Underworld Chronicles: Qiao Si's Strategist, Xiao Ke, and Wang Weifan

The next morning, Xiao Ke's underwear was soaked; he had become an adult in a daze.

After Xiao Ke's uncle finished breakfast, he took Xiao Ke to Lao Guan's bathhouse. Lao Guan's bathhouse was quite large, and it was the only one in the area, so business was booming.

After his uncle led him to the bathhouse, Lao Guan took Xiao Ke to the dormitory. It was early in the morning, and the bathhouse hadn't opened yet; the bath attendants were all resting inside.

Lying on the innermost bed was a master craftsman in his fifties. Old Guan brought Xiao Ke to him and said, "Old Yang, this is Xiao Ke, my new recruit. You'll have to train him well." After giving his instructions, Old Guan went to play mahjong with Xiao Ke's cousin.

There are three bathhouse attendants in Lao Guan's bathhouse. Lao Yang is the oldest, and the other two are younger, a few years older than Xiao Ke.

Last night, Xiao Ke went out and bought a pack of good cigarettes and put it in his pocket. After Lao Guan finished giving instructions, Xiao Ke quickly took out the cigarettes from his pocket, gave one to Lao Yang and the other two, and then lit them for them one by one with a lighter. Xiao Ke put the remaining cigarettes directly into Lao Yang's pocket. "Master, senior brother, please take good care of me in the future."

Old Yang took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a puff of white smoke, and thought to himself, "This little bastard is quite good at handling things. Hmm, when you get to work this afternoon, you can just stand by and learn, but don't do anything yet, just observe carefully."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely study hard," Xiao Ke nodded and said.

"You can sleep in that bed from now on," Old Yang said, pointing to the bed near the door.

Xiao Kechong, Lao Yang, and his two senior brothers smiled and nodded, then went to the bed to spread out his bedding. This marked his official appointment as a bathhouse attendant.

In the afternoon, Lao Yang took Xiao Ke and the others to the bell. Xiao Ke was not qualified to participate, so he learned from Lao Yang.

Xiao Ke is a smart and observant person. Before he even started, he noticed something: his master and two senior brothers were not wearing clothes when they were giving people a bath.

Xiao Ke thought to himself, "This won't do, especially when I'm rubbing someone's back. That thing swings around and could accidentally hit their head. Wouldn't that be disgusting? No way, I'll definitely wear underwear when I'm doing this. I need to make some improvements."

Xiao Ke spent a day learning from Lao Yang and basically mastered the technique of scrubbing a body. That thing wasn't that difficult; for someone as smart as Xiao Ke, it was like child's play.

It's just a matter of pressing down on the head first, then the top and bottom, starting with the arms and then the legs, adjusting the pressure before starting to rub. After rubbing the front, pat the buttocks, then rub the back. Men rub both sides, women rub all four sides, what's so difficult about it?

When it was time to wrap up work in the evening, Xiao Ke said to Lao Yang, "Master, I'll make you a little something later, can you give me some pointers?"

"Alright, I'm tired after a long day too. Let's see how well you've learned." Old Yang said, lying down and letting Xiao Ke rub his back.

Xiao Ke put the bath towel on his hands and started working. He rubbed, kneaded, and patted Lao Yang until he fell asleep comfortably and started snoring.

When Xiao Ke patted Lao Yang's butt and gestured for him to turn over, Lao Yang finally woke up. "You little bastard, you used to work as a bathhouse attendant?"

"Master, I've never done this before. I'm new to the workforce," Xiao Ke said while vigorously rubbing the machine.

"Damn, you're a real talent, you've got some skills." Old Yang praised.

I learned it from you, sir. Your skills are so high that I learned it quickly. It's all thanks to you! Look at how Xiao Ke talks, it makes Lao Yang feel so proud.

"Master, shall I give you a back massage?" Xiao Ke asked after he finished massaging Old Yang's back.

"Okay, you knock it for me," Old Yang replied.

Alright~ Little Ke clenched his little fist, controlled the force, and tapped it on Old Yang's back with a crackling sound. Sometimes he would turn his fist into a palm, and sometimes he would turn his palm into a fist. He moved from top to bottom and from left to right at a steady pace, which made Old Yang feel very comfortable.

"You're a real talent, kid. You're born to be a bathhouse scrubber. I'll talk to the boss tomorrow and you can officially start working here." Old Yang sat up and said to Xiao Ke.

"Thank you, Master. Here, have a cigarette, have a cigarette." Xiao Ke said, taking a cigarette from the table and lighting it for Lao Yang.

In this way, while others take a month to get the hang of it, Xiao Ke completed it in just one day. It has to be said that he is indeed very smart.

The next day, Xiao Ke got up early and went to the morning market. He bought fried dough sticks and soy milk for his master and two fellow apprentices, as well as a few pairs of white underwear.

After finishing breakfast, around 10 o'clock, the bathhouse started to get crowded. Xiao Ke, wearing white shorts, walked into the scrubbing area, ready to start his job.

When Lao Yang and his two senior apprentices saw this, they noticed that Xiao Ke was still wearing only shorts to work, and they were white ones, which were particularly eye-catching.

One of Xiao Ke's senior classmates said, "Why is this kid still shy? Wearing old white underwear, hahaha~" The two of them burst into laughter.

"Xiao Ke, take it off. It's okay. We're all grown men, let's be honest with each other." Old Yang spoke up.

"Ah, Master, I'll wear it. It'll make working easier," Xiao Ke said.

The two senior brothers secretly thought to themselves, "What an idiot! Who the hell wears underwear while getting a bath? Trying to look sexy."

The first customer arrived at noon. Lao Yang asked Xiao Ke to go first, and Xiao Ke took a bath towel and went to the bath bed.

The customer looked at Xiao Ke and said, "With your small frame, do you have any strength?"

"Just you wait and see, if you're not satisfied, you can have it for free." With that, Xiao Ke began pressing his head down on his first customer.

Last night, Xiao Ke pondered in his heart that although he had never been scrubbed in a bath, according to his observation, the customers felt most comfortable when he first massaged their heads and when he tapped their backs at the end of the scrub. So he decided to add a few minutes when massaging their heads and tapping their backs. If others spent 30 minutes scrubbing their backs, he would spend 35 or 40 minutes.

Without hesitation, Xiao Ke applied all of last night's ideas to his first customer. The guy made the customer feel incredibly comfortable; it was the most comfortable massage he'd ever had since coming to Lao Guan's bathhouse.

After Xiao Ke finished massaging the customer, the customer was still not satisfied. He slowly got out of bed, panting, and said...

I said, Lao Yang, this new masseur is pretty good, he's better than you at it.

"No, no, it's all thanks to my master's excellent teaching. Are you satisfied?" Xiao Ke quickly flattered his master.

Satisfied, satisfied, Lao Yang, next time you come, please ask him to come and scrub my hands again.

"No problem, no problem," Old Yang said with a smile.

Then the customer went to put on his clothes, and he even turned back and gave Xiao Ke a dollar tip.

Back in the 1970s, one dollar was a lot of money. It wasn't about how much money it was; it was a huge encouragement for Xiao Ke. You could say that his first attempt was a great success.

What will happen next in Xiao Ke's life as a bathhouse attendant? Stay tuned for the next episode.