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

Chapter 135 Leisurely Life at the Horse Ranch [6.3 thousand words!]

(P.S.: My wife is due to give birth soon, and we've been busy with prenatal care these past few days. It's my first time dealing with an unborn baby, so I have little experience and often feel overwhelmed... Therefore, I can't guarantee the frequency of updates. Hopefully, things will get better after this busy month... I might need to take two more days off later, just to let you know in advance. Sorry!)

How could Batur not be shocked?

He could also draw that 120-pound bow, even more easily than Li Younan, but his weight was probably close to that of two Li Younans.

If we're just talking about strength, he can't be considered an ordinary person anymore. In powerlifting events like deadlifts and squats, he starts at 300 kilograms.

But how old is Li Younan? To Batur, he's only the size of a palm.

At this moment, after Li Younan shot that arrow, he couldn't fire a second one for a short time. The first arrow had almost exhausted his energy.

Batur frowned, and as he took the bow back, he casually touched Li Younan's arm, looking puzzled.

Such a physique is certainly not considered thin among ordinary people.

If Li Younan took off his clothes, his muscle lines would be very beautiful, but in Batur's mind, an arm that could draw a 120-pound bow should not be like that.

Of course, he also knew the principles of neural recruitment ability; perhaps some people are indeed born with this talent.

He couldn't help but wonder if Li Younan was a born athletic genius.
Considering Li Younan's abilities and talent in parkour and skiing, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

Batur's original idea was to satisfy netizens' curiosity and let a talented archer with excellent aim try out what it was like to use a traditional ancient bow. He didn't expect Li Younan to be able to draw it.

Right now, Li Younan has not only pulled away, but his first arrow hit the target. Although it didn't hit the bullseye, it was still more than 50 meters away!

Without a doubt, this video could easily go viral with just a few catchy captions.

Having obtained the material he wanted, Batur was naturally delighted. He asked Li Younan about his feelings on camera and assured him that the 300 yuan reward would definitely be given.

As a half-fan of Li Younan, Batur was also aware of Li Younan's many identities and said half-jokingly, "From now on, I think you'll have to add another identity to your list: archer."

His wife was very happy; the video shoot went very well, and she planned to work overtime tonight to edit it.

That was the end of it. After shutting down the machine, Batur said to Li Younan somewhat apologetically, "Brother, you know I came here partly to piggyback on your internet traffic, please don't mind..."

Li Younan laughed heartily. He didn't care about such a trivial matter. Suddenly, he remembered Lan Yiyi and Chen Rui discussing the script. A thought struck him, and he looked at Batur, asking, "You've traveled hundreds of kilometers just to leave? I mean, I have another interesting project here. Are you interested...?"

Batur and his wife exchanged a glance.

……

How quickly can it take to film a short drama?
Once the script is finalized, the next step is to prepare the necessary props, personnel, and equipment.

For Lan Yiyi, who is an actress, this is not difficult.

Although she has never been a director, she is still very clear about the general process and content required for acting in a film.

Chen Rui even minored in directing, learning about the essence of the most advanced industrialized filmmaking. Although this place couldn't be developed to the level of an industrialized film, it was still easy to create a small workshop-style production.

For short dramas, a small workshop is enough.

After discussing it with his wife, Batur immediately agreed to make a cameo appearance as the final villain in the series.

From his perspective, this is also a mutually beneficial thing.

If this short drama becomes a hit, he himself will become more famous, and he can also take the opportunity to promote his experience store.

Especially ancient armor, which needs to be custom-made, and can't just be bought on Taobao.

His wife also has expertise in this area and joined the directing team, where she took on the main role of props director.

The couple readily had their shop assistants and instructors bring over several sets of armor.

As Chen Rui matured during this process, she began to think about everything related to making short dramas.

This was more interesting than any university internship, but also more tiring.

The next day, she gathered all the actors selected for minor roles together and officially began rehearsals.

For Li Younan, this was a good experience.

The meaning of travel, besides seeing different scenery and meeting all sorts of interesting people, also lies in experiencing all sorts of interesting things.

Although it's impossible for him to enter the entertainment industry and become a leading actor, he can still entertain himself by playing the male lead in a short drama.

The role that Li Younan was assigned was nominally the male lead, but he basically had no lines.

Chen Rui and her team designed this character as a bodyguard to protect Xing Bingyi, and he also has a complete character arc and growth arc.

The later part of the story involves him gradually growing into a trustworthy general... Of course, this part does not involve the first season.

Well, given the nature of these two girls, there's bound to be a spark between them.

However, at the end of the first season's storyline, it was only ambiguous... Logically speaking, it wasn't quite melodramatic.

As for whether there will be a second or third season, there is no definitive answer.

It doesn't really matter.

The quality of the footage is still unknown.

If the quality is good, it's satisfying for the creators to suffer through the lack of a second or third season; if the quality is bad, it's also satisfying to avoid the criticism by not having a second or third season.

Chen Rui and the others began to prepare intensively for the filming of the short drama, while Li Younan focused all his energy on the little pony.

Li Younan possesses equestrian skills. Top-notch riding skills include cultivating a tacit understanding and bond with the horse. Therefore, this skill also includes knowledge on how to care for a foal, how to bathe it, trim its hooves, and so on.

Theory is one thing, but actual practice is another interesting experience.

Before we begin to properly care for the pony, there is a very ceremonial thing to do: give the pony a name.

Lan Yiyi asked Li Younan what name he wanted to give the foal.
Li Younan thought for a moment and said, "Little Ma's mother is called Little Cabbage... and since it's a vegetable and comes from the northern border region, let's just call it Little Ginger."

Lan Yiyi expressed her dissatisfaction with the name: "This name sounds so uncool, so casual." In Lan Yiyi's mind, it should be a cool and awesome name like Black Dragon, Black Whirlwind, or Black Lightning.

On this matter, Li Younan has his own insistence: "I think 'Little Ginger' sounds better."

"But……"

"Huh? Does that mean I don't have the final say?"

Lan Yiyi paused for a moment, then blinked: "Oh, you decide! Let's call him Little Ginger."

The following day, filming officially began for their short film.

The entire staff at the horse farm were fully engaged in the filming.

To facilitate filming, an entire guest room was put into use, and Batur and the people he brought were all arranged to stay there.

But as anyone who frequently shoots short dramas knows, a scene doesn't need the elaborate set design of a real TV series.

Short dramas, like online novels, focus on the interaction between people, which can be further condensed into the accumulation and release of emotions.

Therefore, as long as you pay attention to the details of the people, the filming process will be very fast.

But then it started snowing in the following days.

The weather was always gloomy and cold. The snow that fell wasn't heavy, but it kept falling in bursts, forming a thin layer on the ground.

The grassland outside the horse ranch became increasingly desolate.

The good news is that snow, unlike rain, generally doesn't affect people's movement. And this kind of weather seems to better highlight Xing Bingyi's tragic experience of being captured in the story.

For director Chen Rui, this wasn't bad news; in fact, the weather actually helped produce even better footage.

Her view is not without merit. After all, a short drama filmed on location is already a masterpiece, and the props used in the filming are of high quality. Although it still follows the formula of a feel-good drama, the overall quality of the drama is very high.

Li Younan's role in the film is actually not that big.

To showcase his strengths, there are many martial arts moves.

Li Younan can perform all sorts of cool flips and somersaults, and this part of the footage is enough to elevate the short drama to a whole new level.

Batur's armory has a 1:1 replica of an ancient sword. Li Younan doesn't know much about ancient weapons and doesn't know if this sword actually matches the characteristics of that era. But it doesn't matter. It's a good choice to use it as the sword in his drama.

Chen Rui's original idea was to have Li Younan demonstrate the sword, just to get the gist of it, but unexpectedly, Li Younan directly showed everyone a set of smooth and flowing sword techniques.

Undoubtedly, this once again stunned everyone.

Li Younan was already used to everyone's expressions when they saw him. It was quite satisfying to occasionally reveal a little bit of his special talent and give others a scare.

Of course, Li Younan was more satisfied with his acting skills than his swordsmanship.

There were several scenes where Li Younan had to interact with Lan Yiyi. He felt completely immersed in the role, playing a guard who was heartbroken for this woman but had to control his emotions and do his job meticulously. The restraint and struggle he showed during the scenes was a very challenging performance.

But he did a fantastic job, and Li Younan gave himself a perfect score.

Of course, the whispers among the actors didn't reach Li Younan's ears: "Although Li Younan just stood there blankly, completely detached from the plot, it's okay. Through special editing techniques, the impact was minimized. Fortunately, Yiyi, your acting skills are a game-changer for short dramas, hehe..."

When not filming, Li Younan spends most of her time taking care of Xiao Shengjiang.

The radiator in the foal barn hummed, the air was stagnant, and mixed with the smell of disinfectant and milk.

The little ginger curled up on the thick straw mat, its baby hair clinging to the little bok choy.

Li Younan would often put his fingers under its chest, and the thermometer always showed a low temperature. His heart pounded rapidly in his palm.

When Xiao Wang has nothing to do, he will take the initiative to help Li Younan. Xiao Baicai's milk is not enough, but in this era, it doesn't matter. He can just feed Xiao Shengjiang special formula. He brings the nipple close to Xiao Shengjiang, and its wet nose will rub against Li Younan's wrist, with a tentative warmth.

After feeding it, I wiped the milk stains from the corners of its mouth with a damp towel. It stuck out its pink tongue with barbs and licked Li Younan's fingers. The rough, soft, warm friction made it slightly itchy.

In the following days, when supplementing the milk, Xiao Shengjiang seemed to recognize the shape of the bottle. When she heard footsteps, she would peek out from under Xiao Baicai's belly, her moist nostrils flaring.

When the nipple touches its lips, it takes it in willingly, and the sucking force is noticeably stronger, no longer so intermittent.

Halfway through its drink, it would pause for a moment, tilt its little head slightly, and briefly, with a bewildered look in its bright black eyes at Li Younan, a bit of grass clinging to its eyelashes, before continuing to bury its head and drink vigorously.

After feeding it, Li Younan habitually held its chest and abdomen with his palm for a moment, feeling the steady and powerful heartbeat, and the warm, gradually filling life force under its thin fur.

The little bok choy quietly chewed on hay, occasionally lowering its head to gently touch its back with its nose.

Not long after, we started trying to let the little ginger acclimatize to the outdoors for a short period of time.

The heavy curtain was lifted a crack, and crisp, piercing air, carrying a few snowflakes, rushed in.

After Little Ginger went out, it exhaled excited white breath, and its bright black eyes reflected the snow, clearly showing for the first time the shadow of the vast world it was about to roam.

Li Younan stood at the door, looking at the pony with satisfaction.

During the time he was taking care of Xiao Ma, Lan Yiyi did not take the initiative to help. In her words, she was nurturing the relationship between Li Younan and Xiao Shengjiang.

The filming process was faster than Li Younan had imagined.

Originally, each episode of a short drama is much shorter than a regular TV series, only about 10 minutes long, and the total length of the story is less than two hours.

The story's structure was extremely simple, but the quality of the final product was much higher than Li Younan had imagined.

Li Younan had originally considered asking JK Long to help with the editing.

But after thinking about it, I decided not to bother Brother Long. Instead, I filmed the experience and sent it to JK Long.

JK Long edited a video titled "What is it like to film a short drama in Inner Mongolia?"

In this era, everyone has a gene for curiosity and a thirst for novelty. People are curious about all of this, and about the industry secrets that they have seen but never come into contact with before.

As long as you're willing to reveal the real life within the industry, you'll get traffic. For example, a crane operator can easily gain millions of followers by filming his daily life on the crane.

The fact that short dramas are something almost everyone knows about these days makes the daily lives of those involved quite interesting.

In the past few days, Li Younan's videos have gained another meme.

The reason for this is that Batur's video of experiencing archery went viral.

Some people even thought the video was fake, for example, a 20-pound bow was pretended to be a 120-pound bow, since no one was there to verify it, so Batur could just say whatever he wanted about how much the bow weighed.
However, in the footage, Li Younan draws a 120-pound bow, and the straight trajectory of the arrow and the trembling target significantly enhance the credibility of the video.

The visual impact of such a visible force cannot be faked.

Another expert in the comments section explained that even if this bow wasn't 120 pounds, it was at least 100 pounds or more, which can be seen from the trajectory and speed of the arrows shot out.

After confirming the authenticity of this matter, Li Younan's identity was further enhanced with the label of "archer".

Some suggested that he could try archery while skiing next time, which might be even cooler. Others started a discussion, saying that Li Younan is now fully capable of participating in "Living Alone in the Wilderness".

Many people believe that his archery skills alone demonstrate a high potential for survival.

In the show "Living Alone in the Wilderness," the contestants carry American hunting bows, also known as American hunting bows, and have a certain level of archery skills, making it easy for them to hunt food.

People gradually realized, and Li Younan also gradually realized, the same thing: the biggest difference between him and other travel bloggers, or rather, the unique advantage of his path, is that he is a travel blogger with a strong athletic gene.

He is increasingly demonstrating his wilderness survival skills, which is quite different from other travel bloggers who simply experience tourist attractions.

Li Younan can go to many places that ordinary travel bloggers cannot, experience travel experiences that they cannot, and see scenery that ordinary people cannot see.

He has a unique ability on this track.

A week later, the short film had been completed.

Editing was not difficult, thanks to Chen Rui's meticulous and detailed script design from the beginning, even down to the storyboard. All that was needed was to edit according to the script.

They can edit almost all the footage they shoot into videos on the same day.

Chen Rui wanted to finish the remaining seasons in one go, but time didn't allow it. She could only stay for two or three more days before returning to school, and before that, she needed to go home.

We'll just have to see if fate allows us to stay together in the future.

The scripts for the rest of the first season have not yet been discussed, and the story ends abruptly after Empress Xing resolved the crisis she faced upon being captured.

After seeing the finished product, everyone in the crew was very satisfied and felt that the show had the potential to become a hit.

However, how to publish it is a problem.

In this drama, Lan Yiyi not only plays the female lead, but also acts as the producer and production company. She covers all the venue expenses, including the salaries of each actor.

Therefore, she has the absolute right to make the final decision on this matter.

The options were either to sell the show directly or to produce it themselves... but Lan Yiyi did something that surprised everyone.

On the night of the wrap party, Lan Yiyi announced the news to everyone at the dinner table: "My idea is to let everyone watch this drama for free."

Then Lan Yiyi looked at Li Younan, "Can we play it on your video homepage? It's free, so everyone can watch it for free..."

Li Younan was also taken aback for a moment, then quickly understood... Lan Yiyi came to film this script to fulfill a dream of hers, and the current filming experience had almost achieved her expected goal.

Although this short drama is sure to make money, Lan Yiyi clearly has no intention of exchanging what she has longed for for so long for money. She will be satisfied as long as someone can see it.

For Li Younan, this was just a simple task: to create a compilation video on the homepage...

The next day, Chen Rui was leaving, and Li Younan and Lan Yiyi saw her off at the airport.

On the way, Chen Rui remained silent. Li Younan assumed that she was sad because they were about to part ways, which was quite understandable.

It wasn't until they arrived at the airport that Chen Rui suddenly blurted out, "Li Younan, I feel much better."

Li Younan looked at her with some surprise, and Chen Rui suddenly laughed: "In short, thank you, thank you for letting me experience so many interesting things, and for letting me get to know Yiyi... You really are like an older brother."

But his last "brother" was already very weak.

Li Younan paused for a moment, then smiled contentedly: "Alright, just call me Li Younan. It feels a bit awkward when you suddenly call me brother."

Chen Rui snorted: "Don't you think it's too late to say things like this now? I won't call you by your name anymore, brother, brother, brother!"

Lan Yiyi, who was standing to the side, laughed heartily.

Li Younan touched his nose.

What a rebellious little girl.

After escorting Chen Rui through security, she stood inside and waved goodbye to Li Younan and Lan Yiyi.

Lan Yiyi said enthusiastically, "Keep it up, top student! Let's film a drama together again when you come back from America!"

Chen Rui nodded, then suddenly burst into tears as she turned away, laughing and crying at the same time...

Whenever she feels unwell in the future, she will think of this trip, of the skis, the slopes, the horses on the grassland, the wind, and things outside of studying that seem meaningless but are just so interesting. She feels completely better...

The plane took off, and Li Younan and Lan Yiyi sat in the car on their way back.

Li Younan will stay here for a while longer, mainly to take care of Xiao Shengjiang.

Lan Yiyi sighed and murmured, "What a lovely girl. Nothing happened between you two?"

Li Younan said irritably, "They call me brother."

Lan Yiyi chuckled twice, then suddenly tilted her head and leaned on Li Younan's shoulder.

Li Younan was stunned for a moment, then heard Lan Yiyi yawn and say, "I'm sleepy, can I borrow your shoulder to sleep for a bit?"

Li Younan blinked but remained silent.

Lan Yiyi took the opportunity to steal a glance at Li Younan, a hint of cunning in her eyes, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

……

Life became monotonous, but overall it was leisurely.

During my stay at Lan Yiyi's horse farm, there weren't many tourists, and even club members didn't come to ride horses very often, so it was quite quiet.

Li Younan spends most of his time feeding and training horses, or riding around the neighborhood.

The longer you spend outside and the more you experience, the more enthusiastic you become about all kinds of life.

Overall, this kind of life, even if monotonous, is not boring for Li Younan. On the contrary, it allows him to calm down and savor the beauty of life.

No wonder Hai Zi wrote in his poem, "Feeding horses, chopping wood, traveling the world," linking feeding horses with traveling the world, which roughly matches Li Younan's current situation, which is quite leisurely.

With nothing else to do, Li Younan planned to wait until Xiaosheng Jiang was full-moon.

The weather is getting colder and colder.

Soon it was time to say goodbye.

(End of this chapter)