As expected, he once again ate three large bowls of fried noodles, two plates of vegetables, and five chicken drumsticks. As for the "fuqi feipian" dish, he didn't order it again—at thirty-five yuan, it could buy four and a half chicken drumsticks.

Although he already had his stroke of luck, before finding a way to cash in, he felt he couldn't let himself go.

At worst, he could just drink a few more bowls of noodle soup to fill up—what's the big deal?

When it was time to pay, the restaurant owner still looked at him with a strange expression.

Jason Ford couldn't take it anymore. "Hey boss, you run a restaurant—are you afraid of big eaters?"

The boss frowned, hesitated for a moment, but decided to speak honestly. "Haven't you noticed there's a strange smell on you?"

Chapter 5: The Pasture Grass Is Growing Well

Huh? Jason Ford was taken aback, sniffed himself, then raised his arm to smell, and answered blankly, "No smell at all."

"It's a stench!" The boss decisively waved his hand in front of his nose. "You just don't mind your own stink... Well, I'm giving you a friendly warning—others might not remind you."

He didn't want to offend his customer.

However, Jason Ford's reaction surprised him. First, he was stunned, then burst out laughing. "Then I really have to thank you for the reminder—otherwise, how embarrassing would that be?"

Watching this guy leave with a laugh, the boss also smiled and shook his head. "This stinky kid actually has a good temper... Well, he really is a stinky kid—pretty stinky."

Jason Ford had a reason to be happy. Smelling bad—wasn't this the legendary... cleansing of the marrow and changing of the tendons?

Sure enough, it lived up to being a stroke of luck—all the expected reactions were there. It wasn't a fake encounter.

At Hongjie Club, taking a shower was really easy. Most gyms had shower facilities.

Considering his clothes might also smell, Jason Ford went back to the dorm to get a change of clothes. By chance, he saw a phone charger on Paul Reed's desk.

Might as well use it! He didn't want to buy a new charger only to have it blow up right away.

This time, he used his right hand and smoothly completed the charging process.

His guess was right—the old phone started charging, slowly but steadily.

Jason Ford looked around, plugged the charger into the socket under the bed, turned off the phone, and hid it under the bed as well. Only then did he grab his change of clothes and head out quickly.

Under the showerhead, he realized just how dirty he was. The layer of grime on his skin was almost the same color as his skin and quite breathable, so he hadn't noticed it before.

As for the smell? Maybe there was some, but obviously, it wasn't that bad—otherwise, the restaurant owner probably wouldn't have tolerated it.

Clearly, online novels didn't describe the cleansing of the marrow and changing of the tendons accurately. The grime wasn't black, nor was it that smelly.

Jason Ford used soap three times before he finally got himself clean. This strengthened his resolve to stay at Hongjie—showers outside cost money, and... the club's soap was free.

After showering, it was almost 1 p.m., which was the quietest time at the gym.

Jason Ford left the club, pulled out his bus card, rode a public bike to a phone shop five li away, and spent fifteen yuan on a cheap charger. Seeing several newly released smartphones at the counter, he really felt the urge to buy one.

He already had a stroke of luck—why bother saving money?

But in the end, he restrained himself. Not only because he hadn't found a way to cash in yet, but also because the dorm was too unsafe. He was already worried about his old phone being stolen, let alone a new one.

After returning to the dorm, he swapped out Paul Reed's charger, put his phone back under the bed, and climbed into bed for a nap. Unfortunately, he forgot to turn his phone on.

When he woke up from his nap and turned on his phone, he was surprised to find it was already 4 p.m.

The old phone's battery was at 83%.

That was enough for today. He unplugged the charger and was just about to do something when Paul Reed ran in from outside.

The chubby guy was sweating all over, panting as he shouted, "What's wrong with you? Your phone's off? Mr. Grant told you to get over there quickly."

Jason Ford frowned and asked in confusion, "What's so urgent?"

"It's about yesterday," Paul Reed replied with a grin, unable to hide his schadenfreude. "The company had a power outage, Mr. Grant didn't have time to find you. Now the transformer is fixed, so of course this needs to be dealt with... You skipped work yesterday afternoon, remember?"

Jason Ford gave him a strange look. "I'm in trouble, and you seem pretty happy about it?"

"Why would I be happy?" Paul Reed tried hard to hide his glee and spoke seriously, "But you broke company rules—the company can't just let it go, right?"

Jason Ford looked at him speechlessly, then walked out the door.

At this time, the gym was already getting a bit busy, but most of the people coming in were members, and all of them were public employees—after a busy morning, the afternoon was basically paid rest.

With more members around, the junior staff had less to do. The experienced ones didn't need them to show the way.