Li Younan wasn’t in a rush; he walked leisurely, stopping along the way, and only arrived in Ningbo two days later.
He was actually unfamiliar with this city; in his memory, there was nothing notable associated with Ningbo. But strangely, this city was much more famous than Jinhua.
Li Younan didn’t even know why he knew about Ningbo.
To be honest, if he were planning a trip himself, Ningbo wouldn’t be on the shortlist.
So the main purpose of this trip was simple—to check in, then leave his car at the airport parking lot, and fly to Xiamen to join Jing Chaoyi for that youth carnival.
As a deputy provincial-level city, Xiamen, just like Binhai City, has two check-in points. Even without the system’s task, Xiamen is already attractive enough. Li Younan had never been to Xiamen, so he was looking forward to the upcoming journey.
He lay in a hotel in Ningbo, eagerly anticipating the trip to Xiamen.
The next day, he finally decided to explore the city properly.
To be honest, although this city had quite a few postcard-like features, they weren’t particularly famous. Aside from the Hemudu Site, which Li Younan had read about in textbooks, he hadn’t heard of other attractions like Zhoushan Port or Tianyi Pavilion... After all, he was a science student.
But this unfamiliarity with the city and lack of expectations brought some unexpected surprises.
By almost eight in the morning, the sun was already scorching, and the air felt sticky.
In contrast, Binhai City’s subway would be packed like sardines at this time, but there weren’t many people on the streets of Ningbo.
Li Younan wandered to Moon Lake Park, where the abundance of trees and water made it much cooler compared to Binhai City’s People’s Park or Jing’an Park. It felt wilder here, not as refined, but with larger patches of shade and more open water.
A few local older men and women were fanning themselves with bamboo fans, sitting on stone benches by the water, chatting leisurely in Ningbo dialect.
Li Younan found a shady spot and sat down, doing nothing but watching the fish blow bubbles and the dragonflies darting around.
A few of the older women noticed Li Younan, and one of them suddenly came over to ask him a few questions in Ningbo dialect. He was utterly confused. Later, he realized she was asking if he had a partner.
In contrast, in a park in Binhai City, it would be hard to find such a large, quiet corner with so few people.
By almost ten, Li Younan’s stomach was growling.
He left the park and turned into a small alley next to the Drum Tower, entering a noodle shop called Cangqiaotou Mianjie. At the entrance, a large pot was steaming, and the aroma tantalized his nose. The shop didn’t have air conditioning, just a few large ceiling fans spinning, and it was full of locals.
Li Younan squeezed in and ordered a bowl of dumpling noodles in clear broth, with bits of oil and scallions floating on top, resembling enlarged wontons but with thinner, smoother skin and a refreshing broth.
It was quite delicious.
This check-in task was much simpler than Li Younan had imagined.
Ningbo is a famous port and fishing city, and the task was simply to taste three of Ningbo’s famous dishes.
Initially, according to Li Younan’s plan, he intended to seriously research and enjoy these three dishes with a sense of ceremony.
But unexpectedly, he completed the task just by randomly walking into a small local restaurant and ordering three dishes.
These three dishes were braised yellow croaker with pickled cabbage soup, crab-stir-fried rice cakes, and tangyuan.
[Check-in task completed!]
[Receive random reward...]
[Reward: Climbing skill +1]
If it were in the past, receiving a reward would mean the beginning of accepting a great legacy, but this time a little twist was added.
The system prompt continued.
[Detected that the host has acquired parkour skills; climbing skills and parkour skills are enhanced...]
[Parkour skill +1]
[Climbing skill +1]
Li Younan was startled; the sudden skill enhancement quickly improved his physical fitness further.
His mind was filled with advanced knowledge about climbing and parkour, and both his core strength and finger strength were significantly increased.
He also realized that when the foundational attributes of two skills overlap, both skills can be enhanced.
In this system, there is no concept of attributes like physique, intelligence, or spirit—all rewards are skills. But when you acquire a skill, you inevitably gain corresponding attributes.
For example, the leg strength, balance, coordination, hand strength, and core strength needed for both parkour and climbing can enhance both skills further.
This is easy to understand. For instance, graffiti and painting skills, which also share common foundations, might generate similar enhancements when acquired together.
The system’s prompt wasn’t over yet.
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking Level 2 skills. You can now view your skill list]
A new feature?
Li Younan immediately opened his skill list.
[Repair skill Level 1: You can diagnose 99% of car issues. Except for a few specialized performance cars, you can handle most jobs in auto repair shops.]
[Photography skill Level 1: There are no camera settings you don’t understand, no composition techniques you can’t master.]
[Cooking skill Level 1: All cooking principles are the same.]
[Piano skill Level 1: A beggar’s version of Liszt]
[Carving skill Level 1: Any figure you can imagine, you can replicate as a sculpture.]
[Makeup skill Level 1: It’s like your hands are plugins for photo-editing apps.]
[Parkour skill Level 2: What, there’s a parkour move you can’t do? That must only be in your dreams. You’re just a step away from becoming legendary, needing only more courage and adrenaline.]
[Climbing skill Level 2: Free climbing Manhattan is just like playing, isn’t it?]
He hadn’t had a chance to test the Level 2 parkour and climbing skills yet, as the weather was too hot and all he wanted was to find a cool place to lie down. But without a doubt, if Level 1 skills were already so strong, being professional-level, Level 2 must be at least master-level.
The next level might be legendary level, as in throughout history...
Li Younan bought a plane ticket for the day after tomorrow, as it was slightly cheaper. After traveling for a while and only spending, his savings were down to 40,000 yuan. Without new income, unnecessary spending would be avoided.
His grumpy brother hadn’t finished processing the raw materials for him, but Li Younan wasn’t anxious; after all, it had only been two days.
The day before going to Xiamen was even more relaxing for Li Younan.
He dazed under the shade of trees, ate a bowl of fresh noodles in the alley, cooled off in a secondhand bookstore flipping through old books, went to the riverside in the evening to enjoy the breeze and watch the boats go by, and finally strolled back leisurely.
He gradually grew fond of this city; despite the heat, there was a leisurely atmosphere infused with moisture and smoke that was quite different from the refined, efficient urban pace of Binhai City.
Of course, the more important reason was his current state of mind; no matter where he went, he would likely discover the local beauty and automatically filter out some of the undesirable aspects.
As long as there was no work or school, anywhere felt nice, anywhere seemed beautiful.

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