BDSMST -Chapter 9 A Bowl of Spiritual Spring Water — The Brat’s Body Doesn’t Lie

When Jiang Suisui returned to the house, Gu Xuan was so hungry he didn’t even have the strength to whimper. He lay curled up in the straw like an abandoned kitten, his small body twitching from time to time, looking pitiful beyond words.

Chunxing stayed by his side, eyes red with worry, almost in tears. Yet she didn’t dare disobey Jiang Suisui’s orders. She could only keep wiping his forehead with a damp cloth.

“Madam, you’re back.” Seeing Jiang Suisui, Chunxing looked as though she had spotted a savior.

Jiang Suisui set down the empty bucket and walked over. She crouched and placed a hand on Gu Xuan’s forehead. It was slightly hot. After two days of hunger, crying, and tantrums, even a five-year-old’s body was beginning to protest.

If this continued, something serious would happen.

“Go get the clay pot,” Jiang Suisui instructed.

Chunxing quickly brought over the pot used for cooking porridge. From the waterskin she carried—now filled with spiritual spring water—Jiang Suisui poured half a bowl of clear liquid into the pot and handed it to Chunxing.

“Feed it to him.”

Chunxing hesitated when she saw how crystal-clear the water was. “Madam, this… this is cold water. The Young Lord is feverish. If he drinks this, will it—”

“Let him drink.” Jiang Suisui’s tone left no room for argument.

Chunxing dared not ask further. She carefully supported the weak Gu Xuan and brought the bowl to his cracked lips. “Young Lord, have some water. Moisten your throat.”

Gu Xuan was too hungry to think clearly. Feeling something cool touch his lips, he instinctively opened his mouth and swallowed in small gulps.

The water infused with spiritual spring flowed down his parched throat into his stomach.

At first, it was simply cool. But soon, an indescribable comfort began spreading from his stomach throughout his body. Like rain soaking into parched earth, every exhausted cell seemed to awaken with renewed vitality.

The cramping in his stomach gradually eased. The weakness in his limbs diminished. Even the heat clouding his head seemed to clear.

Subconsciously, he licked his lips. The water… seemed slightly sweet? Better than any mountain spring water he had ever tasted.

He cracked his eyes open and saw the bowl in Chunxing’s hands. Summoning all his strength, he rasped hoarsely, “…More… I want more…”

“Ah, yes, yes!” Chunxing was overjoyed to see him willing to drink and moved to pour another bowl.

“There’s no more.” Jiang Suisui stopped her calmly. “If you want more, you can have it. Tomorrow, pick up your little hoe and dig up your plot of land. For every patch you turn, I’ll give you a bowl of water. Finish the whole plot, and you’ll have food.”

Having just regained a sliver of strength, Gu Xuan nearly fainted again from anger upon hearing this.

He shot his eyes open, glaring at Jiang Suisui with bloodshot eyes. His lips trembled, but he was too weak to curse her.

That wicked woman! A devil!

She clearly had such delicious water, yet she used it to threaten him!

Jiang Suisui completely ignored his accusing stare. Rising to her feet, she said to Chunxing, “You’ve worked hard all day too. Go to sleep early. There’s plenty to do tomorrow.”

With that, she returned to her own pile of straw and lay down to rest.

The effect of the spiritual spring water was remarkable.

When Gu Xuan woke early the next morning, his fever had subsided. Though his stomach still growled with hunger, his body no longer felt faint and powerless. Instead, there was a trace of strength.

He looked at Jiang Suisui, who was drawing water in the courtyard, his gaze complicated.

He didn’t know what kind of magical water she had given him the night before—but he knew that he very, very much wanted another bowl.

Breakfast was still wild vegetable porridge.

After Jiang Suisui and Chunxing finished breakfast, they picked up their hoes and prepared to head to the fields. Before leaving, Jiang Suisui glanced at Gu Xuan.

“Have you decided? Will you keep lying there and starving, or come to the field and earn your food?”

Gu Xuan’s lips twitched. He wanted to say, “I’d rather starve to death than work.” But the memory of last night’s sweet, refreshing water—and the burning hunger in his stomach—instantly crushed that fragile bit of pride.

He said nothing. Silently, he climbed to his feet, walked to the corner, and picked up the small hoe he had thrown away the day before.

His movements were slow, his face full of reluctance, yet he still carried the hoe and followed behind Jiang Suisui.

Chunxing, watching from behind, covered her mouth in shock.

The little tyrant… had actually compromised?

At the vegetable patch, Jiang Suisui pointed to his “task area” and repeated yesterday’s requirement. “Weed and turn the soil. If you don’t finish, there’s no food.”

Gripping the hoe, Gu Xuan looked at the weeds taller than himself. His face turned pale again.

He had tried yesterday. He couldn’t even make a dent.

“Um…” He hesitated for a long time before finally muttering in a voice barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, “The soil… is too hard…”

It was the first time he had spoken to Jiang Suisui without shouting or issuing commands—almost sounding like he was asking for help.

Jiang Suisui glanced at him but did not mock him. Walking to the edge of his plot, she picked up her hoe and demonstrated.

“That’s not how you use it. Don’t just smash it down with brute force. Use your waist to drive the motion. Aim for the root, cut in at an angle, then pry upward with leverage.”

As she spoke, she swung the hoe smoothly. Within a few strikes, a stubborn clump of weeds was uprooted, bringing up a large chunk of loosened soil.

Gu Xuan stared in astonishment.

So… there was actually technique to farming?

Jiang Suisui handed the hoe back to him. “Try it yourself.”

Imitating her stance, he adjusted his posture, mustered his strength, and aimed at another clump of weeds. He angled the hoe in as she had shown.

Though his strength was small, his aim was correct. With a hard upward pry, the weeds actually loosened!

His eyes lit up as if he had discovered a new world. He tried again. It was still tiring, but far more effective than blindly smashing the ground the day before.

“Clear the weeds first. Pull out all the roots. I’ll teach you how to turn the soil later,” Jiang Suisui said before returning to her own patch.

Looking at his small achievement, Gu Xuan felt a strange sense of accomplishment rising in his chest. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. He still hated working—but maybe… it wasn’t completely unbearable?

Especially when he grew thirsty from the labor and Jiang Suisui truly kept her promise, handing him a bowl of cool, sweet “well water.”

As he drank, he secretly glanced at the woman working not far away.

She wore the simplest coarse cloth clothes, a slightly ridiculous straw hat, no valuable jewelry, and even had specks of mud on her face.

This appearance was completely different from the quiet, distant stepmother he remembered sitting by the window reading in the Marquisate.

Yet for some reason, he felt that the current her… was somehow more interesting.

A brat’s body was always more honest than his mouth.

After a bowl of spiritual spring water, his strength recovered quickly. Tightening his grip on the small hoe, he looked at the wide stretch of weeds before him. For the first time, he did not feel despair. Instead, a thought surfaced—Maybe I can do this.

It was just weeding! For that delicious bowl of water—and for dinner tonight—he would give it everything he had!