Strip after strip... Liu Jingtang lay face down on the bench. At first he felt a little embarrassed, but gradually he grew used to it and let the bath attendant scrub him all over.
Before long, he had transformed from a filthy boy into a clean young man, as though he had shed a thick shell.
After Cui Jiuyang and Liu Jingtang finished their scrubs and rinsed themselves clean, they slipped into a secluded little pool.
The water was clear, and steam curled above it.
Cui Jiuyang leaned against the side of the pool and sighed comfortably. His gaze settled on Liu Jingtang, and he chuckled, teasing him. "When I ran into you on the train, you got your hands on several silver dollars in one go. Didn't you think to take a bath? How did you get so filthy?"
Feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, Liu Jingtang sank deeper into the water until only his head remained above it. "I had to hand it over when I got back. It didn't all go into my own pocket.
"Since we all made our living together, we were brothers who'd put our lives on the line for each other. Naturally, we couldn't just look out for ourselves.
"Whenever we got money, we had to share some of it to keep our brothers fed.
"After all, we couldn't get money every day. Plenty of times, we went home penniless and had to get some money from the other brothers for food.
"So even when we struck it rich, the money wouldn't last us more than a few days.
"Besides, we had to let our eldest brother get his hands on it first and take a cut, didn't we?"
Cui Jiuyang knew little about the rules of the thieving trade.
Since they