Seeing his cousin all excited and full of energy, Li Younan couldn’t help but think of when he was about to enter university himself. He was full of dreams, confidence, and felt that his future held endless possibilities.
Oh my God, I’m a university student now. I can choose to do what I want!
Li Younan didn’t want to dampen his cousin’s expectations. He smiled and asked, "Have you decided which university you want to attend?"
His cousin nodded, "There are a few I’m considering..."
Li Younan chatted with his cousin for a while about his aspirations, then talked to his mom for a bit and hung up the phone.
It wasn’t too late yet, and Li Younan was not sleepy. He aimlessly scrolled through short videos on his phone.
Just then, a new email ca through.
Li Younan usually doesn’t use email much; the last ti he used it frequently was when he needed to send things at work.
The email was from overseas, making Li Younan raise an eyebrow. He opened it to see the words "Congratulations..."
Li Younan shrugged, a little amused. What is this? Turns out it was a scam email, tsk tsk, and even an overseas one.
He ignored it and continued to browse through short videos.
But shortly after, Jing Chaoyi suddenly called him: "Senior, oh my God, amazing news! Did you get the email?"
Li Younan was a little confused and asked, "What email?"
Jing Chaoyi couldn’t contain her joy: "When we were in Xian, I submitted so of your photos, rember? One of your photos has already been shortlisted for the Smithsonian Digital Humanities Image Awards, and it’s on the official website!"
Li Younan was stunned for a mont before he rembered this incident.
Back in Xian, it did seem like there was such an episode where Jing Chaoyi, who is good at photo editing, processed his photos and submitted them to several competitions.
Li Younan then thought of that email and quickly checked the competition’s official website.
It was true...
Li Younan reconfird the date—it was only a little over 20 days from submission to shortlist notification, which was a bit ridiculous!
But after understanding the competition rules, he started to believe it.
With a digital-first strategy, a closed-loop cloud review system, a regional pre-screening chanism, and relying on the agreent between the Smithsonian and Hengdian, works are delivered directly to the final review through a fast track. The prize was not high, only 2000 USD, but it was definitely sothing to be happy about.
He opened that email again, and sure enough, it was the entry notification from the competition. The email required him to further confirm the work’s copyright, his identity, and provide high-resolution files and original files as attachnts.
Li Younan was a little excited, filling out all the information and signing the authorization agreent.
After completing these, a pop-up appeared, asking him to confirm whether he could attend the award ceremony if he won.
Of course, Li Younan couldn’t go abroad to accept the award, so he filled in "No." The website then prompted him to provide a mailing address for the certificate, which would be sent via mail.
After thinking about it, Li Younan decided to have the certificate sent to his ho.
This photo was a candid shot of Xie Lin, and since it hadn’t officially won yet, Li Younan wasn’t in a rush to tell Xie Lin.
Once he got the award, he would definitely let him know and split the prize money with him. For Li Younan, the prize money wasn’t important.
After leaving his job, things have been really great; everything seems to be good news.
Li Younan lay in bed and opened the map again.
Because the next stop was definite not Hefei. Although Hefei, being a provincial capital city, had a check-in point, Li Younan didn’t plan on chasing those check-in spots. For him, the travel experience was more important; it wasn’t about traveling for check-ins, but checking in along the way.
There were two routes ho for now.
One option was going a bit south, through Jiangxi;
The other was slightly north, through Hubei.
Li Younan stared at the map for a long ti and suddenly focused on a famous place—Jingdezhen.
Jingdezhen didn’t have a check-in point, but that didn’t matter; Li Younan was very interested in it, and it wasn’t too far from Huangshan.
Thus, he settled on the next stop.
About to sleep, he was tired from the mountain climb today, and this state would allow for a good night’s sleep.
But today brought a lot of ssages, and soone else sent a ssage.
Seeing the na of the sender, Li Younan was surprised; it was Zhu Qingyue, whom he hadn’t seen in a long ti.
Zhu Qingyue asked him, "Where are you now?"
Li Younan replied that he was in Huangshan and planned to go to Jingdezhen next.
Zhu Qingyue gave an "Oh" and said, "I’m also in Jiangxi, want to et up? Just a convenient thing, haha."
Li Younan casually replied, "Sure, what a coincidence."
Zhu Qingyue said, "Then it’s settled!"
Just as he was about to put down the phone, a friend request popped up.
It was jk Long, a familiar ID with a familiar Zoro avatar.
Brother Long sent a ssage, coldly saying, "All this while, your WeChat was your work-related WeChat."
Li Younan coughed; the other person was using their own WeChat, while he, just in case, was using a backup WeChat not frequently used.
Looking at it this way, it seed he wasn’t too straightforward.
Li Younan didn’t respond to this comnt, choosing to ignore it and asked, "Did you get the video?"
Brother Long was silent for a mont before saying, "Got it, but your video doesn’t have much of a feature. I like it a lot, but it won’t get popular."
Li Younan felt a bit uneasy hearing that. What did he an by liking it, but it won’t get popular?
Brother Long said, "Your video today is just purely first-person shots of various spots on Huangshan.
"This kind of video is no different from other bloggers’, lacking any selling point, and your filming skills aren’t even as good as theirs."
"I suggest you record more car camping videos and maybe introduce your camper; those kinds of videos can go viral."
Li Younan nodded thoughtfully, thinking about it, and asked, "So, should I still send the first-person video of Huangshan to you?"
Brother Long said, "Of course, send it to . I’m your official editor now; you must send all the material to so I can select the best to edit into a reliable video for you.
"Plus, editing a video doesn’t necessarily an going point by point. If you have many first-person videos, you can make a mash-up."
"Hmm, I’ll think about the best way to present it, but for now, just provide with the material."
Li Younan didn’t think much, sending over an "Okay."
Thinking again, Li Younan ssaged, "By the way, Brother Long, are you really from Chengdu?"
jk Long’s silence was even longer this ti; just when Li Younan thought he’d gone to rest, he replied with a single word: "Yeah."
Li Younan’s expression brightened, sending over a ssage, "I’m heading towards Sichuan, let’s et up when I get there."
This ti, the reply ca quickly: "Let’s drop it; communicating online like this is fine."
Li Younan felt a bit disappointed; among the people he knew, Brother Long seed the most mysterious.
Yet, Brother Long had a close relationship with him, making it an oddly complex connection.
Li Younan asked, "Why?"
Brother Long said, "No real reason, I’m just ugly and don’t want to et."
With that, Li Younan could only assu that maybe Brother Long had so personal issues and wisely chose not to press further.
Brother Long sent another ssage, "Alright, don’t bother anymore. I’m about to start working."
Li Younan said, "Okay, good night."
Brother Long sent an eye-rolling emoji back.
...
Chengdu, in so unknown corner.
Beyond the lampshade, it’s dark, gently enclosing these few dozen square ters.
The keyboard clatters softly, the only rhythmic noise in the deep night.
She folds herself into the chair, resting her chin on her knees.
Her skin is fair, and her legs are clean and long.
Her eyes are beautiful, the kind that look fragile at a glance, fixated on the frozen image of the Flying Stone on the screen.
The closet door is left ajar, with the jk skirt hanging quietly.
A Zoro poster on the wall, always in a sword-drawing pose.
On the bedside table, a plastic bottle with white pills stands quietly.
Here, it’s safe.
The night is still long, and her world, within these four walls, slowly pushes forward.
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