Wu Ermai took the clothes, his dirty fingers leaving several black marks on the new clothes. He immediately wiped his hands on his body in a panic.
"It's...it's dirty..."
"It's alright, it was prepared for you anyway."
Su Jianguo patted him on the shoulder.
"Come on, I'll take you to a nice place."
The two walked out of the courtyard house, through several alleys, and arrived at an old-fashioned bathhouse with a sign that read "Qingquan Bathhouse".
The cement steps at the entrance are worn smooth by time, and the red paint on the wooden door frame is peeling off, clearly indicating that this shop has been open for quite some time.
Just as I reached the door, a plump old man wearing a white vest and fanning himself with a palm leaf fan peeked out from behind the counter.
"Hey, Jianguo, it's been a long time..."
His gaze fell on Wu Ermaitai, and his smile immediately froze.
"Who is this...?"
The fat old man, who was also the bathhouse owner, Lao Li, unconsciously wrinkled his nose.
"My brother, Second Brother Wu."
Su Jianguo straightened his back.
"Give us a private room."
Old Li looked troubled.
"Jianguo, it's not that I'm not giving you face, but this comrade... this..."
He lowered his voice.
"If other customers see this, will my bathhouse still be able to stay open?"
Wu Er, sensing the disdain, unconsciously shrank back behind Su Jianguo.
Su Jianguo's face darkened, and he took out two ten-yuan bills from his pocket and slammed them on the counter.
"Double the price, single room. Also, please provide two new sets of towels and soap."
Old Li looked at the two banknotes, hesitated for a moment, and finally took out two keys with wooden tags attached from the drawer.
"The water in the innermost room was just changed."
The room wasn't big, but it was very clean.
A square marble bathtub occupies most of the space, with hot water gushing out from a copper faucet on the wall, and the rising steam filling the room with mist.
Two recliners covered with clean white towels were placed in the corner, and soap, loofah sponge, and wooden basin were placed on the small table next to them.
Wu Er stood at the door, too afraid to go in, his eyes wide open.
"This place is so clean..."
"Come in."
Su Jianguo had already taken off his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body.
"Soak your back for a while first, then I'll scrub it for you."
Wu Er carefully stepped across the threshold, as if afraid of dirtying the ground.
He clumsily unbuttoned his tattered, filthy jacket, revealing his emaciated upper body—his ribs were clearly visible, and his skin was covered with a thick layer of grime, some areas of which had formed black "armor."
As the two sat down in the bath, Wu Ermai let out a long sigh, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
"It's hot...so hot, but it feels so good..."
Su Jianguo picked up the loofah sponge and dipped it in hot water.
"Turn around, I'll rub your back."
As the loofah scraped, the grime on Wu Er's back fell off like snowflakes.
Su Jianguo changed the water three times before he could barely clean the years-old grime off his back.
"It's time to move forward."
Su Jianguo gestured for him to turn around.
Wu Er, who was being slovenly, suddenly clutched his chest.
"I...I can do this myself..."
Su Jianguo was stunned for a moment, then understood.
Even a fool has self-respect and a sense of shame.
He nodded and handed over the loofah sponge.
"Then you do it yourself, I'll go call the bathhouse attendant."
When Su Jianguo returned with the bathhouse attendant Lao Zhang, Wu Ermaitai had already cleaned himself up. Although there were still some stubborn stains, he looked brand new.
Old Zhang was a lean old man in his sixties with a faded dragon tattoo on his arm.
"Comrade, lie down here."
Old Zhang patted the bath scrubbed covered with a clean towel.
For the next half hour, Old Zhang demonstrated his amazing skills honed over thirty years of bathhouse scrubbing.
First, apply a hot towel all over your body, then use a rough bath towel to scrub every inch of your skin with just the right amount of force.
Wu Ermaitai initially grimaced in pain, but quickly got used to it and even let out comfortable groans.
"Wow, this grime is pretty thick."
Old Zhang shook the bath towel, and dark gray grime fell off in a rustling sound.
"Hasn't he had a proper bath in at least three years?"
Wu Er scratched his head sheepishly.
"I washed in the river..."
After scrubbing himself, Old Zhang took out the cupping jars.
"How about cupping? To get rid of dampness."
Wu Er looked at the glass jars and shrank back in fear.
Su Jianguo was already lying on another bed.
"It's okay, it's very comfortable."
As the cupping jars were applied to his back one by one, Wu Ermaitai was initially so tense that his whole body stiffened, but then he slowly relaxed.
Old Zhang's technique is skillful, and he controls the heat perfectly, ensuring that the skin is not burned while achieving the best results.
"Let's put on a face mask."
Old Zhang then took out the prepared mung bean face mask.
Cleanse pores.
As the cool face mask was applied to his face, Wu Ermai opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"Cool...cool..."
Finally, it's time for shaving.
Old Zhang used a hot towel to soften his beard, then applied soapy foam, rubbed a sharp razor against the leather a few times, and began carefully shaving away the messy beard on Wu Er's face.
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