Chapter 11: Brain Metabolism

Dragging his weary body, he got into Jiang Zhe’s car.

Chen Jue clutched the two Jingtang Club cash vouchers in his hand.

The face value was an astonishing one thousand, and they were bearer vouchers, meaning anyone could use them.

As for the Jingtang Club, it was a well-known spa in Hang City.

It boasted excellent decor, fantastic service, and first-rate privacy. It even had a buffet restaurant inside, so you could replenish your energy with a huge meal after your massage.

Other than being expensive, you couldn’t find a single fault with the place.

"Holy shit!"

"Two thousand in vouchers?"

"Jiang the Second, did you strike it rich? You starting a secret stash?" Chen Jue had been to the Jingtang Club a few times, so he knew the prices were absurd.

A typical foot rub or massage on the street would only cost you eighty to a hundred yuan.

The Jingtang Club charged 688 for a single hour, and the group-buy discount was only ten percent off. And the crazy part was, it was a completely legitimate establishment.

Anyone who could afford to go there regularly was definitely loaded.

Chen Jue had a rough idea of Jiang Zhe’s financial situation. The guy had studied interior design. Of the six people in their dorm room, only Chen Jue had switched majors after the first semester, running off to study finance.

After graduation, the two of them came to Hang City together. Jiang Zhe worked for two years before starting his own small design company.

At first, business was pretty good, and he was making a killing in Hang City’s Century City district.

Back when they had just arrived in Hang City, many places were undergoing massive demolition and construction, and new housing developments were popping up everywhere.

With more people buying homes, the design and renovation business naturally did well.

With his business income, Jiang Zhe bought a house and a car, then married a local woman from Hang City. You could say he was halfway to winning at life.

Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and his small company suffered a devastating blow and went under completely.

Now the guy was a freelance designer working for a large firm. He’d gone from boss to wage slave, a true sign that his luck had run out.

The worst part was, Jiang Zhe was also completely henpecked.

Ever since his company went bust, his entire salary was handed over to his wife.

Whenever they met up for meals or to play games online, he was always penny-pinching.

After all, the man had a mortgage to pay, two kids and two cars to support. The pressure was truly immense.

He was nothing like the big spender he was today, handing out two thousand in Jingtang Club cash vouchers just like that.

"What secret stash? This was a gift from a client!"

"Let me tell you, our company just landed a project from a total whale. It was a real fucking eye-opener."

"He freaking bought over thirty acres of land out in Lin’an, fenced it off just to raise horses, and said he wants to build a huge equestrian club. As soon as the contract was signed, he gave everyone at my company two of these things as a thank-you gift," Jiang Zhe recounted animatedly as he drove.

"Fuck!"

"Everyone got a pair?"

"Doesn’t that mean he gave out over 200,000? What kind of whale is this guy?" Chen Jue was also floored by the extravagance.

He knew the design company Jiang Zhe worked for was one of the top three in Hang City, with over a hundred employees.

Spreading the wealth around to everyone like that... it was incredible!

Chen Jue’s own bank account only had a little over 230,000, and that was from three years of pinching pennies and hard work.

To the truly wealthy of Hang City, Chen Jue’s savings were practically nothing.

When they were in a good mood, the pocket change they casually gave away could be more than that entire amount.

...

After witnessing the extravagance of the rich and then thinking about how he was about to lose his job and be broke, Chen Jue suddenly felt that the two cash vouchers in his hand weren’t so great after all.

Luckily, he had a buddy who was on his same wavelength. They smoked and chatted the whole way, and the car soon arrived at the Jingtang Club.

Inside, the decor was classic and elegant, in a traditional Chinese style.

Whether it was the attendants or the young women at the front desk, they were all stunning.

The two of them got a private room, changed into spa attire, and flopped comfortably onto the lounge chairs.

Then they took the provided iPad and browsed through the catalog of available technicians, just like an ancient emperor flipping through the nameplates of his concubines.

For a 29-year-old single guy like Chen Jue, this was truly god-tier!

But it was a legitimate business, so there was nothing shady going on.

Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe, a couple of horndogs, critiqued the photos in the catalog. After choosing their technicians, they lay back and closed their eyes to rest.

After waiting a few minutes, a technician wearing a classic Tang-style dress pushed open the door.

"Hello, sir! I’m technician number 18, Nana."

"It’s a pleasure to serve you!"

The girl’s voice was sweet, and she was very pretty.

She wore a light veil below the bridge of her nose, giving her a hazy, alluring look.

Chen Jue didn’t speak. Because of his first workout that morning, he was now so tired he didn’t even want to talk.

He just followed her instructions, lying flat and letting her position him as she wished.

Seeing Chen Jue covered in Pain Relief Ointment, the technician, Nana, was very gentle and considerate, slowly peeling it off for him.

Then, as she massaged him, she asked if it hurt.

Based on her technique and service alone, Chen Jue felt that 688 for an hour was well worth it!

...

The full-body relaxation massage took nearly an hour, and Chen Jue was massaged to a state of blissful euphoria.

Because aside from his left hand, it hurt basically everywhere she pressed.

Fortunately, Nana’s skill was top-notch. Her soft hands applied just the right amount of pressure, and after one round of kneading, Chen Jue felt the post-workout soreness and stiffness ease a little.

What surprised Chen Jue the most was that after listening to the soothing classical music in the private room and smelling the mind-calming aromatherapy for a short while, a new notification actually popped up on the data panel in his vision.

——————

[Ding~]

[A qualifying mental metabolic activity has been completed]

[Spirit Attribute +0.01]

——————

Chen Jue had been a bit drowsy, but the moment he saw the notification, he was wide awake.

’How does a relaxing massage increase my Spirit Attribute?’

’Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to increase my Constitution?’ he wondered.

Thinking back carefully on the day’s events, Chen Jue roughly guessed the pattern for increasing his Spirit Attribute.

First, when he was at the gym that morning working out and throwing Darts, his mental state had apparently been tense the whole time.

On top of that, he was facing unemployment, and deep down, he felt resentful and dejected.

Now, after the massage at the Jingtang Club, his mind was relaxed, as if he had let down all his guards.

This cycle of tension and relaxation brought immense satisfaction and release to his body and mind, which was what triggered the increase in his Spirit Attribute.

’I can’t believe I got this kind of unexpected bonus from a massage!’

’This place is just a bit expensive, otherwise I’d come every day.’

Once he figured out the reason, Chen Jue was instantly relieved.

...

After the massage in the private room was over, the technician, Nana, gracefully departed.

Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe then went to the hot pools for some hydrotherapy. The pools supposedly had Chinese medicine added to them, and a soak could improve blood circulation, eliminate fatigue, and improve one’s Constitution.

After getting out, the two went into the steam room for a while.

After completing the full spa treatment, Chen Jue did feel much lighter, and the soreness in his muscles had been reduced by more than half.

However, the expected increase in his Constitution Attribute didn’t appear, which left Chen Jue slightly disappointed.

’Looks like I was overthinking it.’

’If you could improve your Constitution just by taking a dip, wouldn’t rich people just drink the medicated water from the pool?’

...

By the time they finished their spa treatments, it was already 4 PM, and the Jingtang Club’s buffet hadn’t started yet.

So Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe went to check out the club’s recreation room.

Chess and card games, mahjong, pool, retro arcade machines, and even a private movie screening room.

There was no shortage of entertainment, and most of the people there were adults and children who had just finished their own spa treatments.

Chen Jue had originally planned to kill some time playing arcade games with Jiang Zhe, but when he saw a row of dartboards hanging in a corner, he lost all interest in video games.

He’d been playing video games since he was a kid and had long since grown a bit tired of them.

’What could be more interesting than playing Darts and grinding my Skill Level!’

So, he grabbed a box of steel-tip darts from the rack, stood behind the line, and started throwing with his left hand.

His stamina had recovered a bit after the massage, and his left arm wasn’t as sore anymore. As he started throwing the steel-tip darts again, Chen Jue even felt that he was getting the hang of it.

It must have been his Lv. 1 [Darts] skill taking effect.

He had only thrown twice when a middle-aged man who was also playing Darts came over. "Hey, young man, you’re not throwing those right! You need to use your wrist to generate power."

"I see you’re just flinging them with your whole arm. It’s easy to throw them crooked like that, and they could bounce back and hurt someone!"