Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 32
hii guys, its nini here hope you're liking this novel - if you do please rate this novel on NU too
hi guys im translating nother wn of the same author in another site you can read it here - LINK
Shangjing is the capitalThe rabbit looked quite plump, but with so many people, there wasn’t much left after sharing. Lu Yao only ate one front leg, giving the rest to the children.
After finishing the meat, the kids played in the yard, engaging in a game of “eagle catches chicken,” a game that children would still love to play even a thousand years later.
Lu Yao leaned against Zhao Beichuan, gazing up at the moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and the moon in the sky was becoming rounder, resembling a jade plate.
At this moment, he truly understood Li Bai’s “Quiet Night Thoughts”: “I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, and lower it to think of my hometown.” He felt a bit homesick… not for Lu’s family village, but for his home from his previous life.
In his last life, every Mid-Autumn Festival, he had to ask for leave in advance to return home for the holiday. His parents were older and traditional, believing that the Mid-Autumn Festival was just as important as the Spring Festival, and the family had to reunite.
Not to mention how difficult it was to ask for leave from a large company, he also had to take several hours of high-speed rail and then transfer to a bus. Once he got home, he could only stay for a day before rushing back.
Back then, Lu Yao couldn’t understand his parents’ thoughts, always feeling that it was too much trouble to return for the holiday. Now that he thought about it, it was indeed a sweet burden, and now he couldn’t even think about going back.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao Beichuan noticed Lu Yao seemed a bit down.
“Nothing, just a little hungry.”
Zhao Beichuan chuckled, “Next time I’ll catch you a bigger one, and let’s not invite so many people.”
“Then I’ll save the rabbit skin and make you a rabbit fur vest, so you won’t be cold while cutting firewood on the mountain.”
“The rabbit fur gets particularly hard when dried; it won’t fit well for clothing.”
Lu Yao replied, “That’s because you don’t know how to do it. You have to tan the skin first before making clothes.” He remembered watching videos on traditional tanning methods in his previous life, and thought it would be a good opportunity to try.
Zhao Beichuan was taken aback and reached out to ruffle Lu Yao’s hair, “Lu Yao, how are you so amazing?”
Lu Yao felt his face turn a bit red, and his heart raced uncontrollably. He took Zhao Beichuan’s hand, and this time the other didn’t pull away or resist, instead holding Lu Yao’s hand back. The two quietly watched the children play.
Today was a bit overcast, and the howling wind scattered leaves all over the yard.
Zhao Beichuan had gotten up early to sweep the yard clean, fed the donkey hay, and tied his pants legs, preparing to finish breakfast and head back to the mountain to cut firewood.
Lu Yao was in the kitchen starting the fire for cooking. There was vegetable porridge boiling in the pot, with a few steamed gray flour buns on top.
“Xiao Nian, Xiao Dou, it’s time to eat!”
After calling out, the two children immediately put on their shoes and rushed outside. “Sister-in-law, what delicious food have you made?”
“Nothing special, hurry and wash your face and hands.”
The past few days had made them greedy, always thinking about eating meat.
Zhao Beichuan also came in to wash his hands for dinner. The four of them surrounded the stove, each drinking a large bowl of vegetable porridge. Lu Yao packed the leftover buns for Zhao Beichuan to take for lunch on the mountain.
“Tomorrow is the 15th; we need to go to town and get the cart back.”
Zhao Beichuan responded with an “mm,” and Zhao Xiao Nian immediately asked, “Sister-in-law, are you taking us with you?”
“No, your brother and I will lead the donkey; there’s no way to take you along.”
“Then remember to buy us something good to eat when you come back.”
Zhao Beichuan lightly tapped her with his chopsticks, “The bigger you get, the less you listen. Look at whose daughter always wants to eat good food?”
Zhao Xiao Nian pouted in grievance, set down her bowl, and ran outside. Zhao Xiao Dou followed suit, running away in a flash.
“Don’t be so harsh. It’s normal for kids to like eating. I just don’t have any money in hand. If I had money, I’d feed them meat every day, and they’d have an egg a day.”
Zhao Beichuan snorted, “You’re just spoiling them.”
“Hey, so what if I spoil them? I’m their sister-in-law, and I cherish them; I’m willing to spoil them.”
Unable to argue further, Zhao Beichuan focused on eating. Before leaving, he ruffled Lu Yao’s hair and silently walked away.
Lu Yao couldn’t help but laugh, “This stubborn mule.”
After cleaning up the kitchen, Lu Yao soaked the rabbit skin he had peeled yesterday in clean water, planning to buy some alum in town tomorrow to tan the skin.
Lin Daman came to help with the tofu, and Lu Yao washed his hands and quickly assisted him with the cart. The two of them began another busy day.
Today, Zhao Beichuan went to the southern mountains again. The branches in the forest had already been mostly picked clean yesterday, so today he would need to use a saw and an axe to cut down the dead wood.
These dead trees were easy to chop, having lost their toughness from rain erosion, and could be taken down with just a few blows.
After chopping down a few trees, Zhao Beichuan sawed them into roughly equal lengths, so they would be easier to carry back when tied with rope. Once he estimated that he had enough firewood, he took his spear and headed deeper into the forest to hunt.
The ground in the forest was damp from the morning dew, and he occasionally spotted tracks left by wild animals.
Following a series of footprints heading north, Zhao Beichuan walked for about three to four miles before suddenly hearing rustling sounds ahead. Peering closely, he saw a spotted deer munching on grass and leaves!
This deer was about the size of an adult sheep, with two antlers on its head. He had heard that antlers could be quite valuable, with medicine shops buying them for two coins per pound.
However, deer are very agile, and if he missed his shot, it would immediately escape, leaving no chance to pursue.
Zhao Beichuan could only proceed with caution. He crouched low and carefully watched his steps, fearful that any sound might scare the deer away.
Three zhang, two zhang, one zhang—just as he was about to spring into action to capture it, a sudden sharp howl erupted from the side. The fawn was startled and, with a whoosh, disappeared into the forest.
Irritated, Zhao Beichuan kicked at the leaves and turned toward the source of the noise.
Walking about thirty to forty zhang ahead, the howling grew louder, sounding like a wild boar. Zhao Beichuan sensed something was amiss; he noticed the large branches of the trees nearby and decided to climb up.
From a high vantage point, he saw clearly that not far away, five or six wolves were surrounding a wild boar. The boar weighed over two hundred pounds and looked extremely robust, with a pair of large tusks in front.
The elders always said that in the forest, it’s not the other wild animals that are frightening, but wild boars. They are strong and hold grudges; once provoked, it’s a fight to the finish.
The wolves clearly did not want to confront the boar directly; their target was the sow and her piglets behind the male boar.
Wild boars are social animals, typically living in groups, and these wolves intended to ambush the sow while the boar was out foraging. However, they were discovered by the male boar.
Zhao Beichuan swallowed hard; if he could catch those wild boars, he could surely sell them for a good price and also satisfy his little brother’s hunger.
But for now, he dared not descend. Even though he was strong, he wasn’t a match for these wild beasts. So, he calmly sat in the tree, watching the struggle below.
Soon, the wolf pack began their attack. They coordinated well, with one acting as bait while the others targeted the boar’s back.
Unfortunately, the boar’s tough skin and thick flesh made it resistant to their bites. One of the wolves, after a fierce hit, ended up impaled by the boar’s long tusks, leaving it howling in pain.
The other wolves grew anxious; one seemed to attempt to bypass the male boar to ambush the piglets behind.
But the boar was vigilant. As soon as it saw the wolf coming, it charged forward, sending the wolf fleeing in terror, afraid of being gored again.
The lead wolf howled twice, issuing commands for one final assault; if they couldn’t take the prey down this time, they would have to abandon it.
An older wolf stepped forward to attract the boar’s attention, lowering its head and baring its teeth.
The boar took the bait, scraping its front hooves against the leaves underfoot before suddenly charging at the wolf. At that moment, the lead wolf darted in from the side and bit down on the boar’s neck.
The boar let out a loud scream, its agonizing cries causing the leaves throughout the forest to rustle.
Zhao Beichuan gripped the tree trunk tightly, his palms sweating around the spear’s handle, mentally urging the boar to hold on just a little longer. If it died, the wolves would surely take the sow and the piglets, leaving him with nothing!
The boar summoned its final strength, slamming the lead wolf against a nearby large tree!
Seeing the situation turn against it, the lead wolf immediately let go and fled, followed by the others until they disappeared from sight.
Zhao Beichuan waited for this opportunity, sliding down the tree and quietly approaching the boar. After its struggle with the wolf pack, the boar had expended most of its energy and now lay on the ground, grunting in pain, completely unaware of the hunter sneaking up behind it.
No sooner had he thought it than he thrust his spear with both hands into the boar’s neck!
The boar let out another agonizing scream, attempting to fight back, but Zhao Beichuan did not give it a chance, pulling out the spear to stab again and again until the boar’s neck was riddled with wounds and it finally fell silent.
Breathing heavily, Zhao Beichuan’s body trembled with excitement. Unsure, he prodded the boar a few times with his spear to confirm it was dead before dragging it away by its hind legs.
Passing the boar’s nest, he noticed that the sow had vanished, leaving only four piglets behind. Zhao Beichuan quickly scooped them up and stuffed them into his backpack.
This male boar was truly heavy, easily weighing over two hundred pounds, but Zhao Beichuan effortlessly slung it over his shoulder while using his other arm to carry a load of firewood back home.
Due to the delay from hunting, it was already dark by the time he arrived home.
Lu Yao stood at the door, anxious, fearing that he might have encountered danger in the mountains. After waiting for a long time, he finally saw a tall figure approaching in the distance.
“Zhao Beichuan?”
“Hey.”
Lu Yao ran over quickly, “Why did you take so long to come back?”
Zhao Beichuan smiled and shook the wild boar on his shoulder, “Look what I brought you.”
Lu Yao was stunned, “Is this a wild boar?”
“Yeah, this should be enough for you to eat.”
As they talked, they arrived home. Lu Yao hurried to move the table and fetched water for Zhao Beichuan to wash his hands; he was soaked in pig blood.
Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou also ran out, “Big brother, you caught a wild boar!”
“Yeah, is it big?”
“Too big!” The two children circled around the wild boar, excitedly jumping up and down. They couldn’t believe how many meals they could have from it!
Zhao Beichuan remembered the piglets in his backpack. “Come here, I have some good stuff for you.”
The two children curiously came over, and when they saw the squeaking piglets in the bag, they shouted in excitement.
“Big brother, you caught piglets too!”
“Yeah, let’s see if we can keep them alive. If they grow up, we can have pork.”
Lu Yao came over with a basin of water and was surprised to see the piglets, “They’re too small; they can’t even eat solid food yet. Where’s the mother pig?”
“It ran off and left the piglets behind.”
Lu Yao picked one up to take a look. This tiny piglet would probably only survive on goat’s milk. In his past life, although he had never raised pigs, he had rescued kittens, feeding them with goat’s milk when they were under a month old.
“Tomorrow, let’s go to the village and ask who raises goats. We can buy some goat’s milk to see if we can keep the piglets alive.”
Zhao Beichuan washed his hands and took off his dirty clothes to wash in the basin, scrubbing the blood off his body.
The weather was cold, and Lu Yao didn’t dare to wash with cold water anymore. Only Zhao Beichuan, being so strong, didn’t mind the chill.
After changing into clean clothes, Zhao Beichuan took a kitchen knife to start butchering the pig.
The pig was too big; even after removing the internal organs and bones, their family couldn’t eat that much. Lu Yao suggested, “Tomorrow’s the big market; let’s take the pig to town and sell it. We can keep a little for ourselves.”
Zhao Beichuan nodded, “Okay.”
To remove the pig’s hair, they needed to scald it with hot water. Lu Yao filled both pots with water, and soon it was boiling.
The noise in the front yard was loud enough to attract Lin Daman, who came out to see what was going on. “Wow, where did such a big pig come from?”
Lu Yao replied, “Beichuan hunted it in the mountains.”
“That’s impressive! A wild boar that size isn’t easy to catch. You really have some skills!”
“We’ll take a piece of pork back for the kids to taste.”
Lin Daman waved his hands repeatedly, “No, no, I can’t keep taking advantage of you.”
Lu Yao smiled, “If you feel guilty, just help us out. We need to finish butchering this pig before dawn.”
Lin Daman immediately rolled up his sleeves to help start the fire, and once the water boiled, he helped ladle it into the basin to take outside.
The two children were too sleepy and took the little pigs inside to sleep, leaving the three adults to work together.
Butchering the wild boar was very troublesome. They had to scald the pig hair three or four times to finally clean off most of the hair. There were still many long, thick, black hairs left, as sharp as needles.
Zhao Beichuan first chopped off the pig’s head and set it aside, then opened up the pig’s belly, removing all the internal organs and throwing them into the basin, followed by the pig’s offal.
The offal included the pig’s large intestine, small intestine, and bladder. While these parts are popular in modern times, in the past, common folk were reluctant to eat them due to the lack of seasoning and the strong smell. Only the impoverished would consume such things.
After removing the internal organs, he cut off the pig’s four hooves and then split the pig in half; it was too large to fit on one table.
“We’ll sell half in town tomorrow and keep the other half for ourselves.”
Lu Yao asked him to cut a piece of belly meat for Lin Daman since belly pork is fatty and considered the best meat for common people.
Lin Daman quickly waved his hands, “No, no, I can’t take that. If you really want to give me something, just give me the offal.”
Seeing that he really didn’t want it, Lu Yao said, “Then let me cut half of the pig’s liver and give you a pig hoof.”
Lin Daman stopped refusing and thanked them profusely before taking the items back to his yard.
After finishing, dawn broke on the horizon. They had spent the whole night butchering the pig.
Lu Yao still wasn’t too tired; being young had its advantages, and staying up all night didn’t feel exhausting. “You cut a piece of meat down. I’ll go cook it. When the kids wake up, they can eat.”
Zhao Beichuan directly cut off a piece of pork hock. Lu Yao washed it twice, then tossed it into the clay pot with some green onions and ginger to stew. They had run out of yellow wine; otherwise, adding some would help get rid of the smell.
Before long, the pot began to boil, and the fragrant aroma spread with the steam. Lu Yao swallowed hard; it smelled so good!
This wild boar meat was tastier than domesticated pork because ancient pigs were raised differently. Lu Yao remembered how he felt disgusted when he first learned that pigs were kept next to latrines and fed human waste.
Because common people were poor and couldn’t afford oil, pigs were naturally fed poorly. In summer, they ate pigweed, and in winter, they were fed the husks of corn after the grains had been removed. These pigs could only grow to around seventy or eighty pounds; anything over a hundred pounds meant they were well-fed.
The aroma woke the two children who had been sleeping. Zhao Xiaonian got up, slipped on his shoes, and ran into the kitchen. “Sister-in-law, you’re cooking meat!”
“Yes, hurry and wash your face; it’s time to eat.”
“Okay!” Zhao Xiaonian didn’t even bother to call out to Zhao Xiaodou, grabbed a ladle of water to splash on his face, and dashed back into the kitchen, drooling as he stood by the stove.
After half an hour of cooking, Lu Yao lifted the lid of the pot and poked it with chopsticks. The meat was thoroughly cooked, so he hurriedly took it out into a clay basin, the tender skin of the pork hock quivering.
Lu Yao planned to cut it into slices and simply sprinkle a bit of salt to eat. If he had more time, he would have made braised pork, but there was still plenty of meat in the yard, so he could make braised pork when they returned in the evening.
Zhao Beichuan finished cleaning the pig, washed his hands, and entered the house, waking Zhao Xiaodou from the kang, “Get up! If you don’t hurry, your sister-in-law will eat all the pork!”
Zhao Xiaodou sprang up and, still dazed, ran to the kitchen. “Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, I want to eat meat.”
Lu Yao stuffed a small piece of freshly cut meat into his mouth. “Go wash your face; it’s time for us to eat.”
“Okay!”
“Sister-in-law, I want some too…” Zhao Xiaonian looked at him expectantly.
Lu Yao also cut her a piece and handed it to her, then, seeing Zhao Beichuan standing by, he handed him a piece too.
Zhao Beichuan was taken aback, his face flushed as he ate the meat, unable to even taste what it was.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Quinn67
QQ poor piggy