Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 173: Chapter 103: Ripples on the River

To be honest, even if you randomly asked a passer-by, they’d say this photo is beautiful and atmospheric.

But the person in the photo doesn’t like it, and there’s not much you can do about that.

However, this small matter won’t affect Li Younan’s mood.

After lunch, there’s still two or three hours until they reach Fengdu Ghost City. Li Younan doesn’t feel like going back to his room to rest, so he heads back to the lounge upstairs.

Yesterday, Li Younan didn’t go easy on that old man and used his newly acquired system skills to completely dominate him.

Although they agreed to have another game today, they didn’t exchange contact information.

After getting up, Li Younan wouldn’t deliberately go looking for that old man.

After all, this cruise ship isn’t too big or too small. They’re bound to run into each other.

When that happens, he’ll greet him. If the old man is still interested, he can have another go at him. It doesn’t matter.

He actually spotted that old man from yesterday in a corner.

It was still the two old men and the girl together. From a distance, the old man surnamed Zhou noticed Li Younan and waved at him, ”Hey, young man, remember me?”

Li Younan blinked and walked over.

...

About ten minutes later, after they had a basic understanding of Li Younan, he also roughly got to know the two old men and the girl.

The two old men didn’t introduce their identities.

But from their speech and demeanor, Li Younan judged they certainly weren’t ordinary retired workers.

Judging from their age, they seem to be retired.

But the occasional details they inadvertently revealed suggested they might still be working.

Since they didn’t intend to tell Li Younan, he didn’t bother to ask in detail.

The old man who played chess with him yesterday was surnamed Zhou, so let’s call him Elder Zhou.

The other old man was surnamed Liao, and the girl was named Liao Xinchun, Elder Liao’s granddaughter.

It’s worth mentioning, although she’s a granddaughter, the girl shares Elder Liao’s surname, which implies her mother might hold a significant position in her husband’s family.

Li Younan didn’t deliberately think through this; it just came to him naturally.

The two old men were naturally curious about Li Younan as well.

After a brief conversation, without delving deeper, they learned that Li Younan graduated from a prestigious university in Binhai, which mildly surprised the two old men.

After all, although online it seems everyone is from a top university, in real life, meeting a graduate from a prestigious school is quite rare.

Liao Xinchun was just curiously observing Li Younan. She didn’t ask anything, and generally, she seemed like a quiet girl—at least on the surface.

After chatting for a bit, they became familiar with one another.

Elder Zhou brought up how Li Younan had beaten him at chess yesterday.

At this point, Elder Liao displayed his characteristics as a mischievous friend, laughing heartily, ”It’s because your skills are too poor, you’re a lousy player. I told you my granddaughter let you off yesterday, and you didn’t believe it.”

Elder Zhou retorted grumpily, ”Stop boasting.”

Elder Liao, beaming, said, ”If you don’t accept it, let my granddaughter play another game with you.” He looked at Liao Xinchun, ”Granddaughter, don’t go easy on your Grandmaster Zhou today, just play your best.”

Li Younan watched the scene with great interest. These two old men truly lived up to being long-time friends, extremely familiar with each other’s temperaments, and both loved chess, carrying a chessboard and pieces with them.

Then, Liao Xinchun took a chessboard and pieces out from her bag and humbly said, ”Grandmaster Zhou, it’s not as exaggerated as my grandfather says, you’re still the better player.”

Brother Zhou seemed like a very stubborn old man. Hearing this from Liao Xinchun made him even more unhappy, ”Alright, alright, let’s play another game, but don’t go easy on me again.” Then he looked at Elder Liao, ”Old man, let’s make a bet. If I win against your granddaughter this time, what do you have to say?”

Elder Liao replied, ”What do you suggest we do?”

Elder Zhou’s eyes twinkled slyly, ”How about letting your granddaughter meet my grandson?”

Li Younan watched with great interest.

While they were discussing these matters, they didn’t avoid him. Li Younan saw no reason to make himself uncomfortable by avoiding it, and watching the gossip was quite amusing.

Liao Xinchun was visibly taken aback, bowing her head, ”Grandmaster Zhou, why involve me in this?”

Elder Liao said grumpily, ”Let young people handle young people’s issues themselves.”

Elder Zhou chuckled, ”It’s not an arranged marriage, just a meeting. Do you agree or not?”

Li Younan could tell Elder Zhou was intent on matching his grandson with Liao Xinchun.

However, it seemed Liao Xinchun wasn’t interested.

Too bad there weren’t any sunflower seeds at the moment.

Just then, a server approached, ”Sir, would you like some sunflower seeds or peanuts?”

Li Younan casually grabbed a few.

Eventually, Liao Xinchun agreed.

The bet obviously had a playful element, but because of it, both players gave their utmost effort.

Yesterday, Liao Xinchun was indeed completely suppressed by Elder Zhou.

But surprisingly, today she seemed like a completely different person. Each move was made with extreme caution, giving Elder Zhou no openings, planning meticulously, each step was strategic.

The originally balanced situation quickly turned in Liao Xinchun’s favor after the midgame.

This happened in two consecutive games; they ended before reaching the endgame, with Liao Xinchun winning both.

Liao Xinchun humbly said, ”Grandmaster Zhou, I just got a bit lucky, you’re just not in top form today.”