Free Web NovelChapter 442: Chapter 226: Skill: Mechanical Balance Master!
After Li Younan completed the restoration of this national treasure, things did not end there.
That day, because he was already very tired, no other activities were scheduled.
Under the director’s organization, everyone had a dinner similar to a celebration banquet together.
Eating with these scholars and experts, compared to workplace dinners, was a very pleasant thing.
Every expert and scholar was very pure, and everyone was simply there to celebrate the completion of the national treasure restoration task. The atmosphere was joyful and relaxed, void of all the messy drinking culture, and apart from a few old professors, everyone didn’t drink alcohol.
Li Younan was naturally very happy. During this process, he got quite familiar with several old experts and exchanged contact information with each other.
In a sense, this was also broadening his network.
Many of them, besides being restoration staff here, are also experts and scholars in material technology and history at top domestic universities, and some old professors even knew the teachers Li Younan had during his university days.
When they learned about Li Younan’s undergraduate university and his major, everyone was very surprised. They didn’t expect that the major Li Younan studied in university had basically nothing to do with his current restoration work.
Towards the later part of the dinner, the director raised a glass and said, "In our line of work, we still need to talk about some passion."
"In fact, everyone knows, there are still quite a few people in our work who use the master-apprentice model. Why is that? It’s because our work is too monotonous, and at the same time, the requirements for ability are relatively high."
"Those who truly have the ability to engage in our work can find higher-paying jobs outside. So here, the capable come first."
He looked at Li Younan: "Xiaoli has little experience in this kind of work, he is entirely relying on talent to reach such a high level."
Everyone present quietly listened to the director’s speech.
The director laughed: "To be honest, I really want Teacher Li to stay and work with us at the Forbidden City, but I also know that this is unlikely."
A few old professors couldn’t help but joke along.
"I propose we confer Xiaoli an honorary lifetime professorship at the Forbidden City!"
"Right now, we are also exploring more ways to bring in new blood."
"If possible, Teacher Li could occasionally come to give us a couple of lectures, sharing knowledge and experience in artifact restoration, which would be a valuable asset for us!"
As soon as the director finished speaking, there was a round of enthusiastic applause.
Li Younan was naturally very happy, this title was also a great honor for him.
Who doesn’t love honor?
Moreover, he won’t be busy all year round, finding a bit of time each year to spend at the Forbidden City, restoring artifacts and feeling the charm of the old capital, is quite an interesting thing to do.
Li Younan, of course, thanked them and gladly accepted.
After thinking for a moment, Li Younan suddenly said, "By the way, director, to be honest, I’ve spent over a week in the Forbidden City restoring that revolving bottle, but I haven’t even finished exploring the old Forbidden City yet."
"Hahaha, why, curious?"
"Very curious."
"Now, you are our honorary professor, the Forbidden City must be open to you. If you want to explore, you can have Xiaozhang from the office accompany you. Take your parents along sometime too."
"Sure, I’ll bring my mom over when I have the chance."
After the dinner ended, Li Younan returned to the hotel, and he was indeed a bit exhausted.
In the past week, although it wasn’t intense physical labor, because the artifact being repaired was extremely valuable and every stage demanded an outrageous level of precision, Li Younan’s nerves never relaxed, always tightly wound.
Such a prolonged state, no matter him, was unsustainable.
In fact, although the other professors didn’t say it, they were most amazed by Li Younan’s monstrous mental and physical energy.
Their age made it hard to endure such high-intensity work, and when they were younger, they didn’t have the required technical skill.
So, it seemed this situation was quite contradictory.
A genius like Li Younan, how many come by in a lifetime? But there’s no way he can work here full-time, which is quite a pity.
The exhausted Li Younan went straight to sleep.
He had already arranged with Xiaozhang in the office to explore the unopened areas of the Forbidden City the next afternoon, where Li Younan could complete his mission.
When he woke up, the day was already well into the morning, but Li Younan felt refreshed, as though all his exhaustion had been swept away after a good sleep.
This ability to clear all discomfort with just one sleep, and completely restore energy, Li Younan had even before he received the system, though it wasn’t so exaggerated then.
As he gained more skills from the system, Li Younan found the effect in this aspect becoming stronger.
However... there was also a small problem that came along with it.
Li Younan pulled back the covers and silently looked inside for a while, then raised his head with a hint of helplessness and thought... Perhaps it’s time to find a girlfriend.
Too strong... too intense.
Today, after arriving at the Forbidden City, the first thing he did wasn’t to wander around.
During his stay in the capital, of course there were some necessary expenses, mainly related to food and accommodation.
Li Younan certainly didn’t feel that spending this money was a problem; however, the people at the Forbidden City were very considerate and insisted on reimbursing his expenses.
Only then did Xiaozhang take him to explore those areas that were not open to the public.
About half of the Forbidden City consists of areas not open to the public, and the main reason for this is actually due to being old and in need of repair or for cultural relics protection reasons.
One such area is specifically for storing porcelain, which Li Younan has already visited, so he doesn’t plan to go there again. Then there’s the Forbidden City Museum’s Shufangzhai, now used as a VIP lounge for high-level guests and foreign visitors. To go there, even he would need to go through very complex procedures, so Li Younan doesn’t plan to visit it either.
The first stop was one of three check-in points, Yuhua Pavilion, which is the largest Buddhist hall in the Forbidden City. The entire building is made of wood, and is relatively well-preserved.
What left the deepest impression on Li Younan here were the large number of Buddhist treasures hidden within the pavilion, including three Joyful Buddhas on the fourth floor.
After coming down from Yuhua Pavilion, to the east side is Yanqing Hall. Then Li Younan went to Profound Dome Treasure Hall and Yuqing Palace.
With that, his check-in tasks were completed.
Now it was time for the exciting reward collection phase.
[Complete check-in tasks]
[Reward obtained: Mechanical Balance Controller]
[Enhanced by parkour skills, skiing skills, and climbing skills, Mechanical Balance Controller skill +1]
[Balance Controller: lv.2: You possess unparalleled balance abilities, enabling you to perfectly control vehicles that rely on the user’s body balance adjustments or direction control for stability, such as bicycles, motorcycles, electric balance vehicles, etc.]
Li Younan immediately understood that this skill granted him the ability to ride motorcycles, bicycles, and similar vehicles. For him, this was quite a useful skill.
For long-distance travel, although driving a large RV would be very enjoyable, there is a small issue: the last mile.
For example, many cities have height restrictions, or inconvenient water and power configurations, requiring the vehicle to be parked in the suburbs. At such times, having a motorcycle would perfectly solve the inconvenience of going into the city.
Before acquiring this skill, Li Younan had already considered buying an electric vehicle or motorcycle to attach to his Unimog RV.
Now that he has acquired this skill, this matter is definitely going to be added to the agenda.
Li Younan felt a bit regretful that his previous skills strengthened his current skill, but in return, this "Mechanical Balance Controller" skill did not further enhance his parkour or skiing skills.
Currently, he only has three Level 3 skills, which are makeup, carving, and photography. He can clearly feel the robustness of these skills compared to when they were at Level 2.
While those body-related skills are still stuck at Level 2.
Though Level 2 is already quite remarkable, Li Younan couldn’t help but anticipate what it would be like at Level 3.
From a balance perspective, he feels he has already touched the limits of his body, and perhaps the breakthrough might be in other areas like explosiveness or endurance.
If next time he can draw a skill that improves explosiveness or other physical abilities, perhaps those body-related skills stuck at Level 2 might have another breakthrough.
After touring these unopen areas of the Forbidden City, Li Younan gained a deeper understanding of this palace complex, making his trip worthwhile.
However, he couldn’t leave the capital just yet, because that afternoon, the office contacted him again, saying that CCTV wanted to do another interview.
This exclusive interview was about cultural relics restoration work, and the director specifically mentioned him.
From the director’s perspective, mentioning Li Younan was actually indirectly increasing his exposure, which could be seen as a form of compensation.
After all, even though he restored this national treasure-level artifact, it was essentially of a public welfare nature, with no pay involved.
And the director thought that since Li Younan is a video producer, exposure is relatively important for him, so he planned to use this method to repay him for his contributions during this period.
Of course, Li Younan couldn’t possibly disrespect CCTV, and he gladly accepted.
The next day, Li Younan completed this interview at the Forbidden City.
Afterward, he also took the time to contact Zhu Qingyue, since he was in her territory, not calling her would indeed be inappropriate.
Unfortunately, Zhu Qingyue wasn’t in the capital; she said her novel had hit a bottleneck, so she went to a southern island for inspiration.
With that, Li Younan’s tasks in the capital were completed.
He planned to buy a plane ticket straight away and head back to Sichuan that evening; being away from home for so long, he genuinely missed it.
And just as he stepped onto the plane, the Evening News broadcast and the "Alone in the Wilderness" Li Younan special edition aired almost simultaneously.
