Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 328 - 141: Lost?

When Li Younan arrived at the hotel, Zhu Qingyue was already waiting for him in the hotel lobby.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised when he saw Zhu Qingyue.

She sat quietly on a deep brown leather sofa in the lobby.

Her bright orange windbreaker was very eye-catching, and in front of her was a fully packed hiking backpack.

The backpack was bulging and firm, with the outlines of tent poles and a sleeping bag clearly visible.

Her feet were firmly planted on the carpet, wearing a pair of brand-new high-top hiking boots with the shaft snug against her ankles.

On her wrist was a functional black outdoor watch, and several small bags were neatly hung on the outside of the backpack, a square white medicine box showing the edge of bandage gauze through a mesh pocket, a bulging sealed snack bag with energy bars squeezed behind transparent plastic, and another small bag with tightly rolled spare socks.

Two words to describe Zhu Qingyue at this moment: professional.

At least, she looked very professional.

Upon seeing Li Younan, she stood up immediately without smiling and said seriously, "I’m ready, let’s go!"

Li Younan silently stared at her hiking backpack for a while, pondering before saying, "I need to check your gear first."

For Li Younan, he wouldn’t consider thoughts like "Will this make Zhu Qingyue feel embarrassed?" at this moment, they were about to head to Gongga Mountain. This was a very serious matter, and beyond safety, nothing else was more important.

Zhu Qingyue didn’t mind this at all, nodding and cooperating by opening her hiking backpack, and the two began to check the gear piece by piece in the lobby.

Zhu Qingyue silently watched Li Younan seriously checking her gear, gazing at him for a moment, her mouth quickly lifting into a subtle smile, carrying a hint of pride.

At this time, Li Younan was holding Zhu Qingyue’s ice axe to inspect, and as he looked up to compliment the quality of the brand, he happened to see the smile on Zhu Qingyue’s face, and was momentarily speechless...

How to say it, it was like a teacher checking homework for a child who diligently completed their assignments at home, proudly sticking out their chest...

As if discovered for holding a secret, Zhu Qingyue’s face blushed slightly, and she coughed, "How’s the check going?"

Li Younan nodded, "Very good, seems like you prepared seriously according to the list I gave you."

"I picked the best of each category!"

In the past three days, Zhu Qingyue hadn’t been idle, carefully preparing according to the list given by Li Younan, and not choosing from the aesthetics or lightweight angles, but comparatively, choosing the most hardcore and professional.

Li Younan invested a lot for this matter, and after all, this was her own matter, of course she should treat this as a very important task.

She thought, in this matter she would not be any deadweight type of person, although in previous interactions, Li Younan subconsciously revealed a perception of her like that, she didn’t immediately oppose, but it didn’t matter, in the forthcoming time, she would prove little by little that she was different from the girls he understood.

Li Younan at this moment finished checking the gear, nodded, "No problem, everything meets requirements and standards... the only issue remaining..."

Zhu Qingyue listened attentively.

Li Younan pondered slightly, speaking slowly, "This set of gear is hardcore and professional enough... but, it’s several dozen kilograms heavy... how many kilometers can you walk with it each day?"

Zhu Qingyue froze for a moment, a flicker of unexpected... astonishment in her eyes.

...

Eventually, they set off.

At this moment, sitting in the passenger seat, Zhu Qingyue still said a bit defiantly, "Trust me, I’m much stronger than you think!"

"Hmm."

"Even if I don’t reduce those non-essential items, I can still keep up with your pace."

"Hmm."

"Before this, I did a lot of exercise, weight training... My deadlift can do up to 80 kilos!"

"Heh!"

"But..." Zhu Qingyue still raised her head, her eyes softening a lot, "Thank you..."

Li Younan looked over and said with a smile, "Get some sleep first, there’s a long road ahead."

"Hmm."

...

Li Younan drove very steadily; a few hours later, they had already arrived in Kangding.

The route they were taking this time overlapped with the Gongga Mountain Circuit in some areas; after getting off in Kangding, they could rest a bit. If they had driven from a farther place, they could choose to rest in Kangding for a night before continuing, but since Li Younan and Zhu Qingyue started quite early, their arrival wasn’t late, just past noon, a slight rest, and they could set off directly.

Li Younan and Zhu Qingyue rested briefly in Kangding and had a simple lunch. During the meal, Li Younan looked at her with some amusement, saying, "Are you okay? Not car sick?"

Zhu Qingyue indeed didn’t look in great shape, partly due to some motion sickness, and also partly because they had just reached the plateau, and her body hadn’t fully adapted yet.

But she just shook her head lightly, "It’s fine, not a problem at all."

The car didn’t stop directly at Kangding, and then immediately proceed to the trek.

After a brief rest and a final check to ensure the gear and supplies were complete, the two drove straight towards Lao Yulin, using it as the starting point for this heavy pack crossing.

Lao Yulin is a very popular village when entering the Gongga area. Almost most travelers enter Gongga from here.

The village is no different from most mountain villages they encountered along the way. A highway runs through the village, with not too many buildings constructed on both sides along the route.

Here, you can see many others preparing to hike into Gongga Mountain, including some obviously very professional teams, and others who seem like they might be masters or complete beginners. Some look simply dressed for warmth, mixed among hikers are riders on off-road bikes and mountain cyclists, gathering here as their starting point.

Zhu Qingyue looked around curiously; for her, everything here is incredibly novel.

At present, it isn’t the peak season for hikers entering Gongga Snow Mountain. In April, the climate on the plateau is still very cold, belonging to early spring, and much of the snow on the mountain hasn’t melted. Wanting to advance to the higher peaks in this season would arguably increase the difficulty for oneself.

Zhu Qingyue observed everything here with curiosity.

A dark-skinned man sat alone against a wooden post eating compressed biscuits. A few youths shared a map, exchanging elevation numbers in low tones as their fingers passed over contour lines. A woman was tucking a piece of alpine rhododendron into her notebook, the edges of the petals already wilting.

Streams babbled nearby, the melting snow carrying shards of ice rushing down the mountain. Someone bent down to scoop water, the aluminum cup clinking crisply on the stones.

She suddenly felt that they were like these droplets—converging from various places, guided by the mountain’s terrain towards the same distant destination.

They began to set off one after another.

The tip of the trekking pole tapping on the gravel road sounded continuously, like some kind of metronome. Everyone had their own rhythm: some strode quickly, others walked slowly, while the flower-picking lady walked at the end, glancing back at the village every few steps.

Zhu Qingyue suddenly remembered the blank diary in her backpack’s side pocket.

Perhaps tonight when camping, she should jot down the silhouettes of these strangers—since before reaching the endpoint, everyone on this journey is a temporary footnote in the same story.

Thinking of this, Zhu Qingyue suddenly felt happy. She looked at Li Younan and gave a smile that could be described as "silly," leaving Li Younan baffled by her sudden smile, as he rubbed his nose...

Did she see him picking his nose earlier?

Li Younan changed the topic... accurately speaking, he initiated a topic: "Today’s task is still very challenging. We can’t afford to waste any time here; we must reach the camp... Wuque Camp today."

The plan for today was something Li Younan had already discussed with Zhu Qingyue, so she was naturally aware.

From Lao Yulin to the camp, they needed to cross Gexi Grassland and Two Forks River. The total journey was about 18 kilometers. Although it didn’t sound far, in reality, in flat or urban areas, but here, there are no roads, and according to the average pace of other trekking travelers, it would take approximately 8 hours!

And this was a relatively optimistic calculation. Li Younan had to prepare for the worst... if Zhu Qingyue couldn’t keep up physically, reaching the camp in one day was impossible unless they traveled by night.

Li Younan didn’t plan to travel by night, so his plan was, if they couldn’t reach the camp, to simply find a suitable spot along the way and set up camp before dark.

Of course, Zhu Qingyue had no objections to Li Younan’s decisions; at this moment, she was completely following Li Younan’s lead.

Then, on this breezy, slightly chilly April afternoon, the young girl carried a heavy pack larger than herself and set off towards the towering snow mountain beyond her field of view... Behind her, a young man with a similarly large backpack walked leisurely, casually looking around with interest...

Thanks to his climbing skills, Li Younan had an astonishing carrying capacity, comparable to a human ox or horse. The weight felt no different than a school backpack.

April’s Lao Yulin, the river valley connected to the forest, the morning mist not yet dispersed, streams flowed in the mist, the sound of the water following the footsteps, thin ice remained in the cracks of rocks, lit brightly by fog-filtered light.

By the roadside, newly sprouted wild primroses formed clusters with purple-blue small flowers, dotted with dew, the needle-leaved forest’s tree shadows emerged from the mist, ice crystals hung on trunks, which rattled together as wind blew, filling the air with the scent of grasswood and earth.

Up to now, Zhu Qingyue was still in good spirits.

Having walked for nearly half an hour, she showed no intention to stop and rest... Li Younan was somewhat surprised; he had underestimated this girl.

Going further, the mist gradually thickened.

Earlier, tree trunks visible from tens of steps away now appeared like something had engulfed them, their shadows fading, leaving only blurred outlines.

The sound of the stream was still in the ears, but not as it was earlier when one could discern its bend; now it seemed to come from all directions, swirling around her feet.

Pointing the trekking pole towards the ground, Zhu Qingyue could feel the damp soil and occasional loose stones.

Remembering that the river valley was supposed to turn left, now looking up, shadows of the mountains on both sides were immersed in the mist, indistinguishable as to which side was steeper.

Earlier they passed those wild primroses, looking back now, already partially shrouded in mist and seemingly shrinking into thin air.

Her heart sank slightly—was this the legendary getting lost from the textbooks?

For those who were born and raised in the city and had never been to the wild, the scenarios described about getting lost in the wild from the textbooks were beyond their imagination.

No way, they had just set off... and already faced such a predicament?

Fortunately, footsteps remained behind her; she felt somewhat comforted. Turning back, Li Younan was always a few steps behind her.

She leaned her backpack against a nearby tree branch, somewhat tense, yet intentionally acting with a calm demeanor, asking, "Are we... lost?"

Li Younan blinked his eyes, slowly shifting his gaze from a flower beside him, with a peculiar expression: "Huh?"

————————————

ps: There will be another update during the day! Must sleep now, the stamina bar is depleted...