Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System-Chapter 60 - 59: Beach Photographer Li Younan

Li Younan and Jing Chaoyi arrived at the bustling carnival scene. At a glance, the whole beach was almost booked.

This carnival had many elements, not only hip-hop ones, like rap, street dance, and graffiti stages, but also street sports events like skateboarding, cycling, and parkour. Setting up such venues on the beach isn’t cheap. The islanders love to play and enjoy the beach, making the entire carnival feel lively.

When Li Younan arrived here, he received a photography task from the system. This time, the task was relatively more complex than the last one in Ningbo City but also very interesting.

Take photos of 20 people and get their approval.

Approval was the key.

This wasn’t difficult for Li Younan; the beach was full of beauties in bikinis showing off their good figures, and their photographer boyfriends who despised them. Randomly taking photos of 20 such girls could complete the task.

But the second task couldn’t be completed for now, as the checkpoint was on the famous Gulangyu Island.

In a specific setting like a beach, it’s relatively difficult to take more meaningful photos, as this place easily produces sweet photos.

Li Younan adjusted the camera’s settings to suit the current lighting and portrait mode. While doing this, Jing Chaoyi had already changed into her gear and said to Li Younan, "There’s a roller skating competition over there, could you take a photo for me, senior?"

Li Younan had already noticed that there were a lot of sports events here, some hadn’t officially started yet, with athletes just warming up, while others were already in full swing, with the onlookers occasionally letting out exclamations.

Li Younan said, "Ok, no problem." Then he casually raised his camera and took a photo of Jing Chaoyi.

Jing Chaoyi, holding her roller skates, bare feet on the scorching sand, came over to check the camera screen, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Your photography skills are really something, senior, remember to send this photo to me too."

[Current task completion: 1/20!]

Li Younan chuckled silently, it seemed any photos taken on this beach would count towards task completion, regardless of whether he knew the people or not.

...

The sound system by the stage was so loud it made his chest cavity tremble. Li Younan didn’t push forward but meandered to the graffiti area on the side.

Compared to taking photos of those beauties, once Li Younan picked up the camera, his photographer’s soul drove him to look for subjects with more visual impact and storytelling.

A few artists were locked in a contest with several large canvases, spray cans hissing, the paint smell stinging the nose. Li Younan found a shady spot diagonally behind and sat down, focusing his lens on a young man painting letters.

His arm muscles tensed, his actions broad and grand, and the mist of colors sprayed out, hovering in the bright light, creating a marvelous flow.

Li Younan slowed the shutter speed, blurring the colors and the background crowd into a wavering light and shadow, while clearly capturing the focused side profile and line of the arm. The young man stepped back to examine his work, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Li Younan’s lens, momentarily stunned.

Taking the chance, Li Younan brought up the photo he just took, turned the screen towards him. He stepped closer to look, his mouth breaking into a wide grin, "Wow! This is... quite interesting!"

He pointed at the flowing colors on the screen, his eyes shining, said nothing more, just tossed a nod at Li Younan and turned back to his creation with renewed vigor.

His actions seemed more vigorous.

[Ding! Task progress: 2/20]

The sun climbed higher, the sand scorching.

Cheers thundered from the U-shaped pool of the skateboarding area, while Li Younan strolled to the relatively quieter street prop area.

A tall, thin boy repeatedly attempted to flip a board on a step, failing, picking up the board, trying again.

Li Younan moved ahead of him to a shaded spot, crouching down, elbows on knees for stability.

When he finally succeeded, rising with the board spinning neatly under his feet, Li Younan pressed the shutter—capturing the moment of air, the clear texture of the board, the tense energy of his body, and the audience’s fuzzy, warm imagery in the background, all frozen in that frame.

Sunlight outlined a fuzzy golden edge behind him.

He landed firmly, breathing heavily, a smile just blooming on his face when Li Younan walked over, showing him the camera screen.

He glanced down, his smile freezing, eyes widening, "Wow, crap! Is...this me?"

He pointed at his own tense ankle and the distinct patterns on the board bottom in the photo, "You even captured this? I wasn’t aware!"

The action was incredibly striking.

He scratched his head, snickering excitedly, smacking the board.

Li Younan laughed, "Can I post these photos on my short video platform? If you want, you can download them from there."

The guy, a bit shy, said, "Sure!"

Ding! Another one completed.

Thus, Li Younan continually hunted for subjects with his camera.

...

Feeling a bit tired, Li Younan rested with a chilled coconut, the sweet juice soothing the heat in his throat.

The sea breeze, mixed with the smell of sunscreen and sweat, blew by.

At that moment, his phone rang. Li Younan checked, it was a message from JK Long, sending a video from the first day in Xiamen after editing, asking, "What are you doing today?"

Li Younan replied, "Currently at the carnival, taking photos for others."

The other side paused, then asked, "You also know photography?"

Li Younan replied, "Just a tiny bit."

The other side simply sent a "heh."

An implied sneer, clearly doubting.

Li Younan knew the other didn’t believe him, so without wasting words, he sent over some of his masterpieces from today. Unexpectedly, it left JK Long silent.

After a while, the reply came back, "Well-shot, you can use the photos to edit a video."

Li Younan smiled, replied, "I was thinking the same, I got everyone’s permission to post on my page while taking their pictures."

After some time, JK Long messaged, "You know quite a lot..."

It was the first slight praise from this usually feisty guy. Li Younan smugly replied, "I know a lot more, you’ll find out slowly!"

From the dance circle, the music blared explosively, but instead of heading over, Li Younan’s gaze was drawn to a girl practicing roller skating alone not far away.

It was Jing Chaoyi again.

Wearing her roller skates, she looked a bit different from usual.

The fluorescent green skates were eye-catching as she repeatedly practiced a one-foot spin followed by a backward slide, her expression focused yet stubborn.

Li Younan switched to a telephoto lens. Although wide angles did have impact, sometimes distance framed a tranquil immersion.

When she finally completed the spin smoothly, her face lit up with a relieved, pure, slightly shy smile, and he gently pressed the shutter. Sunlight highlighted the beads of sweat on her side profile, her flying hair, and the dazzling white light and blurred playful beach backdrop.

She followed a curve, seemingly sensing something, pausing to look in Li Younan’s direction with curiosity. Placing down his camera, he walked over, showing the photo capturing her perfect landing and radiant smile.

Jing Chaoyi leaned closer to the screen, pointing at the photo of her with flying hair and bright eyes, dragging her words, "Senior—"

She looked up at Li Younan, her cheeks flushed from exercise and excitement.

Li Younan said leisurely, "Don’t get too happy yet, you know the rule, 200 per photo."

Jing Chaoyi retorted, "Senior, I’d happily give 400 for your photo."

Her retreating tactic left Li Younan silently coughing and chuckling dryly.

By then, after a morning’s hustle, Li Younan had successfully progressed to 19/20 in his task.

Just as he planned to find another target, they both heard a commotion.

"With your skills, you still want 200 bucks? Is money that easy to earn?"