Chapter 193: Cold Spring Bath
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Checking out all forty-two houses in a day proved to be really exhausting for Li Du. Even though he had Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles helping him to survey the houses, he wanted to play it safe by releasing the little bug to go through drawers and cabinets as well.
After basking in the sun for hours, Li Du was drained of his energy. His vision was blurry, and he wondered if he was having a heat stroke.
Hans looked at Li Du helplessly, shaking his head. "Look at you. Sometimes you are bursting with energy like a pitbull. Now? You look lethargic, like a Chihuahua that just got done mating."
"F*ck you!" Li Du felt like vomiting up blood upon hearing that.
Auctions of old houses were less lucrative than storage unit auctions; there were too few valuable items in the house. Most house owners would have taken all their valuables with them, leaving behind some unwanted items and trash.
Hans had felt that the Mayor’s house would be worth quite a bit–not because the owner was the mayor, but after he passed on, no one had touched the items in there.
But the Mayor’s house had been around for too long. The furniture had aged over the years and the appliances were broken. On top of that, rodents had gnawed at the furniture and almost everything else!
Fortunately, Li Du had still managed to find something valuable by chance. Hence, he was still in a good mood.
When they reached the entrance of the deserted neighborhood, they saw a Ford sedan driving toward their direction along the road.
Seeing this, Hans waved to the car. A blonde girl in a sleeveless top and shorts stopped her car and asked, "Hello, what’s the matter?"
Hans smiled amiably, walked up to her, and said something to the young lady driver. Then he waved to Li Du and Godzilla, who both walked over.
The young lady drove the three of them right up to the entrance of the spa resort. Hans gave his thanks and exchanged numbers with the young lady. Godzilla left for a short while and soon arrived with the truck.
Li Du teased, "Is there a radar inside your body or what? No girl can escape your eyes, can they?"
"Hey," Hans snapped, "am I a stallion? I stopped the car because you don’t look too good, and this is how you return my favor? With sarcasm?"
The spa resort was a huge place—almost half of the oasis town was occupied by it.
Carpenter Town was also dependent on the existence of this resort, as tourism was the major industry that kept the town thriving.
"Public bath or the VIP private bath?" Hans asked.
But before Li Du could answer him, he continued, "Of course it will be the private pool. Today, a wealthy buddy’s picking up the tab. We’ll go for the beer pool."
Li Du laughed, "Ok, beer pool then. I’ll fulfill your wish, but are there really such pools around? I only know of red wine pools."
Hans nodded. "Of course. Beer pools are very popular in summer."
When Li Du looked at the bill, he was stunned by the figure stated on the bill. "Am I mistaken? The bill is 1,000 dollars?!"
"Yes sir, the Supreme VIP beer pool costs 1,000 dollars. Please enjoy your day here and thank you for your patronage." The attractive looking receptionist gave him a charming smile.
Li Du swiped his card for payment; this must have been the most expensive bath he had taken over the past 20 years.
Another spa employee led the trio to the changing room. They were given towels, disposable underwear, disposable slippers, disposable cups, and other toiletry items.
Li Du’s VIP pool was surrounded by lush green bushes and various plants; he felt like he was in a pool in the wilderness.
The VIP pool was really worthy of the word "supreme." Li Du estimated it could accommodate thirty people without any problem at all.
Li Du stepped into the pool; a cool feeling spread from his soles to his forehead. He could not help but shiver for a second, and exclaimed, "Gosh, it’s so refreshing!"
There were a couple of comfortable-looking lounge chairs placed beside the pool. Hans was lying on one of them with his shades on, and responded, "Of course, absolutely refreshing!"
Li Du had thought it would be a hot spring bath. He did not expect that this would be a cold spring bath.
Li Du looked around the pool. The water was clear and he could see several openings where spring water flowed gently into the pool. The sound of water was soothing and relaxing.
"Uh, why is this called a beer pool and there’s no smell of beer at all?" Li Du asked after inspecting the pool surroundings for traces of beer.
Hans replied lazily, "Just wait a while more, my dear friend."
Godzilla got in the pool as well. He started to clean and wash himself as if he were taking a shower.
Li Du could not help but laugh at the funny sight. "Godzilla, this is for you to soak and relax, not for you to actually wash yourself."
Godzilla chortled, and he subsequently got out of the pool to lie next to Hans on a sun lounger.
"Hey Boss, this chair can massage!" Godzilla commented on the sun lounger after lying down.
Hans curled his lip and remarked, "Country bumpkin, this is a water massage bed."
A few minutes later, two spa employees walked over to them. One of them pushed a small cart while the other carried a barrel.
The two employees proceed to lay a picnic mat by the poolside. There was barbecue meat, fruits, vegetable salads, fried chicken and many other delicious looking foods, along with a barrel of beer.
Li Du asked, "So ‘beer pool’ means this single barrel of beer?"
Hans, who was obviously enjoying the massage, nodded and spoke in a lazy tone. "Yes, they brew their own beer using their local spring water. You can’t get it anywhere outside the resort. It has a great taste."
Godzilla’s eyes lit up the moment he saw food. He got up from the massage bed and began to passionately barbecue the meat.
Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles scurried happily over to the food as well. Li gave the small raccoon a pear.
It merrily dunked the pear at the pool for a good wash, and chewed the pear happily with its two paws.
"Meooww Meooww!" The disappointed ocelot expressed its unhappiness; it had looked around the food, but there was no fish in sight.
Just then, a spa employee appeared carrying with him two buckets. He poured the bucket contents into the pool.
Seeing this, Hans got into the pool as well, and some small semi-translucent fish swam over to Hans.
Crispy Noodles threw the core away after it finished eating the pear, and peered at the small fish with great interest. Raccoons are omnivores; they eat fish and shrimp as well.
Ah Meow was pacing back and forth by the poolside excitedly upon seeing the fishes; suddenly, Hans splashed Ah Meow with the cold spring water, which made it jump and yowl in shock. "Meowww Meowww!"
Crispy Noodles stood still and put its paw into the water.
A small fish swam over to see if there was any dead skin or parasites to eat.
Just as it neared its paw, Crispy Noodles snatched up the fish with lightning speed.
But when the fish landed on the ground, Ah Meow made a dash over to it and swallowed the fish in a split second.
Crispy Noodles had a melancholy expression on its little face; it gave Ah Meow an icy glare and made no more attempts to catch the little fishes.
The raccoon knew that even if it continued to hunt for the fishes, they would end up in Ah Meow’s stomach anyway.
Ah Meow strode slowly towards the downcast-looking raccoon, its tail patting the back of Crispy Noodles.
It made a few more meowing sounds, as if Ah Meow was beseeching the raccoon to catch more fishes.
This went on for a while before the Crispy Noodles lifted up its tiny head to look at Ah Meow, and it put its paw into the water once more.
And so the two little animals cooperated, one doing the hunting and the other eating up the fishes. It was a wonderful sight to see.
Li Du laughed cheerfully. "That’s the way you two should behave, get along with each other."
But, shortly after Li said that, Ah Meow licked its maw and kicked Crispy Noodles with its hind leg.
With a splash, the tiny raccoon went flying into the pool.