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

Chapter 35 Afternoon Rain in the Car
The rain stopped, the music ended, and Li Younan woke up.

He wasn't woken up by the quiet; when he did, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back.

He sat up straight. When he had fallen asleep, he had reclined the driver's seat to its lowest position. However, anyone who has ever slept in a car knows that no matter how you adjust the seat, the position is never comfortable. Maintaining one posture for a long time will inevitably cause some muscles to remain stiff and unable to relax, eventually leading to unbearable soreness in that muscle.

Li Younan looked outside. Although the rain had stopped, the sky hadn't cleared up; it was still overcast. Layers of dark clouds spread out evenly.

Seeing this, Li Younan sighed slightly. It seemed that completing the task of photographing the starry sky would be a bit troublesome. However, he wasn't too discouraged. To him, everything was part of the journey, and every journey had its meaning.

He checked the time; it was only 4 PM. Summer days are long, so there were still several hours to go. He felt a little hungry. After all, he'd been invited to lunch, and Li Younan felt embarrassed to eat too much, especially since stir-fried snails didn't have much meat to begin with. Given his size, he'd be hungry again soon.

He got out of the car, stretched a bit, and managed to ease the pain in his lower back slightly. Fortunately, there was a village not far away, so Li Younan decided to go and buy some groceries. A little over ten minutes later, Li Younan drove to the village entrance and then walked into the village to buy his supplies.

He went to a general store in the village and bought some snacks, including sausages, eggs, and noodles. Just as he was about to leave, he saw a folding cot displayed at the store's entrance. After thinking for a moment and finding out the price was only a little over 100 yuan, he simply bought the cot and the only foam mattress in the store as well.

Having finished his shopping, Li Younan, carrying the cot in one hand and the groceries and mattress he had bought in the other, returned to his car with some difficulty. He stuffed everything into the trunk before driving off to the Tongji Lake riverbank.

Li Younan had a premonition that he might need to take a nap in the car today, so he bought these items when he saw them.

The Land Cruiser's rear seats can be folded down, but unlike many family cars, the Land Cruiser's rear seats have two folding methods. The first method involves folding down the backrest directly, creating a high hump area, which has the advantage of providing a continuous space. The second method involves folding the entire seat down against the back of the front seats, which has the advantage of creating a nearly flat surface, but reduces the sleeping space to about 1.7 meters. Li Younan is tall, so he can only choose the first method.

He folded down the rear seat on the passenger side, removed the legs of the narrow, one-meter-wide cot, leaving only the bed board, and placed it on the folded area. Finally, he went outside and found two flat stones to place on the sloping area, roughly leveling it.

I tried it out, and it's quite stable. That's how I modified a simple camper van.

Li Younan spread the mattress on and lay down to try it out. Although it was much worse than the big bed at home, it was still much better for a short nap than sleeping directly on the chair; at least he could stretch out comfortably.

However, if he really wanted to sleep well, this crude modification would only be a temporary solution. Li Younan thought to himself that he might often rest in the car in the future, and to get proper rest, he would have to modify the trunk area.

This vehicle has a lot of space, so it's easy to convert it into a single bed.

Afterward, Li Younan took out a few pieces of clothing from his luggage and laid them on the mattress to use as a pillow. Only after doing this did he jump out of the car, set up a folding table, and arranged the portable gas stove, preparing to cook himself a bowl of noodles.

A dozen minutes later, a fragrant bowl of ham and egg noodles was ready. Li Younan started eating right from the pot. It has to be said, the perfectly cooked noodles, combined with the aroma of eggs and ham, made for a delightful meal for Li Younan, especially with the pleasant lake view.

The weather really does change in an instant. After Li Younan finished eating his noodles and packed his things, the rain started to fall again from the lake. Li Younan quickly got into his car.

Not long after, the heavy rain enveloped the car again. The car's sound insulation wasn't as good as most domestically produced new energy vehicles; he could clearly hear the rain outside. Amidst this sound, Li Younan unconsciously recalled some pleasant memories. He didn't deliberately let his thoughts wander; it was a strange feeling. A clap of thunder streaked across the sky, snapping him back to reality, and he chuckled to himself. That state he'd been in just moments before was truly ethereal; he couldn't even remember what he'd been daydreaming about.

That's wonderful. This is a state I've rarely experienced since I can remember.

No goals, no deadlines, just spacing out... in a strange place.

This weather is absolutely fantastic.

Li Younan climbed from the driver's seat to the back and onto the newly set-up bed. The mattress wasn't particularly soft, but it was just right. He had brought a bath towel with him, having bought a separate one because he wasn't comfortable with the hotel's towels. He would use it as a blanket now.

He took off his shirt, lay down naked, covered his stomach with a towel, and naturally closed his eyes. He didn't try to fall asleep; after closing his eyes, he quietly listened to the sound of rain outside.

Raindrops pattered on the car roof. The sky was overcast, and the car was dimly lit. It was completely silent except for the sound of the rain.

Li Younan could smell the leather seats.

The car body was quite thick, keeping the rain and wind out. He thought the inside of the car was dry and not cold. So he closed his eyes and listened to the raindrops tapping on the roof. As he listened, he became drowsy and couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

The car window glass was a bit cool.

……

The chirping of insects around him woke Li Younan. He opened his eyes, paused for a moment, and it took him half a second to realize where he was.

While he was asleep, he had a very long dream. In the dream, a man whose features were somewhat blurred took him to an amusement park; it was a dream about his father. Although the dream seemed somewhat melancholic, Li Younan didn't feel down when he woke up; instead, he felt inexplicably refreshed.

He sat up straight and looked out the window; it was already dark outside. Before he knew it, the sky had completely cleared, and a bright band of the Milky Way stretched across the horizon.

Li Younan quickly jumped out of the car. The temperature had dropped on the shore of Tongji Lake after the heavy rain, and a cool breeze blew across the lake. Li Younan, shirtless, felt the refreshing breeze, his bangs fluttering gently in the wind.

He quickly took out his camera, aimed it at the lake and the Milky Way, and captured the moment. Following this was a notification that the task was complete.

Check-in task completed!

(End of this chapter)