Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 10

On a summer morning, the weather was cool, and the air was filled with the fragrance of earth and grass.

 

Lu Yao was carrying a basket, walking toward the town. This road had been traveled many times before by the original owner of the body, so he knew how to get there without needing directions.

 

From Wangou Village to Qiushui Town was a distance of ten li, which would take about an hour on foot.

 

Perhaps because today was the town’s big market day, he encountered many people along the way. Most were carrying baskets or sacks filled with homegrown fruits and vegetables to sell in the town while picking up some daily necessities.

 

Lu Yao even came across an acquaintance, the widow Song, who had quarreled with him that day.

 

Because of their past disagreement, Lu Yao ignored him. But for some reason, he felt that Song kept following him, occasionally stealing glances.

 

Lu Yao quickened his pace to shake him off, but the faster he walked, the faster Song followed.

 

After a while, Song couldn’t keep up anymore, burdened by the twenty-plus jin of plums he was carrying. Exhausted, he sat by the roadside, fanning his face and cursing Lu Yao from head to toe. “Why’s that cursed guy walking so fast? Is he rushing to his death? Must be up to no good, sneaking off to town to do something shady!”

 

*

 

Half an hour later, Lu Yao finally arrived at Qiushui Town. Although he had the memories of this body, seeing the town with his own eyes was a completely different experience.

 

Walking through the bustling streets, he listened to the ancient street vendors calling out, shaking bells and clapping in rhythm, their voices rising and falling in the distance.

 

“Sharpen knives, sharpen scissors!”

 

“Yellow wine, yellow wine! Three wen for a bowl of yellow wine!”

 

“Pork! Fresh meat! Young man, care for some pork?”

 

There was also an old man selling drinks, a peddler with rouge and powder, and a small beggar asking for food in the corner.

 

All these scenes intertwined, and in that moment, everything he had read about, seen in pictures, or watched on TV seemed to come to life. Lu Yao stood there in a daze, truly realizing for the first time that he had crossed into the past.

 

“Hey! Young man in front, move aside!”

 

A shout from behind snapped Lu Yao out of his thoughts, and he quickly stepped to the side.

 

A mule cart rolled past, the driver shaking his whip to urge the animal forward.

 

Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen any cows or horses in the village. It was said that an ox cost about ten taels of silver, which was far too expensive for ordinary people to afford. Even if they could, they wouldn’t dare to risk it, as veterinary care was underdeveloped in ancient times. If the animal died, the money would go down the drain.

 

Qiushui Town was small, with only one main street. Lu Yao walked slowly along the road, observing the shops on both sides.

 

Although the original owner was illiterate, Lu Yao could read. This dynasty, though unfamiliar from his history lessons, had characters that were largely the same.

 

Every shop had a hanging sign in front, like small flags, with bright colors fluttering in the wind. They bore words like “oil mill,” “grain store,” “cloth shop,” and “inn.”

 

Street vendors weren’t allowed near the shops. If caught by patrolling officers, they’d be fined.

 

To sell goods, you had to walk further ahead, past the entire street, to a wide open space known as the Lower Three Li. There, no fees were charged for setting up a stall.

 

Since most of the able-bodied men were off doing corvée labor, most of the people on the streets were elderly, women, or children, buying and selling goods or bartering, the sound of haggling filling the air.

 

Lu Yao wandered around but didn’t find anyone selling chicks, though he did see ducklings for sale.

 

Ducks would do as well. Though duck eggs had a stronger flavor than chicken eggs, they could be salted or turned into century eggs.

 

He approached to inquire about the price. “Uncle, how much for the ducklings?”

 

“Seven wen for a male, ten wen for a female.”

 

The price was significantly higher than that of chicks. “If I buy more, can you give me a discount?”

 

“If you buy ten, I’ll give you one for free.”

 

If he bought ten, there wouldn’t be much money left. Lu Yao didn’t think it was worth it, so he shook his head and continued browsing.

 

As he headed north, he saw more livestock for sale, and the smell became more unpleasant. There were lambs still nursing, piglets, and even the occasional calf. A group of elderly men stood nearby, commenting on their quality.

 

Finally, at the last stall, he found someone selling chicks. The stall owner was an elderly woman, wearing a cloth wrap on her head, with a hunched back as if she had a problem with her waist.

 

“Auntie, how much for the chicks?”

 

Perhaps because Lu Yao was the first customer asking about chicks that day, the old woman seemed very excited. “Young man, are you buying chicks? Five wen for a male, six wen for a female.”

 

The price was about what Zhao Granny had told him, so Lu Yao squatted down and began selecting.

 

These chicks weren’t the pure yellow ones he was familiar with from the modern day. They had brown feathers with two stripes, looking quite fluffy and cute.

 

“I’ll take eight females and two males.”

 

Hearing this, the old woman started counting on her fingers. “Two males for ten wen, and eight females… eight females…”

 

“Eight females are forty-eight wen, so that’s fifty-eight wen in total.”

 

The woman looked at Lu Yao in surprise, not entirely trusting, and began drawing lines on the ground with a stone. In the end, she accepted his calculation and took the money.

 

After paying, the old woman started putting the chicks into his basket, casually grabbing one after another and dropping them in, five or six in a row.

 

“Wait a minute! I asked for eight females. Don’t give me the wrong ones.”

 

“No mistake, no mistake. If I get it wrong, just bring them back,” she said, grabbing a few more to put in.

 

Lu Yao frowned and reached out to stop her hand. “These ones are male, right?” Before coming, he had specifically learned from Granny Zhao how to distinguish between male and female chicks.

 

The wings of the chicks had two layers of feathers: males had uniform feathers, while females had uneven ones. Male chicks were cheaper and harder to sell, so the old woman, thinking Lu Yao didn’t know the difference, tried to deceive him, but he caught her in the act. Pouting, she picked out the male chicks and counted out eight female ones, throwing them into the basket.

 

Originally, seeing the old woman in poor health, he hadn’t even tried to haggle with her, but she ended up trying to scam him instead. Lu Yao wasn’t one to take a loss. He picked out the sluggish chicks from the basket and replaced them with a few more energetic ones before getting up and leaving.

 

With more than forty coins left, Lu Yao planned to browse around some more.

 

There were few food stalls on the street, and although he wanted to buy two pieces of tofu, he couldn’t find any after circling the area.

 

While wandering back, he ran into that widower Song again. Song was squatting in a corner selling plums, and Lu Yao recalled the recent incident where Song falsely accused Little Nian and Little Dou of stealing his plums. So, he walked over.

 

“Buy some plums? Fresh and crisp plums…” Widower Song started to promote his goods when he saw someone approaching, but when he looked up and saw it was Lu Yao, he paused and pretended not to notice him.

 

Lu Yao didn’t get angry, instead squatting down at the stall next to Song’s and selecting plums.

 

Next to him was a round-faced little girl who greeted him warmly, “Brother, would you like to buy some plums? Five for one coin.”

 

“Are these plums sour?”

 

The little girl smiled, picked out a large one, wiped it on her clothes, and handed it to him. “Try it. It’s sweet and sour with plenty of juice.”

 

Lu Yao took a bite. The taste wasn’t bad. “I’ll take five coins’ worth of plums.”

 

“Alright!” The little girl happily counted out the plums and placed them in Lu Yao’s basket. The plums and chicks were placed together, separated by a thin wooden board to prevent the chicks from pecking at the fruit.

 

After buying the plums, it was still early, so Lu Yao decided to check out the shops he had passed by earlier.

 

The prices in ancient times were exorbitantly high due to low productivity. Even the most basic cotton cloth cost thirty coins per foot. Making a piece of clothing required at least five feet, which amounted to one hundred and fifty coins.

 

A dou of millet cost one coin, and a dou of flour one and a half coins. A dou here was about twelve jin (Chinese pounds).

 

Oil and salt were even more expensive. A small jar of rapeseed oil cost eighty coins, and a jin of salt cost seventy. The salt was coarse and bitter, and had to be crushed before eating.

 

After browsing the shops, it was already noon. Up ahead was a noodle stall, and with his stomach growling, Lu Yao couldn’t resist walking over.

 

“Young man, want some soup noodles?”

 

“How much for a bowl?”

 

“Seven coins with meat sauce, five without.”

 

Lu Yao’s mouth watered at the smell of the meat. Heaven knew that a jin of pork cost over eighty coins, which was far more than he could afford with the money he had.

 

“I’ll have a bowl with meat sauce!”

 

Soup noodles were what the locals called wide noodles. They came with a bit of minced meat sauce, and the taste was fairly average. But for the body’s former owner, who hadn’t had much meat in months, it was like a gourmet feast.

 

Lu Yao slurped up the noodles in big bites. As he was eating, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

 

“A Yao?”

 

“Pfft—cough, cough…” Lu Yao choked on the noodle broth and turned around in alarm.

 

He saw a man wearing a scholar’s hat and a dark blue robe, craning his neck to look at him.

 

“It really is you! Why didn’t you come find me at the bookshop when you got to town?” The man sat down next to Lu Yao without waiting for an invitation and ordered a bowl of soup noodles with meat sauce for himself.

 

This person was the scholar named Xu, the former body’s old flame.

 

Lu Yao quickly stood up. “You’ve got the wrong person. I don’t know you.”

 

Xu Dengke was taken aback, then grinned widely. “Are you still mad at me? I was wrong last time. I shouldn’t have said those things. I apologize.” He gave a somewhat playful bow and tried to pull Lu Yao to sit down.

 

Lu Yao dodged to the side. “I’m already married. Please behave yourself!”

 

“Married? When did you get married? A Yao, didn’t you say you wouldn’t marry anyone but me?” Scholar Xu’s voice wasn’t quiet, and it attracted quite a few curious glances from the nearby diners.

 

Lu Yao cursed him in his mind for being an idiot. What kind of taste did the original owner have? Not only was the guy ugly, but his character was also terrible.

 

They didn’t have much of a relationship to begin with—at most, they’d held hands a few times. But the way he was talking, it sounded like they had made a lifelong commitment. If word of this got out, how would he live it down?

 

“I don’t remember saying anything like that. And if you were serious about marrying me, why didn’t you come to my house to propose earlier? Now that I’m married, you’re bringing this up to embarrass me?”

 

“No, no, A Yao, you’ve misunderstood.”

 

“Don’t call me A Yao. My husband’s family name is Zhao. From now on, call me Zhao Lu Lang.” Annoyed, Lu Yao picked up his basket and left. He hadn’t checked the calendar before going out today and ended up encountering such bad luck.

 

Scholar Xu tried to stop him, but Lu Yao quickly slipped away, leaving the scholar frustrated and scratching his head.

 

Suddenly realizing he only had five coins left, Xu hurriedly told the noodle vendor, “I’ll skip the meat sauce. My stomach’s been upset lately, and greasy food doesn’t sit well.”

 

He had thought Lu Yao would help cover the cost of the noodles…

 

*

 

After leaving the noodle shop, Lu Yao lost the mood to continue wandering around. He hurried back toward the village with his basket.

 

As he approached his home, he shouted before even stepping into the courtyard, “Zhao Xiaonian! Zhao Xiaodou! Come out and help with the stuff. I’m exhausted!”

 

After waiting for a while with no response, Lu Yao, puzzled, pushed open the door. Under the eaves, a bare-chested man was sitting, twisting grass ropes to make straw sandals.

 

When Zhao Beichuan heard the shout, he looked up. The moment their eyes met, it was as if a stone had been thrown into a still lake—*plop*—causing ripples to spread.