Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 

“Sister, should we tell Big Brother about this?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian shook his head, “No way! What if Big Brother gets angry? What if the two of them separate? Do you want Song Ping’s mother to be our sister-in-law?”

 

“I don’t want that!” Xiaodou was so scared that he nearly cried when he heard this.

 

“We should quietly tell Sister-in-law and let him decide.”

 

A heart for a heart. Because Lu Yao treated the two children well, they also thought for him and didn’t want to lose this sister-in-law.

 

When they returned home, Lu Yao was making soy milk.

 

“Go wash your hands quickly; Sister-in-law will serve you both a bowl of soy milk.”

 

After washing their hands, the two children sat silently by the stove, feeling heavy-hearted. Even the sweetened soy milk tasted bland.

 

“Sister-in-law… I want to tell you something.” Zhao Xiaonian hesitated to speak.

 

“What is it?” Lu Yao wiped his hands, hung the cleaned tofu bags, and began to filter the soy milk.

 

“I just caught earthworms by the river with Xiaodou, and we ran into someone…”

 

“Who?” Zhao Beichuan happened to walk into the room, scaring Zhao Xiaonian into hastily changing his words, “No, no, no one, we ran into Tian Dazhuang!”

 

Zhao Xiaodou nodded in agreement, “Big Brother Dazhuang borrowed a bamboo dragonfly for me and Sister to play with.” To convince Zhao Beichuan, he took out the bamboo dragonfly from his pocket to show them.

 

Lu Yao couldn’t help but chuckle, “Oh, so you made up with him?”

 

“I guess so, but I’m still angry at him.”

 

“What’s the big deal? Is it worth getting angry? Even though he scolded you, you also hit him. The fact that Dazhuang came to play with you shows he didn’t mind, so you don’t need to take it too seriously.”

 

Zhao Beichuan said, “Listen to your sister-in-law, play well and don’t fight all the time.”

 

“Oh.”

 

After a while, Zhao Beichuan left, leaving the three of them in the room.

 

Zhao Xiaonian finally couldn’t hold it in and said, “Sister-in-law, the person I just ran into wasn’t Tian Dazhuang; it was Song Ping’s mother!”

 

Lu Yao paused, knowing that meeting with widow Song couldn’t be anything good.

 

“What did you meet him for?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian’s face turned red, “We saw him with Song Ping’s uncle, and they talked a lot about your bad qualities!”

 

After that, the two children took turns narrating what had happened, and Lu Yao’s expression grew graver the more he listened.

 

“Is there anyone else who knows about this besides you two?”

 

Xiaodou said, “Big Brother Dazhuang knows too, but he promised Sister not to tell anyone, not even his mother.”

 

Lu Yao ground his teeth, cursing widow Song’s ancestors in his mind.

 

“You two must not tell anyone else about this.”

 

“We won’t, besides Sister-in-law, we didn’t tell anyone else, not even Big Brother.”

 

Lu Yao rubbed the heads of the two children, “Don’t worry, Sister-in-law will figure something out.”

 

People in ancient times valued reputation very highly. If this matter spread, it would affect not just Lu Yao, but also Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou, along with their unmarried brothers in their maternal family.

 

So he had to think of a way to prevent this from happening.

 

*

 

In the thicket outside the village, after a chaotic encounter, widow Song tidied his clothes, removed the leaves from his hair, and quietly returned home.

 

As soon as he entered the courtyard, his mother-in-law called out to him, “Where have you been?”

 

widow Song was startled and hurriedly replied, “I went to the field to check on the crops. Is there something you need, Mother?”

 

“Stop running outside all day! Can’t you stay at home? If you don’t want to stay here, just go back to your mother’s house!”

 

Widow Song lowered his head and didn’t speak, cursing his mother-in-law in his heart. If it weren’t for the silver that Song Ping and his husband lost, he wouldn’t want to be a widow here!

 

After his mother-in-law had shown enough of her authority, she started discussing serious matters, “It’ll be cooler after the hot days. You should start sewing clothes for Song Ping. Last year’s clothes are too short.”

 

“Alright.” widow Song replied, but he didn’t take it seriously. After all, he had more important things to do.

 

Before long, Lu Yao’s promiscuity would be known in the village. By then, even if Zhao Beichuan would be reluctant, thinking of his sister’s reputation, he would have to divorce him!

 

But how to get the money was a big problem. Grandma Song loved money like life, and it was not easy to get even a single coin from her. Besides, she was willing to spend on his son… Song Ping?

 

Widow Song’s eyes brightened as he suddenly thought of a plan!

 

In the evening, after Song Ping finished dinner and went to bed, as soon as he entered the room, he saw his mother bringing in a bucket of water.

 

“Mom, what are you doing?”

 

“Giving you a bath. You’re filthy from running around all day.”

 

Song Ping didn’t think much of it and took off his clothes to get into the tub.

 

The water inside was warm, making it very comfortable. He sat in the tub while his mother scrubbed the mud off him and soon began to doze off.

 

Gradually, the water in the tub cooled down. Song Ping, shivering in his sleep from the cold, woke up and saw that the water was completely cold.

 

“Cough, cough, why hasn’t Mom finished yet?” Song Ping asked, startled awake.

 

“Oops, I forgot to change the water for you. Come out and dry off!” Widow Song took a cloth to wrap his son and got up to pour the water out of the tub.

 

That night, Song Ping developed a high fever.

 

The next day, Grandma Song heard that her grandson was sick and was both surprised and angry. She scolded widow Song from head to toe, and, feeling pain in her heart, opened the copper lock to take out a pouch of money, urging him to hurry to the town to buy medicine.

 

Widow Song, excited by the money, hurriedly strapped on a willow basket and headed towards the town.

 

At the medicine shop, he picked the cheapest cold medicine and bought two packets. Grandma Song had given him two hundred coins, and after buying the medicine, he still had one hundred and fifty coins left, which he secretly kept for herself.

 

The cheap medicine didn’t take effect, and Song Ping’s illness didn’t improve. Widow Song found excuses to ask for more money to buy medicine, repeatedly sneaking out a lot of money for medicine from Grandma Song.

 

*

 

Ever since Lu Yao learned that widow Song wanted to harm him, he began to figure out how to resolve this issue.

 

However, there was something even more important at the moment. He soaked ten pounds of beans in the morning, intending to make tofu to sell in the village. But he underestimated the weight after soaking the beans; his small frame couldn’t lift them at all.

 

The soaked beans couldn’t be left overnight, or they would spoil, so he had to ask Zhao Beichuan for help.

 

He was quite easy to talk to; as soon as he opened his mouth, he lifted the beans and walked towards the village, while Lu Yao quickly grabbed a wooden basin and a ladle to follow behind.

 

The two arrived at the old stone mill in the village, where Zhao Beichuan was in charge of pushing the mill while Lu Yao fetched water from the river.

 

One had to admit that men’s strength was much greater than that of Ge’ers. Normally, when Lu Yao pushed the stone mill, he could only manage three turns before needing to take a break. Zhao Beichuan, like a donkey, pushed without stopping and did so very quickly, making Lu Yao struggle to keep up with fetching water, causing him to curse inwardly.

 

“You, you should slow down… I need to rest…”

 

Zhao Beichuan stopped, “If you’re tired, just take a break; I can do it myself.”

 

Lu Yao waved his hand, “Don’t rush to push the mill yet; come here, I need to talk to you about something serious.”

 

Zhao Beichuan came over and sat down beside him, just a fist’s distance apart. The hot hormones were overwhelming, making Lu Yao’s heart race; this young man’s muscles were quite enticing.

 

“Ahem, what do you think of Widow Song?”

 

Zhao Beichuan replied without hesitation, “Annoying.”

 

“In what way is he annoying?”

 

“Always trying to get close to me, but I don’t even know him well.”

 

Lu Yao couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s his reputation in the village? Has he done anything bad in the past?”

 

Zhao Beichuan shook his head; he wasn’t one to gossip or inquire about village affairs.

 

“Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

 

“This person is very malicious! He and Song Changshun are plotting to frame me!” Lu Yao recounted what Zhao Xiaonian had seen today to Zhao Beichuan.

 

“You have no grudges against him; why would he want to harm you?” Zhao Beichuan was a bit puzzled.

 

“It’s simply to ruin my reputation, make you divorce me, and then take my place.”

 

Zhao Beichuan’s face darkened, “I would never divorce you, nor would I marry him. I believe you’re not that kind of person, let them say whatever they want.” The thought of widow Song made him feel uneasy; no wonder he had been complaining to him repeatedly, harboring such thoughts!

 

Lu Yao waved his hand, “Your belief doesn’t matter; the villagers won’t care about that. Once this matter spreads, they’ll only find it entertaining, regardless of whether you’re being wronged.”

 

In his previous life, Lu Yao had seen too many such cases of right being turned upside down.

 

He remembered seeing a news report before his transmigration. A girl went to a relay station to pick up a delivery and, because of her good figure and beauty, someone filmed a video and spread false rumors, saying she was his mistress, fabricating stories about her being promiscuous.

 

The scandalous video spread widely, severely affecting the girl’s work and life, and she was privately harassed and humiliated as a sl–ut.

 

It’s easy to spread rumors but difficult to dispel them. The girl continuously explained that she hadn’t done any of those things, but no one believed her; everyone believed what they heard and saw.

 

The prolonged harassment nearly drove the girl to depression, and it was only after her friends helped her report it to the police and found the rumor-monger that the matter ended.

 

In the end, the rumor-monger received a light punishment, but the girl lost her job because of it.

 

Similarly, Lu Yao’s beauty was already a sin; if Xu Dengke stirred up trouble again, it would cement the reputation of him being unchaste.

 

In a modern legal society, even spreading rumors doesn’t receive strict punishment, let alone in an ancient time when the legal system was imperfect. People would only treat it as a topic for casual conversation.

 

Lu Yao: “This kind of thing not only harms me but could also affect Xiaonian’s marriage in the future. I definitely can’t let it happen. I’m telling you just to prepare you mentally; you don’t need to worry about the rest.”

 

Zhao Beichuan furrowed his brow, “Why shouldn’t I worry about it?”

 

Lu Yao squinted and said, “I have my ways to deal with them!”

 

*

 

By the time they finished making the tofu, it was already evening. Lu Yao stretched lazily, rubbed his sore shoulders, laid down the bedding, and prepared to rest.

 

After turning off the light, Zhao Beichuan tossed and turned, unable to sleep, still pondering what Lu Yao had just said. Did he not trust him enough to help? Or did he think he was unreliable? Either reason made him uncomfortable.

 

After holding it in for a long time, he finally said, “You’re my husband; they want to harm you; how can I stand by and do nothing?”

 

Lu Yao felt a warmth in his heart, “This matter involves Xu Dengke, and I’m afraid it will trouble you.”

 

“Lu Yao, I’m not a petty person.”

 

Lu Yao turned to face him, “If they plan to use Xu Dengke against me, I’ll turn the tables on them and make them pay dearly. I need to go to the town to find Xu Dengke in the next few days.”

 

“What do you plan to do after finding Xu Dengke?”

 

“I have some leverage over him; during the township exam, he had a cheating paper hidden in his hair. Scholars value their reputation the most; if this gets out, he can forget about taking the imperial examination in the future.” Lu Yao paused before continuing, “Also, he’s very timid; scaring him will definitely work.”

 

Zhao Beichuan nodded, thinking this method was feasible.

 

“By the way, do you know Song Changshun’s husband?”

 

Zhao Beichuan pondered for a long time before answering, “I have some impression; he has a fiery temper. Once, he had a quarrel with Song Changshun in the field and directly pressed him down at the ridge; he barely fought back.”

 

Lu Yao’s eyes lit up, “Wow, he’s that fierce!” He vaguely had a plan; instead of dealing with widow Song himself, it would be more legitimate to have that guy take action.

 

However, this matter needed to be carefully plotted. It would be best to beat those two thoroughly so they couldn’t cause any more trouble!

 

Lu Yao yawned, “Let’s rest; it’s almost midnight, and we need to get up early to sell tofu tomorrow.”

 

Zhao Beichuan lay down, still worried about Lu Yao. Widow Song and Song Changshun were so malicious that they thought of such despicable ways to harm his husband; if he encountered them again, he would definitely give them a lesson!

 

Just as he closed his eyes and prepared to sleep, he suddenly felt the quilt move, and then a warm little hand quietly slipped into the bedding.

 

That hand first tentatively touched him through his clothes, and seeing no response, slowly slipped inside his garment.

 

The slender fingers brushed against his abdomen, inching downward, seemingly wanting to reach into his pants…

 

Unfortunately, his belt was tied too tightly, causing Lu Yao to mutter softly, eventually stopping at his pubic bone.

 

Zhao Beichuan held his breath, his whole body tense, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest.

 

After a long while, Lu Yao reluctantly withdrew his hand, cuddled the quilt, and fell asleep.

 

Zhao Beichuan exhaled, creeping back carefully; it seemed he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.