If it weren't for fixing up this Land Cruiser, Li Younan would have almost forgotten that his driver's license was about to expire.
With Lu Haibo's reminder, he hurriedly went to renew his license.
Holding his brand new C1 driver's license, Li Younan took the subway back. He didn't drive there to renew the license because of a very frustrating reason—he wasn't very confident in his driving skills.
If he remembers correctly, the last time he drove was for the third part of the driving test, which was five or six years ago.
Thinking back to when he got his driver's license, everyone around him was enrolling in driving schools. Maybe it was peer pressure or the thought that he might need it someday, he followed suit and got a driver's license too.
But since graduating, on one hand, he didn't have a car, and on the other, his workplace was very close to Yang Ting's home. The subway was just right outside, and it took only two stops to reach the company, so there was no need to buy a car.
Without the need, the idea of buying a car was temporarily shelved.
It wasn't until earlier when Li Younan started up that Land Cruiser that he suddenly realized the problem... with his poor skills driving such a big car, it would be troublesome if he accidentally scratched or bumped it.
Li Younan thought he should find an experienced old hand to drive the car to the suburbs or some industrial zone with little traffic, practice, and get the feel of it. Lu Haibo couldn't spare the time to accompany him to do this; after all, he had to earn money.
Li Younan took out his phone on the subway, browsing through his contacts to see if there was a friend who could help.
Unfortunately, since Li Younan was not a local in Binhai City, his circle of friends consisted only of colleagues and those college classmates, and most of them did not stay in Binhai City.
Li Younan sighed softly, put down his phone, and thought if it doesn't work out, this matter can be set aside for now.
He returned to Lu Haibo's modification shop, and just as he reached the entrance, Lu Haibo saw him, came over cheerfully, and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "You came back at the right time, the stuff has arrived."
Li Younan asked in confusion, "What stuff?"
Lu Haibo smiled slightly, "Come over and take a look, you'll see."
Li Younan followed Lu Haibo to the car, and at this moment the workers were installing something in his trunk.
Li Younan leaned in to look and saw a cage-like expansion rack installed in the trunk, and the worker hopped out after securing the last screw.
Previously, Li Younan had told Lu Haibo that he wanted an expansion rack and a roof platform. Unexpectedly, Lu Haibo remembered it silently and bought all the components without saying a word.
Lu Haibo added, "Besides this, there's also a roof platform and a storage box above the door."
Li Younan was a bit surprised.
Lu Haibo continued to explain, "The spare tire of this Land Cruiser is placed under the rear, just right to install a storage box behind the door. Aren't you going on a long trip? These basic modifications are very necessary. Consider these as my gift to you."
Li Younan found himself at a loss for words. He opened his mouth but was choked with emotion.
Seeing Li Younan's expression, Lu Haibo instantly showed a "disgusted" look, punched him on the chest, and said, "Don't get all sappy on me!"
Then he solemnly said, "Brother, I admire your choice. I too have dreamed of a life filled with poetry and distant places like yours, but I never had the resolve to take that step. When you're young, go see the world. I can't help much, just be careful on the road, stay safe, and call if you need anything!"
Li Younan nodded, knowing that thanking him at this point would seem pretentious, so he silently kept his gratitude in his heart.
For guys, getting used to driving is not that difficult. Not far from Lu Haibo's modification shop lies the suburbs, where Li Younan drove slowly to a less trafficked area to practice on his own.
Two or three days later, there were basically no major problems with his driving.
But, being a new driver, driving on the highway wasn't much of an issue, yet parking was still a big challenge for him.
For a moment, Li Younan also wondered if deciding to travel by car was a wise choice at all.
Besides the issue of driving skills, he had other worries, with the biggest one being about money running out.
Even though buying this Land Cruiser cost only over twenty thousand, even using the lowest cost for repairs, it still ended up costing nearly a hundred thousand in total. Adding insurance and various necessary expenses recently, he's left with only seventy-eight thousand.
Fuel expenses were going to be tight.
Thinking of traveling around China with such little money is certainly unrealistic; he must carefully consider ways to earn money, ideally earning while traveling.
For a traveler, the easiest way to make money is naturally to become a video creator or work on social media. However, currently Li Younan wasn't equipped to become a content creator, because he had no distinctive features. A Land Cruiser and just himself, such a setup really isn't appealing, and starting a channel now wouldn't be meaningful.
Without clearly identifying his direction, Li Younan decided to put it on hold. But he definitely planned to start filming videos later. Besides this path, at the moment, the only thing he could think of was relying on his skills in system development to take on some small freelance jobs online to maintain his income and expenses temporarily.
This small issue didn't make Li Younan anxious. He glanced at the balance on his bank card, chuckled to himself, thinking he still had a decent amount of money left.
As he continued to travel and gain more skills, surely there will be ways to monetize them. Rather than being anxious about finances right now, it's better to focus all his energy on the journey itself.
Thus, he had to seriously plan for the upcoming itinerary. Given his poor driving skills, Li Younan didn't plan to go directly to Route 318 or attempt any challenging journeys through uninhabited areas.
He decided to divide his life journey into three stages.
The first stage was the road trip phase, starting from Binhai City, completing check-ins in all the developed cities in the eastern region.
Because eastern cities have well-developed transportation and perfect facilities, even if his driving skills weren't great, it would be relatively safe. Moreover, this process could unlock new skills, and prepare him for longer trips and more complex routes in the future.
And if he happened to randomly earn a "driving skill +1" reward at that time, wouldn't that be great?
The second stage was to officially embark on the journey, heading towards the central and western regions.
On the way, besides checking into cities, many milestones would require camping accommodation. By then, he would have gained considerable experience and could just enjoy it.
The third stage was truly only something a professional travel adventurer could undertake, such as climbing peaks, trekking through primeval forests, or deep-sea diving, all requiring extremely high professional expertise.
Li Younan chose Jinling City as his first stop, which didn't require much preparation, and he planned to practice driving for two more days before setting off.
He named his car Xiao Ku, patted the steering wheel, and said, "Buddy, from now on, we're good brothers fighting side by side. Let's go explore all the great rivers together!"