"It is made from powdered milk," Wandering Zhou responded knowingly. "Low-quality powdered milk."
The two sat soaking in the low-quality powdered-milk pool for half an hour. Then Wandering Zhou got up, walked past the clear-water bath, and, with a comfortable look on his face, submerged himself in the rose-petal pool. Song Gang remained in the milk bath but felt somewhat uneasy hanging out there alone, so he went and sat in the rose-petal bath. He grabbed a fistful of petals and, seeing the red water, remarked with surprise, "The color has seeped out."
"It is red dye," Wandering Zhou told Song Gang calmly. "They pour in a few bottles of dye and then toss in a few rose petals."
When Song Gang heard that it was red dye, he quickly stood up. Wandering Zhou pulled him back down and made him sit next to him, saying that even if it was merely red dye, it was still more expensive than plain water. Wandering Zhou smelled the steam rising from the rose petals and announced with satisfaction, "They also throw in several drops of perfume."
Both of them closed their eyes and lay soaking in the red-dye bath. At that point, a well-built man with an enormous member walked by, leading a German shepherd. Wandering Zhou glanced at the mans crotch and said quietly, "A real macho man." The man heard Wandering Zhou and, standing next to the clear-water bath, shouted, "What did you say?"
As the man shouted his dog also barked a couple of times. Song Gang began to tremble, and Wandering Zhou, a smile plastered on his face, lifted his hand from the rose water, pointed at the mans crotch, and repeated, "I said that you are a real macho man."
The man glanced down and chuckled with satisfaction, then he jumped into the clear-water pool like a cannonball, splattering clear water into the rose-petal bath and splashing water all over Wandering Zhou's and Song Gangs faces. Soaking in the pool as his dog lay next to him, the man rubbed his chest with his right hand and scratched the dogs back with his left. The dogs eyes looked like those of a professional assassin as he stared at Zhou and Song Gang, making their hearts pound in fear. Song Gang asked with a quavering voice, "How can dogs come in here?" The dog immediately started barking and snarling at him, terrifying Song Gang and Wandering Zhou so much that they didn't dare say anything else, instead simply lying there without moving.
At this point several naked men walked in carrying white towels. When they entered, they were talking and laughing, planning on soaking in the clear-water bath. When they saw the German shepherd lying beside it, however, they turned pale and beat a hasty retreat. Outside in the changing room they angrily asked the attendant what the hell a dog — and what's more, a fucking German shepherd — was doing in the bathing room. The dog, hearing the commotion outside, for a second stopped watching Wandering Zhou and Song Gang and instead turned around and barked a couple of times in the direction of the changing room, making the changing room become as still as death. Then an attendant carefully walked in and stood about five yards away from the dog and said quietly, "Excuse me, mister…"
This attendant had originally planned to convince the well-endowed man to take his dog outside, but when the dog lunged at him, he quickly retreated in terror back to the dressing room. Wandering Zhou took this opportunity to move to the side of the rose pool, but as soon as he stood up, the dog turned around and resumed snarling at him. Wandering Zhou couldn't decide whether to advance or retreat, so just stood there staring at the man with a broad smile on his face. The man petted his dog and told it to lie down. Zhou held his breath and, feigning calmness, climbed down the stairs. Then, seeing a door, he pushed it open and walked inside. Song Gang also began to move slowly toward the side of the pool. The dog stared at him the entire time, and he continued staring at the dog with a kind smile. As soon as he stood up at the side of the pool, the dog also stood up and barked. The man again patted the dog and made it lie down, whereupon Song Gang jumped down the stairs. He also saw the wooden door and rushed in.
One after the other, Wandering Zhou and Song Gang entered the sauna. When Song Gang entered, he saw that Zhou was sitting in the sweltering wooden room with a dazed look on his face. Song Gang asked him, "What is this place?"
Wandering Zhou immediately assumed a calm expression and replied, "A sauna."
Song Gang breathed heavily as he sat down next to Wandering Zhou. Zhou picked up a wooden spoon and splashed water onto the stove, generating a cloud of steam. Song Gang felt it was becoming hard to breathe and said, "It's too hot in here."
Wandering Zhou replied proudly, "That's what a sauna is."
At that point the wooden door opened and the brawny man entered. Wandering Zhou and Song Gang jumped in surprise, but when they saw that the German shepherd wasn't following him in, they breathed a sigh of relief. As the man prepared to lie down Wandering Zhou and Song Gang jumped up to give him room. He nodded with satisfaction and lay down on the very top step of the wooden steps while Wandering Zhou and Song Gang sat on the lower steps. After sitting in the steam for a while, Wandering Zhou felt that he couldn't endure it anymore and stood up and announced that he was leaving. When he opened the door, the dog lunged at him through the doorway. Zhou slammed the door shut in terror, turned around, and muttered to himself, "I might as well steam for a little while longer."
He sat down next to Song Gang, and the man lying above them gestured and said, "Add some more water."
"Okay," Wandering Zhou replied, then he poured more water onto the stove and white steam again billowed forth. Song Gang felt that he was about to pass out from the heat and said to Wandering Zhou, "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Then leave." Zhou pushed him toward the door.
Song Gang stood up. Knowing that the dog was lying in the doorway like a tiger eyeing its prey, he gathered his courage and pushed the door open. The dog stood up and started barking as if he were about to bite Song Gang in the crotch. Song Gang shut the door again and retreated, reflexively holding his crotch. He smiled helplessly as he sat back down next to Wandering Zhou. The two felt as though they were about to pass out, but they were more terrified by the dog in the doorway. Therefore, they had no alternative but to continue sitting there, enduring the heat of the steam and hoping that the man lying above them would soon get up and leave, taking his dog with him. But the man seemed to be getting increasingly comfortable and after a while even started whistling. Wandering Zhou felt that if he stayed a moment longer, he would almost certainly pass out and die. Therefore, he staggered over to the man, leaned over, and called out into his ear, "Excuse me, mister…"
The whistling man opened his eyes and looked at Wandering Zhou, who said feebly, "Your bodyguard …"
"What bodyguard?" The man didn't know what Wandering Zhou was talking about.
"Your canine bodyguard is guarding the door," Zhou said. "We can't get out."
The man laughed and said, "Add some more water."
Wandering Zhou wiped the sweat from his face, then headed over to the stove to add more water, producing another cloud of steam. Song Gang seemed about to topple over, and Wandering Zhou staggered forward and said to the man, "I added the water."
"Good," the man said. "You can leave."
"But," Wandering Zhou said, "your canine bodyguard …"