Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 105: Chapter 88: The Distance of an Eyeliner Pencil

Now that I’ve acquired the driving skills I most wanted, specifically for highway driving, I should hurry back.

Li Younan decided that he would spend one more day with Jing Chaoyi tomorrow, and then set off the day after, without stopping along the way, driving straight home.

...

Sitting once again in Little Cool’s cockpit, the feeling was completely different.

After Li Younan got in the car, his first feeling was discomfort.

He casually adjusted the seat and then tweaked the angle of the rearview mirror, lazily leaning back against the seat with an inexplicable sense of ease.

His eyes glanced casually at the side mirror and through the car window to see the hood.

But in his mind, the position of the front two wheels were almost completely imprinted in front of him.

He stepped on the brake, started the engine, feeling the vibrations from the engine, it was as if his entire spirit was connected to the steering wheel and the engine.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!

This experience was something never felt before; perhaps this was what it meant for man and car to be one.

Li Younan shifted into gear and slowly drove out of the parking space.

In the past, he would always be anxious about turning, afraid of scraping neighboring cars.

But now, the car felt like a part of his body; front, back, left, and right, all was clear in his mind.

This reassuring driving experience made him fall in love with driving, unlike before when driving was merely a means and not an end.

Li Younan drove the car slowly out of the parking lot, then patted the steering wheel and said with a smile, ”Little Cool, I’ve wronged you before.”

This car has a semi-automatic transmission, and in certain situations, switching to manual mode is necessary to better utilize the engine and gearbox’s performance.

After driving the car on the highway for a while, Li Younan truly mastered the vehicle.

This shows that despite the driving skills being universal, adapting to different models takes a brief period.

Looking at the road ahead, knowing where the surrounding cars are, estimating the positions of oncoming cars and their speed — these pieces of information are instinctively reflected in his subconscious, requiring no serious thought or deliberate calculations from Li Younan.

The road ahead was slightly congested, with two mobile roadblocks in the middle making a long traffic jam.

Previously, Li Younan would have obediently followed behind.

But now, he’s well aware that the more such driving environments persist, the more dangerous they become.

Li Younan seized the opportunity, signaled, surveyed the car distances around him, and maneuvered his way out of the traffic.

Now, the road ahead was wide open.

He gently rolled down the car window, letting the wind ruffle his bangs.

Driving... truly awesome!

The car smoothly exited the city center traffic, finding gaps like a fish.

Li Younan casually rested his left hand on the steering wheel, letting the wind from Xiangjiang River mixed with the scent of water dispel the stuffiness from the air conditioning.

He wasn’t too concerned with what was playing on the radio, as long as it wasn’t noise.

There were quite a few cars on the loop, but plenty of room to run.

Li Younan scanned the dynamics of the cars ahead, his foot hovering between the accelerator and brake, his hand movements light, slight steering adjustments, and the car smoothly slid into a more favorable lane.

After roughly just half an hour, Li Younan reached Jing Chaoyi’s residential area.

Jing Chaoyi’s home was located in a newly developed area; the houses here were new, and the roads wider. Except for being far from the commercial center, the living environment was quite nice.

Li Younan parked the car on the road parking space at the entrance of the complex, waiting for Jing Chaoyi to come down.

Soon, Jing Chaoyi appeared in view wearing a sunhat. She ran over and tapped on the car window, and Li Younan exited the car.

Jing Chaoyi handed him a bottle of ice-cold soda.

Li Younan asked, ”What’s the plan for today?”

Jing Chaoyi said, ”We’ll visit some of Changsha’s iconic social media hotspot places in the morning, like Juzi Island, and have dinner at home later.”

Li Younan hesitated for a moment, stroking his chin, ”Eating at your place... Is that convenient?”

Jing Chaoyi said casually, ”Very convenient, no one’s at home.”

”What about your parents?”

Jing Chaoyi’s eyes flickered for a moment, ”My mom is in Zhejiang with me, my dad’s been assigned to the capital for work, hasn’t been home for over half a year. Oh, my dad’s a tech specialist at a bank.”

Li Younan nodded slightly, no wonder Jing Chaoyi, a Changsha Person, stayed in Zhejiang for so long.

...

The car turned onto Xiangjiang Middle Road, and Jing Chaoyi lowered the passenger window completely. ”Don’t take the main road,” she suddenly blurted in Changsha dialect, laughing and swiping her finger across the phone map, ”I’ll show you something solid.”

In Changsha dialect, ”solid” is similar to the meaning in Sichuan dialect, which can be understood as ”substantial.”

She directed Li Younan to dive into Chaoshong Street.

The cobblestone road was a bit bumpy, with gray, old walls on either side, and clothes drying racks crisscrossing overhead.

An old man pedaling a tricycle slowly blocked the path ahead, yet Li Younan didn’t honk, glanced to the right, and the side mirror was no more than half a fist’s width from the wall.

He steered gently to the right, then straightened the car, gliding past the wall, the right mirror barely brushing against the hanging vines, hardly disturbing a leaf.

The junior glanced sideways, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Li Younan loosely rested his right hand on the gearshift, feeling a tinge of pride in his heart.