“Ah…”
A satisfied sigh escaped from both of their throats.
Lu Sheng and Zhang Dapao, who had just finished their showers, wore the white bathrobes and plastic slippers provided by the massage parlor, number tags hanging from their hands as they walked along the second-floor corridor covered in dark red carpet, following the staff toward the private room they had booked.
Pushing open a frosted glass door, the two of them walked into a private room where the lighting had been deliberately dimmed, and two massage beds covered with white sheets stood quietly inside, separated in the middle by a half-rolled bamboo curtain.
A mixture of essential oil, perfume, and dampness rushed into their noses.
“Hoo… hoo… so this is the adult world, bro?”
Zhang Dapao seemed as if he had just set down a thousand-jin burden and flopped onto the massage bed inside with a thud, making the mattress creak under the strain.
His dark face flushed bright red, whether from the lingering heat of the shower or from inexplicable nervousness, and his breathing was as ragged as if he had just run 500 kilometers.
“Brother Sheng, are you nervous? I… my heart is pounding like a drum right now! Thump, thump, thump! This is even more exciting than when we used to steal melons from Uncle Wang’s melon field with you when we were kids!”
“Ahem… wh-what’s there to be nervous about?”
Although this was also his first time in a place like this despite having lived two lives, and he was just as nervous inside, Lu Sheng forced himself to remain calm, walked over to the bed near the door and sat down, trying hard to recall all the research his previous self had done online.
He was not flustered at all!
In his memories, his former self had watched many instructional videos for today, all so that he could show off in front of his good buddy Zhang Dapao.
Lu Sheng spoke confidently according to what he remembered.
“Foot massage is actually very simple; the most important thing is to follow the proper steps.”
“First, step one is to soak the customer’s feet in warm water with herbal sachets and essential oil added, keeping the water temperature around 38 degrees so it is neither too hot nor too cold.”
“Once the soak has fully penetrated the customer’s feet, we can start the massage, usually beginning with the left foot and then the right, following the order of sole, inner side, outer side, and instep, making sure to work every reflex zone.”
“As for technique, the main ones are thumb pressure, knuckle scraping pushes, and pinpoint kneading… these three.”
“In the end you also have to work the muscles of the calves, focusing on acupoints like Sanyinjiao and Zusanli, which can really help the customer relax their tendons, invigorate blood circulation, and relieve fatigue!”
“…”
After this professional explanation, Zhang Dapao was instantly filled with respect, little stars of worship sparkling in his bull-like eyes as he exclaimed, “As expected of Brother Sheng! One word: awesome! Professional! So professional! I already wrote it all down in my little notebook!”
“But of course! You should see who I am!”
Lu Sheng puffed out his chest, because as the big brother he naturally had to know more than his little brother.
However…
“But… Brother Sheng…” Zhang Dapao scratched his buzz cut and asked with an honest face the soul-deep question, “Aren’t we here to enjoy the technicians giving us a foot massage? Why did you teach me a whole bunch of techniques… for giving the technicians a foot massage?”
Having satisfied his curiosity, Zhang Dapao promptly threw all that precious knowledge out of his mind and was left looking completely puzzled.
“Cough! Cough, cough!!” Lu Sheng almost choked on his own saliva, his face burning, and he slapped Zhang Dapao hard on the thigh, straightened his expression, and scolded him righteously.
“What are you saying?! What kind of talk is that! Are you doubting your big brother? This is called vision! Do you even know what vision means?!”
“Huh?” Zhang Dapao looked completely dumbfounded.
“Think about it,” Lu Sheng said in a patient, coaxing tone, switching into con-man mode, “For a 1-hour foot massage for the two of us, how much does it cost per hour?”
“288!” Zhang Dapao remembered very clearly.
“And what about the technicians’ monthly salary?”
“Without commission, I think… it’s only about 3 or 4 thousand?”
“Exactly!” Lu Sheng slapped his thigh.
“Assuming they work 8 hours a day and 30 days a month, their hourly wage is only 12.5! If we massage them for an hour, that’s effectively an hourly rate of 288, more than 20 times their wage!”
“We get to enjoy the process of massaging beauties’ feet, experience the fun of massage, and it’s equivalent to earning over 20 times their hourly wage! With this play, aren’t we making a huge profit? Isn’t our vision maxed out?!”
The more he talked, the more excited he became, a benevolent “I’m doing this for your own good” smile spreading across his face as he patted Zhang Dapao hard on the shoulder and said, “Pao, aren’t we winning so hard this time that it’s broken the game?!”
It was a guaranteed win!
Zhang Dapao blinked his big ox eyes a few times, his gaze gradually turning from confused to enlightened, and then he slapped his thigh hard.
“Holy shit, Brother Sheng! I get it now! You’re a fucking genius! What vision, opening it up this wide! I’m into pretty feet, so in a bit I’ll pick one with big feet first, it’ll feel domineering and satisfying to press!”
“Good! Then I’ll take a bit of a loss as your big brother and pick a little size-36 pair of feet.”
“…”
Before he finished speaking, the door of the private room was gently knocked on and then pushed open.
Two female technicians in matching light-blue uniforms walked in, each carrying a steaming footbath basin that gave off a strong herbal fragrance.
“Bro, the water for soaking your feet is ready!”
The two of them came to the foot of Lu Sheng and Zhang Dapao’s beds, one on each side, and set the basins down.
They took up positions to the left and right, walked respectively to the foot of Lu Sheng and Zhang Dapao’s beds, and gently put the basins down.
Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, when the two technicians actually stepped into this dim and ambiguous space, Lu Sheng and Zhang Dapao still unconsciously held their breath.
The technician assigned to Zhang Dapao brought an intense visual impact the moment she came in!
She looked close to 1.9 meters tall, with a wide frame and bulging, clearly defined muscles on her arms, and she even seemed a bit more robust than Zhang Dapao.
Her round face wore a simple, honest smile, though she was missing a front tooth, and her speech had a bit of a whistling accent as she said, “Bro, my name is Yang Xiaorou, my strength might be a bit lacking, so if the massage doesn’t feel good later, please forgive me.”
When Zhang Dapao saw this technician Xiaorou, his eyes lit up instantly as if he had discovered a peerless treasure.
This build! These muscles! This sense of strength! Totally his taste! So domineering, absolutely domineering!
He sprang up from the bed, and without another word, moved with lightning speed to press the unprepared Yang Xiaorou down onto the massage bed and deftly pulled off her flat cloth shoes.
“Eh? Bro, what are you doing?!”
Yang Xiaorou was completely baffled by this sudden move.
“It’s fine, sis! If your strength is small, then just have a good rest! Your brother here is strong, I guarantee I’ll massage you till you feel great!”
Zhang Dapao grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and his big fan-like hand pressed down on Yang Xiaorou’s delicate size-45 jade foot, which was still wrapped in a white cotton sock.
Although Yang Xiaorou had no idea what was going on, she struggled once and failed to break free, and then resigned herself to lying flat in accordance with the principle that the customer is God.
“Hey! Ha! Behold my Undying Grip! Black Tiger Digs Out the Heart… uh, Digs Out the Sole!” Zhang Dapao growled and began his self-created massage.
As he kept pressing, Yang Xiaorou frowned and gave a very honest assessment.
“Bro, did you skip your meal? Your strength seems even less than mine…”
“What?!” Zhang Dapao reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his pride severely challenged, and he shouted, “Girl, you’re the first one to say I’m weak! That was just the warm-up, I’m about to really put in some power! Take this… Thunder Crack!!!”
From the other side came Zhang Dapao’s even more vigorous low growls, the sound of slapping, and Yang Xiaorou’s gradually more encouraging shouts of “You can do it.”
“Bro! So strong! Feels great! Harder! Yes, yes, right there! Aww~! So comfortable!”
Lu Sheng: …
The other female technician: …
This scene was simply an eyesore.
Splash…
At the same time, the technician responsible for serving Lu Sheng gently and quickly pulled the bamboo curtain all the way down between the two beds, completely shutting out the intense battle next door and creating a relatively quiet and private little space.
She was completely different from the burly Xiaorou.
The girl in front of him was tall and slender, a little over 1.7 meters and about half a head shorter than Lu Sheng, and the slightly loose light-colored technician’s uniform did nothing to hide her figure; under the dim, ambiguous lighting it only made her slim waist look even more delicate, while the full, perky curve of her chest traced out a breathtaking line that propped the whole uniform up.
Lu Sheng’s eyes lit up at once.
Damn!
The exposed half of her slender forearms and her dainty ankles were as smooth and fair as fine mutton-fat jade, as if tinted with a faint pink glow in the warm light, exuding an indescribably pure yet tempting allure.
She wore a mask that covered most of her face, leaving only a pair of clear, bright eyes exposed that were timid like those of a startled fawn.
Her long lashes trembled slightly like butterfly wings as she carefully glanced at Lu Sheng, her gaze carrying unease and a faint, almost imperceptible plea, as if she were afraid that Lu Sheng would suddenly explode like the brawny man next door and press her down onto the bed as well.
The girl’s voice carried a barely noticeable tremor as she tried hard to maintain a professional calm and asked, “Cu-customer, shall we… start as well?”
Lu Sheng did not respond immediately.
His gaze fell on the girl, and 『Data Eye』 activated silently, and in an instant an attribute panel that made his pupils contract appeared clearly before his eyes.
『Name: He Wanying』
『Gender: Female』
『Age: 18』
『Class: masseur (E)』
『Level: LV1』
『Four Dimensions: Strength 8, Intelligence 9, Agility 7, Constitution 8』
『Class Skills: Technique Enhancement』
『Technique Enhancement (E): masseur-exclusive skill; massage techniques are ingrained in the heart, all methods are never forgotten once seen, massage comfort +30%.』
『Aptitude assessment: chance of second awakening: 11.3% SS-rank talent class! 56.5% S-rank talent class! 18.8% A-rank talent class! 13.4% A-rank class!』
SS-rank potential?! S-rank at an extremely high probability?!
Lu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat, because this kind of talent made her the strongest person he had seen so far, even stronger than Zhang Dapao.
Furthermore… this girl actually turned out to be someone he already knew.
She was the icy class belle from the neighboring class, the study god who ranked first in the entire school in both academic subjects and combat class… He Wanying!
She was the dream goddess of all the male students in school and the favored child of heaven in the eyes of the teachers.
Lu Sheng clearly remembered her desolate, lost back view a few hours ago on the school’s transfer platform after she awakened as an E-rank masseur, and he had not expected fate to toy with people like this and let them meet again so soon in this massage parlor.
Worthy of being an overachieving campus belle; she started working as soon as she changed class, and this attitude already far surpassed that of a whole bunch of her peers.
Lu Sheng sighed with emotion in his heart.
Watching the girl grow more and more nervous under his long gaze, her breathing turning shallow and rapid and her slender fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, the corners of Lu Sheng’s mouth slowly curved into a playful smile like that of a hunter who had discovered a rare prey.
Interesting.
This was far too interesting!