A Valiant Life

In the bathhouse.

The young man urged, “Where’s the back-scrubber?”

“Coming, don’t be anxious.” Lin Fan was a little excited. He wondered what kind of change would happen with a single scrub. With the Encyclopedia’s mystical boost, anything could become abnormally terrifying.

The young man looked at Lin Fan, then lay down on his back on the scrubbing platform. “I want the lowest price back scrub.”

Lin Fan prepared his tools. The other back-scrubbers smiled and asked, “Little Boss, do you know how to do it?”

“Of course I do.” He was actually doubted by other people. It was hard for Lin Fan to stand it. His abilities weren’t average. In a while, the rest of the world witness his true strength.

Looking at the young man who was lying on the platform, Lin Fan let out a smile. He wore the scrubbing mitts on his hands and suddenly, he felt a boost to his power.

His palm descended.

The young man closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was slightly stunned. He felt that something wasn’t right. This feeling was very mysterious. It was as if a stream of heat was flowing through his body. But he didn’t think too much of it as he thought it was just due to the temperature of the bathhouse being too high.

He scrubbed once!

He scrubbed twice!

His movements flowed like water and he had a firm grasp of the essential spots. A light scrub, a heavy scrub. He alternated between light and heavy. His hand movements varied and were never repeated.

“Ah!” The young man suddenly opened his eyes and subconsciously let out a cry.

Lin Fan stopped. “What’s wrong?”

The surrounding people looked over and felt very curious as they wondered what had happened to that guy. Why did he suddenly shout for no reason?

The young man shook his head, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Big Bro, please continue.”

Lin Fan replied with an ‘Oh’ but he already had a thought in his mind. It seemed the godly scrubbing technique was showing its effects.

He gradually continued.

“Big Bro, your technique is amazing! It’s so comfortable,” said the young man delightfully.

Lin Fan smiled and said, “It’s just okay. It’s passable.”

The young man chuckled, “I beg to differ. Back-scrubbers from other bathhouses make my skin hurt. But the way you do it, it’s very comfortable.”

“If it’s comfortable, then enjoy it.” Lin Fan had still not seen the effects of the Encyclopedia’s mystical boost. But there was no hurry. He could take it slowly.

The surrounding back-scrubbers saw how skilled Little Boss was with his technique and were all stunned. This technique was clearly not average. You had to have at least several decades of hard work put in to attain such a level of technique. They really couldn’t tell that Little Boss was so good.

At that moment, the young man felt that something wasn’t right. He suddenly realized that everytime his skin got scrubbed, ‘that part’ gradually got a response and it was getting more and more frequent.

In front of everybody and in public, he would get embarrassed to death.

If he purposely covered it up, it would be too obvious. Then, he casually picked up his towel and covered that area, “Big Bro, your technique is really great.”

At that moment, he could only use this kind of words to cover up his embarrassment.

“Do you feel anything?” asked Lin Fan curiously.

Of course, the young man wouldn’t say that he got turned on by the scrubbing.

“Comfortable. Very comfortable,” said the young man.

Lin Fan was a little frustrated. He asked, “Just comfortable?”

The young man thought to himself, “Big Bro, are you playing around with me? You scrubbed me like that and you actually ask me if I’m just comfortable?” Gradually, he felt ‘that part’ was feeling more and more wrong. He felt as if it was going to burst out.

“Big Bro, wait a moment,” the young man cried out.

Lin Fan stopped scrubbing and was a little puzzled. But when he saw ‘that part’ of the young man, he was dumbfounded. He thought, “Oh brother, don’t tell me that the Encyclopedia’s mystical boost only has this kind of effect. If it’s like that, then it’s really too useless!”

The young man smiled embarrassedly as he lay on his front. “Big Bro, I think it’s better if you just scrub my back. My back is a little dirty.”

Lin Fan smiled and didn’t say much before continuing to scrub him.

“Oh, oh…” The young man started making strange noises again and even let out a face of enjoyment. “It’s comfortable. It’s really comfortable.”

The surrounding people all looked over. What was that young man doing? Becoming like that just because of a back scrub. Was it really that comfortable?

This guy had probably never experienced any good things before.

But to the young man, it was really very comfortable. It felt as if there were a pair of invisible hands deep inside his heart, scrubbing the dark spots of his spirit.

Every time the hands scrubbed, the dark spots on his spirit reduced. An incomparable sense of comfort flowed down to the ends of his four limbs. It was truly an incomparable comfort.

“Big Bro, let me tell you something,” the young man suddenly said.

Lin Fan had professional values. If the customer wanted to chat, he naturally had to chat with the customer. But he was still very puzzled over what use the Encyclopedia’s mystical boost had.

“Tell me,” said Lin Fan.

The young man said with his eyes closed, “I’m twenty-eight this year. Because my family is poor, I had to enlist in the army when I was eighteen. I came to Shanghai at twenty-two. Now, I’m a manager at a company. Recently, a certain matter has been giving me a headache. I want to break up with my girlfriend that I’ve dated for eleven years.”

Lin Fan said, “You’ve dated her for so long. Why do you want to break up?”

The young man sighed, “It’s not that I want to break up but after coming to Shanghai, I realized just how big this world is. My girlfriend was from my old home as well and while I was a soldier, she waited for me for three years. When I left the army, she followed me to Shanghai. But recently, I met a girl who confessed to me. Her family background is good. They have a home in Shanghai and they even have some social status. She has given me great help in my life. If I agree to be with her, I could permanently stay in Shanghai.”

Lin Fan was a little unhappy. “How can you be so cold? Your girlfriend sacrificed her youth for you. How can you just dump her after meeting someone good? Your way of thinking is dangerous and it will make people look down on you. A man has to rely on himself.”

The young man nodded. “I was prepared to bring up the topic of breaking up after this bath. That was initially my plan but I can’t face her. If I say it to her face, even if she hits me, I’d be fine with it. But just now, your scrubbing made me recall what we’ve gone through in the past together. I suddenly realized that I was being inhumane.”

*sob sob*

Suddenly, and a little strangely…

The young man started crying bitterly as he lay there.

He cried very loudly. In an instant, everyone in the bathhouse shifted their gazes over. Each of them had a look of astonishment. It was the first time they had seen someone cry from taking a bath.

Lin Fan was stunned and a little embarrassed. “This isn’t my fault. He’s just crying by himself.”

At the same time, he was a little suspicious. Something didn’t seem right. No one in their right mind would say things like that.

The young man turned around and said, “Big Bro, keep scrubbing. I still have a lot that I want to say. If you don’t scrub, my heart just feels like there’s something stuck there that cannot be expelled.”

“Alright.” Lin Fan continued scrubbing to test it. He wanted to see just what was going on.

“Then what do you think now?” asked Lin Fan.

The young man said, “I have already decided from the start but now, I feel that that wouldn’t be right. Therefore, I’m prepared to go and propose to her after you finish scrubbing me.”

Lin Fan nodded, “That’s the way.”

“Comfortable.”

“So comfortable.”

“Big Bro, why did I tell you all this?”

“Right, Big Bro, the more you scrub, the easier it is for me to recall past events. Now I feel like crying again.”

Lin Fan said, “Then cry. As you cry, I’ll continue scrubbing. When I’m done, you won’t have to cry anymore.”

“Alright.” The young man nodded. Then, he started recalling past events again and he started weeping once again.

He had no idea what was going on and why he felt so emotional for no reason.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan was a little stunned. Could it be that he had scrubbed out his conscience?

The entire bathhouse was in absolute silence as everyone stared dumbfoundedly at Lin Fan and the young man.

What the heck was going on? Why was there so much going on just because of a back scrub?