I Don’t Want To Be Popular

Chapter 26: Checking In At The Internet-Famous Attraction

They arrived at Foying Gorge, which was a famous rafting site, not to mention an international rafting competition site.

[No oars will be needed throughout the journey. The relative water-level change is 117 meters with a total length of 5.1 kilometers. It will take 1.5 hours for the whole journey.]

Chen Chuan was a little moved as he looked at the billboard. He had not tried something like this before.

The scenery here was beautiful, with scenic spots such as the Thousand Buddha Rocks, Stone Buddha Beach, and Lotus Waterfall along both coasts. Most importantly, it was hot here, so rafting would be a good way to cool down.

The designated driver looked at the drifting spot and said, “It’s been more than two years since I came here to play. It’s really fun here, but I haven’t had a chance to come. Sir, do you want to have a go? Why don’t we share a raft and have some fun?

“Okay, it looks very exciting.” Chen Chuan agreed.

The rafting ticket cost 188 yuan, which was not expensive. Chen Chuan and the designated driver paid for their ticket and joined the line.

The designated driver said with a sad face, “The money I made from this trip today has flowed away again. It literally flowed away…”

Chen Chuan was amused by her words. As he watched one raft after another, it seemed like her money had really flowed away.

Her service charges were not much. It was 100 yuan for the first 10 kilometers, 3 yuan per kilometer after that, and 50 yuan waiting charges for each half an hour. The platform would take 30% of it, which did not leave much for the driver.

Nonetheless, rafting was really fun.

They changed their clothes, put on a helmet, got on the raft, and went down the river. Even though they did not manage to sail across the mountains briskly while listening to the sounds of apes as the Chinese saying went, at least they had a go at it.

During the rafting process, Chen Chuan received a message.

‘Internet-famous attraction, Foying Gorge check-in completed (1/15).’

The five-kilometer rafting made Chen Chuan and the designated driver closer.

The relative water-level changes caused them to scream non-stop. Smiles and laughter sounded between the running water, which made them closer.

Chen Chuan learned that the designated driver with a mild road rage was named Wu Jiayi, a third-year at Chuanmei College who was from Chongqing.

“Do you know about the Wulong district? ‘The Golden Armors Of The City’ was filmed there, so there are lots of internet-famous attractions there. A lot of people would go there for vacations and visits. There’s the Sancheng Bridge, Wulong Cave, so you should visit them when you’re free,” said Wu Jiayi.

“Is it far away? I’ll go there if it’s not far away,” said Chen Chuan.

“It’s not far away but the road is not easy. There’s a section of winding road, so you’ll have to find a driver who’s familiar with the road conditions. Your driving skills are alright right?” asked Wu Jiayi.

“Yes, of course,” Chen Chuan replied.

…

After playing for a long time, Chen Chuan and Wu Jiayi rafted to the ending point where they ate at a restaurant at noon.

The rural tourism at the attraction was not cheap. Chen Chuan looked at Wu Jiayi’s miserable look as she stared at a 48 yuan Kung Pao Chicken rice bowl while calculating. He then simply ordered a famous local dish, the Nanshan Spring Chicken.

The chicken weighed over 5 pounds so it filled two whole pots.

He gave a pot of it to Wu Jiayi.

Chen Chuan began to have large bites of the meat, which was extremely spicy and crispy.

“An authentic spring chicken is prepared using bamboo poles to collect spring water which will flow to the kitchen. The chicken will then be washed, chopped into small pieces, put in a clay pot, mixed with the spring water, and simmered on the fire.” Wu Jiayi sat on a stone and said while eating the chicken and rice, “Red chili, purple pepper, garlic, and old ginger, these are all vital ingredients. This restaurant is very authentic, but the price is also expensive. It’s about six, sixty per pound?”

She was a local girl who could take spicy food, and yet she was overwhelmed by the spiciness of the dish that it made talking hard.

“Yeah, 58 per pound.” Chen Chuan ate such a spicy dish for the first time.

People tend to get sleepy due to the hot weather, so Chen Chuan ordered a bottle of local ‘Shancheng Beer’. He drank the cold beer, ate Nanshan Spring Chicken, and admired the lush mountains and forests. It was very pleasant.

Wu Jiayi could not drink, so having a bottle of Coke was also pretty good.

After eating, they took a break, got in the car, and continued on their journey to visit more internet-famous attractions.

Chen Chuan originally planned to go to Wulong District on another day, but Wu Jiayi said that it was just along the way. Following the national highland, there would also be several scenic spots along the way. It would only take 30 kilometers to reach the Wulong District.

“Well, go ahead to Wulong District then.” Chen Chuan agreed.

Wu Jiayi stepped onto the accelerator and the A6L rushed onto the national highway. She then said, “I had your chicken earlier at noon, once we arrive at Wulong District in the afternoon, I’ll treat you depending on the situation. After all, you’re my main customer today. I’ve made quite a lot of money from you, so thank you very much.”

Chen Chuan looked at the designated driver service app, the bill had gone over 400 yuan, and it was still adding.

Wu Jiayi said, “Let’s not use the platform. Why let them take away the 30%? You can directly transfer the money to me. I’ll take you to some attractions here. It’s nothing more than driving and it’s not tiring anyway. Besides, I’m familiar with the area.”

Chen Chuan thought that it made sense. “Sure.”

“I’ll end the bill here so you’ll just have to tap on ‘end the trip’ and ‘arrived safely’.” Wu Jiayi drove as she operated her phone.

The road conditions on this road were really rugged. Sometimes, they had to overtake cars in curvy narrow areas. There was also a steep cliff which made Chen Chuan’s hair stand on end.

Several scenes from the news of cars flying off the road flashed across his mind.

It seemed like having a [3 years of driving experience certificate] was a must. It was best to have 3 years of driving experience and 5 years of training or an experienced driver with 10 years of driving experience which would be even better.

Wu Jiayi answered her phone midway on speaker mode.

Chen Chuan listened as she spoke in a dialect, “The dustpan… Who lied to you? You believe in that? … Damn that’s overkill. Oh, ohhh, I can’t be playing around, I need to work, oh.”

After hanging up the phone, Wu Jiayi said, “That’s settled.”

“What’s settled?” Chen Chuan was a little flustered when he heard what she had said.

“The village will be having a bonfire meeting in the evening so we’ll be having dinner there. Consider it my treat,” said Wu Jiayi.

“Oh, dinner. Then, what does overkill mean?” Chen Chuan asked.

Wu Jiayi smiled from the corner of her mouth and glanced at Chen Chuan. “What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I’ll send you to the mountains to sell you off? Haha, overkill is an exaggeration, it means that it’s great, cool, very aggressive, very wild and unruly.”

“Oh.” Chen Chuan nodded and asked again, “Who are you praising…”

“I won’t tell you.”

…

They passed by the famous Sansheng Bridge, which was a rare karst cave landscape.

“That’s the Fairy Mountain of the Southern Grassland, that’s the Furong Cave, the first cave in the world. On the other side is the Dragon Spring Cave. It has been said that Yue Fei killed the black dragon in that cave. We should walk along this path, otherwise, we’ll get lost.” Wu Jiayi introduced.

Chen Chuan took out the [Four Dreams of Linchuan] wooden sword from the car and carried it.

Wu Jiayi looked at it and wanted to laugh, “You’re really afraid that I’ll sell you away? Is it even useful for self-defense?”

“I’ll use it as a walking stick,” said Chen Chuan.

The wooden sword was to be carried around for 12 hours a day, so he would carry it around whenever he could. Chen Chuan was curious about what it could evolve into once he kept it for a hundred days.