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

Chapter 223 Dragon Girl's Thoughts

Li Younan has already determined his strategy: to use the unveiling and promotion of the restoration of ancient cultural relics in the Palace Museum as a starting point, and to communicate and negotiate with the management of the Palace Museum in order to gain access to the core, unopened areas.

First and foremost, it must be clear that this is something that will benefit the Palace Museum.

The Palace Museum needs publicity and exposure.

Although the Palace Museum receives financial support, it is far from enough to support so many staff members with government revenue alone.

The Palace Museum's main source of revenue comes from cultural and creative products, and both ticket revenue and revenue from cultural and creative products require continuous efforts to help more people understand the Palace Museum.

Therefore, a portion of their annual expenses is spent on news and publicity.

But before officially going, Li Younan still needs to do some preparatory work.

He now possesses top-notch woodworking, porcelain making, carving, and even painting skills, which are precisely what the Palace Museum needs for restoring cultural relics.

To put it bluntly, Li Younan's current restoration skills far surpass those of many experts and scholars engaged in cultural relic restoration work within the Palace Museum.

The following afternoon, Li Younan did not go directly to the Palace Museum, but instead went to the Capital Library.

He decided to cram at the last minute and learn more about cultural artifacts.

This could be considered a last-minute cramming exercise, but since Li Younan's skills already gave him a certain level of knowledge in craftsmanship theory, he could quickly achieve a thorough understanding by comparing and contrasting the information in those books.

From another perspective, this also represents the refinement and supplementation of his skills, truly achieving a level of completeness and perfection.

Li Younan was very focused and absorbed in reading.

Previously, although he possessed top-notch skills, his understanding of the connection between these skills and ancient artifacts was vague.

As he read, he gradually filled in the gaps in his knowledge base.

Because I understand the technology, I can read books very quickly without having to think or research them intensely.

All he had to do was match his technology with the relevant cultural relics.

Moreover, most of these books are primarily illustrated guides.

During this process, Li Younan naturally needed to learn about the Palace Museum's knowledge on the restoration of ancient cultural relics.

In general, the staff involved in the restoration of the Palace Museum cover a wide range of professional fields, and can be mainly divided into three types of personnel.

The first type is the ancient building restoration workers, including carpenters, bricklayers, painters, electricians, etc. They are mainly responsible for the daily maintenance and restoration of the ancient buildings in the Forbidden City. The second type is cultural relic restorers, and the third type is technical support personnel.

Restoring the Forbidden City is a massive undertaking, and there are many aspects to explore.

During this process, Li Younan gradually realized that restoring cultural relics is by no means an easy task, nor can it be accomplished overnight.

Most restoration workers also learn through trial and error in this process.

To put it bluntly, Li Younan's abilities far surpass those of the vast majority of cultural relic restorers!
By the time he had learned enough, it was already night.

He returned to his hotel to rest for a while, preparing to go to the Palace Museum the next day to discuss the matter with the relevant departments.

……

And just as Li Younan had predicted, the whole thing went very smoothly.

He contacted the department in charge of news and publicity at the Palace Museum and explained his purpose.

He was received by a young manager who was only a few years older than him. The manager had a keen insight and understanding of the propaganda work in the new era.

When Li Younan showed the other party his account homepage, the other party's attitude changed from polite to extremely enthusiastic, and he immediately agreed to his request.

However, even though the other party agreed, some approval materials still need to be prepared, including the theme of the shoot, the scope of the content, the time, the equipment list, etc.

Li Younan readily cooperated, and according to the list provided, he needed to go back and prepare.

As for preparing materials, there are naturally people who are more skilled at it.

After returning to the hotel, he immediately contacted Brother Long (Sister Long).

Li Younan briefly told JK Long about his plan to film a video at the Forbidden City.

Of course, he couldn't reveal that his real purpose was to explore the three unopened areas to complete the check-in task. He just said that since he was already in the capital, he might as well take this opportunity to shoot some footage.

After all, he hasn't updated his homepage videos in a long time. Although he now has a huge number of fans, he became famous mainly because of his show "Living Alone in the Wilderness".

Speaking of "Living Alone in the Wilderness," his personal special episode hasn't been produced yet, but once it's released, it will continue to generate traffic.

Before that, it's still necessary to maintain the level of interest appropriately.

After JK Long roughly understood Li Younan's thoughts, he immediately became excited.

"I think your idea is excellent and very positive. You're not planning to charge for this video, right? This is a great way to promote the Palace Museum. What do you need me to do?"

Li Younan said somewhat shyly, "Well... to officially start filming inside, I need to provide some materials, so I'll have to trouble you to help me with that."

"That's no problem. If I can't handle it, I'll ask my brother for help!"

This is exactly what Li Younan was waiting for.

After all, as a legitimate advertising company, Liu Yu must frequently produce these materials, so it must be extremely simple for him.

However, Li Younan himself was not very willing to ask Liu Yu for help. Although Liu Yu would definitely help him, he would inevitably put on an act in front of him.

This problem does not exist between JK Long and Liu Yu.

So actually, I did have a tiny bit of scheming involved, which is really shameful.

However, JK Long quickly asked about other things: "When are you planning to come back?"

"Well, I'll probably be back after I finish things at the Forbidden City. What's up?"

"Uh...it's nothing, it's just that we haven't been in touch for so long. When you come back...let's celebrate, you're a super streamer with millions of fans now."

"Haha, I haven't gotten used to having millions of followers yet. But..."

Li Younan felt that JK Long's tone and language style had changed a lot compared to when he was Brother Long, so he said, "To be honest, I still prefer your unruly attitude when you were Brother Long."

JK Long on the other end was silent for a moment before angrily sending two words: "I hate you!"

"Go back and wait." After a brief chat with Li Younan, Liu Li sat at her computer desk and huffed angrily.

Then, resting his chin on his hand, he gazed at the scenery outside the window, but his eyes gradually lost focus, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up, and his mind began to wander.

Since Li Younan joined the "Living Alone in the Wilderness" program, life has suddenly become dull and tasteless for Liu Li.

Looking back now, that feeling was somewhat painful.

Without the task of editing, and without a window to see the scenery outside, life seemed to have returned to the state it was before I met Li Younan.

I still can't leave the house.

I spend my time watching videos and browsing forums out of boredom, or editing random movie clips.

Her brother often encouraged her to exercise, so she would run and walk on the treadmill, but most of the time she would just sit on the bed and space out.

This situation improved somewhat after the video platform began officially broadcasting Li Younan's program about living alone in the wilderness.

She would watch the video clips of Li Younan repeatedly, imagining him surviving in the Canadian wilderness, and her mood would improve without her even realizing it.

That guy is really amazing.

Sometimes she would have wild thoughts and fantasize about strange scenarios: such as the end of the world, when zombies attacked all of humanity, leaving only her and him, and then he would take her to hide in the deep mountains and forests, where he would use his incredible skills to build a small nest.

That nest will definitely be like the one he built on the show—small in appearance, but indestructible, warm, and safe.

She also thought of the little ewe, who was probably the happiest ewe in the world before she left the sanctuary for food.

Or, like in The Walking Dead, modify a car into a post-apocalyptic fortress and escape around the world.

That desolate and terrifying scene, however, made her feel incredibly at ease.

She would also be speechless at her own absurd fantasies, and at one point doubted whether something was wrong with her.

When Li Younan returned to China, she actually had many questions she wanted to ask him and wanted to hear him tell her interesting stories about the wilderness.

Sometimes I worry – after all, Li Younan is now a top streamer with tens of millions of followers, and in a sense, he's no longer on the same level as me.

He could easily assemble a more professional team to shoot and edit videos, find top-tier resources in the business world, and even switch the roles with his partners.

So... does he still need himself?

Thinking about all this, she couldn't help but feel anxious and uncertain.

Fortunately, Li Younan contacted her immediately when he was preparing to return from the United States.

This news kept Liu Li so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

Li Younan, of course, did not understand what this matter meant, and at the time he simply said that he would contact them when he returned.

Then, she remembered Li Younan saying that he liked Brother Long's unruly attitude.

She gave a soft hum, but her eyes held a tenderness.

"Forget Brother Long, now... it's Sister Long."

……

Brother Long and his sister are incredibly efficient at getting things done.

In fact, for Liu Yu now, Li Younan's career is no longer just his own career.

After all, the two still have a cooperative relationship. Nowadays, Li Younan's commercial orders can be as high as 50 yuan for a 30-second advertisement. If managed properly, it can even be linked with his own advertising company.

After Li Younan submitted the materials to the Palace Museum, they were approved that afternoon, and he was notified the next day that he could enter the core area of ​​the Palace Museum to take pictures.

Since Li Younan chose the theme of experiencing cultural relic restoration work up close, a staff member will take him in the next day.

The next day, Li Younan arrived at the Forbidden City gate early.

There were already quite a few tourists queuing up in the open area.

Looking at the tourists queuing up, Li Younan naturally felt a tiny bit of superiority.

Soon, a staff member with a key led him through another entrance.

The other party introduced some basic knowledge about cultural relic restoration to Li Younan. Although Li Younan had done his homework beforehand, he still listened very carefully to the staff's explanation.

Naturally, Li Younan was also carefully observing the true appearance of this old Forbidden City.

The smell of old wood mixed with tung oil is a unique preservative smell of the Forbidden City, unchanged for 600 years. The bluestone pavement is rougher than that of the tourist area, with moss embedded in the cracks between the bricks. The green ivy at the base of the wall is wilted. The staff said that it was transplanted from the Qianlong Garden and did not adapt to the new environment.

The hustle and bustle of the tourist area on the left seemed to be separated by a layer of water, while the walls of the unopened side hall on the right were covered with salt frost, and the glutinous rice mortar used for patching was still drying in the shade. If you got close, you could see the bits of hemp mixed into the wall.

"The Palace Museum has ten cultural relic restoration teams, namely the ancient painting and calligraphy restoration team, the ancient clock and watch restoration team, the bronze ware restoration team..."

"Let's start with the ceramics restoration group today."

"The Palace Museum has 35 ceramic artifacts in its collection. The restoration work is the largest among all groups, and it also requires the most staff."

"in addition……"

The staff member stopped and smiled, saying, "The restoration of cultural relics still follows the old model of master-apprentice, and some master craftsmen even pass it down to their sons and grandsons. In a sense, this model is also a kind of intangible cultural heritage."

Li Younan followed the staff to an old house.

"It just so happens that Master Chen's granddaughter arrived yesterday. She's just starting out in this line of work; she's both Master Chen's granddaughter and his apprentice."

Li Younan nodded, took some footage with his camera equipment, and then followed the staff into the room.

When he went inside, an older worker was gently explaining some precautions to his granddaughter. A staff member said, "Mr. Chen, the media has arrived. Shall we not disturb you?"

The experienced worker seemed quite used to the media staff, smiling and saying, "It's alright, no need to bother you."

However, the next moment, the girl next to him widened her eyes and stared blankly at Li Younan: "Huh, it's you?"

Li Younan blinked, a hint of surprise in his eyes—the other person was none other than the short-legged girl who was so outgoing.

(End of this chapter)