Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 166

At four in the morning, Zhao Beichuan woke up in the rented garage. He touched the clothes hanging beside him and found they were still damp, so he took a duplicate old-style tank top from his bag and put it on.

Pulling up the rolling shutter, the outside was pitch black. He grabbed his toiletries and an old towel, heading to the nearby public restroom to wash his face.

By the time he finished freshening up, it was about 4:30. He put on his jacket, tucked his fully charged phone into his pocket, locked the door, and set off to work at the nearby farmers’ market.

“Da Chuan is here.”

“Mm.” Zhao Beichuan wasn’t much of a talker and didn’t like exchanging pleasantries. He just got straight to work upon arrival.

He was tall and strong, with much greater strength than the average person. He could easily carry goods weighing one or two hundred pounds. As soon as he arrived, the boss took a break, sipping on a mug of low-quality coffee while chatting.

“How’s your dad’s condition?”

“Still the same.”

“If you ask me, if it really doesn’t work out, just send him back to your hometown. Don’t blame me for being blunt, but how long can you keep dragging this on?”

Zhao Beichuan remained silent, only placing the goods down a little harder than necessary.

The boss smirked, took another sip of the bitter coffee, and changed the subject to complaining about his daughter’s reckless spending—how she bought a bunch of black coffee for weight loss but found it too bitter to drink, so he ended up drinking it instead.

An hour later, after unloading a truckload of goods, Zhao Beichuan received his payment of 100 yuan. He pocketed the money, thanked the boss, and immediately went next door to continue working. He kept at it until around eight in the morning, earning a total of 300 yuan.

After unloading the last batch of goods, the lady boss handed him two large peaches. She swayed her hips as she walked over, giving him a flirtatious look. “Little brother, got yourself a girlfriend yet?”

“No.” Zhao Beichuan put the peaches into his backpack, intending to take them to the hospital later.

“I bet lots of girls are chasing after you, huh?”

“No.” Even if there were, Zhao Beichuan wouldn’t accept. Given his family’s situation, getting into a relationship would only drag someone else down. He had never even considered it.

“Tsk, then how do you deal with all that pent-up energy?” The lady boss ran a hand over him inappropriately.

Zhao Beichuan’s face turned cold, and he took a step back. “Settle the bill.”

“You’re so stingy. I’m not gonna eat you.” The woman took a hundred-yuan bill from her pocket and handed it to him. “If you ever change your mind, call me.”

Zhao Beichuan snatched the money and turned away without another word. He couldn’t be bothered with people like her.

The hospital was more than ten miles away from the farmers’ market. As he picked up a shared bike by the roadside, he noticed a message notification on his phone. Opening it, he saw that the man from last night—the one he had helped fix the leaking pipe for—had added him as a friend.

His WeChat name was also Lu Yao, and his profile picture was a cartoon kitten.

After accepting the request, the other person quickly sent him a red envelope with a message: Payment for the repair last night.

Zhao Beichuan tapped to receive it, only to realize that Lu Yao had sent him 88 yuan.

Hesitating for a moment, he typed: You sent too much.

Lu Yao: Consider the extra as a treat for a drink ^-^

Seeing the little smiley face at the end, Zhao Beichuan’s lips curled slightly. He replied with a simple thanks, then put his phone away and pedaled toward the hospital.

On the way, he bought two servings of breakfast. When he reached the hospital floor, his mother was helping his father clean up—she was weak and couldn’t lift him.

Zhao Beichuan hurried over. “I’ll do it.”

“The nurse came by again to remind us about the overdue fees,” Zhao’s mother sighed heavily, her face clouded. “Maybe… we should go home…”

“We’re not going home. I’ve saved up this month’s fees. I’ll go pay in a bit.” Zhao Beichuan quickly and efficiently finished cleaning his father and changed his clothes.

“It’s not about the money… I just feel bad for you.” Supporting the whole family alone, with such a burden to bear, was like throwing money into a bottomless pit. Her son worked three jobs daily and still had to help at the hospital. She felt heartbroken.

“I’m not tired. Dad worked hard to support us before, and he’ll recover.”

Zhao’s father had fallen from a construction site a few years ago, becoming a vegetative patient. Since the accident was due to his failure to wear a safety harness while operating, the site didn’t compensate them, only offering a mere 20,000 yuan as a payout.

At that time, Zhao Beichuan had just graduated from the sports university. He could have taken a government job as a coach, but because of his family situation, he had to give up his career.

He needed money—lots of money—to afford his father’s treatment and support his mother, younger sister, and younger brother.

After settling his father, he went to pay the hospital bill—16,000 yuan per month, even after insurance reimbursement. He was left with only 1,500 yuan in his pocket. He set aside 400 for rent, gave 300 each to his younger siblings, and handed the remaining 500 to his mother.

“You’ve given me all your money. Do you have enough for yourself?”

“I have enough. Don’t worry about me.”

After finishing breakfast, Zhao Beichuan took out the trash. “I’m heading out. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.” Zhao’s mother watched her son’s retreating figure, her eyes welling with tears. A fine young man, burdened by family struggles, had wasted his best years. He was already 26, yet he didn’t even have a girlfriend…

After leaving the hospital, Zhao Beichuan first went to the school. His younger sister, Zhao Xiaonian, was 17 and a high school junior, while his younger brother, Zhao Beidou, was 15 and in his final year of middle school.

Both of them were better students than he had been, especially his brother, who ranked first in his grade nearly every year.

When he arrived, it was class time, so he waited outside for half a period. As soon as the bell rang, Zhao Xiaonian overheard classmates saying her brother was here.

The girl ran out excitedly. “Big brother!”

“Hey.” Zhao Beichuan smiled. He usually looked a bit intimidating when he wasn’t smiling, but when he did, he seemed much more approachable—especially with that little tiger tooth showing.

“What brings you here?”

“Just came to check on you. How’s school going?”

“I moved up six ranks in last month’s exam, and my English score increased by 17 points! My homeroom teacher says if I keep improving, I should be able to get into a top university.”

“Impressive.” Zhao Beichuan gave her a thumbs-up and pulled out some money. “Buy yourself something nice.”

“No need, I still have money from last time.” High school expenses were relatively low, and she received a financial aid stipend that covered her meals and dormitory fees. She only needed about 150 yuan per month for essentials.

“Take it. The season’s changing—buy some new clothes.”

“I just wear my school uniform. You should keep it for yourself, bro.”

“I have enough. Be good and take it.”

Seeing her brother’s calloused, injured hands, Xiaonian’s eyes welled up. “Brother… maybe I should quit school…”

Zhao Beichuan’s face instantly darkened. “Quit school to do what?”

“Find a job… Deliver food, anything…”

“Nonsense. A low-paying job won’t help. Focus on your studies and get into a good university—that’s how you can truly help in the future.”

“…Okay, I understand.”

Zhao Beichuan ruffled her hair. “Alright, I’ll visit again next month.”

After that, he visited his brother’s school, gave him money, exchanged a few words, and quickly left—he had to hurry back to prepare for his food delivery shifts.

Around noon, Lu Yao finally called property management about the burst pipe. They responded politely, promising to send someone over right away—but by the afternoon, there was still no sign of them.

In the evening, Lu Yao noticed that the water pipe seemed to be dripping again, so he called the property management. They started making excuses, saying that at this hour, the stores selling pipes were already closed and they would come to check it out tomorrow.

Lu Yao didn’t believe a word of it—there was no way they would actually come tomorrow. These property managers were all enthusiastic when it came to collecting fees, but as soon as something went wrong, they would come up with all sorts of excuses.

To prevent the pipe from bursting again, Lu Yao thought of the young man who helped him with the repairs last night. He pulled up WeChat and sent him a message.

“Are you free?”

The message sat there without a reply for a long time. Just as Lu Yao was about to give up and find someone else, the other party finally responded.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Yao quickly replied, “Can you help me replace the elbow joint of the pipe? The property management keeps delaying.”

“Is it leaking?”

“A little, but not too much.”

“Can I come later tonight?”

Lu Yao didn’t know what came to mind, but his cheeks instantly turned red. “Sure, sure, I’m really troubling you.”

The other party didn’t reply again. Feeling bored, Lu Yao clicked into his WeChat Moments to browse.

This person’s WeChat name was simply “Chuan.” He wasn’t sure if that was his real name or just a nickname. The profile picture was a casually taken photo of the sky. His Moments feed was practically empty, but there was no time restriction on old posts, so Lu Yao scrolled all the way down to the earliest one from 2016.

“Dad bought me a new phone. [Grinning face] [Grinning face] [Grinning face]”

Lu Yao chuckled as he continued scrolling. There were only about twenty posts, and he finished reading them in just a few minutes. It was clear that this person had a somewhat introverted personality.

Come to think of it, this young man seemed to be working two jobs—delivering food while also doing home repair services. What a hardworking guy. Maybe he was saving up to buy a house and get married? After all, he seemed like a straight-laced kind of person.

Lu Yao sighed. He was probably destined to stay single for life.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried finding a partner, but anyone who understood this circle knew how things worked. Plus, Lu Yao was a bit of a clean freak—he couldn’t stand sharing “beef” with others, so he had long given up on the idea.

He had bought a few small toys in private, but they could never compare to the real thing. Instead, they only made his frustration worse, so he had simply abstained altogether.

Around ten in the evening, Lu Yao’s phone chimed.

A low voice came from the other end of the call. “I’m downstairs. Can you press the elevator button?” Their building had an entry access system, and unless you were the owner, you couldn’t go upstairs.

“Hold on a second.” Lu Yao hurried over to press the elevator button.

Not long after, Zhao Beichuan stepped out, carrying his tool bag. He was still wearing his food delivery uniform.

“Sorry to trouble you, especially this late.”

“It’s no trouble. I live downstairs.” Zhao Beichuan put on his shoe covers and entered the apartment.

Lu Yao was surprised. “You live in this complex too?”

“The garage.”

…

Lu Yao awkwardly rubbed his nose. It seemed like this young man wasn’t very well off.

Just like the previous night, Zhao Beichuan first took off his outer jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. He bent down to inspect the leaking pipe. Since he had fewer tools on hand yesterday, his patch-up job had been a bit rough, and water was already seeping through the edges.

Taking out a new elbow joint from his pocket, he checked the size—it was a perfect fit. He used a hacksaw to cut off the old elbow joint, and water instantly sprayed out, drenching his entire outfit.

Without changing expression, Zhao Beichuan cut through the other side and forcefully fitted the new elbow joint in place. Finally, he applied waterproof adhesive and wrapped it with waterproof tape. The pipe was now fully repaired.

“Your clothes are soaked through. Do you want to take a shower?”

“No need.”

“At least wipe off,” Lu Yao said, handing him a large towel. “This is new—I haven’t used it before.”

“Thanks.” Zhao Beichuan took the towel and wiped his face. Then he lifted his shirt to wring out the water, revealing a solid, toned abdomen.

His two V-shaped abs ran alongside the well-defined muscles of his stomach, disappearing into his waistband.

Lu Yao suddenly recalled last night’s dream—the sheer force of those V-lines crashing down. In an instant, his legs went weak…

[Author’s Note]

A quick note about the setting—Lu Yao wasn’t hit by a car and sent to ancient times. He met Zhao Beichuan in the present day, so there’s a nine-year age gap between them.