69novels Chapter 7: The Bathhouse!
Chapter 7: The Bathhouse!
Zhang Guohao didn't stand on ceremony and stuffed the money into his pocket. Boss Huo was so generous, giving him a share of the profits and money. Now you don't want his money? What, you don't want to work with him anymore?
After saying goodbye to Boss Huo, Zhang Guohao hailed a rickshaw and headed straight for Tsing Wah Pool on Hong Kong Island without first looking for a place to stay.
After staying up all night, the most important thing to do is rest, but Zhang Guohao has nowhere to stay and can't even wash up. He has to rent a place and buy a lot of things.
The best solution is to stay in a hotel.
Take a shower, have a good night's sleep, and good hotels also offer catering services.
However, Cheung Kwok-ho is completely unfamiliar with Hong Kong Island; he has no idea which hotels are good or bad.
The nice hotels are full of foreigners, and Zhang Guohao, with his native Chinese physique, might not be able to adapt.
As a northerner, I'd rather find a nice public bathhouse and soak comfortably for a whole day.
Huaqing Pool on Hong Kong Island is the best choice.
There are two Huaqing Pools on Hong Kong Island: one is a bathhouse run by northerners, and the other is a swimming pool.
Zhang Guohao was going to Huaqingchi Bathhouse, which was known as a Northern-style bathhouse. Back when Huaqingchi was at its peak, it had many branches in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
Many wealthy people now live on Hong Kong Island, and these wealthy people are already accustomed to many entertainment venues.
In the Beijing-Tianjin area, there are many Manchu bannermen who spend their days walking their birds in cages and indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun. They even made a living by offering services such as bathing, scrubbing, haircuts, pedicures, shaving, and massages, which are known as the "full-service package."
In the north, due to the weather, the further north you go, the more important bathing becomes, because boiling water is a hassle, and in winter, you don't dare to take a bath casually, as it's easy to catch a cold.
This led to the development of the bathhouse culture. A pool of hot water was available for anyone to soak in. A full bath consisted of soaking and washing, including scrubbing and massage. If you were willing to spend the money, you could also eat and watch plays in the bathhouse, and the day would pass by in no time.
In addition, it incorporates the style of Yangzhou in the south, where people spend their days in water-filled meat and their nights in meat-filled water, staying there for a whole day.
This is different from the South, where the weather is hot and people take showers more often. Most of the time, they can manage without boiling water. Naturally, the importance that the two sides attach to bathing is different.
For some bureaucrats and wealthy merchants, going to the bathhouse was a luxury; bathing itself was not important. Drinking tea, smoking, socializing, and chatting were priorities over bathing.
It all starts with tea. They even compare the teas. In this place, ordinary people drink flower tea, while high-ranking officials and nobles drink Longjing tea.
After a pleasant chat, everyone starts taking a bath, where they are completely open with each other. After receiving services such as washing, scrubbing, haircuts, shaving, pedicures, and massages, they take a nap on a recliner or wire bed. Then, they ask the tea server to buy food; as long as the money is right, anything can be found.
These people, one by one, are just bored and have nothing better to do. They can tell whether the things they buy are good or bad just by smelling them.
Now that these people have arrived in Hong Kong Island, some clever people have already set up the venue.
Just like the hairdressers on Hong Kong Island now, they all claim to have learned from White Rose because of White Rose's fame!
Zhang Guohao arrived at Huaqing Pool, paid the driver, and entered the pool.
A waiter had already come to greet us, speaking in a thick Beijing accent.
"Sir, you've arrived! Please come in!"
The waiter greeted them loudly with a drawn-out tone.
"How many of you are there, sir? What kind of establishment do you want to clean?"
As Zhang Guohao walked in, another waiter came over first, handed him a towel, and asked him to wipe his face and hands before inquiring about his spending preferences.
In places like this, the cost of a bath ticket is not a small amount.
Especially when these kinds of businesses are set up on Hong Kong Island, it's all about making money off the wealthy, with tickets priced extremely high.
"How does Huaqing Pool compare to the old establishments in Beijing?"
Zhang Guohao wiped his face and hands, removing the grease, and asked the tea server.
"Sir, you're clearly an expert. Our shop is exactly the same as the old one in Beijing. The chairman's surname is also Dong, and he's a descendant of the old shopkeeper."
"The bath tickets are the same as the old shop: first-class official bath, fifty-one tickets; ordinary official bath, twenty-one tickets; basin bath, ten yuan; pond bath, five yuan. Which one would you like, sir?"
Seeing Zhang Guohao's travel-worn appearance and his thick northern accent, the waiter knew that this customer, despite his ordinary attire, was definitely going to spend money here.
"The first-class official pond, the rest is yours."
Zhang Guohao handed over a fifty-yuan note and a five-yuan note.
"Thank you very much, sir. Please come in!"
With the tip, the waiter's smile became even more genuine. He prepared all sorts of amenities, such as bathrobes, and led Zhang Guohao to an elegant private room.
The so-called first-class official pond is a "double basin" with a suite. There are reclining chairs for people to rest, as well as some fruit, newspapers and the like. If guests want other entertainment, they can play cards, smoke black bouillon, or find various girls.
It is said that at Huaqing Pool in Beijing, some people once lived there for several months at a time, treating the bathhouse as their office and home.
The standard Guantang bathhouse is a bit smaller, but it can still accommodate many people chatting together. Many businessmen use this type of bathhouse to discuss business, since they are not there purely for enjoyment.
Pentang refers to single rooms, and the residents are mostly middle-class people with relatively good incomes, such as office workers, teachers, and civil servants.
The pond is a large pool where familiar and unfamiliar people meet openly. People soak in the large pool, steam in the small pool, and then go to the lounge where many people gather for massages and pedicures, mostly by ordinary working people. Finally, they have a bowl of wide noodles in broth, and after eating and drinking their fill, they leave.
People like Xiangzi from "Camel Xiangzi" used to be able to come here to wash in this big pool.
However, these days, many ordinary people don't come to this kind of place on Hong Kong Island. The large pool area isn't crowded, but the private rooms are almost full.
In the private room, Zhang Guohao took a comfortable bath and then called over a massage therapist and a pedicurist to cleanse away all the sweat and fatigue from the night before.
Both of these masters were invited from Yangzhou. In particular, the massage master's massage made Zhang Guohao feel his muscles and blood circulation improve and his qi and blood flow smoothly.
Despite the fierce fighting on the ship before, Zhang Guohao has been having trouble finding food lately, so his food and lodging have been just so-so. His muscles have also become a bit stiff, so this is a good opportunity to relax.
Then he had the waiter bring over a table full of dishes, and he devoured eight dishes, a soup, and eight steamed buns in no time.
"Gurgle..."
Zhang Guohao ate and drank his fill, then let out a satisfied burp. It had been so long since he'd had such a hearty meal.
The original owner of this body was a man of wide experience and wealth, and his family was quite well-off.
Later, because the Japanese invaders came, he wandered around and was then possessed by a time traveler.