Chapter 716 - 311: Enthusiastic Fans

Li Younan sat on the flight to San Antonio, holding a brochure introducing Texas.

In fact, before arriving here, Li Younan had already done quite a bit of homework, so there wasn’t any new knowledge in the pamphlet. He casually closed the manual and stuffed it into the pocket of the seat in front of him.

His mind began to conjure up information about Texas.

Chinese people aren’t actually very unfamiliar with Texas. When Yao Ming joined the NBA, Houston was a city in Texas.

Compared to the Houston Rockets, people’s broader impression of Texas comes from its gun culture.

It’s the second-largest state in the United States in terms of size and population, and because it was once an independent republic, it has the title "Lone Star State."

Texas is also the birthplace of America’s cowboy culture, so the Western culture and cowboy culture in the United States are highly representative here, with various cowboy rodeo activities.

The city Li Younan was heading to this time is San Antonio, located in the south-central part of Texas, which is Texas’s second-largest city.

The reason Li Younan was going to San Antonio wasn’t to watch a Spurs game. Actually, his real destination was McLaren County in South Texas.

Before boarding, Li Younan had extensively researched recent hunting competitions in Texas through various channels, following the advice of that service attendant, he focused on South Texas.

Just as the clerk said, there is a wild boar overpopulation here, and the government spends a considerable amount of money every year to control the boar population. They even deploy helicopters and large-caliber machine guns to hunt wild boars. Even with such efforts, they are unable to control the rampant boar numbers.

Every year, wild boars cause significant damage to the local economy.

However, there are often two sides to a story. Because of the rampant wild boars, hunting them has no restrictions, especially in South Texas, where many travel activities and hunting competitions are spawned, attracting numerous tourists and professional hunters to Texas for hunting events and competitions every year.

Before participating in these competitions, Li Younan still needs to obtain a hunting license and gun permit.

Li Younan opened another document, which detailed the process of obtaining a hunting license and gun permit. These procedures can be carried out in San Antonio.

In Texas, hunting licenses and gun permits are available for tourists.

Local residents need to provide proof of 6 months of residency, but tourists don’t require such proof; they only need to pay more money.

After reading for a while, Li Younan felt a bit sleepy. With some time left on the flight, he closed his eyes and took another nap.

When he woke up, refreshed, the plane had finally landed.

Upon arriving in San Antonio, the first thing Li Younan planned to do was rent a vehicle for transportation.

Since he was here to go hunting, he might need to use it in the wild. The electric cyber pickup rented in Los Angeles wasn’t suitable.

Online, Li Younan had booked a Dodge T-Rex, a genuine American muscle car, the supercar of the pickup world.

In America, especially Texas, people love pickup trucks. Just following the trend certainly won’t pose any issues.

The daily rental rate for the T-Rex is more expensive than the cyber pickup, at 500 dollars per day, and factoring in insurance and other additional costs, the daily expense is around 600 dollars.

However, Li Younan thought, since he was already here for the best experience, spending a bit more money didn’t matter.

Although he was somewhat short on money, a substantial advertisement payment had arrived a few days ago, totaling a million RMB, temporarily alleviating his financial constraints.

In fact, for a super influencer of Li Younan’s caliber, earning money is extremely easy.

Achieving a small target within a year is feasible.

But doing so would require devoting most of his energy to business operations, which Li Younan doesn’t find enjoyable.

He’s quite satisfied with his current state—enjoying the world’s sights without lacking money.

Whenever he truly needs money in the future, monetizing is easy.

Thinking about it sometimes is quite amusing. Among super influencers at the million-level scale, he probably is the poorest, without exception.

However, Li Younan knows well that a super influencer at the million-level scale represents wealth. If he were to say his bank account only has a seven-digit RMB balance, probably no one would believe him.

After the plane landed, Li Younan, carrying his backpack, exited the airport. His next destination was the car rental location.

The rental car location is about two to three kilometers from the airport. Walking would be too troublesome, of course, finding a taxi or taking a bus was necessary.

He arrived at the parking area of the airport, where there were designated spots for taxis and ride-hailing services, shuttle stops, and several private vehicles picking up passengers.

Li Younan surveyed the area, waiting for a taxi when suddenly someone called his name with excitement: "Li Younan! Li Younan!"

Li Younan looked over and saw an Asian face. Judging by his fluent Chinese, he seemed to be a Chinese person, just like him.

The person squeezed directly from the crowd to Li Younan, excitedly saying, "Oh my god, I was just wondering if it’s you, and it really is you! I’m your fan; I’ve followed you for a long time. When you posted about coming to San Antonio, I was hoping to bump into you at the airport, and I really did!"

Li Younan scrutinized the person for a moment; he was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, slightly dark-skinned, appearing unremarkable.

Li Younan smiled politely, "Thank you for your attention."

Then the other party said, "Teacher Li, where are you headed? I can give you a ride."

He pointed to a black Toyota car in the distance.

Li Younan took a look; it would take a long time to maneuver out of that parking spot, and there was a taxi coming over not far away, so he shook his head and smiled, saying, "No need, I’ll just take the taxi. The place I’m headed to is just three kilometers away at the car rental center."

The other party enthusiastically said, "No problem, for me it’s just a matter of stepping on the gas."

Li Younan had already flagged down the taxi, shaking his head and saying, "I appreciate your kindness, but I’m in a bit of a hurry."

After speaking, Li Younan opened the taxi door, "Thanks."

Seeing this, the other party didn’t press further, saying, "Then farewell, Teacher Li."

This was just a small episode upon arriving at the airport, and Li Younan didn’t pay much attention to it.

...

The taxi quickly arrived at the rental center, where Li Younan completed the paperwork and paid the deposit; he soon picked up the vehicle known as "Tyrannosaurus."

It was nearly a brand-new car, in excellent condition, with powerful performance; the engine’s sound was top-notch.

Driving this car, Li Younan glanced at the passenger seat, thinking to himself that it would be perfect to have a long hunting rifle resting there.

Since it was a journey, there was no need to be overly rushed.

Li Younan drove the Tyrannosaurus and first wandered aimlessly around San Antonio, exploring wherever he ended up.

This place was rather large.

Li Younan had always thought the city where the Spurs were located was small since everyone said the Spurs were in a small market, but San Antonio was not small at all.

It’s the second-largest city in Dezhou, the seventh-largest in the United States, with a metro population of nearly 2.5 million.

However, overall, the place gives a feeling of being underdeveloped, with numerous Mexican-style buildings and many people on the street speaking Spanish.

San Antonio differs greatly from Los Angeles, where Li Younan stayed before, with no constant honking; here, there’s the rustling of wind through oak trees, distant guitar performances by Mexican roaming bands, the aroma of grilled beef ribs wafting from small roadside diners, the river walk called "America’s Venice," and cowboy culture everywhere.

On the street, you might even see folks wearing broad-brimmed cowboy hats, boots, spurs, and such attire and gear.

After a brief stroll, Li Younan drove to the hotel while it was still daylight, planning to handle the hunting license and gun permit tomorrow; tonight he wanted to rest well.

Just as Li Younan’s car arrived at the hotel parking lot, a car stopped at the street corner.

If Li Younan saw it, he would instantly recognize that car belonged to the Chinese fan who enthusiastically invited him earlier at the airport.

However, the current driver wasn’t the Chinese fan, but a Mexican.

The Mexican took a fierce drag of his cigarette, rolled down the window, and disgruntledly said, "This guy is insane, wandering aimlessly in his car for hours."

The flat-headed Chinese man shook his head and said, "Nevertheless, we’ve confirmed his hotel is here."

The Mexican looked at him and asked, "What’s our next move, do you have a plan? Should we stake out at the hotel entrance?"

"Clearly, that’s not feasible; this isn’t Thailand, nor the Philippines, not Mexico or Africa; this is America! A mega-tourist city; don’t underestimate American cops."

The Mexican snorted, irritated, "Why do you keep bringing up Mexico?"

The Chinese sharply mocked, "Because the security in these places is lousy, like your grandpa’s underwear that hasn’t been changed in decades, totally incomparable to our country."

The Mexican was instantly furious, "Are you looking for trouble, you scum?"

The Chinese man shook his head, and his expression turned serious as he squinted at the hotel, saying, "Listen, he mentioned in his posts that he’s attending a hunting competition, so he will leave San Antonio."

"Wherever he goes, he’ll surely let his guard down significantly, and that’s when we’ll have a chance."

The Mexican calmed down a bit, taking a deep drag on his cigarette until it was too hot to hold, and then flicked it out of the car window, saying, "I hope taking this risk has the payoff you’ve promised."

The Chinese man laughed heartily, "You have no idea how staggering a fortune a mega internet celebrity can have; trust me, we’ll succeed and split the proceeds, leaving America."

Li Younan, of course, was completely unaware of this.

At that moment, the TV was playing an old western cowboy movie, featuring a handsome old cowboy speaking stylish English as he slowly approached two bandits.

Li Younan happened to come out after his shower and suddenly mimicked drawing a gun and shooting, almost synchronized with the cowboy on TV.

No one’s around, so it felt foolish.

Cowboys... haha, how interesting.