Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 6

Making clothes seemed easy, but when it came to actually doing it, it was a bit tricky. Fortunately, the original owner of this body had done some needlework before, so it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar territory.

Lu Yao took the children’s old clothes and used them as a reference, cutting the fabric accordingly. He started by tailoring the pants.

Ancient pants weren’t that different from modern ones, made from two pieces—a front and a back. The front was slightly narrower, while the back had a wider crotch area. By stitching the two pieces of cloth together, the pants were complete.

Both children were quite thin, so Lu Yao only needed to use one adult-sized pair of pants to create two smaller ones for them.

Since there was no elastic band available, Lu Yao simply made drawstrings like those found on sports pants. It looked nice and made the pants easy to wear without falling down.

Sewing clothes could be tedious. After watching for a while, the two children got sleepy and crawled into bed, falling asleep.

It took about three hours to finish both pairs of pants. Lu Yao rubbed his tired eyes, blew out the oil lamp, and lay on the bed, feeling a bit reflective.

He hadn’t expected to actually transmigrate. Living in a time without electronic devices, life was admittedly boring, but time also seemed to slow down. Days were filled with meaningful work from dawn to dusk, and life felt fulfilling.

Lu Yao suddenly found himself curious about his husband, Zhao Beichuan. His memories didn’t contain a clear image of him because at that time, the original owner was solely focused on dying, not caring what her husband looked like. She had only seen his back while in the bridal sedan. He was very tall, probably over 180 cm.

In this era, where people were generally malnourished, even men over 170 cm were considered tall. The average woman’s height ranged from 140 to 160 cm, while “ger” stood between 160 to 170 cm.

Take Lu Yao for instance—he was 175 cm in his previous life, but after transmigrating, he had shrunk by at least 10 cm. When he went back to his maternal home earlier, his second brother, Lu Lin, wasn’t much taller than him, probably not even reaching 170 cm. As for his fourth and fifth brothers, although he hadn’t seen them yet, the original owner’s memories indicated that they were both shorter than him, probably around 160 cm.

So Zhao Beichuan’s height was quite extraordinary in this era.

In addition to being tall, Lu Yao recalled that Zhao Beichuan had a broad back, with a powerful, V-shaped physique.

Lu Yao’s face flushed a little. He had always favored men with strong builds, and in his past life, he never got to experience the feeling of love. But now, not only was it legal to marry a man, he was even gifted a tall and strong husband. The thought made him secretly delighted.

As for being a “ger,” in this dynasty, the “ger” was a gender between men and women. A “ger” had the reproductive organs of a woman but also the male anatomy.

On the day Lu Yao transmigrated, he had examined his body while using the latrine. Everything was where it should be, but the problem was that his “little brother” had shrunk, along with his height. And, possibly due to hormonal differences, this body had no hair—none at all, making it look a bit strange…

“Gers” were fewer than both men and women, with a gender ratio of roughly 3:3:1.

Wealthy families rarely married gers as their main wives because gers had weaker reproductive abilities compared to women, and childbirth could be life-threatening. However, poorer families preferred gers because they were physically stronger than women and could contribute more to manual labor.

As for how gers gave birth, Lu Yao still couldn’t figure it out. Surely they didn’t give birth through the same passage used for relieving themselves—that would be too ridiculous.

Lost in thought, Lu Yao eventually fell asleep. He was so tired from the day that he didn’t even dream. When he opened his eyes again, sunlight was already streaming through the window cracks.

Lu Yao got up, noticing that the children were not in bed. He quickly dressed and went out.

Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou were in the kitchen, tending the fire for cooking. When they saw Lu Yao come out, they smiled and greeted him.

“Sister-in-law, you’re awake!”

“Why are you up so early?” Lu Yao took the millet Xiaonian handed him, rinsed it clean, and put it in the pot.

“We wake up at this time every day. Sister-in-law, the pants you made for us are really nice!” Xiaonian lifted his clothes to show him, and Xiaodou followed suit, lifting his shirt too.

Lu Yao looked them over. “They fit well. Go outside and play for a bit, and come back when it’s time to eat.”

“Okay!” Xiaonian grabbed his little brother’s hand, and they dashed outside. They had been itching to show off their new clothes!

Lu Yao understood children’s minds well. He remembered when he was little and got new clothes, the first thing he wanted to do was show them off to his friends.

Xiaonian led his brother to their neighbor, Aunt Tian’s house first. “Aunt Tian, is Brother Da Zhuang awake?”

“Not yet. I’ll wake him now.” Aunt Tian went inside to wake her son. “Get up, Da Zhuang. Xiaonian and Xiaodou are here to play.”

Da Zhuang reluctantly climbed out of bed, grumbling as he dressed, while the two kids had already rushed inside.

“What do you want to play?”

Xiaonian raised his leg. “Nothing really, just wanted to show you our new pants. My sister-in-law made them for us.” Xiaodou mimicked his brother, lifting his leg too, but being smaller, he wobbled a bit.

Da Zhuang sneered. “They’re just some old pants.”

Zhao Xiaonian didn’t get angry and cheerfully pulled her brother away. After they left, Tian Dazhuang immediately tugged on his mother, demanding new pants.

A confused Tian Ersao said, “What new pants? You look like new pants!”

The two kids left the Tian household and went to the Gao family. The girl from the Gao family was called Qinglian, and she was the same age as Xiaonian. Since both had lost their birth mothers early on, they had a very close relationship.

Xiaonian showed her the new pants, and Gao Qinglian exclaimed with joy, “Your sister-in-law is so good to you, she even made you new pants!”

“Yeah, yeah! My sister-in-law is the best!” Zhao Xiaonian nodded enthusiastically.

“Ah, I wish my sister-in-law were even half as good as yours.” Gao Qinglian’s mother died in childbirth. Though her father was still alive, as a man, he couldn’t take care of her well.

Qinglian had an older brother who was already married, but her sister-in-law didn’t treat her well. She made her do heavy labor every day, and if she didn’t finish, she wouldn’t be given food. Her sister-in-law had never made her even a single stitch of clothing. The clothes she wore now were her brother’s old clothes from when he was a child, tattered and barely covering her body.

“I’ll head off now, let’s hang out sometime.”

Qinglian nodded. She still had to wash clothes, cook, gather grass, and feed the pigs. Today, she likely wouldn’t have time to play.

As they left the Gao household, Zhao Xiaonian’s face fell.

“Sis, why are you upset?” Zhao Xiaodou noticed her change in mood.

“It’s nothing.” When she had come, Xiaonian hadn’t thought much of it and had just wanted to share her happiness with her good friend. But seeing the envious look in Qinglian’s eyes left her with an unspeakable feeling of discomfort. The desire to show off had disappeared.

As they were heading back home, they happened to run into the widow Song, who waved and called out to them, “Out playing so early? Come to Auntie’s house and have some plums.”

There was a plum tree in the Song family’s yard, and it was the season for the plums to ripen. No child could resist the temptation of food, so as soon as they heard the offer of plums, they followed her into the yard.

The plum tree bore a good number of plums, most still green, with only a few ripened ones at the top of the tree. The two children looked at the half-red plums, their mouths watering.

“Wait here, Auntie will go get a bamboo stick.”

While Widow Song went to get the stick, her son, Song Ping, woke up. Song Ping was a year younger than Xiaonian, and he had been spoiled rotten by his grandparents. At home, he was a tyrant. When he saw Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou near the plum tree, he immediately became displeased.

“What are you two doing? Are you trying to steal our plums?”

Zhao Xiaonian rolled her eyes. “Your mom invited us to come pick plums.”

Song Ping stood with his hands on his hips and spat on the ground. “Pah! My mom wouldn’t even let me pick them, why would she give any to you?”

The plums on the tree were meant to be taken to the town to sell. Even though they wouldn’t fetch much money, it was still some income, so every year, Widow Song wouldn’t let her son steal any.

Zhao Xiaonian grabbed her brother and turned to leave, but Song Ping ran over and blocked their way. “Hand over the stolen plums before you leave!”

“I didn’t pick any of your plums!”

Song Ping looked them up and down, suspicious. “I don’t believe you. If you don’t hand over the plums, I’ll have my grandma hit you!”

Zhao Xiaonian wasn’t one to be bullied easily. She pushed her brother behind her and shouted back, “Let her try! When my big brother comes back, he’ll break her legs!”

Song Ping was a bit scared, but he was on home turf. He picked up a rock and threw it at them.

By the time Widow Song came back with the bamboo stick, the three children were already fighting. Her son was being pinned down by Zhao Xiaonian, who was punching him while he cried out for his parents. Zhao Xiaodou wasn’t idle either—he was kicking Song Ping with his small feet.

“Oh no, stop it! Why are you fighting all of a sudden?”

As soon as Zhao Xiaonian saw an adult approaching, she quickly let go. Song Ping, sniffling and wiping his nose, rushed into his mother’s arms.

“Mom… Zhao Xiaonian hit me, and she pulled my hair… wuwuwu…”

Widow Song, feeling sorry for her son, couldn’t help but scold, “Xiaonian, how could you hit your younger brother?”

“He was the one who threw rocks at us first and accused me of stealing your plums.”

“You did steal them! You did steal them!” Song Ping shouted loudly from his mother’s arms.

“Pah! Who would want your stupid plums?” Zhao Xiaonian grabbed her brother’s hand and stormed off.

Widow Song was frustrated and upset. She had intended to curry favor with the Zhao siblings but ended up making matters worse. Now, the two children disliked her even more.

As she comforted her son and touched his bruised face, she cursed inwardly at the two motherless brats. If she ever married Zhao Beichuan, she swore she’d discipline them properly!

She thought the matter was over, but when they sat down for lunch, Widow Song’s mother-in-law noticed the bruises on Song Ping’s face and immediately grew anxious. She rushed to ask her grandson what had happened.

After hearing the exaggerated version of the morning’s events, the old lady was furious. She slammed the table and cursed, “They’ve turned the world upside down, coming to our house and bullying us! I’ll go seek justice for you!”

The old lady didn’t even finish her meal, dragging Song Ping with her to the Zhao family home. Widow Song tried to stop her but ended up having to follow them.