Chapter 9: Radiant Beggar’s Chicken
In the end, the aunt didn’t even take off her jewelry. Xiao Tian said that sulfur hot springs are quite corrosive, and gold necklaces can easily break after soaking for too long.
It didn’t really affect the water quality though—the spring water was changed very frequently, so there was no strict requirement to remove jewelry.
Many hot spring resorts require guests to remove makeup before bathing or wear swim caps, but Xiang Yu wasn’t worried about that. With the system’s water purification in place, the only real concern was customers damaging their jewelry.
So this wealthy aunt just chuckled twice and casually fiddled with the thick gold chain around her neck—about a finger’s width wide.
“If it breaks, I’ll just give it to you guys. Break it? It won’t break.”
She hadn’t brought a swimsuit, clearly not planning to soak in the hot spring. So she rented one on the spot and went into the water wearing all that jingling jewelry.
Gu Xiaoshuang and Li Qian squeezed together and secretly watched her expression while she soaked.
Her face showed the exact same sequence they had all experienced: “Hmm, interesting” → “ahh—nice” → “completely blissed out.”
Then she leaned against the edge of the pool, closed her eyes, and shut out the world, drifting into her own private universe.
“Exactly the same,” Gu Xiaoshuang mouthed to Li Qian, trying hard not to laugh.
So it wasn’t that they were inexperienced—look, even a rich aunt couldn’t handle it.
“Stop staring at her like some creeps,” Li Qian said, clearly understanding what she meant and also trying not to laugh. She lowered her voice and made a shushing gesture.
She swam to the edge and looked at the tray Xiao Tian had brought earlier.
In the bamboo basket were two eggs and a bowl of something dark and muddy-looking. Under the tray was a note that patiently explained the effects of hot spring eggs and volcanic mud.
Volcanic minerals could enhance skin elasticity and radiance, help regulate moisture balance, and had strong adsorption properties that could clean out clogged pores. They also had moisturizing and anti-inflammatory effects, promoting skin self-repair…
It looked like it was copied straight from some Baidu Baike (CN Google) entry, rattling on like a rehearsed speech.
Even divine elixirs wouldn’t have effects like that—this was a pretty typical case of false advertising.
After reading the description, Li Qian pointed at the wooden tray and made an authoritative pronouncement: “This is the egg, this is the mud.”
Gu Xiaoshuang nodded seriously. “Thanks, I’m not blind.”
Li Qian picked up an egg with her fingertips and shook it.
“Why is this raw? Oh, it says here—the temperature of hot spring water is lower than boiling. Egg whites start to solidify around 60°C, and yolks need above 70°C. So in hot spring water you can get a perfectly runny soft-boiled egg—but if I eat undercooked eggs I’ll get diarrhea.”
Gu Xiaoshuang crossed her arms. “Then I’ll reluctantly help you deal with it.”
“It also says hot spring eggs symbolize geothermal energy. Eating them means consuming the energy of the hot spring itself, strengthening your body. Totally fits you.”
As Li Qian read on, she laughed out loud. “The owner is pretty good at storytelling… This egg still needs to be cooked yourself. There’s a hot spring vent near the pebble area, be careful—it’s hot.”
“Go find the spring vent over there, then just hang the basket in it.”
Even though none of them were particularly interested in eating eggs, cooking them in hot spring water was still quite fun.
Gu Xiaoshuang happily carried the bamboo basket off to find the spring vent, and sure enough she spotted a high-temperature bubbling outlet in a corner.
It was enclosed with a fence so people couldn’t get too close. The bamboo basket had a small hook so it could be hung there.
White steam billowed from the vent, with hot water splashing upward in bursts. After the eggs were lowered in, they tumbled around energetically in the spring, as if they were also taking a hot spring bath.
There was a sign indicating how many minutes to wait before retrieving them. Since many people left their phones outside while soaking, a small hourglass timer was placed beside the cooking pool, with sand flowing like a miniature waterfall.
It was extremely—fun.
Rather than eating eggs, it felt more like playing house. Gu Xiaoshuang carefully picked out an hourglass with a bit of glitter in it and carried it back with her.
By the shore, Li Qian was using a wooden-handled spoon to poke at the soft, sticky lump of black mud. When she saw Gu Xiaoshuang come over, Li Qian quickly dipped a finger into it and launched a sneak attack, smearing a glob onto her friend’s nose.
“You’re playing dirty!” Gu Xiaoshuang looked horrified as she wiped it off her nose. The cold, slimy texture gave her goosebumps.
“Can you even put this on your face? It’s like slime.”
“Of course you can. The package says it whitens the skin—natural mineral ions and everything.” Li Qian grinned and patted her own face, which was already breaking out in acne. “My face is full of pimples anyway, you use it.”
Gu Xiaoshuang shook her head and carefully slid into the water at a spot far away from the volcanic mud, then comfortably soaked in the hot spring with her eyes closed.
“I’ve got sensitive skin,” she said lazily. “You use it.”
Even though they were students with tight budgets, they still had standards when it came to quality of life. They had done plenty of research and compared options carefully—unknown substances like this weren’t something Gu Xiaoshuang would casually put on her face.
At this point, the hot spring had already “paid for itself.” For things like the complimentary hot spring eggs and volcanic mud included in the package, everyone had become so relaxed and softened by the soak that they weren’t very interested in trying new things.
“You chose the package, you use it.”
“You bought the voucher, you use it.”
“Then you go throw it away.”
“You go throw it away.”
The two of them pushed the responsibility back and forth with zero substance. Nearby, the aunt who had been resting with her eyes closed heard the commotion and raised her voice.
“What is that stuff? Volcanic mud? Let me take a look.”
The two girls hurriedly nodded. In the next moment, the aunt suddenly dove into the water, swimming a few meters underwater before popping up right in front of them.
When she emerged, besides her dazzling gold necklace and jade bracelet, she also showed off a pair of strong, toned arms.
Before entering the water, she had already put on a swim cap, goggles, and a racing swimsuit—she looked like a very energetic athletic type.
She picked up the mixing spoon and stirred it a few times. Under the wooden spoon, the volcanic mud spread out gently like a mousse cake, thick and smooth like yogurt.
Compared to Greek yogurt, it was a bit more fluid, but thicker than regular yogurt—a very delicate, silky texture.
“This actually adheres really well. Better than the stuff at beauty salons.”
The aunt felt the gentle resistance as she stirred the volcanic mud with the spoon, already able to imagine how softly it would wrap around the skin.
She scooped up a small bit and sniffed it at the tip of her nose.
“No weird smell, and no random added fragrances either.”
There was only a faint, earthy scent—simple and unrefined—along with a mild mineral note, like a scoop of dark gray ice cream.
“If you girls don’t want it, then…”
Before she could finish, Li Qian quickly jumped in, “I’ll try it! I’ll try it!”
Rather than letting it go to waste, it might as well be used on her legs or hands.
The aunt smiled in satisfaction. “That’s more like it—no wasting things. Come on, Auntie will help you apply it. This stuff turns into a crust when it dries.”
Faced with an overly enthusiastic “social auntie,” the two students, whose shyness flared up in front of strangers, quickly surrendered.
Li Qian stood there helplessly as layer after layer of volcanic mud was smeared onto her face. Gu Xiaoshuang stared wide-eyed as her friend was evenly coated like cured meat being prepared for New Year—gradually turning into something resembling a tribal face paint.
The aunt, satisfied, scraped the last bit of mud from the bottom of the bowl with the wooden spoon. Looking at Li Qian’s already fully coated face, she seemed a bit regretful. Then she turned the spoon toward Gu Xiaoshuang, who was standing there like a startled little bird.
“Little girl, you want some too?”
“No, no, I’m good.”
Gu Xiaoshuang quickly refused, her feet subtly retreating underwater by half a step, afraid she would end up the same as Li Qian.
The aunt then directed Li Qian to raise her arm and applied a thick layer to the outer side of her elbow, where there was quite a bit of dry skin.
“The owner here is pretty honest,” she said. “They give you a lot. If it works well, I’ll buy a whole bucket when I leave.”
Li Qian stood there like a scarecrow that had been shaped and set, arms raised, face covered in mud, not daring to move at all. Still, she politely kept saying, “Thank you, Auntie, thank you, Auntie…”
“What’s there to thank me for? I look at you girls like you’re my own daughters. My daughter’s also in university.”
The kind-hearted aunt, having done her good deed for the day, climbed out of the pool and went off to steam herself wrapped in a straw mat.
Only then did Gu Xiaoshuang shuffle over to Li Qian.
“How does it feel?”
At this point, Li Qian touched the mud crust on her face. “It feels like it’s drying… my skin feels so tight.”
She tried to make facial expressions—frowning, smiling—but as the volcanic mud gradually hardened, her facial muscles were becoming less responsive. The strange sensation made her burst into a loud “ga-ga-ga” laugh.
“Do I look like a terracotta warrior?”
“It’s really tight—like, physically tight.” Because the mud crust had locked her face in place, she couldn’t even laugh properly, which somehow made her want to laugh even more.
“It’s like those ads that say ‘instant lifting, instant firming.’ I don’t know if it whitens or anything, but my skin definitely feels pulled tight…”
Gu Xiaoshuang tapped her face. The outer layer had already completely hardened, sounding dull and solid.
She looked at the mist rising from the hot spring, then at Li Qian—still steaming and coated in mud—and said sincerely:
“Compared to a terracotta warrior… you look more like that beggar’s chicken.”
Halfway through their soak, the aunt had gone off to do her skincare treatment, and the three of them parted on friendly terms. After staying in the water for so long, both Gu Xiaoshuang and Li Qian also climbed out to rest.
Gu Xiaoshuang went to check on the hot spring eggs, while Li Qian washed the mud off her face.
She scooped up handfuls of water, gently scraping off the dried mud mask with her fingernails. The skin that had been sealed for so long suddenly came into contact with clean water—and in an instant, it felt like it came alive again. The refreshing, breathable sensation made her scalp tingle.
“Oh my god!! This feels amazing!”
Li Qian suddenly lifted her face out of the water, eyes closed, savoring the feeling of her skin “breathing” like it had been reborn.
“Xiaoshuang, Xiaoshuang, look at me!”
“Busy fishing the eggs, no time to deal with you…”
Li Qian buried her face back into the water, carefully washing off the remaining volcanic mud with her hands and a face towel. Layer by layer, the mud was rinsed away. Every touch of her fingertips against her cheeks felt unusually soft and smooth.
Those pimples that had been swollen and painful from being blocked suddenly calmed down for once, like they had fallen asleep and stopped causing trouble. The remaining skin felt as tender as a freshly peeled boiled egg.
And it wasn’t that fake “slippery” feeling—this was real. After oil and impurities were stripped away, what was left was clean and refreshed. Her whole face felt soft and slightly bouncy.
Li Qian couldn’t believe it. She touched it once, then again, then rushed to the sink to look in the mirror, turning her head left and right.
“Xiaoshuang! Xiaoshuang! Look at me! Look at me!”
Gu Xiaoshuang was still busy fishing the eggs. With Li Qian making noise behind her like a monkey from Mount Huaguo, she glanced back, let out a soft “huh?”, then looked back again.