Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 189

The next day, Lu Yao woke up in Zhao Beichuan’s arms. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a sturdy, well-built body. He did something he had always wanted to but never dared before—he buried his face in Zhao Beichuan’s chest muscles and rubbed against them.

Hmm~ Just as satisfying as he imagined!

“Lu-ge, you’re awake…” Zhao Beichuan’s voice was hoarse as he hugged the head that was rubbing against him with his eyes still closed.

“Mm, what do you want to eat for breakfast?”

Zhao Beichuan flipped over and pinned him down. “I want to eat you.”

Lu Yao’s face turned red as he gazed at him with eyes full of laughter.

Zhao Beichuan ducked under the covers. After a while, he reemerged with a trace of white at the corner of his lips. “Gege, you taste so good.”

“Doing this kind of thing first thing in the morning…” Lu Yao pulled the blanket over his head.

“I like Gege. I want to do this every day.”

Lu Yao burrowed into the covers as well. It wasn’t until his jaw was sore that Zhao Beichuan finally pulled him out. After some more fooling around in bed, by the time they got up, it was almost ten o’clock.

For breakfast, they made some porridge. Lu Yao went downstairs to buy two baskets of soup dumplings. On his way back up, he received a call from Yi Mingde.

“I’ve arrived in A City. When would you be free to meet?”

“How about noon? Let me treat you to a meal.”

“Alright.” Yi Mingde didn’t stand on ceremony. “Could you bring Bai Chi along too? There’s something I want to say to him.”

Lu Yao hesitated. “Uh, I don’t know if he’d agree… Don’t you have his WeChat?”

Yi Mingde muttered under his breath, “He still hasn’t removed me from his blocklist.”

His tone made Lu Yao feel a little sorry for him. “I’ll contact him. If he agrees, we’ll come together.”

“Much appreciated.”

After hanging up, Lu Yao returned home to find Zhao Beichuan, with his injured leg, had already stripped the bed and put the sheets and duvet cover into the washing machine. Even though they hadn’t gone all the way last night, they had still made a bit of a mess.

“Why didn’t you wait for me? You should rest.”

“It’s nothing, doesn’t take much effort.”

Lu Yao helped him onto the sofa. “I bought some soup dumplings—have a bite first. We’re meeting Master Yi for lunch.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yao called Bai Chi. At that time, Bai Chi was at the gym doing cardio, panting as he ran.

“Xiao Lu, what’s up?”

“Let’s grab lunch together at noon.”

“Sure, where?”

“I’ll send you the address later. But just so you know, it won’t be just the two of us.”

Bai Chi turned off the treadmill and wiped his sweat. “Yi Mingde’s here?”

“Yeah. He said you still haven’t unblocked him on WeChat and couldn’t reach you.”

“I forgot about that. We’ll talk at lunch.”

After hanging up, Bai Chi removed Yi Mingde from his blocklist. His phone buzzed like crazy for five or six minutes, as if it had been infected with a virus. In that time, the guy had sent him over a thousand messages.

Bai Chi had never really been interested in Yi Mingde. He was a die-hard looks-first kind of guy, only into attractive people. Every boyfriend he’d ever had was a widely recognized heartthrob. Even his most hated ex—the bone-chillingly creepy brother complex guy—was at least good-looking. So when he saw this guy in thick black-rimmed glasses, with a bowl-cut haircut, and wearing a plaid shirt, he felt absolutely no desire to flirt with him.

But as he scrolled through the messages, a certain photo caught his eye…

Bai Chi’s interest was piqued. He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down to scroll through everything from the beginning.

The photo had been sent in October. It seemed to be taken by a pool—not a selfie. Judging by the angle, it was probably snapped by a short girl or a child.

Yi Mingde wasn’t wearing his glasses. His gaze was slightly hazy as he stepped out of the pool. His usually dorky bowl-cut, wet from the water, was pushed back, revealing a smooth, well-shaped forehead.

And his body—damn. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist, but the guy actually had abs. The defined muscles led downward, where a thick patch of body hair covered his lower abdomen, extending down his legs, which were also covered in dark, dense hair…

Bai Chi licked his lips. Well, well, well, Master Yi… I didn’t expect this from you.

Meanwhile, Yi Mingde had just gotten off his flight. He carried a backpack over his shoulders, still wearing his never-changing plaid shirt, with a black Xuezhongfei down jacket over it.

At least his glasses had changed. His old pair had been accidentally broken by his nephew a few days ago, so he had gotten a new set of half-rim frames, which made him look much tidier. But his haircut remained a disaster—it was hard to imagine any guy voluntarily choosing to keep a bowl cut.

He pulled out his phone to book a car to his pre-arranged hotel. Once he had settled in, Lu Yao’s message arrived.

“Master Yi, can you handle spicy food?”

“I can.”

“Great, I’ve booked a hotpot place. Here’s the address.” A location pin followed.

“OK.”

After replying, Yi Mingde habitually opened Bai Chi’s chat window and sent a message. “Actually, I can’t really handle spice, but to see you, I don’t mind enduring it.”

This time, the message didn’t get blocked. Instead, a “typing…” notification appeared. Soon after, Bai Chi sent back a knowing smile emoji.

Yi Mingde froze for three seconds before his face turned bright red. “You… you unblocked me?”

“Mm-hmm~”

“T-Thank you…”

Lu Yao’s chosen hotpot restaurant wasn’t in the city center but in the suburbs. It was a small place called Lao Du Shuanrou. Despite its remote location, the place was always packed. They slaughtered fresh lamb daily, and all the vegetables were homegrown—fresh and pesticide-free. If Lu Yao didn’t know the owner personally, he wouldn’t have been able to reserve a table even two days in advance.

After a forty-five-minute drive, they arrived. Lu Yao parked in an open lot and helped Zhao Beichuan out of the car.

Bai Chi had arrived first and was chatting with the owner in the courtyard.

Today, he was dressed in a high-end custom casual suit from a niche foreign brand, paired with a light pink shirt underneath. His hair was carefully styled, and his skin was in ridiculously good condition. Standing there, he looked more like he was about to walk a fashion runway than have a meal.

“You guys made it.”

Lu Yao shivered. “Aren’t you cold?” The weather forecast had reported a temperature of only 4°C this morning. Even with a thick sweater and a wool coat, he still felt frozen.

“Cold? Not really.” Bai Chi’s eyes swept past them toward the entrance, but Yi Mingde was nowhere to be seen.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Lu Yao helped Zhao Beichuan in first.

The private room was small, with a single table and four chairs. The table had been used so much that a thin layer of grease seemed impossible to wipe off completely.

“How did you find such a remote spot?” Bai Chi stuffed his hands in his pockets and inspected the chair closely, wary of getting his clothes dirty.

“Just wait until you try it. I found this place through a project I worked on before—the boss was the owner’s brother. He brought us here once, and the taste was unforgettable.”

Lu Yao might seem easygoing about food, but his palate was actually extremely picky. Since he cooked well himself, he had high standards. It was rare for him to praise a restaurant like this.

“Then I have to give it a try!”

Bai Chi laid two napkins on the chair before sitting down. He glanced at Zhao Beichuan across the table and couldn’t resist teasing him. “Hey, kiddo.”

Zhao Beichuan turned to him. “What?”

“You’re from the Northeast, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it really as freezing as they say over there?”

“It’s alright.” Zhao Beichuan couldn’t be bothered to entertain him. This guy always gave him a slippery and insincere vibe, like he wasn’t a serious person.

“How’s it going between you and Xiao Lu? Let me tell you, finding him is like striking gold. In our circle, someone like Lu Yao is one in ten thousand—no, even rarer than that.”

“Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and order.” Lu Yao grabbed the menu and tossed it at him.

“Oh? Feeling shy, are we? Whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn’t notice earlier—what happened to your neck? Got bitten by a mosquito?”

Lu Yao quickly pulled up the collar of his sweater. “Do you still want to eat or not?”

“Eat, eat, eat! Don’t get mad~” Bai Chi laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

They ordered a few plates of lamb, a mixed vegetable platter, hand-rolled beef meatballs and fish balls, along with Lu Yao’s favorites—tripe, omasum, glass noodles, and duck blood. In no time, the table was packed with food.

For the hot pot base, Bai Chi surprisingly ordered a yuan yang pot with both spicy and mild broth.

“I thought you could handle spicy food?” Back in school, every time they had hot pot, Bai Chi was even better at handling spice than he was.

“I’m just thinking about you two, alright? Aren’t you worried about spicing up little Beichuan over there?”

It took Lu Yao a second to react. When he did, his face turned bright red. “Damn it, what the hell are you thinking about all day?!”

“Hahahahahaha!” Bai Chi seemed physically incapable of going a full minute without being obnoxious.

The copper hot pot had already been placed on the table, but Yi Mingde still hadn’t arrived. Lu Yao pulled out his phone and sent him a message.

Not long after, he got a voice reply: “The driver took a wrong turn. I’ll be there soon.”

Ten minutes later, Yi Mingde finally arrived. The moment Bai Chi saw him, his eyebrows knitted together. Was this guy at war with plaid shirts? After taking off his down jacket, he revealed yet another blue-white-gray plaid shirt—his anti-romance aura cranked up to the max. If Bai Chi had known he was still dressing like this, he wouldn’t have bothered wearing this high-end custom suit, freezing his legs off for nothing.

Yi Mingde was so excited when he saw Bai Chi that he even stuttered a little. “S-sorry, everyone, for keeping you waiting.”

“It’s fine, the food just arrived. If there’s anything else you like, feel free to order.”

“No need, this is plenty.”

Yi Mingde sat next to Bai Chi. As soon as he caught a whiff of the pleasant citrus scent of his cologne, he instinctively leaned in a little closer.

The yuan yang pot was placed right in front of him, and everyone started dipping their meat into the broth.

On a cold day like this, eating hot pot was pure perfection. The freshly butchered lamb, hand-sliced, was tender and flavorful. Even the vegetables tasted different from those at other hot pot places, carrying a natural, fragrant aroma. It was no surprise that a place this remote could still be so popular.

Since Zhao Beichuan wasn’t moving much, Lu Yao kept piling food into his bowl. In no time, it was stacked full of meat and vegetables.

“Ge, you should eat too. This is enough for me.”

Lu Yao leaned in and whispered by his ear, “Just tell me whatever you want to eat.”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Bai Chi tapped his chopsticks against his bowl.

“Jealous?”

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t. After all these years, Bai Chi still hadn’t found a boyfriend like Lu Yao—someone sincere, caring, and completely devoted. Unfortunately, they were just too alike to ever be compatible.

Yi Mingde scooped a few fish balls into Bai Chi’s dish, his face flushing slightly. “I saw you eating these earlier.”

That was only because fish balls were low in calories, and he was watching his weight. Still, it was a thoughtful gesture. Bai Chi, for once, rewarded him with a smile.

That single smile completely dazed Yi Mingde. He stared for a good few seconds before snapping out of it and quickly burying his head in his food.

Once they had eaten their fill, Lu Yao finally brought up the topic he wanted to discuss. “Master Yi, do you remember the thing I mentioned to you over the phone last time?”

Yi Mingde wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, “I remember. No need to call me Master Yi. Since you and Bai Chi are friends, just call me Xiao Yi.”

Bai Chi raised an eyebrow.

“You said your boyfriend has had the same kind of dreams?”

Zhao Beichuan spoke up. “Not just similar—the exact same.” Yesterday, he and Lu Yao had compared details. Everything, down to the color of the clothes in the dream, the blanket, and the room’s decor, was identical.

“That’s extremely rare. Can you tell me your birth date and time?”

“December 30, 1997, around eight in the morning.” His birthday was really at the tail end of the year—just one day away from New Year’s.

Yi Mingde asked the waiter for a piece of paper and a pen, then began calculating Zhao Beichuan’s birth chart.

“This doesn’t make sense…”

Lu Yao’s heart sank. “Is something wrong?”

Yi Mingde shook his head. “Based solely on his birth chart, he shouldn’t be fated to be with a man. His Heavenly Stem is Ding, and his Earthly Branch is Chou. Ding Chou—the Year of the Fire Ox. Ding represents fire, meaning his fate is that of a ‘fire ox,’ which traditionally signifies a prosperous marriage with a wife. However, when I combine your two birth charts, it turns out to be an exceptionally harmonious match—one of the highest tiers of compatibility. I’ve never seen a case like this before.”

Hearing this, Zhao Beichuan was overjoyed. Under the table, he took Lu Yao’s hand.

Lu Yao was happy too. “Does this have anything to do with our dreams?”

Yi Mingde rolled his neck, his expression gradually turning serious. He picked up the pen again and quickly scribbled calculations onto the paper, as if he had encountered a problem he couldn’t quite unravel.

Everyone else remained silent, not daring to interrupt.

Bai Chi, meanwhile, rested his chin on his hand and studied the man in front of him. If Yi Mingde changed his hairstyle, took off his glasses, and put on a Teofilo suit, he’d actually look pretty good. They say guys with a lot of body hair have higher testosterone levels… he wondered if this guy was any good in bed.

After a while, Yi Mingde finally looked up, his gaze locking onto Zhao Beichuan.

“This relationship,” he said slowly, “is something you begged for—across three lifetimes in the Animal Realm.”