By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 76 The Soul of Camping

The mountain breeze in Huangjian Township was cool and refreshing, making the sky rustle.

The bright pink car chugged into the camp and stopped not too far from Li Younan.

It turned out to be a Volkswagen Polo.

The car door opened, and a pretty little girl stepped out. She had skin as white as silk, wore an Arale baseball cap, and sandals that revealed her fair toes.

She didn't look at Li Younan. Instead, she went around to the back of the car, opened the trunk, pulled out a large tent bag that was wider than her back, held it in her arms, and slowly walked towards the middle of the open space.

He put it down, then went back, dragging out a heavy storage box. The plastic shell rubbed against the ground, making a rustling sound.

Go back, and I pulled out a sleeping bag, followed by a folding chair, a small table, and a bulging backpack...

Trip after trip.

She was like a diligent little ant, carrying her belongings back and forth.

Her movements weren't exactly nimble; she would occasionally trip over something while carrying it, or stumble over a small pebble on the ground, but she always managed to stand firmly and keep walking.

The items were finally piled up on the open ground. She stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the pile for a while, as if taking inventory. She squatted down and opened the largest tent bag.

With a whoosh, tent fabric, tent poles, tent pegs, and guy lines all came out and spread out on the ground.

Then, she held the rolled-up instruction manual, fiddling with the edge of the paper between her fingers, turning it over and over as she looked at it, her brows slightly furrowed.

The mountain wind kept blowing the paper away from her hand, so she had to press down a corner of the tent fabric with her knee to free her hand to hold the paper.

We've started building.

She tried to thread a silver pole that looked like a main beam into the sleeve on top of the tent. The pole was a bit long; she could only push one end in a little before it slipped out the other. After finally managing to push one end all the way in, the other end bent, and she couldn't align it with the sleeve opening on the other side.

She stood on tiptoe, stretched out her arms and neck, struggling against the springy pole. The pole snapped back with a "snap," startling her so much that she jumped back a step.

She took off her hat, revealing her shiny black hair, fanned herself, stared at the pole, pursed her lips, bent down to pick it up, and started putting on her clothes again.

……

Li Younan held a bottle of mineral water in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and slowly drank it, watching with interest the small, busy scene across from him.

She finally managed to thread the main beams through crookedly, and the tent fabric was finally stretched out to roughly take shape, like a wrinkled mushroom.

She breathed a sigh of relief, dusted off her hands, and began to deal with the pegs. Her aim was a bit off; sometimes the hammer would hit the peg head with a crisp "clang," and sometimes it would miss and hit a nearby pebble with a "thud."

Undeterred, she pulled it out, moved it to another spot, and tried again.

After a while, she started wandering around aimlessly, looking for a spot. The rope was dragging at her feet, and she almost tripped over it several times.

Suddenly, a muffled "crash" was heard, followed by a small gasp.

Li Younan looked up and saw that her tent, which she had finally managed to stand up, had collapsed halfway down, as if its bones had been removed—the connection between two of the support poles had come loose.

The little girl stood beside the pile of collapsed tent fabric, still clutching the loosely tied guy line in her hand, staring blankly, looking somewhat lost.

Her small figure stood facing the pile of collapsed fabric for a long time, her shoulders seeming to slump slightly.

Li Younan stood up, took two individually wrapped chocolate biscuits from the car's drawer, and walked over.

As you get closer, you can see a speck of dust on her forehead, and a few stray hairs peek out from her hair tie, sticking to her sweaty temples.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around abruptly, her eyes shining brightly in the twilight, carrying a hint of lingering confusion and a touch of embarrassment at being caught.

"Here you go," Li Younan handed over the biscuits, trying to sound casual. "Setting up a tent is quite a lot of work. Want some cushions?"

She glanced at the cookies, then at Li Younan, and then at her own collapsed tent. The embarrassment on her face slowly faded, and a smile, a mix of shyness and relief, curved her lips as she whispered, "...Thank you."

The sound was soft, like a mountain breeze brushing against the tips of grass.

Li Younan stuffed the biscuits into her hand, the plastic wrapping rustling.

She held the cookie, not eating it immediately, her eyes still glancing at her half-collapsed tent, her brows furrowing slightly.

"First time building this?" Li Younan asked.

She shook her head, then nodded, her ponytail swaying as she spoke: "The second time... last time was on the lawn in the park, the ground was soft."

Her voice was soft and a little muffled, “The instruction manual says this tent is for quick opening.”

She gently kicked the wad of cloth lying on the ground, and the soft fabric sank in.

Dusk was falling.

She seemed to have temporarily given up her struggle with the tent and turned to open the back door of her pink car.

Goodness, with the back seat folded down, it was packed full, practically a mobile camping general store, with so many things it was dizzying.

She first pulled out a square box wrapped in a thick insulating layer, which looked quite heavy.

“It’s an insulated box,” she patted the lid, a little smugly, “containing chilled drinks and fruit.”

That wasn't all. She bent down again and laboriously pulled out a small, uniquely shaped object with a metal stand, like a little lantern, but with a stove underneath. "This," she pointed to the thing, "is a gas lamp, it burns gas. It's much more atmospheric than those rechargeable ambient lights."

She crouched down and began fiddling with the gas lamp, her movements still somewhat clumsy as she turned the valve and lit it. With a soft "poof," a small orange flame leaped up, which she carefully covered with a glass dome.

The warm light immediately spread out.

Then she took out a small cast iron pot from the car, with a folded handle that looked very delicate, a small bag of well-packaged coffee beans, a hand-cranked coffee grinder, and even a small folded bucket.

Li Younan was dumbfounded.

Do newbies have a lot of gear?

She fiddled with the hand-cranked coffee grinder, put the beans in, and cranked it a few times, producing a dry, rattling sound. She stopped, checked it with some confusion, and then continued cranking.

She looked up again and asked, "By the way, aren't you going to pitch a tent?"

Li Younan said, "I sleep in the car at night."

Hearing this, she looked up at Li Younan, then at his Land Cruiser, and then back at her own pile of shiny, stylish accessories, especially the gas lamp that was emitting a warm orange light.

She slightly raised her chin, her lips forming a small, forced smile that seemed almost forced, and her voice deliberately downcast: "Oh, sleeping in the car..."

She paused, unconsciously turning the crank of the coffee grinder, making a soft clicking sound. "That's so soulless."

After saying that, she immediately lowered her head, pretending to be engrossed in studying the grinder's markings, as if those words had just slipped out casually.

Li Younan was stunned for a moment... Uh, was he being looked down upon?
Actually, Li Younan had already given up hope that the little girl would have a lighter or something, but he still tentatively asked, "Do you have a lighter?"

Sure enough, the little girl said, "No... what do you want to do?"

Li Younan said, "I need a kindling..." He pointed to the portable gas stove over there, then sighed slightly. It seemed that he would only have some dry food like biscuits for dinner.

"Wait a moment!"

The little girl called out to him again.

Li Younan looked up and saw the little girl squatting next to her pile of equipment, rummaging through a tactical satchel that looked very professional. She was very focused, and after a while, she pulled out a small, oddly shaped object, held it in her hand, stood up, and walked over in a few steps.

"Here," she handed the item to Li Younan, "use this."

Li Younan took it; it felt heavy in his hand, with a cool, metallic feel.

He was taken aback. It was a rather decent magnesium rod lighter knife, with thick magnesium strips embedded on the back of the blade, looking quite professional.

"and this?"

Li Younan was a little surprised. After weighing it in his mind, he realized that this thing was a legitimate tool for starting a fire in the wild.

It is waterproof and durable.

She puffed out her small chest, raised her chin slightly, and said with a hint of pride, "Yes, it's safe. Just in case... well, just in case the kerosene lamp won't light either?"

She glanced at her own gas lamp, which was burning warmly.

Li Younan, holding the magnesium shavings, walked to the portable gas stove and squatted down. He scraped off a bit of magnesium shavings, then rubbed the blade against the scraper with force, and a bright spark suddenly burst open, precisely igniting the stove head.

"Thanks." Li Younan waved the magnesium knife in his hand.

“You’re welcome,” she waved her hand, turned and walked back, muttering to herself, “...it just needs to have some soul, even when it’s starting a fire.”

The sound wasn't loud, just enough to reach Li Younan's ears.

……

The flames licked the bottom of the pot; the oil was hot.

Li Younan tossed the sliced ​​cured pork into the pan, and with a sizzle, the rich, salty aroma mixed with the smoky fragrance of the oil burst forth instantly, domineeringly penetrating the cool evening air and drifting far away.

The slices of cured pork curled up in the pot, turning golden and translucent, while the oil bubbles sizzled happily.

As Li Younan was stirring things up, he caught a glimpse of the little girl diagonally opposite him. She had finally achieved a partial victory in her pile of equipment—the tent that had collapsed halfway was now propped up again in a somewhat asymmetrical but at least upright position, though it was still wrinkled.

She took two square self-heating hot pots out of the insulated box, tore open the packaging, removed the heating pack, and poured in water—her movements were quite swift. After putting the lids on, the two plastic boxes began to hiss softly, and wisps of steam escaped from the edges of the lids.

Over here, several dishes were cooked one after another, and the aroma grew stronger and stronger. Li Younan carried the pot and put the cooked dishes into a disposable lunch box, and the aroma spread out without any restraint.

Over there, the self-heating hot pot was still simmering on the girl's side.

She sat on the moon chair, her back to Li Younan, sipping her thermos. But her head seemed to tilt slightly, one movement at a time, toward Li Younan.

Finally unable to resist, she slowly strolled over, holding her thermos, and stopped a few steps away from Li Younan. Her eyes were fixed on the shiny, steaming slices of cured meat in Li Younan's lunchbox, and her nostrils twitched almost imperceptibly.

"You even cook for yourself?" she asked.

Li Younan slowly broke apart the disposable chopsticks, picked up a slice of glistening cured meat, and glanced leisurely at the two self-heating hot pots on the small table next to her. "Hmm," Li Younan responded, putting the slice of cured meat into her mouth and chewing, continuing indistinctly...

"That... it's soulless."

(End of this chapter)