Physical reactions never lie

Xie Beishen had never felt so thoroughly relieved after using the toilet; once he finished, he felt full of energy and completely refreshed.

As soon as he walked back into the courtyard, he abruptly realized that his entire body reeked foully, with a layer of oily grease coating his skin.

He quickly stripped off his shirt; the white garment was stained with filthy grime.

Giving it a sniff, he immediately felt nauseous.

He hurried to his room, grabbed a bucket and a bar of soap, and headed to the washroom to bathe.

Lin Yu was in the middle of eating breakfast when his nose caught a foul odor drifting over, and it was coming straight from Xie Beishen. Had this guy fallen into a cesspool or something?

He didn't dare ask, though. If Xie Beishen had really tumbled into a latrine pit, asking about it would be practically courting death.

Clutching his bowl, he bolted into his room and slammed the door shut, finally blocking out the stench.

Su Heng had originally wanted to sprint home to use the latrine, but he simply couldn't hold it in any longer and was forced to squat down and relieve himself right there in the fields.

He passed vastly more waste than usual. Once he finished, he felt a lightness all over his body, never having experienced such comfort before in his life.

After taking just a few steps, however, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly stinky. The skin all over his body seemed to be coated in a layer of grease—it was utterly horrific to behold. He reached out and touched the oil on his skin, exclaiming, "Ew, it stinks so bad!"

Even he was disgusted with himself. He rushed home as fast as he could to take a shower.

Su Heng first ran down to the river, washed himself while still in his clothes, and then headed back home.

Su Wanwan watched her second brother enter the house dripping wet and instantly guessed what had happened. Feigning bewilderment, she asked, "Second Brother, what happened to you?"

Su Heng said anxiously, "Quick, get out the soap you use for bathing so I can use it. I reek terribly."

The clothes he had on were definitely ruined beyond saving, which was such a pity.

"Okay." Su Wanwan went back into her room, took a bar of soap from the original owner's wardrobe, and handed it to her second brother. "Second Brother, there's hot water in the pot."

It was a good thing the original owner had a brand-new bar of soap; otherwise, she wouldn't dare let her second brother use the body wash from her spatial dimension.

Su Heng nodded. He really needed to wash with hot water; otherwise, he feared the stench on his body would never dissipate.

He scrubbed himself twice with hot water before he finally felt that the odor was gone, replaced instead by the pleasant fragrance of soap.

Meanwhile, Xie Beishen was still washing with cold water, not stopping his movements until the tenth rinse.

He found himself utterly repulsive—what on earth was going on?

Standing under the eaves, Lin Yu watched Xie Beishen wash himself over and over again, and at that moment, he became completely certain that Xie had fallen into a toilet.

Just look at the ground—that white shirt had practically turned black.

He had to bite his tongue and guard this secret tightly, making sure no one else found out—and especially making sure no one back in the city compound ever learned that his Brother Shen had fallen into a pit latrine.

Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yep, his lips were the tightest in the world; he definitely wouldn't let slip a word.

After changing into clean clothes, Xie Beishen felt completely energized and brimming with strength. His skin was delicate and smooth, and even the scar left on the back of his hand from a few days ago had vanished.

Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his knee and rolled up his trouser leg, only to discover that the scar on his knee from an injury in his childhood had also disappeared.

As he absently stroked the skin on his arm, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the unwashed bowls and enamel mug on the table, lingering there in a daze for a long time.

After finishing his bath, Su Heng discovered that his own skin was slippery and smooth as well. It must have been the result of using his sister's soap, especially since he rarely used such things in the past.

Picking up the soap, he headed over to his sister's room. "Here, your soap. It's really good—my skin feels all smooth after using it."

Su Wanwan glanced at the soap her second brother had used and said, "Keep it, just take it and use it. I have more; I bought several blocks last time."

"Alright," Su Heng said with a grin. "Sis, I ate the breakfast you made this morning and something very strange happened. Did you put something unclean in the food?"

He then described his physical reactions after the meal: "Tell me, isn't that bizarre? Why would I smell so foul? I wonder if Brother Shen will end up like me after eating it."

Thinking that Xie Beishen hadn't even drunk the mung bean soup and thus wouldn't experience the same reaction, Su Wanwan replied, "Second Brother, I figure the reason must be that you ate chili peppers and eggs, and then immediately drank icy cold mung bean soup. Naturally, your stomach couldn't handle the combination."

Su Heng had an immediate flash of realization. "Sis, you're right, that must be the exact reason!"

Otherwise, he couldn't come up with any other explanation for what had happened.

Su Wanwan curved the corners of her lips. If she hadn't been afraid of her second brother finding out, she wouldn't have boiled mung bean soup for him so early.

Tomorrow, when she gave him mung bean soup, there wouldn't be any other reactions.

Once their parents returned, she would use the exact same method to give them both undiluted spiritual spring water.

Su Heng said, "Sis, I'll go check on Brother Xie first." He wasn't sure if Xie was alright.

With those words, he bolted out the door in a flash.

Arriving at Xie Beishen's room, Su Heng asked, "Are you okay?"

Xie Beishen gave him a scrutinizing look. "I'm fine. I used the toilet and took a bath, and now my whole body feels comfortable."

Su Heng then relayed what his sister had just told him—that the reaction was likely caused by eating noodles followed immediately by cold mung bean soup.

Xie Beishen thought about it, and while such an explanation made sense, his bodily sensations told him there was definitely something fishy going on.

Physical reactions simply didn't lie.

"Let's go, time to head out to work," Su Heng said. "I'll finish work a bit earlier this afternoon and go catch some fish with my sister. Are you coming? You can come over to my house for dinner tonight."

Xie Beishen agreed without the slightest hesitation. "I'm going. What time are we heading up the mountain this afternoon?"

Su Heng thought for a moment and replied, "I don't have a watch, so I don't know the exact time, probably around two or three o'clock. We can just meet up on the mountain."

"Got it."

At that moment, Lin Yu walked in holding a flatbread. "Su Heng, the corn has all been husked. What are you planning to do today?"

The team leader hadn't been in the village for the past couple of days, and the villagers were all very conscientious, working wherever they were needed.

In a few days, the busy dual-harvest season would begin, and no one wanted to fall behind schedule.

Su Heng said, "I'm going to weed the western fields. I want to keep an eye on that bastard doing wasteland reclamation; I'm hoping he might drop a rock on his own foot."

Curious, Lin Yu asked, "How did he offend you anyway?"

Su Heng stood up and replied, "Don't ask so many questions. Anyway, it's him or me."

Xie Beishen picked up a bottle of soda from the table, tucked it into his pocket, and walked out. Looking at Su Heng, he said, "We'll come along with you to work in the western fields today."

Su Heng smiled. "Alright."

Along the way, Lin Yu asked out of curiosity, "Su Heng, how did the medicine you gave Ma Zhiming that night actually work? How did you time it so precisely?"

Meeting their curious gazes, Su Heng flashed a cunning smile. "I can't tell you that. I'm planning to fleece him one more time, so you two better not leak it."

Lin Yu chuckled twice. "Your virgin urine is more valuable than gold."

Thinking about it, Su Heng figured that was true. A hundred and ten yuan was indeed worth more than gold.

As the three of them were chatting, Xie Beishen raised his eyes and spotted Su Wanwan walking along the narrow path with a bamboo basket on her back.

Right at that moment, Ma Zhiming suddenly popped out from somewhere, trotted right up to Su Wanwan, and started chattering away with a wide grin on his face.

Xie Beishen's expression instantly darkened, a surge of anger flashing in his eyes.

It seemed this fellow hadn't taken his warning from last time to heart at all.

With a cold snort, he thought that helping Ma Zhiming reap what he sowed would be a piece of cake.