HPDBC Chapter 62: The Unfortunate Brothers' Hasty Escape
Chapter 62: The Unfortunate Brothers' Hasty Escape
8 PM.
Lin Bei stood with Lao Gao at the entrance of the "Golden Coast" bathhouse.
The neon signs illuminated half the street in red and green, and on either side of the revolving door stood a hostess in a cheongsam, her legs spread wide.
Old Gao tilted his head back and stared at the sign for a long time, his neck almost bent at a ninety-degree angle.
"Old Lin, this place must be expensive, right?" Old Gao asked, looking shocked.
"Not bad." Lin Bei stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the pillar by the door and took the lead on the steps.
The revolving door had turned halfway around when Lao Gao was still standing there, lost in thought.
Lin Bei turned around and tugged at him.
The lobby's decor was top-of-the-line in 08.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the second-floor atrium, the marble floor tiles are so shiny they reflect images, and the background wall behind the reception desk is a whole wall of gold mosaic.
Old Gao almost slipped on the marble floor and had to grab Lin Bei's arm to steady himself.
"Hello, gentlemen, what services are you looking for?" the receptionist asked with a smile.
Lin Bei: "Foot bath."
Receptionist: "Excuse me, do you have a preferred technician?"
Lin Bei: "This is our first time here, so please make arrangements as you see fit."
"Okay." The receptionist smiled and began making arrangements.
"Old Lin... no, godfather." Old Gao leaned close to Lin Bei's ear and whispered, "I'll follow you from now on."
"Keep a low profile, look at your pathetic self." Lin Bei said without changing his expression, taking the card from the receptionist.
In fact, his hand was shaking a little when he put the card on his wrist.
In his previous life, he lived for thirty-six years and never went to a foot massage parlor, let alone had a romantic relationship.
Now that I finally have some money, I naturally want to treat my good buddies to a good time.
So, in reality, he wasn't much calmer than Lao Gao.
Soon, Lin Bei and Lao Gao followed the waiter through the corridor.
On both walls hung European-style oil paintings with gold frames, depicting nude women lying on sofas.
Every time Lao Gao passed a painting, he would turn his head away, behaving very seriously.
Then, she secretly turned back to take another look.
At the corner at the end of the corridor, two female technicians in short skirts and black stockings walked past them carrying tea trays, leaving behind a scent of shampoo and perfume mixed together.
Old Gao's neck turned almost 180 degrees as he followed the backs of the two female technicians.
If Lin Bei hadn't been pulling him forward, he would have twisted his neck into a pretzel.
The two changed into bathrobes and waited in the private room.
The private room was small, with two massage chairs placed side by side, each with a foot bath tub in front of it.
An old-fashioned television was hanging on the wall, playing Hunan TV's "Happy Camp".
Lin Bei leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. Lao Gao sat next to him, looking around curiously, even taking a closer look at the acupoint chart on the soles of his feet on the wall.
Soon, the door opened.
Two female technicians carried in a foot bath tub.
The bucket was filled with dark brown Chinese herbal medicine, steaming hot.
The female technician walking in front was wearing a black short skirt, flesh-colored stockings, and a white shirt tied at the waist, revealing a small section of her slender waist above her navel.
The female technician behind her was wearing a dark purple short skirt with black stockings, her hair was permed into big waves, and she had two large silver hoop earrings on her ears.
Old Gao looked at the female technician in front of him, wearing a purple short skirt, and his face turned red to the roots of his neck.
The female masseuse squatted down and pressed Lao Gao's feet into the wooden tub. His hands rested on the armrests of the massage chair, like two pieces of wood, and his eyes were fixed on the acupoint chart on the soles of his feet on the wall in front of him.
"Is this your first time here, handsome?" the female technician in front of Lin Bei asked with a smile.
She was in her early twenties, with a ponytail, and two small dimples at the corners of her mouth when she spoke. Her technique was quite professional.
The thumb pressed on Lin Bei's Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his foot, with just the right amount of force.
"Mm." Lin Bei nodded.
"Come again often, my name is Xiaomei." She started chatting with Lin Bei while pressing the button.
Before we'd even exchanged a few words, she'd already told us everything about her family.
Her father was a gambler, her mother was bedridden for many years, and she had a younger brother in junior high school to support. The entire family's expenses depended on her alone.
As she said this, she didn't lessen the pressure on her hands at all, and her voice was very calm, as if she had said it countless times.
Lin Bei leaned back in the massage chair with his eyes closed, chuckling to himself.
A gambling father, a sick mother, a younger brother in school, and a broken girl...
A standard four-piece set, with nothing missing.
Lin Bei didn't dislike it; in fact, he even felt a bit of familiarity with it.
In his past life, he had heard similar versions countless times at the dinner table, some true and some false.
But in this situation, authenticity doesn't matter; the atmosphere is what matters.
"Sir, would you like an extra minute?" Xiao Mei asked, looking up at him.
"Add it." Lin Bei said without hesitation.
"You're such a nice person." Xiaomei smiled and lowered her head to continue pressing his Yongquan acupoint.
Old Gao has completely stopped talking.
The female masseuse in front of him was massaging his shoulders, her hands moving down his shoulder blades to his waist.
Old Gao's face turned even redder than before, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.
He suddenly turned to look at Lin Bei, his voice low: "Godfather..."
"I think I'm in love, this is love!"
Lin Bei closed his eyes and ignored him.
The child is still too young; a few more visits will do the trick.
Just then, the door to the private room was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
A middle-aged man in a white shirt and black vest, his forehead covered in sweat, leaned against the doorframe and called out in a low voice:
"Stop, stop, stop right now!"
"The police are checking the rooms. You'd better leave through the back door."
Old Gao's hand suddenly sprang up from the handrail, almost knocking over the foot bath tub in front of him.
Lin Bei opened his eyes and looked at the manager with confusion: "Isn't this a legitimate foot massage place?"
"What's there to be afraid of if it's legitimate!"
The manager's lips twitched, his eyes darted around, and finally he sighed.
"Actually, things here... aren't very formal."
Lin Bei instantly sprang up from the massage chair.
"Grass!"
"You should have said it wasn't legitimate earlier."
He grabbed Lao Gao, who was still in a daze, and the two of them quickly took off their bathrobes and put on their own clothes.
Then, the manager led them through the corridor and ran downstairs.
At this moment, there were also many men in the corridor, who, like Lin Bei and his group, were hurriedly fleeing in all directions.
Soon, Lin Bei arrived at a fire door at the end of the corridor, outside which was a back alley piled with cardboard boxes and empty beer bottles.
The manager pointed to the wall next to the back gate and said, "If you climb over here, you'll find the parking lot of the neighboring community."
"You'll be on the main road once you exit through the parking lot gate."
After saying that, he ran off first.
Without wasting words, Lin Bei climbed over the wall using a discarded wooden crate, and looked down from the top of the wall.
They found Lao Gao at the base of the wall, and he jumped up twice, but couldn't get a firm grip on the edge.
Lin Bei reached out and pulled him up.
Two people were perched on top of the wall, preparing to jump down, when a voice came from below the base of the wall.
"Dude, pull me up... give me a hand!"