Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 1

At the end of June, during the dog days of summer, the sun blazed fiercely.

The huge sun scorched the earth, making the big yellow dog lethargic and slumped under a big tree, seeking shade.

At the eastern end of the village, a family’s main door was adorned with red paper, indicating a recent wedding, but the courtyard was eerily quiet, devoid of any festive atmosphere.

Inside a narrow, dimly lit room, two women sat beside the kang (a traditional heated bed) whispering.

“It’s better to live than to die. How could they be so desperate to hang themselves?”

An elderly woman said, “Da Chuan is not home either. If anything happened, how would we explain it to him?”

“Cough, cough, cough, water, is there any water?” A weak and hoarse voice interrupted their conversation.

“Oh, you’re finally awake!” The old woman quickly brought a clay bowl and held it to his lips.

The bowl contained warm, slightly sour water. Lu Yao forced himself to drink it slowly despite the discomfort.

In reality, he had been awake for a while, but he had been pretending to be asleep because, apart from pretending, he couldn’t hide his panic.

The unfamiliar surroundings, strange people, and chaotic memories in his head took him half a day to barely understand his situation.

Lu Yao had traveled to a new world, inhabiting a body with the same name as his own—Lu Yao. Yesterday, this person had just married a man.

Indeed, in this era, same-sex marriage was possible, and incredibly, men could also bear children. Such people were born with a vermilion birthmark, known as “little gentlemen,” and Lu Yao had become one.

The original owner of this body had just married the previous day and had committed suicide by hanging that night. Fortunately, someone had found and rescued him. However, the original owner must have died, otherwise, Lu Yao wouldn’t have been able to take over this body.

After finishing the bowl of water, the elderly woman said, “It’s good that you’re awake. Don’t do anything foolish again.” Seeing that Lu Yao didn’t respond, she continued, “Think positively. Although the Zhao family is poor, Da Chuan has hunting skills. You won’t starve living with him.”

The younger woman also offered some comforting words. They could only advise; ultimately, it was up to him to come to terms with it.

With lunch approaching, the two women got up to leave.

Lu Yao sat up with difficulty, his throat burning, likely injured from the hanging.

The old woman quickly said, “Don’t get up. Just lie down and rest. I’m Zhao, and I’m related to Da Chuan. Everyone calls me Zhao Granny. This is Sister Tian Er. If you need anything, just call us.”

Once they left, Lu Yao immediately got up, shuffled to the back of the house, and urinated. This was a release from the previous life’s urgency.

It’s somewhat embarrassing to admit, but in his past life, he had been hit by a car on his way to a public restroom due to urgent need, and when he next opened his eyes, he found himself in this strange new era.

The memories left by the original owner were chaotic, and it took a while to sift through them for useful information.

Lu Yao was nineteen years old this year, with five siblings, and he was the third oldest. His eldest brother had died early, his second brother was married, and there were two younger brothers who were unmarried.

The family he married into was the Zhao family. Lu Yao couldn’t remember his husband’s exact name but knew that he was an orphan with young siblings. The reason he couldn’t remember the name was because the original owner wasn’t interested in him.

The original Lu Yao was infatuated with a scholar from the town who promised to marry him once he became a scholar. However, after waiting three or four years with no sign of the scholar passing the exams, Lu Yao’s family became anxious. Given that the age for marriage for little gentlemen was short, and getting married after twenty was even more difficult, a matchmaker came with a proposal, and Lu Yao’s father decided to marry him off.

The original Lu Yao was still hung up on his scholar lover and naturally refused to marry. After being forced into the bridal sedan, he hung himself from the beam in the bridal chamber right after the wedding.

“Sigh.” Lu Yao propped his chin and sighed. This was a tragic person, but since he was now using this body, he had to live well. He certainly didn’t have the courage to die again.

Moreover, he felt a bit of joy about his situation.

Lu Yao was gay, but he had never dared to come out due to family pressure.

He had three older sisters, and his parents had him when they were in their forties.

The old-fashioned thinking of his parents made passing on the family line more important than anything else. If he had admitted his preference for men, his parents would have been devastated.

Thus, he lived a solitary life until his death in his previous life.

Now, having traveled to this new era, not only was he ten years younger, but he also had a legitimate husband… Well, it wasn’t all bad.

Footsteps rustled at the courtyard entrance, and Lu Yao looked up.

“Ghost!” Two children, around five or six years old, cried and ran away.

After some thought, Lu Yao realized these children were his new husband’s younger siblings.

The children ran crying to the neighbor’s house, and soon were brought back.

“That’s your new sister-in-law. She’s not dead, don’t be afraid.” Sister Tian Er, who was busy cooking, had little patience, so she pushed the children back to the courtyard, gave Lu Yao a nod, and left.

Lu Yao cleared his throat and waved at them, “Come here.”

The children looked at him fearfully, not moving closer.

It was understandable they were scared; the original owner’s suicide had been discovered by them first. Having never encountered such a thing, they had nightmares all night.

Lu Yao originally intended to ask where their elder brother was, but after going through the original owner’s memories, it seemed that the husband had gone to perform labor service right after the wedding.

In this era, labor service was quite demanding. Except for those with disabilities or severe illnesses, every male aged eighteen to fifty had to serve two to three months of labor service annually.

Labor service typically lasted from the end of spring plowing until the start of autumn harvest. The work involved was exhausting, including building the Great Wall, digging canals, reclaiming wasteland, and repairing tombs. Those in poor health could work themselves to death.

The new husband had reached eighteen and needed to serve labor, so to ensure his younger siblings were cared for, he hurriedly married.

Who would have thought that the husband, whom he hadn’t had a chance to properly observe, would be taken away by the government officials for labor service, and would not return until at least before the autumn harvest.

New to this place, Lu Yao wasn’t sure how to bond with the children of this ancient era. His new body hadn’t eaten much the previous day, and now he felt dizzy from hunger. He decided to cook something to fill his stomach first.

Upon entering the house, Lu Yao began to carefully examine his new surroundings. It was clear he would be staying here for a long time.

The house was quite old, with a wooden structure as the main frame. The walls were made of yellow mud mixed with straw, and inside was a bedroom with an outer room serving as the kitchen.

The kitchen was sparsely equipped. It had a low stove made of yellow mud, a dish rack, and two large clay jars. The walls were blackened from smoke, with spider webs hanging in the corners, and occasionally, a spider the size of a fingernail could be seen crawling on them.

Lu Yao shifted his gaze and continued to inspect the rest of the place.

The stove was low, also made of yellow mud, and had a white ceramic pot on top. Iron pots were a luxury item for the wealthy; according to the original owner’s memories, their family only used pottery and wooden utensils.

One of the clay jars contained water, while the other held grains. Lu Yao opened the jar with the grains and found it half-full of millet. If used sparingly, it would last until the autumn harvest.

The dish rack had a few items: an oil jar, a salt jar, three chipped ceramic bowls, and three pairs of chopsticks. Nothing else was available.

Lu Yao sighed inwardly, realizing how impoverished they were.

Of course, the Zhao family, who could afford to marry off a daughter, wasn’t completely destitute. In this era, having a house and land with enough food was already better than more than half of the population, with some people not even having a house, collectively referred to as “drifters.”

After surveying the kitchen, Lu Yao rolled up his sleeves and prepared to start a fire to cook. In his previous life, he lived alone and was quite skilled at cooking. Friends often praised his cooking, saying it was comparable to that of restaurant chefs.

However, he struggled with starting a fire.

In the past, he had used either natural gas or an electric stove, never having used a traditional mud stove. Moreover, there were no lighters or matches—how was he supposed to light the fire?

Just as he was at a loss, he noticed the two children peeking at him from the doorway.

Lu Yao waved at them again and put on a friendly smile. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not a ghost. I was just feeling desperate yesterday, but I’m fine now.”

Perhaps his smile was too charming, as the younger boy couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really not a ghost?”

“No, I’m not. I’m married to your elder brother and will live well with him from now on.”

The boy’s eyes brightened, and he was about to enter the room when the girl behind him grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. “Da Zhuang Ge said mountain spirits and ghosts often lie and deceive, leading children away to eat them!”

The boy turned pale with fear and quickly hid behind the girl.

Lu Yao smiled helplessly, letting them be. The more he explained now, the less they would believe him. Perhaps they would come around in a few days.

Seeing that Lu Yao didn’t deny it, the girl thought she was right and proudly raised her chin. However, she soon felt something was amiss and hurriedly pulled her brother back into the courtyard.

Following the original owner’s memories, Lu Yao finally managed to light the fire with flint. It was a difficult task; his fingers were almost worn out. Next, he was challenged by the ceramic pot.

It seemed the original owner hadn’t cooked much before marriage and had limited experience with using the ceramic pot.

Lu Yao could only follow a rough method, using the ceramic pot like a pan, pouring in the washed millet, and adding half a pot of water to start cooking.

The ceramic pot was different from an iron pot; it heated slowly and unevenly. After more than ten minutes, there was still no steam coming from the pot. Lu Yao desperately added more kindling. Half an hour later:

“Crack!” The ceramic pot actually cracked from the excessive heat.

The “dog days of summer” refers to the hottest period of the summer, typically occurring in late July and August. The term originates from the ancient Greeks and Romans, who associated the hottest days of summer with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, which was part of the constellation Canis Major (the Great Dog). In this context, it emphasizes the intense heat and discomfort of the summer season.