With a pull...
The bathroom door opened.
Inside, a wave of hot steam rushed at him, hitting Dong Xuebin's face and filling his nose, soaking him all over. The steam mostly carried the scent of shampoo and body wash, but if he sniffed carefully, he could still pick up the feminine scents of Big Sister Xu and Big Sister Zhang. Dong Xuebin was no bloodhound, but both women had taken their clothes off inside, and he knew them far too well not to tell their scents apart. Big Sister Xu had a subtle, restrained fragrance, while Big Sister Zhang's was bold and lingering.
The steam was thick.
The whole bathroom was hazy.
Dong Xuebin left the door open when he came in, and quite a bit of steam squeezed out through the crack. Gradually, visibility inside improved somewhat.
"Xuebin."
"Yes, Big Sister Xu."
"Go ahead and do your business."
"Okay, okay. Sorry about this."
"It's fine. I should apologize—I forgot to ask you before we started washing."
Dong Xuebin took two steps forward, found the toilet, and lifted the lid. But his gaze did not settle on the toilet. Instead, it drifted involuntarily toward the Plastic Waterproof Curtain where Xu Yan's voice had come from. The curtain had rings attached to a hanging cord overhead, enclosing a corner of the bathroom. Steam kept billowing out from behind it. Though he could not see through the curtain, Dong Xuebin could clearly see four pale, bare feet beneath its raised edge. One pair was clean and unadorned, with a faint little scar near the ankle. They were obviously Big Sister Xu's feet, injured during routine National Security training when she was young. The other pair had toenails painted a vivid red, clearly Big Sister Zhang's.
All four bare feet were beautiful.
"Xuebin,