Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 679 The Cannon Hall of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation

A bath, a dry sauna, a back scrub, a shower—after all that, you feel completely relaxed and refreshed from head to toe.

The two changed into their bathrobes and walked towards the rest area while cleaning their ears with cotton swabs.

This used to be a club, a movie theater. It was huge, and the floor wasn't level; it was a gentle slope, higher at the back and lower at the front, like a movie theater. Arriving at the lounge, since it was daytime, there weren't many people. A Hong Kong video was playing on the projector. The lobby was empty, and a waiter was dozing off against the wall.

The two of them casually found a sofa to sit down. Xiao Liu shook his head and looked for a waiter. If it were evening, the waiter would have come over long ago. During the day, they were a bit lax, since there weren't many customers.

"Waiter!" Xiao Liu called out.

A waiter, who was dozing off, was startled and rushed over: "Excuse me, sir, I wasn't looking." A complaint would result in a pay cut. In 91, the service industry in Northeast China was already quite standardized, with a strong service philosophy emphasizing a pleasant experience. Meanwhile, the provinces within the Great Wall were still following a planned economy service model, with a cold, indifferent attitude—take it or leave it.

Xiao Liu said, "Call a few girls over."

The waiter bowed slightly as he listened to Xiao Liu speak. When he heard that Xiao Liu was looking for a young woman, he smiled and said, "Sir, this side of the lobby only offers foot massages. The young woman is in the back. Please walk this way to that curtain, go through that, there's a corridor inside. Keep walking, go down the stairs and then up the stairs, and you'll get there. There are people there."

Xiao Liu said, "You're making this look like a tunnel warfare operation; we can't let anyone get lost!"

The waiter smiled and said, "No, you can go down and come up again. There's only one way up."

Xiao Liu stood up and said, "Aren't you going to lead us there?"

The waiter shook his head and said, "We're not allowed to go that way, or we'll lose pay. Don't worry, you'll find it once you get there."

Following the directions given by the waiter, Xiao Liu and Xiao Wei found a corridor behind the curtain. The floor was carpeted, and yellow curtains hung overhead and on the walls. Perhaps because there was no sunlight all year round, it was a bit cold and damp.

They walked down the corridor for a while and saw a staircase leading down. They went down the stairs, turned a corner, and saw another staircase opposite, one going down and one going up. The waiter said "up," so they went up. At the top, they turned another corner and saw two rather pitiful-looking women standing by the wall. Seeing them approach, they bowed and greeted them, "Welcome."

Xiao Liu looked around and realized he was completely disoriented. He had been going up and down so many turns and ups and downs without any doors or windows, which had made him lose his sense of direction. He was even a little confused about which floor he was on.

One of the two women led the other two inside, then turned a corner, and a yellow curtain appeared before them. A breeze, seemingly from nowhere, blew the curtain, causing it to sway gently.

The entire hall was of unknown size, filled with a golden hue. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the room was divided into small sections by golden curtains, each containing a mattress on the floor, covered with a golden sheet. The mattresses weren't arranged in a neat row, but rather in an alternating pattern.

There was no partition between the two mattresses, only a golden curtain.

The woman led Xiaowei and Xiaoliu towards the middle. After walking a few steps, they turned around and could no longer see the path. The designer was a genius, amazing.

"Sir, do you sleep side by side or separately?" the woman asked, turning her head.

Xiao Liu touched the gently swaying curtains and said, "Can this thing even block out sound? It's so awkward to be standing next to each other."

The woman covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "You never get this kind of experience normally, do you? Sir, you came here for the thrill, didn't you?"

As they talked, their feet kept moving, making it seem like they had walked a long way, but in reality they were just wandering around inside.

"That's enough, we're all tired. Visiting your place feels like a long march." Little Liu plopped down on a mattress, ran his hand over it, and asked, "Is it clean?"

The woman said, "We change our toiletries after each customer, so they're clean. What kind would you two like to choose?"

Xiao Liu pretended to think for a moment, then turned to Xiao Wei and asked, "What kind?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. Oh well, why don't we just call them over and take a look?" He said to the woman, "Call over ten or eight of them. Are there any clean ones among them? Call them all over so I can take a look."

The woman pursed her lips, forced a smile, and said, "You should tell me your requirements, and I'll try to order something for you. If it's not satisfactory, we can change it. I guarantee you'll be satisfied, okay?"

Xiao Wei said, "If they come and it doesn't work, we can just replace them. Isn't that inconvenient and hurtful? You need to change your service. Just bring out a whole line of people, let the customer order one or two, and then send the rest back. Isn't that how it's always portrayed in Hong Kong movies?"

The woman smiled and said, "You said it yourself, that's Hong Kong."

Xiao Wei said, "Isn't this Hong Kong City?" He took out five bills from his pocket and handed them over: "Here, let's go through the Hong Kong procedure."

The woman suddenly became a little nervous, glanced behind her, quickly grabbed the money, rolled it up, and stuffed it into her chest. Only then did Xiaowei notice that their pitiful clothes had no pockets. Well, they were so pitiful that they couldn't even cover their flesh properly, so what would they need pockets for? But, these clothes were so round and white.

The woman stuffed the money into her pocket, checked it to make sure it was in order, then swayed her hips as she walked to the side, saying, "Wait a minute, you two, I'll go get someone."

Xiao Wei looked at her back and asked, "What happened to your leg?" He hadn't noticed before, but she was walking with a limp, and she couldn't put weight on one leg. There were several discolored patches on her thigh, which looked like bruises that had healed.

The woman trembled slightly, then smiled and said, "I fell yesterday, but it's nothing." She then went behind the curtain.

Xiao Liu leaned closer and whispered, "What's wrong? Have you taken a fancy to someone? Do you prefer older women?" The woman looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, which is the prime of a woman's life.

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No, it's just that something feels a bit strange. Don't you think this place is different from other places?"

Xiao Liu looked at Xiao Wei with suspicion. Xiao Wei looked around and said softly, "Let's talk outside."

Xiao Liu rolled over and stretched comfortably on the mattress, saying, "I wish the dormitories in the institute could have this mattress someday. It's so damn comfortable." In 91, Simmons mattresses were still a luxury item, and most ordinary people had only heard of them but never used one.

Xiao Wei glanced at Xiao Liu and asked, "Don't you think before you speak?"

Xiao Liu was stunned for a moment, then understood, put his hands together and bowed to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei said, "This designer is a genius! This is what the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation looks like, right? Can you find it without someone leading you?"

(End of this chapter)