Chapter 18: New Check-in

“If you want to laugh, go ahead—don’t choke yourself.”

Su Huan felt embarrassed; she’d wanted to appear polished in front of old classmates, but this was the result. Yet seeing Qin Yun’s strained expression, she grew furious.

“Hahaha…”

Qin Yun couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing—he hadn’t felt this amused in years.

Seeing Qin Yun like this, Su Huan rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flew to the sky. She finally moved past the incident as the square’s lights flickered on, the last sliver of daylight lingering unwillingly in the sky.

The music for the square dance grew even more energetic, and visibly, groups kept expanding.

Su Huan pressed her hands beneath her thighs, glanced at Qin Yun, then looked toward the distant crowd: “Actually, I admire you. I always thought you were a sentimental person.”

“Sentimental?”

Qin Yun chewed on those two words, then smiled: “Maybe because I’m ultimately a STEM guy—I’ve been sentimental for so long, it’s time to be rational. Do you think my decision was wrong? After all, divorce isn’t seen as a good choice by most people.”

Su Huan turned to him and shook her head seriously: “I don’t think so. If living means only enduring and compromising, what’s the point? I’m glad you had the courage to decide.”

Qin Yun was surprised and glanced at her in disbelief.

“Don’t think I’m just comforting you—I truly believe this,” Su Huan clearly knew what he was thinking. “Like you said, many people at Alibaba pursue me, but if they’re not the right one, I’d rather stay single than settle. Seeing you like this has only strengthened my resolve.”

Qin Yun chuckled silently: “So if you stay single forever, I’m partly to blame now?”

Su Huan shot him a glare and jumped off the rock.

“Let’s go—loop back. I’ve got some things to handle tonight.”

They walked toward the park exit; as they moved farther away, the park’s noise gradually faded. At a crossroad, Su Huan pointed to the opposite direction: “My car’s parked over there.”

Qin Yun nodded: “Alright, go ahead. Contact me when you get back to Hangzhou.”

Su Huan beamed: “Deal. When you’re in Hangzhou, call me—I’ll treat you to Hangzhou delicacies—West Lake Vinegar Fish.”

Qin Yun’s face darkened: “I treat you as a friend, but you think I’m a country bumpkin? Don’t think I haven’t seen the news.”

“Hahaha.” Su Huan strode forward, waving without looking back. “Bye.”

Qin Yun smiled, waited until she crossed the street, then turned slowly toward the hotel.

Back at the hotel, he’d already bathed—but that was at noon. In this season and weather, even light activity left him sticky.

After bathing, Qin Yun noticed a new WeChat message—from Xia Qingqing.

“Big Brother Qin, I’ve boarded. Thank you again. When you come to Shanghai, be sure to contact me.”

Attached was a selfie taken from her airplane seat—smiling sweetly, eyes bright, teeth white, stunningly beautiful.

“Good luck, safe travels!”

After replying, Qin Yun scrolled his phone a bit longer, then went to bed.

Online, the news of his rescue remained popular, but the trend was clearly declining. Especially videos targeting three new energy vehicle companies had been completely suppressed; most discussions now centered on his rescue.

In such cases, vehicle self-ignition is understandable—the core is the battery pack. Once impacted, batteries catching fire is normal; many netizens know this. Unfortunately, the automakers disagree, stubbornly opposing netizens with absurd acts like covering logos and dismantling cars.

Worse, they’ve directly sued self-media accounts—their legal teams are terrifyingly strong!

He’d once read news reports where repair shops dismantled a car for a customer, only to be sued for no reason—utterly ridiculous.

The night passed silently; Qin Yun slept straight through until morning.

After washing and packing, his mood was exceptionally cheerful. Ever since he got the system, since his divorce, since losing his job, his days have been colorful.

After all, the most important thing in life is to be happy.

This hotel didn’t serve breakfast, but wherever there are Chinese people, traditional breakfast is never hard to find.

He found a bustling shop and ordered a fried dough cake, a bowl of local Liuchang tofu, and a bowl of spicy egg soup.

Following others’ example, he poured soy sauce over the tofu, sprinkled golden crispy sesame salt, chopped scallions, and cilantro. Though from Zhoushan, he liked spice, so he added a dash of chili oil.

One bite of the cake, one bite of tofu—delicious beyond words. After finishing, he drank the spicy egg soup, and instantly felt revitalized.

Full and satisfied, he sent Su Huan a WeChat message, then prepared to depart.

Today he planned to cross Shandong, resting only when he reached Xuzhou in Jiangsu—assuming the system didn’t issue another check-in task after entering Shandong.

With the Land Rover roaring, Qin Yun set off again, soon joining the Hengde Expressway.

From Hengshui to Dezhou in Shandong was only sixty to seventy kilometers—under an hour. But from Dezhou to Xuzhou in Jiangsu was four hundred kilometers—no less than five hours.

The highway conditions were excellent today; Qin Yun entered Shandong in under forty minutes. Yet this time, as he crossed the border, the system gave no check-in task prompt—whether on cooldown or otherwise, he didn’t know.

He didn’t care. Check-in tasks were just an extra on his journey home—do them if they appear, ignore them if they don’t.

As the car entered Shandong, Qin Yun checked the time and called his mother.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Xiao Yun, you’re up already? Was Hebei fun? I saw your photos on Moments—you look much more energetic.”

“Mom, it’s almost nine—I’ve been up for hours. I’m already on the highway. Hebei’s great, beautiful scenery. Yesterday I had dinner with my college classmates there.”

“Good, good. Drive carefully, don’t speed. Let others go first.”

“I know. Have you gone to work? I’ll probably get home on the fifth or sixth.”

“I just got to the office—busy lately. Go visit more places. You’ve always wanted to travel all over the country—now’s your chance.”

“Traveling can wait. I’m not working now anyway. When I get home, let’s go on a trip together—what do you think?”

“That’d be wonderful. I’ve got so many vacation days now, but my company’s hard to get time off from. I told you before—our manager yesterday made a new girl cry again. So unfair. She hadn’t done anything wrong, just found an excuse. It’s just…”

Listening to his mother’s chatter, Qin Yun felt no irritation—only deeper longing for home.

After chatting for over ten minutes, his mother hung up as her boss arrived.

Qin Yun’s mother worked as an accountant at a Zhoushan institution with state-owned shares—stable enough. Aside from rigid seniority rules, low pay, and many ghost employees, everything else was fine.

Though the family never had much money, mother and son lived comfortably.

Another hour passed; the car drifted unnoticed into Jinan from Dezhou, and then the system chimed.

【Task issued: The host must climb 100 meters barehanded up the north cliff of Mount Tai’s Fanzi Cliff, without any equipment, to complete the check-in】

Hearing this task, Qin Yun’s pupils shrank sharply.

Barehanded climbing!!

Having mastered climbing skills, Qin Yun knew climbing had many types: by equipment, it could be free climbing, gear-assisted climbing, or barehanded climbing; by setting, indoor or outdoor.

Among them, barehanded climbing was the “ultimate ceiling” of climbing. It relied solely on body contact with the rock—any slip meant death. No gear, no protection—outdoor barehanded climbing was dangerous not just because of difficulty, but because of uncontrollable environmental factors.

Few in the world dared attempt outdoor barehanded climbing—mistakes meant the line between life and death.

Qin Yun checked his navigation: less than five kilometers to the next service area.

…

“This is too extreme,” Qin Yun stared at the photo of Fanzi Cliff’s north face—the cliff was nearly vertical, even overhanging, with sparse cracks and mostly smooth, weathered surfaces, and almost no natural handholds.

Below lay the Qingtong Ravine—a fall meant near-certain death.

Qin Yun’s face darkened. Even though he’d reached a high level in climbing, skill was skill, body was body, and mental fortitude was mental fortitude.

Though the system’s skill reward had seemingly forged his body, his mental resilience remained that of an ordinary person—even improved, it was nowhere near enough to attempt such a limit.

For a moment, Qin Yun sat frozen in the car, hesitating.

After long thought, he still couldn’t decide.

“Forget it—I’ll go see it first. Might as well tour Mount Tai.”

He made his decision, restarted the car, quickly found a ramp onto the JingTai Expressway toward Mount Tai. About an hour later, he exited at Tai’an West, then turned onto Mount Tai Avenue.

After driving two or three kilometers, he turned onto the Ring Road, drove another five kilometers, and spotted the scenic area entrance—a massive parking lot for tourists.

Over an hour later, Qin Yun looked up at the cliff shaped like an open fan, his expression grim.

From photos, it didn’t seem so bad—but seeing it in person, the danger was overwhelming. The cliff face was sheer as if cut, thousands of feet high, with some sections nearly right angles, even overhangs.

He climbed the Sky Ladder; looking down from above, his heart pounded.

After circling and viewing from every angle, Qin Yun realized to complete the task, he’d have to start from the base of Qingtong Ravine and climb straight up the center of the north face. Unlike the other side, this face had no artificial maintenance—years of weathering meant unknown rock conditions. What looked like solid holds now might crumble under actual pressure.

Qin Yun descended without expression. Giving up felt unacceptable—he needed to think this through carefully.