Chapter 29

In an instant the whole house was filled with a foul smell; Jia Zhangshi put down the rag in her hand, pinched her nose and came to Jia Dongxu, poked him with her finger and shouted, "Dongxu, Dongxu, wake up, don't sleep!" After poking a few times she saw he was still sound asleep, and Jia Zhangshi thought this was unacceptable—if this went on much longer, who knew how long they could stay in the house.

Jia Zhangshi took a basin and went out to fetch a basin of water, intending to splash it directly onto Jia Dongxu's face, but thinking it was her own son she poured out half the water in the basin, added some hot water, and then splashed the basin of water over.

"Oh dear, oh dear, it's raining," Jia Dongxu was completely drenched awake by a basin of water; after regaining consciousness he saw Jia Zhangshi holding a basin in one hand and pinching her nose with the other, and seeing himself soaked all over he shouted loudly, "Mom, what are you doing?" Suddenly a foul smell wafted over, and he exclaimed, "Where does this stench come from?"

After seeing Jia Zhangshi put the basin down, she pinched her nose and said to Jia Dongxu, "Dongxu, what's wrong with you? Hurry up and take care of it—I'll go get you medicine." Having said that, Jia Zhangshi ran off like a shot.

Jia Dongxu carefully sniffed the source of the odor, and he was completely dumbfounded—how could he ever face people again after this? He's over twenty and still pooping his pants.

Then Jia Dongxu endured the discomfort, preparing to get up and fetch a basin of water to wash himself, when suddenly he heard a gurgling sound again and thought, "Oh no."

With a puff, Jia Dongxu couldn't hold it in—what a beautiful sight that would be.

Jia Dongxu tried to take two steps forward, but then thought, "Forget it," and still enduring the discomfort he pulled the curtains shut; just as he took off his pants, he heard his stomach gurgling again, and at this point he didn't dare go outside, so he hurriedly grabbed a spittoon and made a splish‑splash.

In this way, Jia Dongxu used up almost all the paper in the house to wipe himself clean, yet the smell on his body remained—oh dear, it was hard to bear.

What to do, wash up, but Jia Dongxu didn't want to go out in fresh pants either, because he only had two pairs; if the other got dirty too he'd have to go completely naked, so he had no choice but to pick up the basin on the floor, pour in a basin of hot water, test the temperature, and exclaim, "Oh dear, it's scalding hot!"

Then a strange scene unfolded in the Jia household: Jia Dongxu, bare‑bottomed, squatted before a basin of water and fanned it vigorously with a fan.

When Jia Dongxu finished washing, Jia Zhangshi also returned with the medicine, shouting at the door, "Dongxu, Dongxu, come out and take your medicine."

Jia Dongxu opened the door and saw Jia Zhangshi still pinching her nose, asking, "Mom, is my son really that smelly?"

Jia Zhangshi quickly lowered her hand and said, "Not smelly, not smelly," while handing Jia Dongxu a packet of medicine, "Here's your medicine, Dongxu—take it quickly."

Jia Dongxu took the medicine, went back inside to pour water and take it, then remembered the hot water had just been used up, so he picked up the kettle to boil water; just as he stepped out with the kettle, Jia Zhangshi intercepted it and said to him, "Dongxu, Mom's going to fetch water—put your pants in the basin to soak, and wash them later." After saying that, Jia Zhangshi took the kettle and went to fetch water.

Helpless, Jia Dongxu could only go inside and pinch his pants into the basin; after Jia Zhangshi entered and poured water into the basin, without pinching her nose she tidied up the mess in the house for him, leaving Jia Dongxu quite moved, thinking to himself, "No wonder she's my birth mother."

After Jia Dongxu took the kettle again to fetch a pot of water and brought it back to the kitchen to boil, he sat on the little stool by the door, watching Jia Zhangshi's busy back as she cleaned up, feeling deeply moved; when Jia Zhangshi turned around, Jia Dongxu saw a whole head of black lines, and noticed that at some point she had stuffed two cotton balls under her nose.

When He Yuzhu returned, Jia Dongxu was washing his pants at the faucet; seeing Jia Dongxu standing there as if nothing had happened, he wondered inwardly, "How can nothing be wrong?" He walked to the Jia family gate, smelled a foul odor, then smiled satisfactorily and greeted the pants‑washing Jia Dongxu, "Brother Dongxu, washing clothes?"

"Ah, washing clothes," Jia Dongxu replied. He suspected He Yuzhu was behind this, but he had no evidence—so many people had eaten the meal, why was only he affected?

He Yuzhu had just entered the house when he heard Jia Zhangshi shouting in the courtyard, "Dongxu, don't wash yet—come back and eat this chicken to nourish yourself." He Yuzhu couldn't help but puff a laugh, but fortunately he was indoors so Jia Dongxu didn't hear it.

The next morning, Jia Dongxu leaned against the wall and walked to Yi Zhonghai's door, knocking and saying, "Master, open the door, it's me, Dongxu." Yi Zhonghai opened the door to see Jia Dongxu's face deathly pale, his eyes surrounded by dark circles, and he faintly smelled a foul odor; he quickly steadied Jia Dongxu and asked, "Dongxu, what's wrong with you, Dongxu?"

Jia Dongxu waved his hand and said, "It's fine, Master—I'm fine, I just had a bout of diarrhea all night, so I can't go to work today; please ask for leave for me, Master."

"Oh dear, what class are you still attending? Go home and rest," Yi Zhonghai said, helping Jia Dongxu back to the Jia household; just as they entered, they saw Jia Zhangshi holding a bowl and saying to Jia Dongxu, "What's wrong with this child, why are you letting your master support you? Drink this bowl of chicken soup quickly to strengthen yourself."

Jia Dongxu quickly waved his hands and said, "I won't drink, I won't drink— I'll never eat chicken meat or drink chicken soup again in my life." He seriously suspected the chicken was problematic, because he had just stopped having diarrhea yesterday, and last night, with little appetite, he had eaten a bit of chicken meat; then he'd been tormented all night, but seeing that Yi Zhonghai and the others were fine, he couldn't say anything, and even if he did, who would believe him?

He Yuzhu today received a letter from He Daqing; after reading it his mood was very bad. Since the day Gao Yue talked to him about the political review, He Yuzhu had written to He Daqing that night and mailed it the next morning—this concerned whether he could go to university, and he naturally paid special attention, so he waited several days before receiving He Daqing's reply.

Upon receiving He Daqing's reply, He Yuzhu tore it open eagerly, and the corners of his mouth immediately began to twitch. He saw that He Daqing told him that the He family's three generations of tenant‑farmer status need not be worried about, because the claim of their ancestral Tan family cuisine was false.

He Daqing in fact never inherited the Tan family cuisine from He Yuzhu's grandfather; rather, he learned it from Tan Yunqian, the father of Lou Tan Shi, the wife of Lou Dong—meaning He Daqing and Lou Tan Shi are senior‑junior fellow disciples.

Another point is that at the time he sold buns in Sijiucheng; that too was a last resort amid the chaos of war, because he couldn't run a kitchen, and he only did it for a few days, having nothing to do with capital.

He Yuzhu indeed no longer needs to worry about his political review, but he has been boasting everywhere about his supposed ancestral Tan family cuisine; now that he knows it isn't truly ancestral, he feels a bit embarrassed.

Especially in front of Gao Yue, not knowing how many times he had bragged, this made him even more embarrassed; but He Yuzhu also thought, "Our skill is what we learned from He Daqing, after all that counts as ancestral," and instantly felt considerably comforted.