Check-in reward: Little Peach Peach

"Lin Zhe, are you okay? Want to take a break?"

Seeing how exhausted her running pacer was, Jiang Yining offered to stop and rest.

"Yes! A break. Let's take a little halftime break..."

Lin Zhe didn't try to tough it out. He readily agreed, then plopped down on a rock beside the path, turned to Jiang Yining, and said:

"Um, Jiang Yining, I'd like to rest here a little longer and breathe in the fresh mountain air.

And enjoy the early-morning scenery while I'm at it. Why don't you go ahead? You don't have to wait for me."

One of the Check-In Panel's rules required him to spend at least half an hour at a check-in attraction before a reward could be triggered.

Lin Zhe couldn't say exactly how long it would take.

In theory, if he was lucky, he could trigger a check-in reward in as little as half an hour.

If he wasn't, it might take a day or two. Even three or four days wasn't out of the question.

With truly terrible luck, he might not trigger a reward at all during the entire week available for checking in.

So he was finding an excuse to split up with Jiang Yining and let her go ahead while he stayed behind to wait for the check-in to trigger.

"Haha! We came out together. How could I abandon my pacer halfway? That'd be heartless!"

"Lin Zhe, if you're tired, just rest. We can stay as long as you want. I'll wait."

Jiang Yining fully embraced the spirit of "never abandon, never give up."

As she spoke, she walked over to the rock where Lin Zhe had just sat down and plopped down beside him.

Several runners passing by stared at the rock beneath Jiang Yining with eyes practically glowing green, wishing they could take its place!

"Ahem, I might need a really, really long time..."

Lin Zhe didn't know how to turn down this Capital City girl's kindness. He genuinely didn't mind being left behind!

"That's okay. Like I said, however long you need."

Jiang Yining had her principles, too. If she went out with a running partner, they had to come back together.

"Ahem... All right, then..."

Helpless, Lin Zhe could only pray that heaven would take pity on him and let him trigger the check-in reward soon!

"Penguin Offering a Peach? Oh! I remember now. This is one of the scenic area's landmark attractions, right?"

Pointing at the stone formation of Penguin Offering a Peach, Jiang Yining suddenly remembered reading about it in a visitor's guide.

As she spoke, she aimed her action camera at the formation and began filming.

Lin Zhe nodded with a smile. "Right. There's also a rather mythical legend behind Penguin Offering a Peach."

"Oh? Let's hear it! I love stories. Come on, tell me!"

"Legend has it..."

Lin Zhe was truly putting his freshly acquired knowledge to use. He had only heard the legend of Penguin Offering a Peach from Hu Ting yesterday, and today he was already telling it to Jiang Yining.

"Not bad, not bad! You told that really well. Lin Zhe, if you don't have much to do at the inn during the day, you could get certified and work as a mountain guide."

After listening to Lin Zhe's account of the legend behind Penguin Offering a Peach, Jiang Yining obligingly applauded and offered a few words of praise.

Lin Zhe laughed. "Haha, I'll pass. Climbing a mountain once in a while is fine, but every day? My body couldn't take it."

They chatted on and off as the minutes ticked by.

During that time, Lin Zhe kept glancing at his watch, feeling that time was passing particularly slowly today.

Jiang Yining also glanced occasionally at the white COROS sports watch on her wrist, privately wondering why Lin Zhe still wasn't ready to leave...

They had already been resting for more than half an hour!

Still, she couldn't very well hurry him along without making herself seem impatient.

Come on, let the check-in succeed already... It's been almost an hour!

As Lin Zhe kept up the awkward small talk with Jiang Yining to stall for time, he was growing increasingly anxious inside.

[Congratulations on successfully checking in at Penguin Offering a Peach!]

[Check-in reward: Little Peach Peach!]

After thirty-eight minutes, Lin Zhe's constant pleading finally received an answer. The check-in had succeeded!

Little Peach Peach? What on earth is that?

With Jiang Yining right there, Lin Zhe couldn't very well take out the reward and inspect it.

He could only suppress his intense curiosity for now, stand up, and tell Jiang Yining they could get going.

"Let's go, Jiang Yining. I'm rested now. This time, we'll finish the rest of the route in one go!"

"Great! Let's go, let's go! Come on, you've got this, Lin Zhe!"

"A real man has to keep his word!"

"No saying you can't do it this time! Otherwise, I'll look down on you! Seriously!"

Seeing that Lin Zhe was finally willing to set off again, Jiang Yining nearly cried with joy.

She had been waiting more than thirty minutes for this moment!

Seriously, folks, whose running partner ran less than four kilometers, then took a nearly forty-minute break in one stretch?

To stop Lin Zhe from finding another excuse to rest, Jiang Yining laid down several conditions right away to spur him onward!

"..."

Lin Zhe could tell that she really had grown tired of waiting. Hearing her make bold promises on his behalf left him torn between laughter and tears.

After resting for around forty minutes straight, Lin Zhe had essentially recovered to peak condition.

The remaining distance really wasn't much of a challenge for him.

At seven thirty that morning, after completing a short loop around Mount Sanqing's southern scenic area, Lin Zhe and Jiang Yining returned to the Fortunate Inn together.

"I'm going back to my room to wash up first. Let's meet downstairs later. Breakfast is on me."

Jiang Yining still remembered her promise. When she said she would treat Lin Zhe to breakfast, she meant it.

"Let me treat you instead. Having you buy me a meal at my family's inn? People would laugh if word got out."

Lin Zhe actually wanted to make it up to Jiang Yining. After all, she had spent so much time waiting with him at Penguin Offering a Peach.

Jiang Yining blinked. "Of course I know this is your family's inn. But I was actually planning to take you somewhere else."

Lin Zhe smiled. "No need to stand on ceremony or go to all that trouble. Is anyone else's breakfast as good as ours?"

"Uh... That's a little arrogant, but you're right! Nobody else's breakfast really is as good as yours!"

Jiang Yining covered her mouth and laughed. Lin Zhe had spoken the plain truth, and she couldn't argue with it.

Lin Zhe said, "Then it's settled. My treat."

"All right! How generous of you, Boss Lin! Then... I'll make a promotional video for your inn!"

"Of course, I'm just a tiny, obscure streamer on BL Station, so it might not do much."

Jiang Yining pinched her thumb and forefinger together to show Lin Zhe just how minor she was. Combined with her mischievous expression, the gesture made her look even more lively.

"What's your name on BL Station? I'll follow you."

As he spoke, Lin Zhe took his phone from his pocket and opened the BL Station app, ready to search.

"Yining Travels Along! Hehe, I'm not trying to ride Traveling with Hui's popularity, okay? I've had that name since I registered five years ago."

Jiang Yining offered the explanation with some resignation. Plenty of haters seized on her name to accuse her of riding Traveling with Hui's popularity.

After all, they were famous and popular. Being a nobody was a sin in itself.

"Okay, I've followed you. Let's meet at the front desk downstairs in a bit."

"Okay! See you!"

After saying goodbye in the courtyard, they went inside together and returned to their respective rooms.

As soon as he entered his room, Lin Zhe eagerly summoned the Check-In Panel.

[Would you like to retrieve [Little Peach Peach] now?]

"Yes!"