While speaking, the female manager conveniently hooked her arm around Shi Qiang’s. After all, he had been the one hesitating. If she could win him over, the other would naturally follow suit. She immediately said warmly, "Handsome, are you a local? You look so young."
As an inexperienced guy, he was completely unequipped to handle this kind of attention and began to stammer, "Um... no. Ah, I just got back not long ago."
And just like that, poor Shi Qiang was cajoled inside by Xia Liang and the female manager.
Once they reached the lobby, the manager asked, "Do you gentlemen have a preferred technician?"
Although she addressed both of them, her eyes were clearly on Xia Liang. Compared to the naive Shi Qiang, he was far more composed.
Shi Qiang was on edge, terrified they’d get busted in a raid on illegal services. Xia Liang, however, stated plainly, "We just want a simple foot massage. None of the other flashy stuff."
Hearing this, the manager gave him a serious look, confirming he was telling the truth and had no other intentions. Only then did she nod. "Alright, boss."
With that, she waved a young attendant over. "Take these two bosses straight to the foot massage rooms." She then turned and left. After all, there wasn’t much profit in a simple foot massage, certainly not enough to warrant the personal attention of the lobby manager.
"We’re in the same room, what the hell are you afraid of? I told you, it’s a real massage parlor. You’re a grown man. Are you actually afraid someone’s going to force themselves on you?"
"You never know!" Shi Qiang muttered.
The two of them were led to a private room. Soon after, two young women in their twenties entered, each carrying a basin of water.
In stark contrast to the tense Shi Qiang, Xia Liang was perfectly relaxed. The masseuse assigned to him immediately tried to start a familiar conversation. "Hey handsome, where are you from?"
Hearing this failed to trigger a system task, so Xia Liang lost interest. He took out ten mililiters and placed the money to the side. "Don’t talk. Just do the massage. If I’m satisfied, that’s yours."
To put it in perspective, their daily wage was only about 150 mililiters. Unless they came across a generous customer like Xia Liang, they made 4,000 mililiters a month at most.
While Xia Liang was enjoying his massage with his eyes closed, things weren’t going so well on Shi Qiang’s side. The young masseuse working on Shi Qiang sensed his tension and tried to reassure him. "Handsome, don’t be nervous. It’ll feel very comfortable."
"Yeah, yeah... okay. Go ahead."
Although he agreed, his entire body remained rigid. Just as Shi Qiang was slowly starting to loosen up, the masseuse must have pressed a specific acupoint. Shi Qiang felt a jolt shoot through his thigh as if he’d been shocked by electricity. A tingly numbness spread through his body, and his foot shot out uncontrollably.
A cry of pain made Xia Liang, who had been peacefully enjoying his massage, frown. "What’s going on?"
He opened his eyes and was stunned to see the girl who should have been massaging Shi Qiang’s feet crumpled on the floor, crying.
Shi Qiang was frantically trying to console her. "I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t do it on purpose! I... I lost control for a second!"
Xia Liang was also stunned. "Qiangzi, what the hell are you doing? Everything was going fine. How did you end up making the girl cry?"
"I..." Shi Qiang was clearly mortified. "It... it was too ticklish. I couldn’t help it, I just kicked."
Jesus Christ... Xia Liang was exasperated, but since it happened, he had to resolve it.
First, Xia Liang took out ten mililiters. "Hey miss, this was my friend’s fault. How about this? Take this money as compensation. Go get your injury looked at and buy yourself some snacks."
The masseuse’s injury wasn’t that serious to begin with. Hearing Xia Liang’s offer, she immediately stopped crying and nodded. "Thank you, boss!"
"Mhm." Xia Liang nodded. When you’re broke, they call you ’handsome’, but when you have money, they call you ’boss’. How pragmatic.
After the girl quickly tended to her wound, she sat back down to resume Shi Qiang’s massage. Seeing that she was still a little nervous, Shi Qiang held up a hand. "Don’t worry this time. I’ll control myself."
The masseuse gave a small smile. "It’s okay."
After all, one kick was worth ten mililiters. At this point, she was hoping he’d kick her a few more times.
Thankfully, Shi Qiang didn’t cause any more trouble. The two of them enjoyed a two-hour foot massage, followed by a trip to the sauna and another short massage. After paying, they walked out feeling completely refreshed.
「By then, it was already eight o’clock at night.」
"Where to now?" Shi Qiang asked. Now that they were outside again, his earlier nervousness was gone, replaced by a sense of eagerness.
"Where to? Where else could we go? We’ve only had one meal all day. Aren’t you starving?" With that, Xia Liang drove him to a dry pot restaurant.
"I used to love this place’s dry pot. I wonder if it has changed at all," Xia Liang remarked as they walked inside.
"Boss! One medium dry pot chicken and six beers!"
The two went upstairs to a private room. Just as they sat down, Xia Liang heard Shi Qiang’s phone buzz. When Xia Liang saw the strange expression that came over Shi Qiang’s face as he glanced at the screen, he understood immediately. A playful smirk touched his lips. "It’s her, isn’t it?"
"Yeah." Shi Qiang nodded, his expression complicated.
Xia Liang opened two bottles of beer and handed one to Shi Qiang. "See? What did I tell you? I said she’d come looking for you tonight."
As if to prove his point, another voice message from Zhou Xiangqiao came through. Shi Qiang didn’t play it, instead asking in a low voice, "How did you know?"
Xia Liang rolled his eyes. How am I supposed to explain this? The whole world knows what kind of woman she is, but you’re the only one who believes she’s a good person.
Xia Liang didn’t explain. He just took a sip of beer and said, "You want to make her your girlfriend, right? I’ll help you. Just listen to me. See? She’s already coming to you on her own."
These words made Shi Qiang’s breath hitch. "Can you really help me make her my girlfriend?"
"As long as you do what I say." Xia Liang raised his beer bottle. Shi Qiang saw the gesture and picked up his own.
Taking a big swig, Shi Qiang nodded vehemently. "As long as I can win her over, I’ll do whatever you say."
"Deal!" Xia Liang readily agreed. He was always willing to give his best friend a helping hand. Of course, before today, Shi Qiang lacked a certain... drive. But now? Well, didn’t the motivation he needed just deliver itself to his doorstep?
Xia Liang asked casually, "So, what did she say?"
Shi Qiang glanced at his screen and replied honestly, "She said she just got off work and wants to meet me to talk things over."