly exciting.
Yet, even during university, he rarely had the chance to travel. He had to study diligently and acquire skills to plan his future path. During holidays, he’d sensibly stay in the university city, finding decent part-time jobs to earn money.
Back then, he’d think to himself, once he graduates, he’d definitely travel around.
However, upon graduating, he was quite competent and started interning at this company by the fourth year, seamlessly transitioning to a formal employee. Soon followed intense work pressure, but the rewards weren’t bad. Despite having no time to travel, he managed until now.
And now, having put everything aside and awakened a check-in system, he could finally tread upon every place of intrigue.
To accomplish this goal, what suits him best is to have a car.
Li Younan had carefully studied the check-in spots on various maps, some located in urban cultural landscapes, but most were in the wild. They scattered over mountains, deserts, grasslands, rivers, beaches, and even some places scarcely visited.
Having a car would make this life journey more pleasant and convenient.
Li Younan opened his phone and looked at his bank account balance; it seemed promising with over 100,000, and once the company’s 2n+1 compensation arrived, he’d have a little over 200,000. For a 25-year-old, saving that much money was already impressive, and he was quite satisfied.
But to embark on this trip, the budget felt a bit tight, with the largest expense certainly being a car. Getting a car to travel around with had two main routes: buying new or second-hand, and considering whether to opt for an electric/nature-friendly car or a gasoline one also needed careful pondering.
If he hadn’t completed the first check-in, he might’ve been more conflicted about his choice, but currently, having a car repair skill made it much easier. This skill was beyond merely fixing a broken car; its greater significance was in assessing a car’s condition, so his choice was undoubtedly a second-hand gasoline car.
Li Younan hailed a cab and headed straight to the second-hand car market.
Given the limited budget, he naturally couldn’t focus on luxury vehicles. His car selection prioritized durability, straightforward maintenance, and then space—since he’d be bringing a lot of stuff.
Of course, Li Younan was not planning to drive this car indefinitely. While he had left behind stable financial sources to travel, due to the system, he felt optimistically that his wealth might increase. He didn’t worry at all, even though it wasn’t clear why, he believed he’d soon be able to upgrade to a better car, chalking it up to some mysterious confidence.
After he briefed the salesperson about his needs, the salesperson quickly recommended a few cars that matched his criteria. The first was a 2013 Dodge pickup. The salesperson went on about the car’s features with drool-worthy admiration: "Look, it’s only done over 70,000 kilometers, and it’s very popular where Ah Mei is."
Li Younan didn’t respond. The 170,000 price tag wasn’t low, albeit much slashed from its original price. Upon circling the car a few times, he’d eliminated it—way too gas-consuming.
Next, the salesperson recommended several vehicles consecutively, but none satisfied him. Some didn’t meet his expectations, others exceeded the budget. It seemed finding a satisfactory car in the second-hand market wasn’t easy.
The salesperson, slightly frustrated, suggested: "How about you come back after some time?"
Li Younan wasn’t bothered, especially as there were still two check-in spots in the city. He decided to complete those spots and then slowly depart, so waiting a few days wasn’t a big deal.
But just as he was about to leave, a flatbed truck hauled in a crashed Toyota Land Cruiser right at the marketplace entrance.

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