BDSMST -Chapter 15 Your Highness the Heir, Please Go Pick Up Chicken Droppings

Gu Xuan took the bundle of dry straw, utterly devastated inside.

He had assumed that raising chickens and pigs simply meant tossing them some feed each day and watching them grow. What he had never expected was that Jiang Suisui handed him the straw so he could line the chicken coop.

The so-called coop was nothing more than a small enclosure in the corner of the yard, fenced off with a few broken wooden planks and bamboo poles. Ten little chicks huddled inside, chirping nonstop. Beneath their tiny feet was a messy scene. Their droppings were small, but in large numbers, mixed with damp soil, the smell became especially pungent.

“Spread the straw evenly and make it soft. That way they won’t catch a chill at night,” Jiang Suisui’s voice came from behind him, as casually as if she were commenting on the weather.

Pinching his nose, Gu Xuan stood outside the coop, face full of resistance, refusing to move.

“I—I won’t do it! It’s too smelly!” he protested with all his might, his little face flushed red. “This kind of work should be done by servants!”

“We don’t have servants here,” Jiang Suisui said, stepping beside him with a small bamboo rake in hand. “Or rather, here, every one of us is a servant—the servant of this land. You, me, Chunxing, Li Si—we’re all the same. If you want to eat, you work.”

She handed him the rake. “Before you lay the straw, clean out the chicken droppings. These are good things. Once composted, they make excellent fertilizer.”

Chicken droppings? Fertilizer?

Looking at the scattered bits of filth on the ground, Gu Xuan’s stomach churned violently. He nearly gagged on the spot.

To make him touch that stuff? It was worse than killing him!

“I won’t do it! Even if you beat me to death, I won’t!” He shook his head like a rattle drum and backed away repeatedly. “I’d rather not eat meat! I refuse to touch those filthy things!”

“Oh?” Jiang Suisui raised a brow, not the least bit angry, and spoke leisurely. “That’s fine. But let me remind you of something. Do you remember the braised rabbit we had last night?”

Gu Xuan instinctively licked his lips. Just thinking about that rabbit made his mouth water.

Jiang Suisui continued, “That rabbit was caught in the trap you set. You put in the effort, so you got to eat the meat. These chickens and pigs are the same. Not only must you feed them, you must make sure they live comfortably and don’t get sick. Only then will they grow quickly and turn into fragrant braised pork and beggar’s chicken.”

She spoke patiently, her voice almost hypnotic. “Imagine it—when the piglet grows up, we roast it until the skin is crispy and the meat tender. Sprinkle it with spices. Take one bite—crack!—juices bursting in your mouth…”

Grrr…

Gu Xuan’s stomach growled traitorously. In his mind appeared the image of roasted suckling pig—golden, crackling skin, tender and juicy meat…

He swallowed hard. The scales in his heart began to tip violently.

Dignity… or braised pork…

It was a difficult choice.

Watching his inner turmoil, Jiang Suisui added fuel to the fire. “Of course, you can refuse. But from now on, any dish involving chickens or pigs—steamed egg custard, stir-fried chicken, braised pork, pork rib soup—you won’t get to eat any of it. You can just watch us enjoy it.”

“You—you’re threatening me!” Gu Xuan stamped his foot in fury.

“I’m reasoning with you,” Jiang Suisui replied innocently, spreading her hands. “Those who do not work do not eat. That’s a rule you should have learned on your first day here.”

Gu Xuan glared at her fiercely. This wicked woman! A devil! How could such a malicious woman exist in this world!

But… braised pork… pork rib soup…

He glanced at the innocent chicks staring at him with black-bean eyes, then at the piglets happily rolling in the mud, and finally at Jiang Suisui’s calm, unruffled face.

Gu Xuan took a deep breath, as if making some momentous decision. He snatched the bamboo rake from Jiang Suisui’s hand, covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve, and charged into the chicken coop like a soldier heading to his doom.

“It’s just chicken droppings! What’s the big deal?!”

Though his words were bold, his body told the truth. The moment the tip of the rake carefully touched the first clump, the pungent stench shot straight to his head. His face turned pale instantly. Clutching a wooden plank for support, he gagged several times.

Chunxing watched from the side, both heartbroken and trying not to laugh. She wanted to step in and help, but one look from Jiang Suisui stopped her.

Some things, he had to experience himself.

Gu Xuan gagged until tears streamed down his face. He felt that all the grievances of his lifetime did not compare to this single day. He wanted to throw down the rake, burst into tears, and declare a strike.

But when he lifted his head, he saw Jiang Suisui standing quietly not far away. She wasn’t mocking him or urging him on. She was simply watching, her gaze calm and focused—as if it were saying: I believe you can do it.

For reasons he couldn’t explain, the urge to give up was suppressed.

He gritted his teeth, wiped his tears roughly with his sleeve, and picked up the rake again.

This time, holding his breath, he followed the way Jiang Suisui had shown him—using the rake to gather the droppings bit by bit into a pile, then carefully shoveling them with a broken wooden board into a battered bucket.

Throughout the process, he kept as far away from the mess as possible. His movements were awkward and clumsy, like a poorly rehearsed stage performance.

By the time he finally cleaned out the coop, he was drenched in sweat, and his whole body seemed to carry an indescribable smell.

He looked at the half-filled bucket of “fertilizer,” then at the much cleaner coop. There was no sense of accomplishment in his heart—only grievance and nausea.

Throwing down the rake, he stormed to the well and scrubbed his hands and face again and again with icy water, as if he could rub off a layer of skin.

Jiang Suisui didn’t interfere. Instead, she went to inspect his work.

The coop was mostly clean, though a few corners had been missed. She said nothing in reproach. Quietly, she picked up the rake and tidied up those neglected spots herself.

Then she spread the bundle of straw evenly across the coop, added some crushed rice bran to the feeding trough, and replaced the water with fresh, clean water.

Only after finishing did she walk to the well.

Gu Xuan was sitting on the stone edge, sulking. When he saw her approach, he turned his head away, refusing to look at her.

Jiang Suisui didn’t mind. She took out a small item wrapped in a clean handkerchief and held it out to him.

“Here. Your reward.”

Gu Xuan glanced at it suspiciously. It was a piece of osmanthus cake—the very pastry he had seen at the market earlier but stubbornly claimed he didn’t want.

Its sweet fragrance drifted gently into his nose.

He stared at the cake, then at Jiang Suisui. His lips trembled, and his eyes reddened again.

He snatched the osmanthus cake and took a fierce bite. While chewing, he mumbled angrily, “You… you’re a devil! A bad woman!”

Tears mixed with the sweetness of the cake as he swallowed them together.

He didn’t yet know that this complicated taste—half grievance, half sweetness—would become the main melody of his life in the days to come.