For Li Younan, luck has been pretty good ever since he arrived in Jinling City.
He drove to refuel in the morning and found that gas prices had dropped by thirty cents.
Ever since he bought a car, he has been particularly concerned about fuel prices.
The most delightful part was that he hadn't deliberately intended to take advantage of the lower price, but fate gave him a good deal.
After filling up the tank, Li Younan went for breakfast.
As he came out of the breakfast shop, he saw a parking ticket stuck on the window of his car parked by the roadside.
Instantly, his mood turned sour.
He tore off the ticket; fortunately, there were no demerit points, just a fine of 50 yuan.
Li Younan scanned the QR code on top to pay the fine and calculated that half of the savings on fuel prices had been spent on the fine.
His heart was filled with sorrow for a moment.
So, this day began.
Ever since deciding to travel around, time seemed to slow down.
Li Younan stopped focusing on what day of the week it was.
But truth be told, his luck was really quite good.
As is well known, Jinling Museum is very difficult to book, often requiring reservations at least a week in advance.
However, one could occasionally catch a slot on a weekday.
Since it's not peak travel season right now, he and Zhu Qingyue were able to smoothly book entry to Jinling Museum.
At 10 a.m., at the entrance of Jinling Museum.
Li Younan, wearing his camera around his neck, glanced around.
Just then, Zhu Qingyue sent him a message saying she had already entered and was waiting for him in the art gallery.
After a pause, she sent another message: "There are two people here, me and my friend."
Li Younan put away his phone.
The sunshine was dazzlingly bright, so he quickly followed the crowd into the museum.
As he stepped into the museum, a system message popped up: "You've reached the checkpoint, please remain in each gallery for at least 10 minutes to complete the check-in."
Although it said check-in, Li Younan noticed that not all tasks were the same. He wondered if there might be more complex check-in tasks later.
Jinling Museum opens to the public in the form of one courtyard and six galleries.
Li Younan had done some online research before; most bloggers recommended starting the tour at the art gallery.
It was evident that most people who came here had done similar research, as the crowd led him toward the art gallery.
Thankfully, it wasn't a weekend nor peak travel season, so there weren't too many visitors.
Li Younan quickly arrived at the art gallery.
Soon, he saw Zhu Qingyue standing at the entrance from afar, with a girl beside her—a girl with a round, cute face.
Zhu Qingyue waved at him.
…
All along the way, Li Younan was completely absorbed in exploring the galleries.
Zhu Qingyue, who appeared equally interested in history and culture, was also very attentive.
Spending just 10 minutes in each gallery was far from enough, so Li Younan focused entirely on enjoying the tour without worrying about meeting the check-in time.
In contrast to his and Zhu Qingyue's focus, the girl named Sweetness appeared somewhat distracted.
She seemed quite interested in Li Younan and chattered away, asking him questions: "Where are you from? Which university did you attend? When did you graduate? Where do you work after graduation?"
Li Younan didn't mind much, answering casually.
At this moment, Zhu Qingyue walked ahead alone, and after Li Younan answered Sweetness, she was momentarily taken aback.
She blinked and said, "So, does that mean you're currently unemployed, without any source of income?"
Li Younan nodded, saying, "Pretty much."
Sweetness was a firm believer in the material first, then the superstructure.
She believed that love without a material foundation is illusory, like a castle in the air, like a bubble.
Zhu Qingyue was Sweetness's best friend; they grew up together in the same alley. Zhu Qingyue's parents are both university professors.
Parents of the previous generation would constantly remind you during university not to fall in love. But once you graduated, they began to irrationally worry about you getting married.
Zhu Qingyue went through this; she had just graduated when her uncles and aunts introduced several boys with capital city residency, prompting her to travel for a break.
Sweetness had already dismissed Li Younan.
After all, a guy born in a small county, with no capital or Binhai City residency and currently unemployed, even if he's handsome, all he has left is his looks.
After touring three galleries, throughout the process, Li Younan occasionally raised his camera to capture certain moments.
However, it was regrettable that there was no compelling subject or emotion worthy of capturing.
He had the urge to instruct Zhu Qingyue on a few poses for a photo, but he restrained himself.
Since he wasn't particularly close with Zhu Qingyue yet, unless she proactively requested it, it was best not to pursue this.
The next gallery was the Republic of China Gallery.
Arriving here, it felt like stepping into history, gradually walking back in time.
The previous galleries featured ancient dinosaurs, felt the imprints left by literati of various dynasties, experienced the blend of the Qingming River Painting with technology, and finally arrived at the Republic of China Old Street.
Street lights, old streets, vintage cars—it was more like a street than a gallery.
In Younan's mind emerged many beautiful compositions, with a strong urge to find a model for a photo shoot.
There were services here for renting outfits for photographs.
Li Younan called out to Zhu Qingyue in front: "Would you like to take some photos? There's a cheongsam rental ahead."
Zhu Qingyue hesitated, glanced at Li Younan's camera, then shook her head, smiling shyly, "I don't like wearing cheongsams."
Seeing this scene, Sweetness chuckled quietly.
She knew Zhu Qingyue typically doesn't like taking photos; it had nothing to do with wearing cheongsams.
According to Zhu Qingyue, posing for photos is about deliberately creating an unrelated emotional atmosphere. She doesn't like false emotions, believing that a great photographer should capture her true emotional moments.
But where would one find such a photographer?
Sweetness loved taking photos, so she disliked Zhu Qingyue's weird idea.
But seeing Li Younan brushed off, Sweetness joined in: "Neither of us likes taking photos."
Li Younan smiled and said, "Alright."
Just then, the sounds of a noisy conversation between two girls nearby reached his ears.
The two girls in cheongsams clearly wore civilian attire and weren't rentals; they had dressed up before arriving.
Both girls had applied exquisite makeup, evidently entering specifically to take photos.
One girl held a camera, speaking pitifully: "Why does it look bad? Clearly, the tutorial online said to adjust the parameters like this—why does the effect turn out so poorly?"
The other girl sighed: "I told you to spend a bit more to hire a photographer..."
Li Younan touched his chin, thought for a moment, and directly went over to strike up a conversation.