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

Chapter 121 Though You're Clumsy, You Can Ride More [6.5 thousand words!]

Horseback riding is actually not that difficult.

The horses here are all trained, so as long as you follow the riding instructor's instructions, you shouldn't make any mistakes.

Throughout human history, especially in the Mongolian region, horses have always been animals that have accompanied humans. In this respect, they have developed a tacit understanding with humans that is etched into their genes.

Of course, most importantly, they are docile: the two horses the coach brought over were naturally the most docile in the herd.

The coach said, "When you mount the horse, it can actually sense whether you know how to ride. You have to pretend you do, project your confidence, and the horse won't bully you." After a pause, the coach laughed and said, "In a sense, horses are very opportunistic animals, and they're a bit of a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong. If you can't tame them, you can't control them, and they won't listen to you. Now let's officially mount up and see who comes first?"

Huang Xiaoyang, Li Younan, and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Younan patted his camera and said, "You two go first, I'll take your pictures."

Huang Xiaoyang nodded and said, "Alright, I'll give you a demonstration first." He pretended to walk over to the horse and asked, "Is it like this?"

The coach then demonstrated again to Huang Xiaoyang on the back of another horse, before dismounting and intending to lead the horse so that Huang Xiaoyang could mount it.

But before he even reached the horse, Huang Xiaoyang had already stepped into the stirrups and mounted the horse in one go, his movements fluid and natural.

After mounting the horse, Huang Xiaoyang glanced at Dandan beside him, then muttered to himself in a calm and natural tone, "It doesn't seem too difficult."

The coach was slightly surprised when he saw this, but then his eyes lit up: "Your first time riding a horse went so smoothly, not bad, not bad. It seems you have a lot of talent."

Huang Xiaoyang looked at Li Younan, his expression still restrained, as if he had no other emotions. He was looking at Li Younan's expression, trying to find some surprise or astonishment on Li Younan's face.

But he was soon disappointed. Li Younan only glanced at the horsemen before lowering his head to fiddle with his camera.

Huang Xiaoyang frowned and said to the coach, "Okay, let's continue."

The coach walked over to the horse and explained it to Huang Xiaoyang up close. Huang Xiaoyang nodded to indicate that he had remembered everything.

The coach then had Huang Xiaoyang try to ride the horse, while he stood by to ensure no accidents occurred.

Huang Xiaoyang sat upright, even leaning back slightly, and gently squeezed the horse's belly, causing the horse to slowly trot forward.

The coach's voice came through: "Yes, that's right. Pull the left rein slightly, and it will go left. The same principle applies; pull the right rein gently, and it will go right. These reins are your steering wheel. To run, you need to grip the reins a little harder... But don't try it yet; wait until you're more familiar with it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Huang Xiaoyang gave a strong push, and the horse, sensing his movement, began to trot.

Seeing this, the coach was stunned for a moment, then looked at Dandan standing there and asked, "Is your fiancé really riding a horse for the first time?"

Dandan nodded and said honestly, "Yes, yes, it really is my first time."

After she finished speaking, she secretly glanced at Li Younan, but unfortunately, Li Younan didn't even look at her.

The coach looked in Huang Xiaoyang's direction. Huang Xiaoyang wasn't riding very fast. After running a hundred or two meters, he gradually slowed down. Then he gently pulled the reins, and the horse turned around and slowly rode back.

When they reached them, the horse had slowed down. Huang Xiaoyang pretended to ask, "Oh, you still haven't told me how to stop?"

The coach blinked and said, "Lean back a little, and it will stop."

Huang Xiaoyang tilted his head back slightly and successfully brought the horse to a stop. He jumped off the horse and said, "It's not that difficult after all."

Li Younan finally looked up and said with a smile, "Are you all done? Let me take a set of photos for you first."

Huang Xiaoyang frowned slightly, barely perceptible, nodded, and said, "Give it a try. This horse isn't too difficult... but you still need to be careful."

Li Younan said, "Why did you come down? Come up, I'm taking a picture of you."

Huang Xiaoyang took a deep breath: "I'm talking to you about the horses."

Li Younan nodded casually: "I was talking to you about horses too. Come on, the light is good now, ride over there, the background will be better." Then he said to the coach: "Coach, don't just stand there, teach the female lead to ride a horse too."

The coach snapped out of his daze and said, "Oh, oh." He then led another horse and began to demonstrate for Dandan.

Huang Xiaoyang sighed helplessly, mounted his horse, and guided it to the location indicated by Li Younan.

Li Younan nodded: "This angle is pretty good." He raised his camera and snapped a few photos. "Let's change the pose."

Under Li Younan's instructions, Huang Xiaoyang kept adjusting his movements and angles.

After a while, he suddenly understood, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. So that's how it is. He thought he knew why.

Those who have never ridden a horse have no comparison.

Li Younan probably didn't know the value of his moves. Just like someone who has never played football wouldn't know how amazing a curving, spinning shot can be.

Having figured this out, Huang Xiaoyang became calmer and cooperated with Li Younan to complete the filming.

Meanwhile, Dandan, under the coach's guidance, nervously mounted the horse, looking both excited and scared.

Li Younan then moved the camera over to her, and Dandan immediately controlled her expression, forcing a sweet smile.

Li Younan found it somewhat amusing. Girls are like that; no matter the atmosphere, as long as the camera is pointed at them, their expressions will always become sweet.

But this sweet feeling didn't last long. When the horse beneath her moved, Dandan screamed in panic.

The instructor chuckled, "That's how someone riding a horse for the first time should react."

Next, the two of them took several sets of photos. Li Younan then directed Huang Xiaoyang and Dandan to ride on the same horse and take several more photos. The results were naturally very good, and even Li Younan was very satisfied with these photos.

In a sense, they are not even wedding photos, but rather humanistic photographic works with a strong visual impact.

The coach, who had been watching from the sidelines, curiously leaned over to look at Li Younan's photo for a few moments and exclaimed in admiration, "If you hadn't said before that they were here to take wedding photos, I would have thought you had hired models for a photoshoot! This photo is really good, much better than those taken by photographers in photo studios."

A good photograph is one that even someone who has never studied photography can immediately tell whether it is good or bad; aesthetics is a subconscious thing.

Afterwards, on horseback, Li Younan took several photos of them galloping. Some of the photos were particularly stunning, taken when the horses were galloping towards Li Younan. The impact of the two people almost bursting out of the frame made Huang Xiaoyang exclaim, "This photo can be hung in my study."

After filming wrapped up, Huang Xiaoyang naturally didn't forget that Li Younan had never ridden a horse before.

The coach was naturally happy to accept, since he charged by the hour.

Li Younan slowly put away his camera. The coach brought over the horse that Dandan hadn't ridden much, which was in better physical condition. He said, "Come on, since we're already here, give it a try."

Of course, Li Younan wanted to experience it. He had been itching to try it himself after watching Huang Xiaoyang clumsily ride around on horseback.

The coach led the horse to him, and Li Younan couldn't contain his excitement. He went up and patted the horse's head. Then, the man and the horse looked at each other. The horse clearly sensed something and involuntarily adjusted its body angle.

Li Younan patted the horse's back: "What a fine horse."

The coach blinked. You see, when someone who can't ride a horse faces such a large animal, their first reaction is usually a bit of fear.

The next moment, the coach even forgot that he hadn't formally taught Li Younan how to mount the horse. He saw Li Younan lightly mount the horse and didn't even see if he stepped on the stirrups.

The instructor paused for a moment, then asked, "Is this really your first time riding?"

Li Younan laughed and said, "I never said this was my first time riding a horse. Didn't I tell you before that I've ridden horses in western Sichuan?"

The coach blinked: "Not one of those 20-yuan rides for tourists to take pictures?"

Li Younan nodded and said, "I guess so."

Li Younan did not hide his horse riding skills. Horse riding skills are not easy to quantify, but his level is undoubtedly that of a true professional.

Maintaining balance on horseback and even performing some challenging maneuvers within his capabilities is not difficult for him.

But simply riding a horse and controlling it to run around isn't something that seems outrageous.

Li Younan gently squeezed the horse's belly, his body rising and falling rhythmically with the horse's movements.

Just by seeing this scene, the coach knew that Li Younan was definitely not the kind of rookie he had imagined.

Even a novice who learns quickly will need some time to gradually grasp the feeling of riding the waves.

That put my mind at ease.

Huang Xiaoyang was stunned.

Dandan was also stunned for a moment.

Li Younan first tried to control the horse to run a short distance, and he had completely tamed the horse under his feet. The horse neighed happily.

Li Younan could also sense the horse's emotions.

Li Younan leaned down slightly and whispered in the horse's ear: "You must have suffered a lot because you can't ride a horse, right? It's okay, I'll take you for a good ride, let's have a comfortable ride."

As if it could understand Li Younan's words, the horse excitedly stamped its hooves.

Li Younan said loudly, "Can I ride in that direction myself?"

The coach hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes...yes."

Li Younan received an affirmative answer, laughed heartily, and turned his horse around.

With a slight flick of the reins and a squeeze of his legs, Li Younan gave a low shout: "Giddy up!"

The horse charged off in an instant.

The wind suddenly rushed into Li Younan's ears, whistling and carrying the biting scent of withered grass and frost, stinging his face.

The earth undulated violently beneath him, and the heavy sound of the horse's hooves striking the frozen ground seemed to sink into his very bones.

Li Younan lowered his body, leaned forward, and felt that he and the horse were completely synchronized in their running rhythm.

Every contraction and relaxation of the muscles, every powerful push, was clearly transmitted to him through the saddle.

A clump of low sea buckthorn appeared ahead. He leaned slightly forward, and man and horse became one, gliding across it with ease.

As we sped along the riverbank, the icy water shimmered in our peripheral vision.

The buildings of the Tianxia Grassland Scenic Area receded rapidly to the side and rear.

Beneath me surged a powerful force, in my ears whistled the wind, and before me stretched an endless golden sea of ​​grass.

At that moment, all of Li Younan's distracting thoughts disappeared, leaving only a pure sense of speed and control.

The vastness of this land seemed to be measured by the horse's hooves. Watching Li Younan gallop away, Dandan asked thoughtfully, "Would you dare ride that fast?"

Huang Xiaoyang remained silent.

The river bends ahead, revealing a sandy area. Li Younan leans back slightly, his hands firmly gripping the reins, and clearly issues the command: "Whoa—!"

The horse immediately understood, its galloping momentum quickly subsided, its pace slowed, and it finally came to a steady stop at the edge of the sandy area, taking only a few graceful steps with its remaining momentum.

Li Younan reined in his horse and looked back.

The path they came from left a clear trail across the grassland.

The horse beneath him quieted down, its mane slightly damp with sweat, its head bowed obediently, and he could feel the violent rise and fall of its chest and its gradually calming breathing.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on the winding river and onto him and his horse.

The initial unfamiliarity of riding for the first time vanished, leaving only a sense of exhilarating tacit understanding and the freedom to conquer this land.

The wind is the only boundary at this moment.

Cool.

So cool.

……

Overall, today's tasks were completed very smoothly.

Huang Xiaoyang and his fiancée took some great photos, while he rode a sturdy and strong horse, galloping freely for a while.

When Li Younan dismounted, he was still somewhat reluctant to leave, and he could even feel that the horse was also reluctant to part with him.

For a horse, running is its very nature, and the meaning of its life lies in galloping across the world with its rider.

It's extremely difficult to find a rider who can make it run comfortably, especially in this fast-paced era.

From the horse's perspective, every two-legged creature wants to ride it, but the vast majority of them are clumsy two-legged creatures who have never ridden a horse before. Riding them is a shackle, an obstacle.

But under the intimidation of horse breeders and whips, they could only suppress their innate free spirit.

Thinking about it this way, it's actually quite pitiful.

Therefore, encountering a top rider like Li Younan, with such a low probability, becomes extremely precious.

Li Younan sighed softly. Before parting, he patted the horse's head but didn't say anything sentimental.

He thought the horse was quite nice, and also rather pitiful. If he had the means, he wouldn't even mind buying it... simply because of this ride and the horse's reluctant gaze.

But since he doesn't have the means, he won't be here wallowing in self-pity.

They left happily.

However, to Li Younan's surprise, it was clear that Huang Xiaoyang's mood was not very high either.

Dandan, on the other hand, was very satisfied with the afternoon's itinerary. After getting on the bus, she kept chattering, sharing her feelings and occasionally telling a couple of lame jokes.

Li Younan didn't find it funny, but he still laughed twice along with Dandan as a response.

Huang Xiaoyang's already low spirits, which had been low before he even got on the bus, continued until this moment.

Li Younan felt that Huang Xiaoyang seemed very reluctant to part with that horse; she hadn't expected him to be such a sentimental person who loved animals.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Given Huang Xiaoyang's terrible horsemanship, it's quite rare for him to have a horse that can cooperate with and accommodate him. It seems normal to feel a little nostalgic about it.

Thinking of this, Li Younan said while keeping his hands on the steering wheel, "If you want that horse, you can buy it. It shouldn't be difficult for your family to set up a horse farm."

Huang Xiaoyang realized that Li Younan was talking to him. He frowned slightly, not quite understanding what Li Younan meant. He sighed softly and said, "You won, but you didn't mention the stakes earlier... Go ahead and say it."

This time it was Li Younan's turn to be stunned. He blinked, glanced back at Huang Xiaoyang with a strange look, and seeing Huang Xiaoyang's serious expression, he turned his gaze to Dandan beside him. Then he turned his head back to look at the road and asked, "Dandan, what is your fiancé muttering? What do you mean he won?"

Huang Xiaoyang frowned even more deeply, a look of surprise flashing across his eyes, which then turned into confusion, before he understood something and finally let out a heavy sigh.

He... ignored Lao Tzu's words again.

Only Dandan understood what had happened the whole time, and she lowered her head and chuckled softly and unconsciously.

The girl was still laughing, laughing so hard her tears were almost bright. Her fiancé turned his head away, looking out the window with a cold face. Only the driver continued driving, looking completely bewildered.

The scenery outside the window is beautiful.

Li Younan thought for a moment and then said, "It's okay. Although you ride a bit clumsily, you'll get the hang of it after a few more rides."

Dandan laughed even louder, but the next moment Huang Xiaoyang tapped her on the head, stopping her laughter abruptly.

……

The next stop is Ergun.

Li Younan doesn't need to worry about the itinerary.

Huang Xiaoyang had already arranged everything.

They checked into a hotel in Ergun, took a walk nearby after dinner, and then rested.

At the hotel, JK Long sent a message asking Li Younan what she had been doing these past few days, as it had been quite a while since she had sent any materials.

Li Younan smiled wryly upon seeing the message.

That's true. Although his video homepage is still updated frequently, that's because he left a few videos behind after leaving western Sichuan.

In the past few days, those few videos have been sent out, so naturally there has been a vacuum period for the videos.

However, before Li Younan could reply, JK Long sent another message: "Are you a little tired? If you are, it would be good to rest for a while."

Upon seeing this sentence, Li Younan was somewhat surprised.

Traveling must be a pleasant experience, but Jk Long feels that if travel becomes work, constantly being on the go can be quite tiring.

Of course, this is a change in mindset, not necessarily a real-life experience. This also reflects a truth: even something that is entertaining becomes difficult to enjoy once it becomes work.

Li Younan was certainly not like that. He was full of energy, and for him, travel was always travel, and it had nothing to do with work.

However, from JK Long's perspective, constantly traveling outside must be quite tiring.

Li Younan didn't intend to hide anything. He sent a message saying, "Not tired. I've been helping a friend take wedding photos in Hulunbuir these past two days. Well, you could call it a travel photoshoot. I really don't have the energy to shoot videos for myself. Don't worry, traveling doesn't tire me out."

JK Dragon said, "Don't push yourself. How can anyone in this world not get tired? You'll get exhausted doing anything for a long time. Fine, I won't try to persuade you anymore. You can decide for yourself. If you don't want to film videos these next few days, then take a break. I'll take a few days off too. But you need to think about where you're going to go next."

Li Younan lay down on the bed and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Suggestion?" The chat interface showed that JK Long started typing and then kept typing.

Li Younan was in no hurry and waited patiently.

A very long time passed before JK Dragon sent a message, but it only contained three words: "Go to a place with snow. I've never seen snow."

But the message was deleted in a second; if Li Younan hadn't been staring at his phone the whole time, he probably wouldn't have seen it.

After withdrawing, JK Dragon changed it to: "Let's go to a place with snow," deleting the words "I've never seen snow."

Li Younan's expression was somewhat strange. He pondered the difference between adding "I have never seen snow" to the sentence and not adding the sentence, trying to guess JK Long's intention in withdrawing the message.

After a moment, Li Younan felt that he had found the answer.

Oh, I guess Brother Long felt that doing that would make him seem unsophisticated, that's probably the reason.

Li Younan continued to play along with JK Long, asking, "What did you send? Why did you delete it?"

JK Dragon said, "Don't worry about the typos."

Li Younan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Alright then." He thought for a moment and said, "Well, after we finish filming here, we'll go back and stay for a few days until November. There should already be snow in Northeast China. What do you think about going to Harbin then?"

JK Dragon said, "OK, that's fine."

Putting down his phone, Li Younan opened the system panel and glanced at the next check-in location, which was located in Heishantou on this trip.

However, they won't be able to reach Heishantou tomorrow. Huang Xiaoyang's plan is to go to the Birch Forest Scenic Area first, and then stay in Shiwei.

Although I still won't be able to complete the daily check-in task tomorrow, the Agate Grassland on the Sino-Russian border is quite nice. There are also horse farms there, so I can continue to experience the fun of horseback riding.

As for the birch forest, regardless of whether it's beautiful or not, it's definitely a great place for wedding photos. Li Younan is confident that he can use the scenery there to take some stunning photos for the two of them.

Therefore, Li Younan was really looking forward to tomorrow's itinerary.

第二天一早8:00准时出发，黄晓阳没有浪费1分1秒，说是8:00就卡着8:00上车，半个小时以后，他们就顺利抵达了白桦林景区。

Although the area was already very beautiful, Huang Xiaoyang did not follow some online guides that suggested just visiting the free birch forest nearby. Instead, he bought tickets and went in together to take photos in the core scenic area.

I didn't do anything else all morning, and nothing else interesting happened; I just took pictures in the birch forest.

To ensure a smooth shoot today, they rented several sets of local ethnic minority costumes nearby yesterday. They changed into several outfits during the shoot, and the final photos had a great feel to them.

After lunch, we continued our journey towards Shiwei in the afternoon.

It is said that this place is a place where you can find agate anywhere. The plan is to rent two horses and ride them to the agate grassland near Shiwei.

When the three arrived at the horse farm, there was an unexpected commotion, with dozens of people negotiating.

Dandan asked curiously, "What happened up ahead?"

Li Younan squinted at it and said thoughtfully, "They're filming...it's a movie crew."

Huang Xiaoyang glanced at Li Younan with some surprise, and then looked at the dozens of people. Sure enough, he could see that they had a lot of filming equipment.

Suddenly, Li Younan's expression shifted slightly.

(End of this chapter)