Chapter 25: The Beautiful Scenery of Xihu

Su Huan finished the meeting, packed up her things, and by the time she got back to her workstation it was already past noon.

She took out her phone, opened WeChat, and saw that Qin Yun had passed the toll station half an hour ago; Su Huan immediately dialed him.

The call connected quickly, and Qin Yun's voice came through: "Looking at the navigation, I'm about a quarter of an hour from Alibaba's Area A. There seem to be quite a few gates here — which one should I pick?"

Su Huan quickly said, "Come to Gate A2 on Gaojiao Road. I'll wait for you at the entrance."

"Okay, almost there."

After hanging up, Su Huan hurried to the restroom, checked herself in the mirror, fixed her hair, and applied another coat of lipstick to her lips. Only after making sure she was satisfied did she head downstairs.

Su Huan arrived at the roadside by Gate A2, thought for a moment, then took out her phone to look for a place to eat.

There were still plenty of good eats near Alibaba, including plenty of upscale restaurants, but normally Su Huan couldn't bear to spend at a place like that. Although her annual salary was nothing to sneeze at, she was still an ordinary working stiff at the end of the day, and she considered any overly extravagant spending unacceptable.

After picking a few backup options, a car suddenly pulled up beside her.

Then the car window rolled down, revealing Qin Yun's face: "Beautiful lady, would you do me the honor of joining me for a meal?"

Su Huan ignored his teasing, looked the Land Rover Defender before her over, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes: "Didn't you say you were very poor? Is this what you call poor?"

"Get in and I'll explain."

Su Huan clicked her tongue in wonder, pulled open the passenger door, and got in: "Who would've thought you're a hidden rich person, able to casually afford a luxury car like this."

Qin Yun laughed: "A windfall. Where should we eat? You're not really going to treat me to the legendary Xihu specialty — Sweet and Sour West Lake Fish, are you?"

Su Huan handed her phone to him: "Take a look at these three, pick one."

Qin Yun tapped open the links, glanced at each, and casually chose one. Although the per-person price shown was over five hundred, he didn't really mind.

Su Huan immediately called over, and luckily there was still a private room available to reserve.

Soon the car arrived at the destination. Before he could even open the door himself, a young security guard came over and opened it for him, and before he could even turn off the engine, offered to park the car for him.

He was still a bit uneasy, thinking there were quite a few valuable things in his car — would they go missing?

Qin Yun turned to Su Huan and said, "Expensive really does come with its perks. I've only ever seen valet parking on TV."

Su Huan laughed: "I've never been here either — I'm riding on your coattails."

The two country bumpkins, led by the waiter, arrived at a private room, which was very tastefully decorated.

As soon as they sat down, another waiter came over carrying a bottle of red wine: "Mr., miss, we just got in a Concha y Toro today — shall we open a bottle?"

"What's that?" Qin Yun was baffled, then saw Su Huan wave her hand, "No need, thanks."

The waiter smiled faintly, handed them both a menu, then stood to the side and waited quietly.

Qin Yun opened the menu — it had Chinese, English, even French and Italian. He had no idea why a restaurant like this had to throw in French and Italian; were there really foreigners coming to eat here?

Soon the two had ordered and handed the menu back to the waiter.

After the waiter left, Su Huan laughed: "I heard from coworkers that this place does get quite a few European diners."

"There really are?"

Qin Yun felt a bit shallow — turns out the restaurant wasn't just showing off.

"You said you ran into Jiang Bingbing? How did he end up back there? I remember he was doing fine at Huawei."

Qin Yun shrugged: "I just found out his family is actually from Shouxian, and he's the inheritor of an intangible cultural heritage — ancient-method tofu. He went back to take that over."

Su Huan had seen the video, but was still a bit surprised: "Doesn't that mean his income drops quite a bit?"

"From what Jiang Bingbing said, he was quite happy to go back." Qin Yun recalled how content Hu Bingbing had looked.

"Alright then." Su Huan nodded, took a sip of water, and asked, "So what are your plans next? You really don't need me to refer you in? With your skills, getting in as a P8 would be no problem."

"Thanks, but no need." Qin Yun refused without hesitation. "I'm going home first, then I plan to travel around a bit, catch up with college friends and stuff."

Seeing Qin Yun say that, Su Huan sighed: "Please don't film any more dangerous videos in the future. You don't know — when I saw the video you sent, my heart nearly stopped. When on earth did you start doing rock climbing? I don't remember you doing it in college?"

"After graduation, I fell into it by accident." Qin Yun blurted it out without even drafting the lie, "I just played around, and gradually drifted into the realm of unprotected free soloing."

At this, he smiled: "It's actually not as dangerous as you imagine. Why do you think I stayed in Shandong for so many days? It was to scout the site, to understand the real situation of every handhold. So it looks dangerous, but actually everything is under my control — this is the result of careful planning, not some reckless gamble with my life."

Hearing how certain Qin Yun sounded, Su Huan believed him: "But I still think it's too dangerous. I keep feeling that one misstep and…"

"I'm not some hothead!"

"So are you really going to do self-media? I feel like self-media isn't easy to do these days." Su Huan thought of the ancient-method tofu video Qin Yun had filmed — complete, sure, but nothing stood out about it. Compared to his climbing videos, any newbie could tell which one the traffic pool would favor.

"Take it one step at a time. Self-media is hard now because the lanes are hard to find — basically every lane you can think of is already on short video. To stand out, you can only compete on quality." Qin Yun didn't think too much about it; whether he could make it on the self-media path, he honestly wasn't very confident.

The two chatted, and before long the waiter started bringing out the dishes.

Since it was Western food, they used knives and forks, and eating wasn't a problem. And the taste was actually pretty good — not as outrageous as imagined. Seems expensive really does have its reasons.

Refined, delicious, small portions — the hallmarks of most Western cuisine.

Halfway through the meal, Su Huan suddenly asked, "Do you know how many people from our class came to Hangzhou?"

"A lot?" Qin Yun took a bite of beef, thought for a moment, and said, "I remember Shao Yan is at Hikvision, Xia Weiwei went to Geely I think. The rest I don't know."

Su Huan shot him a look: "The only two girls in class, and you remember them clearly."

Qin Yun laughed awkwardly and buried his head in his food.

"Fei Kai, Chen Ziyi, and Zhang Kang are also in Hangzhou," Su Huan continued. "While you're here, want to find a time to get together?"

Qin Yun hesitated, then shook his head and refused: "Let's forget it. After graduation I haven't been in touch with them. We all have different circles and friends now — no need to bother them."

Though he said so, Qin Yun himself knew the real reason wasn't that.

"Fine, it's your call." Su Huan took a bite of foie gras. "So what are you doing this afternoon? Booked a hotel?"

"I'm planning to take a walk around Xihu this afternoon. As a Zhejiang native, it'd be a shame to go my whole life without visiting Xihu."

"Alright then, I still have work this afternoon, so I won't keep you company."

"Yeah, you go ahead and do your thing. I'll be in Hangzhou for two days — I'll let you know before I leave."

……

In the end, Su Huan paid the bill — nearly thirteen hundred yuan.

"Next time let's pick somewhere more affordable. Thirteen hundred yuan could get us five or six hotpot meals." Qin Yun complained.

Walking out of the restaurant, he resolved never to go to a Western-style restaurant like this again. Even though the valet had already brought the car around, and even the car had been washed, it did nothing to change his mind.

"Consider it a lesson learned." Su Huan wore an expression of shared indignation.

The two drove off, and before long they were back at Ali A2 Gate, pulling over to the side of the road.

"I'll contact you then, bye-bye!"

"Mm, bye-bye!"

After Su Huan went inside, Qin Yun tapped open his phone's navigation, preparing to head to Xihu. Just then, the system's voice sounded in his ear again, and the system panel dropped before his eyes at the same time.

【Check-in Task Issued: Please proceed to Hangzhou's Xihu. Starting from Orioles Singing in the Willows, tour the Ten Scenes of West Lake on foot. You must stay at each scenic spot for more than twenty minutes. When all ten scenes are lit up, the check-in is complete.】

Looking at this task, Qin Yun broke into a smile.

It was hardly harder than the first check-in task he had received after getting the system — at most it would just take a bit more time, but as for difficulty, there was none at all.

Compared to a life-threatening check-in task like rock-climbing Fan Cliff, he truly hoped there would be more tasks like touring Xihu — the more the merrier.

He had also figured out a little pattern by now: the generation of check-in tasks followed no pattern whatsoever.

From the check-in tasks so far, he could not summarize the slightest pattern. If there was one rule, it was that the task was tied to his current location. There had never been a case where the person was in one place but the task pointed somewhere else.

"Good, this way the task follows me, instead of me chasing after the task. The freedom is much greater."

He entered the destination, and Tuantuan's voice came from the phone: "Coming, bro! Tuantuan's navigating for you. Buck up, don't be so down, everybody let's go…"

Qin Yun eased lightly on the accelerator, and the car responded instantly. The surging power output made this several-ton beast feel perfectly at ease on the road.

……

Forty minutes later, around two in the afternoon, Qin Yun's figure appeared on the shores of Xihu.

September's weather ought to have been full of autumn charm, but here in Hangzhou he got to feel what people called the "autumn tiger." The viciousness of the sun made him feel as if he were back in Beijing's hottest midsummer.

But even so, the shores of Xihu were still thronged with people — tourist figures visible everywhere.

Qin Yun stood on the bank and looked into the distance. The lake's surface was clear as a mirror, reflecting the pale blue of the sky and the lightness of drifting clouds. A gentle breeze brushed past, sending up fine ripples. If only this vicious sunlight were a touch gentler, Qin Yun thought it would be just about perfect.

The real Xihu was certainly not the same as the imagined Xihu — most beautiful sights were like that, really. Their beauty existed only through the lens.

No matter the scenery, if the place is swarming with people, you cannot truly feel the sensation of being surrounded by the scenery — only the impact of being surrounded by crowds.

He glanced at a pleasure boat cutting across the lake water, then looked farther into the distance, where lay distant mountains the color of dark brows. Today's weather left the horizon hazy and indistinct, the mountains like ink wash blooming in that one spot.

He turned and walked toward Orioles Singing in the Willows. The moment he fully stepped into the scenic area's range, a "Orioles Singing in the Willows" icon suddenly appeared on the panel, already in a lit-up state, with a running timer below it.

Orioles Singing in the Willows — but it was September now, so naturally there were no orioles to hear. Still, within the garden the greenery remained lush: the clear lake surface, the willows along the bank, the reeds, and the scent of osmanthus drifting through the air gave the place its own special charm.