Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Li Younan lowered his head and continued chopping a fresh spring onion.

Chen Rui said, ”I have a bit of anxiety disorder, do you know what that is?”

Li Younan shook his head honestly, ”Not really sure, what are you anxious about?”

Chen Rui shrugged, ”It’s not about what you’re anxious about, um... how to say? Anxiety disorder, anxiety is just its name, but it’s not quite the same as the anxiety that ordinary people understand. Specifically, it’s easy to lose focus, and I always feel that unfamiliar places are dangerous, or that there’s unfinished business at a place I just left, which affects safety. For example, when I went out today, I called my mom several times to ask her to check if the chargers were unplugged in the room.”

Li Younan lightly furrowed his brow, but his hands kept moving as he nodded, ”I kind of get it, it sounds like OCD...”

Chen Rui nodded and didn’t elaborate, ”There’s some connection...”

At this point, Li Younan had finished cutting the onion, and with a light scrape of the knife, the onion fell into the prep dish. He asked, ”Why are you telling me this?”

Chen Rui took a deep breath, ”The doctor said that medication can only help as a supplement, but fundamentally, more interaction with people is needed. I’ve felt quite comfortable spending time with you these past few days.”

Li Younan blinked a few times and then blurted out, ”Oh, I get it, you’re using me as medicine!”

Chen Rui was startled for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh softly, lowering her head with a bit of dissatisfaction, ”Can’t believe you’d put it that way.”

She let out a small sigh, feeling somewhat relieved.

When she had come over earlier, she’d been quite tangled up, as anxiety disorder also involves constantly fearing that something will harm someone, often leading to two extremes.

One extreme is always feeling that the person being harmed is oneself, which gradually develops into paranoia of persecution; the other extreme is always feeling that one might harm others, leading to endless self-blame.

She belonged to the latter, so the difficult part was wondering whether, after confessing to Li Younan, he might feel like he was being used.

That was not something she wanted to see; it would make her feel uncomfortable.

Li Younan’s reaction was unexpectedly calm.

At that moment, Li Younan added a spoonful of oil to the pan, ignited the stove, and as the oil temperature gradually rose, he scooped a spoonful of bean paste into the pan. With a sizzle, the aroma wafted out.

Li Younan slowly said, ”I thought it was something serious.” He turned his head and looked at Chen Rui, smiling, ”There’s nothing to confess, you made it sound so scary.”

Chen Rui bowed her head deeply. That was certainly not the true intention of her confession, but since things had reached this point, she had to keep speaking.

She lowered her head, carefully choosing her words, and thought... perhaps she could approach the topic from the angle of ”our moms are really good friends.”

While she was tangled up, Li Younan pointed to a certain spot in the kitchen and said, ”Bring those garlic cloves over here for me.”

Chen Rui was taken aback for a moment, blinked, and replied, ”Oh,” feeling a bit bewildered but complying obediently.

She brought the garlic cloves over to Li Younan, and he tossed a handful into the pan, then abruptly said, ”I get it. Tomorrow I’ll take you to Chengdu with me.”

Chen Rui blinked, then was completely dumbfounded and softly said, ”Ah.”

Li Younan looked at her with a bit of amusement, ”You went through all this trouble to come here and chatter on, just to get me to take you along.”

Caught off guard by his sudden insight, Chen Rui’s face turned red in an instant, and she stammered, ”No... no, I... I just meant...” Whatever she tried to say lacked confidence, and she finally gave in with a mixture of relief and defeat, ”Yes... that’s what I meant...”

Li Younan added more seasonings, and the sauce became quite aromatic. He put beef into the pan and said, ”Let’s just have dinner at my place later. I made noodles; my mom wanted to eat noodles, and it’s different from what I made the other day, this time it’s beef. Oh, by the way...”

Then, Li Younan’s expression turned serious, catching Chen Rui off-guard.

Li Younan solemnly said, ”Regardless, I’m still quite a few years older than you; you should call me brother.”

Chen Rui’s expression became somewhat quirky, and she softly snorted, ”Let’s pass on that.”

Resolved about one thing, her mood visibly brightened as she looked at the pot and finally laughed, ”Then I’ll wait outside.”

Li Younan turned his head to look at Chen Rui’s back, feeling a bit dissatisfied, ”Refusing to call me brother, huh? Little brat, pretending to be mature...”

All he could do was give a small internal grumble.

But, a gifted student with anxiety disorder, it’s quite pitiful.

Can it be cured?

...

Li Younan drove, taking Chen Rui with him to Chengdu.

Frankly, finding good skiing equipment in a place like Chengdu isn’t easy.

The reason is simple. For instance, if you want to buy a surfboard, the best choice is to go to the seaside, not the desert.

Although around Chengdu there are some artificial ski resorts, compared to the large ski fields in Northeast China, it’s kind of amusing.

So this time when Li Younan came over, he didn’t plan to find great skis; he mainly wanted to buy some clothes and protective gear for skiing. If he couldn’t find any, it didn’t matter — it was just a trip to relax.