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

Chapter 143 (Part 140): Heavy-duty Hiking Trip: Outdoor Master Li Younan! [6.2 thousand words!]

Before officially starting his hiking trip, Li Younan first needed to purchase a series of equipment.

Must be extremely professional!

This is very important.

Although he currently possesses two extraordinary skills in hiking and mountaineering: highland lineage and mountaineering skills, according to the skill settings of this system, simple trekking should not be a problem. Moreover, he also has the skills of a botanist and zoologist, so encountering some wild plants and animals along the way should probably not cause any trouble. However, just in case, Li Younan still needs to make full preparations.

After all, this was his first long-distance cross-country hiking trip.

He also brought a girl with him.

Li Younan wasn't worried that Zhu Qingyue would cause him any trouble.

The first principle is to not take unnecessary risks.

If there were any insurmountable, unavoidable, or dangerous thing blocking the way, Li Younan would never have the strange idea that he had to overcome or conquer it.

The first thing to do is try to avoid it. If there's no way to avoid it, just give up.

In that situation, it wouldn't matter if Zhu Qingyue had different opinions; he would let her see a completely new and domineering version of himself.

Of course, given the precautions Li Younan had given Zhu Qingyue beforehand and the assurances the other party had made, if the above situation were to occur, it was unlikely that they would fall into a dilemma of decision-making disagreement; this had already been agreed upon in advance.

In terms of ability, Zhu Qingyue naturally wouldn't possess the physical qualities of a true long-term hiking enthusiast. Although she had repeatedly emphasized to him that she had undergone several months of intensive specialized training, Li Younan felt that her so-called "training" was probably limited to climbing stairs or doing some light exercise at home like those shown on TV. He still considered her a burden...

The lower the expectations, the more thorough the preparation, and the greater the chance of being able to solve problems. If her abilities exceed expectations... that would be a pleasant surprise.

Since the premise of "Zhu Qingyue is probably a good-for-nothing" has already been set, more detailed considerations are needed when making plans. In a sense, teaming up with Zhu Qingyue also has its advantages: it forces you to prepare more thoroughly and be more careful during the hike.

Luo Yong had already given Li Younan and his group their previous route. Although they hadn't written it down with a pen and notebook, Li Younan's mind was full of knowledge about mountain geography and experience in mountain activities due to his mountaineering skills. His level of expertise was no less than that of a geologist and a native who had lived in the high mountains for many years.

Therefore, in many places, Li Younan already had a clear and intuitive understanding when Luo Yongyi mentioned them, and the communication cost was very low.

In contrast, Zhu Qingyue, who was a liberal arts student and had good grades in geography in high school, was often confused by what she heard. She wanted to ask questions, but Li Younan and Luo Yong seemed to be having a deep conversation, so she could only suppress her questions and patiently continue to listen in a daze.

The two exchanged information such as: "This time we set up base camp in the traditional location, but the advance camp was moved forward about two hours, placed directly at the foot of the glacier tongue..."

“The icefall area below the north ridge has changed a lot this year, with many new cracks opening up, and we have had to cut across the plate multiple times to find passages.”

"Most of it is schist, and ice screws and rock plugs are used in combination. There is a section that is climbed entirely dry."

"I used a four-season tent and added extra guy lines and snow anchors, but it still rattled loudly in the wind, and I didn't get much sleep all night."

In fact, each of these words is not difficult to understand individually, but when they are put together, it can be quite difficult to understand without relevant knowledge or experience, and the speaker will need to continuously explain the terms and conventional names.

In fact, when Luo Yong originally planned to tell Li Younan and the others about it, he did not intend to go into such detail. It was only after Li Younan took the initiative to ask some professional questions from the beginning that he subconsciously switched to detailed mode.

It was during this process that he suddenly realized that Li Younan was indeed not a novice.

As their conversations deepened, Li Younan's solid theoretical knowledge and rich experience in mountainous terrain surprised everyone.

During this process, Li Younan naturally asked some insightful questions based on his knowledge, such as, "If that's the case, why not choose the double-rope descent on the southeast ridge when descending? Although it's longer, it's safer and faster than the mixed route we took on the way here..."

"If it were me, I would probably choose to rest for an extra half day to avoid the dense fog..."

There were some things Li Younan had been thinking about, and he raised them simply as questions... because according to the knowledge the system had given him... that choice was indeed the better solution.

However, what was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Luo Yong was repeatedly stumped by Li Younan's questions, and then fell into a long silence, occasionally frowning, looking as if he felt that "it seems that is indeed the right choice" after being reminded.

This exchange not only allowed Luo Yong to reveal all the memories he possessed, but also gradually gave him a clearer understanding of Li Younan's knowledge structure...

In short, it is unfathomable.

After the chat ended, Luo Yong looked hesitant, but finally couldn't help asking, "You... which mountains have you conquered before?"

Li Younan smiled at the time, "I haven't climbed many mountains... just a few that have been visited by many people and are relatively safe."

As Li Younan said this, he was thinking of Huangshan and... Leishenshan.

Leishenshan, you may not be familiar with it... It is a small hill in the suburbs of Li Younan's hometown county. It is famous locally for its more than a thousand steps and is a good place for middle-aged and elderly people to do morning exercises.

Naturally, Luo Yong interpreted these words differently.

A few details...

Li Younan said "climb," while I asked "conquer."

This means that Li Younan has a deep respect for all mountains and nature. He doesn't even consider climbing those peaks as "conquering" them; he simply says "climbing" them.

Li Younan was referring to a mountain that "many people have been there and it's very safe."

This statement is very general. In Luo Yong's mind, he began to list the peaks of Mount Siguniang, from the first peaks, the second peak, and the third peak of Gangshika... to the advanced peaks, such as Dama Peak and Nise Peak... and then to the truly king-level peaks, such as Jinyin Peak and Xuanwu Peak... and so on.

Without a doubt, what Li Younan meant by this was that he was taking a steady and methodical approach, starting with easier mountains to gain experience gradually before increasing the difficulty...

His professional level of expertise, even though he probably hasn't climbed Mount Gongga yet, suggests that challenging Mount Gongga should be his next milestone.

It's probably something related to the schedule!

What does this show? It shows that Li Younan, while respecting nature and being cautious and meticulous, is also a down-to-earth mountaineer who is not greedy for credit or reckless.

Many people talk about respecting nature, but as soon as they climb a peak, they can't wait to post it on social media, recording it with captions that are full of "conquering" and "challenging". After doing this many times, they start to lose their way and really believe that they can conquer them.

It is extremely rare for Li Younan to be so clear-headed.

In addition, Li Younan also has extremely high rock climbing skills.

Rock climbing skills are also important.

In theory, Li Younan already has the foundation to challenge any peak.

In the field of mountaineering, there is a commonly used method for classifying difficulty levels... in the form of numbers plus letters, such as the climbing difficulty of Mount Everest being 4E.

4 represents technical difficulty, and E represents environmental difficulty.

Environmental difficulty is easy to understand; it refers to the severity of the environment. E is the highest level of difficulty, representing severe weather throughout the year, with extremely low temperatures and extremely high wind speeds.

In terms of technical difficulty, Mount Everest is not the most difficult; the "4" refers to the need to climb steep ice, ice walls, and crevasses.

Above that are five more levels, requiring vertical climbing, and all the technical difficulty levels of level 4.

Li Younan undoubtedly possesses the skill to climb a mountain with a difficulty level of 5!

Even so, Luo Yong did not see the slightest hint of impatience on his face.

Luo Yong had some mixed feelings... If he were younger, he would have really wanted Li Younan to be his teammate. He believed that if he had a teammate like Li Younan, he would be able to conquer most of the mountains.

At the end of the conversation, Luo Yong frankly expressed his admiration for Luo Yong.

This scene naturally left Zhu Qingyue, who was already feeling a bit dizzy from listening to their conversation, speechless for a long time.

How come... she realized that she really couldn't understand Li Younan anymore.

She also truly began to realize that Li Younan was far more...reliable than she had imagined.

More than anything, people felt fortunate.

Zhu Qingyue is first and foremost a normal girl, and only secondly a so-called labeled identity... an artsy girl.

Actually, she's just more sensitive and emotional than the average girl, but she doesn't really lack intelligence at all.

Before this, there was another reason why all the seemingly unreasonable or even foolish choices were made... due to a lack of understanding.

They don't understand mountaineering, let alone Mount Gongga.

They didn't realize that the accident their aunt encountered was actually a high-probability outcome of their choices.

When she decided to find her aunt, she didn't know what the sentence "After losing contact in Gongga Mountain, the search and rescue team searched for several days and nights" meant.

During her time here, she naturally learned more about this subject in greater detail, and the more she learned, the more she shifted from "artistic" to "rational."

When we got here, even the goal gradually changed from "finding my aunt's belongings" to "seeing the scenery my aunt had seen" was enough.

Even yesterday, when Li Younan and the others left Luo Yong's place, she said to Li Younan, "Actually, it's enough to see just a part of the scenery that your aunt has seen."

To be honest, it was Li Younan who gave her the courage to persevere until now.

After the initial impulse subsided and she calmed down, she would think more about the many people who cared about her and whom she cared about, besides her aunt. If Li Younan gave up in the end, she would probably naturally keep this as a regret in her heart, something to remember... That too has its meaning.

But Li Younan did not give up.

It's impossible not to be moved.

Why would Li Younan take such a big risk for himself?
Zhu Qingyue watched Li Younan's videos... over and over again. One thing was certain... at least after he started becoming a travel blogger, he had no hiking experience. Before that, he was a software engineer working in Shanghai... and if you go back further... his profession was a student.

In other words, it is absolutely impossible that Li Younan had any prior experience with hiking and mountaineering.

However, the level of professionalism that Li Younan displayed during her communication with Luo Yong clearly shocked and even impressed him.

Presenting knowledge is often a very difficult task.

“Displaying knowledge” and “showing off” are two completely different states. The former is when a magnificent outline is inadvertently revealed in an ordinary daily life, making people feel more and more incredible the more they think about it after a brief surprise, and feel more and more that the bottomless part under those outlines is like a magnificent invisible part hidden under a glacier.

Reaching such a state is extremely difficult; it's impossible to achieve simply by reading some guides or searching for fragmented knowledge on short video platforms.

Once Zhu Qingyue came to his senses, a question naturally popped into his head: In just a few short months, how long would it take him to study diligently and deeply? How many difficult books would he read? How much time would he have spent?

The thought that all these efforts seem to have been for a moment of impulse is touching... Is it worth it?
Perhaps he didn't have any other intentions... but just having such qualities is enough to make him an attractive character.

Li Younan was naturally unaware of the strange thoughts that were arising in Zhu Qingyue's head.

To ensure a smooth journey ahead, he gave her a list and instructed her to strictly follow it to purchase the necessary equipment and supplies.

This is very important.

The saying "A skilled craftsman must first sharpen his tools" is very important for hiking.

Because the area where Luo Yong's aunt went missing was the location they returned from before reaching the summit, strictly speaking, this journey did not reach the difficulty level of climbing the various peaks of Mount Gongga.

It's called climbing, but it's really more like a hike.

If classified by mountaineering difficulty, this route is roughly between level 2 and level 3, with some rock face climbing, but Li Younan is confident that he can reduce the difficulty by choosing to detour.

Most of the area is accessible by walking and simple ice and snow climbing.

The environment is rated as C, and the climate is considered harsh, but it is far from extreme weather and there is no strong wind or snow.

Overall, current expectations are extremely manageable.

Even so, Li Younan's preparations were still based on a higher level of mountaineering.

Therefore, the list that Li Younan gave Zhu Qingyue included:

Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, ice axe, harness, carabiner, figure-eight swivel, ice screw, mountaineering boots, waterproof jacket, full set of warm clothing, trekking poles, helmet, headlamp, goggles, crampons.

The equipment Li Younan provided was naturally the most professional choice based on his mountaineering skills.

This equipment is sufficient to reach the top.

This kind of hiking trek, which involves a certain degree of danger, can never be prepared for with just the "right" or "just enough" approach.

The departure date was set for three days from Chengdu.

Before that, the two need to separate for a while.

Li Younan wanted to take the car for some upgrades and modifications.

There's no need to install a campervan this time.

After all, we brought a lot of equipment this time, and once it was all crammed into the car, there was nowhere left to sleep on the bed... In fact, there was practically no place to sleep in the car during the entire trip, except for Zhu Qingyue, right?

After Li Younan returned home, he drove his car to a relative's auto repair shop in the county town and temporarily removed the wooden bed.

Because of the extremely ingenious structure of this drawer bed, it fits perfectly after assembly, but is not complicated to disassemble at all; one person can take it apart in no time.

Li Younan naturally filmed the process.

In the video, he smiled at the camera and said, "Brothers and sisters, I'm going to take the drawer bed off for now. Do you know what I've been preparing for all this time? Haha... I'm sure you'd never guess. This time I'm planning to hike up Mount Gongga... Hehe, of course I won't try to climb to the summit. Well, it's more like a heavy-duty trek."

Afterwards, Li Younan told his mother and then officially drove to Chengdu.

The day before meeting up with Zhu Qingyue, Li Younan went to purchase the equipment he needed.

Naturally, I also filmed a video. That evening, I sent all the video footage to JK Long so she could edit it and upload it to the video homepage that same day.

The video is titled: "Next stop, Mount Gongga!"

The main content, of course, is his plan to hike across Mount Gongga, and the related preparations.

Prior to this, Li Younan had not uploaded any videos for some time.

In fact, you can see fans discussing this in the fan group every day, such as "Why hasn't the streamer updated for so long?", "Is the streamer dead?", "What is the streamer doing? Update!"

Li Younan posted this video partly to let everyone know that he hasn't been cured yet.

But to everyone's surprise, the comments on this issue did not subside as soon as the video was released; instead, they became even more abstract.

"No... I thought the streamer had died, but now it turns out the streamer hasn't died yet, but is preparing to die."

Some people in the comments section and fan groups wrote long posts, mostly from experienced hikers explaining to other uninformed fans the significance of Li Younan's "heavy-packed trek to Gongga Mountain" as mentioned in the video.

This gradually made other ordinary fans realize how dangerous what Li Younan chose to do was.

The danger stems not only from the route taken during the journey... but also from the very nature of Li Younan.

In the eyes of ordinary fans... Li Younan is a newcomer with no experience in this area.

However, any route involving Mount Gongga, even the relatively simple ones, is definitely not something a novice can easily take on.

Because Li Younan's fan base had reached 300 million at this point, which, regardless of the platform or perspective, was at the level of a top streamer.

This scale sparked a heated discussion that Li Younan himself hadn't expected.

Suddenly, the term "hiking trek" became a trending topic.

Some uninformed fans, after searching, often find news articles like "On a certain day and month, a hiker went missing in a certain place... when the body was found, it was already cold."

Kind-hearted fans are still trying to dissuade Li Younan, while clever self-media workers have already started to capitalize on the trend, and some streamers have begun to comment on Li Younan's choice online.

"It can only be said that people nowadays are truly ignorant and fearless when it comes to hyping themselves up for fame!"

Xu Yusheng, a livestreamer who had been closely monitoring Li Younan's case, spoke out: "People's threshold for video content is constantly increasing, so many video creators must continuously produce more sensational videos to maintain their popularity."

"Without a doubt, Li Younan, a well-known travel streamer, is extremely successful in becoming a top streamer. In less than a year, he has grown from an unknown streamer to a top streamer with over 300 million followers on Douyin alone."

"But behind his soaring fan base lies a process of repeatedly refreshing the audience's eyes and gradually sliding himself into the abyss of internet traffic."

“I had previously questioned the possibility that his archery and skiing videos were edited or that he used a stunt double, but he never responded to me. I originally thought he was feeling guilty and was going to lay low for a while. To be honest, if he had stopped there, we, Lao Xu, wouldn’t have pursued him relentlessly. After all, he’s just trying to make a living, so I can understand.”

"But unexpectedly, after being silent for so long, he reappeared and pulled off another big feat!"

"I'll make a bold prediction about the outcome of Li Younan's journey."

“Before setting off, he would film a lot of preparation videos, but before actually setting off, he would either quit for one excuse or simply disappear without a trace.”

"Why am I so sure? The main reason is... he lacks knowledge in this area."

"Anyone with hiking experience can immediately tell how fake someone is who tries to challenge the Gongga Mountain loop on their first try. Such a person is either an idiot who has no respect for hiking or a scammer who never intended to actually go. Anyway, Gongga Mountain is difficult and has a lot of traffic. As long as they get enough traffic, they've achieved their goal... Do you think a streamer who can build an account with 300 million followers is stupid?"

Unlike before, Li Younan did not respond to the video this time either... In fact, he hadn't even watched the video and knew nothing about it, but the video questioning him went viral.

It's just that too many of his fans search for the keyword "hiking," and once they do, they easily come across Xu Yusheng's video.

As a result, more and more doubts arose... but Li Younan had no idea.

At this time, it was time to meet up with Zhu Qingyue at the hotel.

…………

P.S.: I was severely sleep-deprived yesterday and the day before, and to be honest, my condition dropped significantly. My mind was foggy, and I was typing in a daze, so the quality of my writing suffered. I caught up on sleep this morning, and I felt much better. While the nanny was taking care of the baby, I managed to update 6,000 words. Please vote! Please subscribe!

(End of this chapter)