Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 

The rooster crows to wake the sun, and a brand new day begins.

 

Lu Yao opens his eyes, and the person next to him is already up.

 

He stretches lazily and remembers what happened last night, feeling so pleased that even this shabby house seems a lot cuter.

 

He neatly folds the quilt and puts away the thatch, planning to reassemble the clay pot later, as he won’t need to cook in the neighbor’s house today.

 

Around the hour of the rabbit(5am-7am), Lu’s father and brother Lu Lin arrive; they always come early and are the last to leave.

 

As soon as they enter the courtyard, they see Zhao Beichuan already hard at work, gripping the stone pestle with great effort.

 

“Up so early,” Lu Lin greets.

 

“Father, Second Brother, couldn’t sleep, so I got up to work,” Zhao Beichuan replies.

 

“The adobe bricks are almost ready, right?”

 

Zhao Beichuan sets down the pestle and wipes the sweat from his forehead. “I counted yesterday, and we have over seven thousand pieces now.”

 

Lu’s father suggests, “That should be enough. Why don’t we start today? The weather is nice these days, and it would be better to finish building the walls early to avoid worrying about the rain ruining the bricks. If we need more bricks later, we can make them anytime.”

 

“Alright, I’ll listen to Father.”

 

Lu Guangsheng smiles; this son-in-law of his has no faults. He’s diligent, capable, and most importantly, he listens to advice. He agrees to everything Lu proposes, which makes the old man feel especially pleased.

 

Soon, the other workers arrive, and everyone discusses starting to build the walls today.

 

Before laying the walls, they need to mix mud to fill in the gaps between the bricks. The mud is also particular; the yellow clay needs to have two-inch-long straw mixed in. The purpose of these straws is to increase the tensile strength of the mud, making the walls stronger and more durable.

 

Additionally, the water used to mix the mud shouldn’t be ordinary water; they need to boil a large pot of corn mixed with ash flour in advance. After it’s cooked, they’ll dilute it with cool water to pour into the soil, increasing the yellow clay’s viscosity.

 

The Zhao family doesn’t have much corn left, so Lu Yao plans to buy some in the village, but he’s unsure where to go. He takes the money to find Zhao Beichuan.

 

“Zhao Beichuan, come here for a moment.”

 

The person mixing the mud stiffens, and a suspicious flush rises to his face. Luckily, his skin is quite dark from the sun, so no one else can notice.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Our corn is gone. Which family in the village sells it? I’ll go buy some.”

 

“I’ll go buy it.”

 

Lu Yao pulls money from his pocket and places it in Zhao Beichuan’s hand. “Then please buy some beans back too; I’ll make some tofu.”

 

Their hands brush against each other, and Lu Yao’s hand is much smaller, his fingertips delicate and white like freshly peeled scallions. Zhao Beichuan recalls last night… It feels electrifying, and he quickly pulls back the money, tightening his face as he turns to leave.

 

Lu Yao looks at him in confusion. What’s wrong with this guy?

 

After a while, Zhao Beichuan returns with a bag of corn and half a bag of beans. Buying corn in the village is cheaper than going to the grain store in town; one dou(5-6kg) of corn costs only eighty wen(100wen = 1 copper coin), and the beans only cost fifty wen.

 

He places the corn in the kitchen and leaves the remaining money on the stove before silently returning to work.

 

Lu Yao puts the money away, feeling a bit inexplicably displeased, and shakes his fist at Zhao Beichuan’s back. Fine, ignore me then! I can’t be bothered to deal with you!

 

“Sister-in-law, what are you doing?” Zhao Xiaonian runs in, holding her younger brother’s hand.

 

Lu Yao awkwardly touches his nose. “Nothing much. Why are you two here?”

 

“Big Brother asked me to help him light the fire and cook.”

 

“Xiao Dou, go help Sister-in-law pull up a couple of cabbages; I’ll make cabbage and tofu soup for you all at noon.”

 

“Okay!” Zhao Xiaodou runs out excitedly.

 

“Sister-in-law, I need to tell you something,” Zhao Xiaonian suddenly lowers her voice.

 

“What is it that sounds so mysterious?”

 

“About what Tian Dazhuang said yesterday, I know who told him!”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“It’s Song Ping! He must still be holding a grudge over the time we splashed feces on his grandmother, so he’s going around spreading nonsense!”

 

Lu Yao is taken aback. Children don’t usually say such things; it’s likely his mother, Widow Song, is behind this gossip. Lu Yao seems to have forgotten that Widow Song had previously spoken ill of him to Zhao Beichuan!

 

“Sister-in-law, don’t get angry; next time you see Song Ping, I’ll help you deal with him!”

 

“I’m not angry, but you shouldn’t fight with others. How can a little girl go around fighting all day?” Lu Yao notices Zhao Xiaonian has a bruise on her face, clearly from being beaten by Tian Dazhuang yesterday.

 

“If you encounter something like this again, don’t bother with them. If a dog bites you, can you really chase after the dog and bite it back?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian giggles. “Sister-in-law is right; next time, I’ll just pretend they’re barking dogs!”

 

Lu Yao ruffles her hair. “And don’t hold a grudge against Tian Er’s wife over yesterday; she helped us a lot. We can’t blame her for Tian Dazhuang’s lack of sense.”

 

“I understand. Sister-in-law, you’re really nice.”

 

“Where am I nice?” Lu Yao thinks to himself about how even your brother doesn’t want to deal with me.

 

“Everywhere! You’re beautiful, cook delicious food, and can make tofu. I’ve never seen anyone as amazing as you!”

 

Lu Yao felt refreshed by her flattery, but thinking of Zhao Beichuan’s indifference towards him these past few days, he couldn’t help but say, “I feel like your older brother doesn’t like me.”

 

Zhao Xiaonian’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How is that possible? You don’t know how nervous he was when you were sick! I’ve never seen him so anxious before.”

 

Lu Yao’s face turned red, his heart racing. It seemed to indeed be the case.

 

It looked like he needed to find a time to clarify the matter with Xu Dengke to avoid misunderstandings.

 

*

 

After a busy day, the house had taken shape, and in another seven or eight days, they would probably finish building the walls.

 

After work, Zhao Beichuan went alone to the riverside to wash up. He had sweated a lot during the day and was covered in dirt. Thinking about someone’s hand being a little too familiar last night… it was better to wash thoroughly.

 

The sun had already set, and the sky was dim. At this hour, there was no one by the river.

 

The river water was warm from the sun, and Zhao Beichuan stripped off his clothes and jumped into the water. Just as he was scrubbing the mud off his body, he suddenly saw a figure walking towards him from a distance.

 

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Lu Yao. What was he doing here so late?

 

Lu Yao had also come to bathe. The weather had been too hot these past few days, and he had sweated a lot, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.

 

Moreover, it seemed that the lice in his hair had come back; they didn’t itch during the day, but at night, they drove him crazy with their itching, making him want to shave his head for relief.

 

Unaware that Zhao Beichuan was here, Lu Yao looked around to find no one and loosened his hair, taking off his upper garment. He crouched by the river, washing himself.

 

In fact, his body was not much different from a man’s. The only difference was the small, red birthmark on his collarbone, about the size of a grain of rice. If pressed lightly, it turned white, but soon returned to red.

 

As Lu Yao washed and hummed a tune, he wished there was a shower room; taking a bath every day would be so refreshing.

 

Zhao Beichuan, hidden in the river, froze, daring not to move a muscle.

 

In the moonlight, Lu Yao’s smooth and glowing skin shimmered, like a perfect, flawless jade.

 

Zhao Beichuan’s breathing became rapid, blood rushing uncontrollably downwards. He tried to suppress his body’s response, but the more he restrained himself, the more it surged.

 

He didn’t know how long had passed when Lu Yao finally finished washing, threw on his clothes, and left the riverbank with his hair still damp.

 

Zhao Beichuan let out a breath, irritably rubbing his disobedient little brother, then climbed ashore, dressed, and returned home with his wet straw sandals.

 

In the kitchen, Lu Yao had already laid out the straw mats, positioning them a few centimeters closer today. The two straw beds were now only a palm’s width apart, making it easier to sneak over at night. Lu Yao nodded in satisfaction, pleased with his cleverness.

 

Before long, Zhao Beichuan entered. His clothes were washed and hung outside, and he came in bare-chested.

 

Lu Yao glanced up and almost spurted out blood.

 

“You, you, you’re back!”

 

“Yeah.” Zhao Beichuan looked at the two closely spaced straw beds on the floor, took a deep breath, then silently turned his back to lie down.

 

Lu Yao’s hair was still damp. He held a cloth, drying the tips of his hair, stealing glances at the person beside him.

 

The young man had a great physique—broad shoulders, slim waist, long legs—different from the bulky muscles one would see in a gym; these were small muscle groups built over years of hard labor, exuding strength.

 

“Lu Yao.”

 

“Huh?” Lu Yao jumped, thinking he had been caught staring.

 

“You didn’t marry me willingly, did you?”

 

“Arranged marriage by our parents, isn’t that how it goes?”

 

Zhao Beichuan lay flat, staring at the soot-blackened beams of the house, recalling that Zhao Laopo said he was hanged in this very room.

 

On the way back, he thought a lot; prolonging this matter wouldn’t be good for either of them. It was better to clear things up early.

 

“I know you have feelings for a scholar named Xu in town. If you want to…” The words “divorce” felt heavy, making it hard for him to say.

 

Lu Yao’s eyelids twitched. The inevitable had finally come.

 

“Who says I want a divorce? Is it because of what Widow Song said? You believe his words and won’t even ask me if it’s true.”

 

Zhao Beichuan sat up. “I don’t believe what he said. It’s just that you attempted to take your own life on the day of our marriage…”

 

Lu Yao cursed the original owner for leaving him such a mess while trying to figure out how to smooth this over. “I admit, I do know Xu Dengke, and I once thought of marrying him to become a scholar’s wife.”

 

“But I didn’t try to take my life for him. I… I am in poor health and have been lazy at home. I thought I could marry into a wealthy family and enjoy a good life, but my father found me such a poor family, which made me feel hopeless, leading to me trying to suicide!”

 

This reason wasn’t made up; it was about half true, stemming from the original owner’s hanging. Had he married into a wealthy family back then, perhaps he wouldn’t have sought death.

 

Lu Yao forced out a few tears and said sorrowfully, “I married you and cut ties with Xu Dengke. If you despise me, then let’s get a divorce.”

 

Zhao Beichuan sighed. “I don’t despise you.” He liked him too much to despise him.

 

“Then do you still want a divorce?”

 

“If you don’t want to, I won’t.”

 

“Are you still ignoring me?”

 

“I’m not ignoring you. I’m just not good with words and don’t know what to say.”

 

Lu Yao pressed his advantage, moving a little closer and asking, “So when will we consummate the marriage?”

 

Their eyes met, and the air suddenly froze, both blushing deeply.

 

“We should… we should wait until the house is built.” Zhao Beichuan flusteredly turned his back to lie down.

 

Lu Yao blew out the oil lamp, biting his lip and stifling a laugh. How pretentious!