Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 7

When Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou returned home, the meal was just ready.

 

Lu Yao saw the two leave in high spirits but return with their heads down and couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”

 

“N-nothing,” Zhao Xiaonian didn’t dare to admit they had gotten into a fight.

 

“Go wash your hands and eat. After dinner, I’ll go to second sister-in-law’s house to ask about how to cut the clothes.” Making clothes is much harder than pants, and the original owner had no experience in making clothes. If the fabric isn’t cut properly, it will be ruined, and with the scarcity of resources at home, he dared not waste it.

 

Hearing that their sister-in-law was going to make new clothes for them, the worries of the two children instantly vanished, and they happily ran off to get bowls for dinner.

 

As the three of them were eating, a sudden angry shout came from outside, “You two little brats from the Zhao family, get out here!”

 

Zhao Xiaodou was so startled that his hand trembled, nearly dropping his ceramic bowl.

 

Lu Yao frowned and set down his bowl. “Who’s yelling out there?”

 

“You shameless brats, born with no mother to raise you, how dare you come to my house and cause trouble!” Madam Song bellowed as she kicked open the door.

 

Her voice was sharp and piercing, and in no time, it had gathered the attention of the nearby neighbors.

 

“What’s going on? Why the sudden commotion?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian hurriedly shoved the last few bites of rice into his mouth and ran outside. “Who are you calling names?”

 

Madam Song pulled her grandson forward and pushed him ahead. “Wasn’t it you who hit Song Ping?”

 

“So what if I did?”

 

“Everyone heard that, didn’t they? She admitted it herself! The little brat ran into someone else’s house to bully others. Your mother died early, so I’ll teach you a lesson!” As Madam Song spoke, she made a move to charge in and hit someone.

 

Zhao Xiaonian was startled and turned to run.

 

“My children don’t need anyone else to discipline them!” A crisp voice came from inside, and Lu Yao walked out holding Zhao Xiaodou’s hand.

 

The neighbors watching couldn’t help but exclaim when they saw him.

 

They had heard that Zhao Beichuan had married a good-looking husband, but they hadn’t expected him to look this stunning! They all grew up on the same millet, so why was Lu Yao so handsome?

 

The Song widow, seeing his bewitching appearance, ground her teeth in frustration. Why hadn’t he hanged himself?

 

Madam Song glared at Lu Yao and said, “Your kid beat up my grandson, what are you going to do about it?”

 

The neighbors murmured among themselves. Actually, it was common for children to get into fights. What kid doesn’t? And Song Ping wasn’t seriously hurt either, so it didn’t really warrant this kind of confrontation.

 

But the problem was that Zhao Xiaonian and her brother went into someone else’s house to beat someone up, which was a bit excessive.

 

Lu Yao asked, “I’d like to know why my Xiaonian, who was playing with her little brother just fine, would go to your house and beat up Song Ping?”

 

“She was stealing our plums!” Song Ping jumped in.

 

“Your mother said we could eat the plums, so we went!”

 

“Impossible! My mom wouldn’t even let me eat them, why would she let you two?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian angrily said, “How would I know? If your mother hadn’t stopped me and Xiaodou, we wouldn’t have bothered going to your house!”

 

Hearing this, Madam Song quickly pulled her son-in-law forward. “Did you invite those two to our house to eat plums?”

 

Song’s widower glanced at his mother-in-law’s fierce expression and hesitantly muttered, “N-no…”

 

Song Ping, proud of himself, said, “You heard that, didn’t you? My mom didn’t invite you, so you’re a thief!”

 

Zhao Xiaonian was furious and shouted, pointing at Song’s widower, “You’re lying! You said the plums were ripe and told us to come over. You even took a bamboo pole to help us knock them down!”

 

The widower awkwardly turned away. He knew he had offended the Zhao family’s kids today and wondered if Zhao Beichuan would retaliate when he returned.

 

“Mom, Ping wasn’t really hurt, so maybe we should drop it…”

 

The neighbors also tried to mediate. “Kids getting into fights is normal, and we all live nearby. There’s no need to ruin the peace.”

 

Madam Song might have been shameless, but she didn’t really want to completely offend the Zhao family either. After all, Zhao Beichuan was away on labor service, not dead. When he came back and found out she had bullied his family, who knows what he might do?

 

“Bah! If you ever dare to steal from us again, I’ll cut off your hand!” Madam Song spat, grabbing her grandson and turning to leave.

 

“Hold on!”

 

Lu Yao’s face darkened as he stopped Madam Song. “You claim my Xiaonian and Xiaodou stole your plums—do you have any proof?”

 

Madam Song was dumbstruck. What proof did she have?

 

“Xiaonian, go get the sickle! If we don’t clear this up today, no one’s leaving!” Zhao Xiaonian, wiping away tears, ran to fetch the sickle.

 

His determined posture startled Madam Song, who quickly gave her grandson a meaningful look. “Ping, did you actually see them eat the plums?”

 

Unfortunately, Ping didn’t catch on. Scratching his head, he replied, “No, I just saw them standing under the plum tree and thought they were stealing.”

 

Everyone realized it had been a misunderstanding. They shouldn’t have called her a thief—it was a terrible insult, especially for a little girl. If that kind of rumor spread, it would be hard for her to find a husband in the future.

 

Lu Yao sneered, “Since you didn’t see Xiaonian steal any plums, what right do you have to call her a thief? You deserved to be hit!”

 

“You—!” Madam Song, out of arguments, began to throw a tantrum, “Oh, my poor son, if only you hadn’t died so young, I wouldn’t be bullied like this! This shameless little hussy, bullying a poor old widow like me…”

 

The more Madam Song wailed, the more unpleasant her words became. She thought Lu Yao was a young, shy husband with a thin skin and that crying would leave him with no way to respond.

 

But to her shock, Lu Yao grabbed half a bucket of manure meant for fertilizing the field and splashed it toward her!

 

“If you want to cry, go back and cry at your own house! Don’t cry anywhere and everywhere, how unlucky!”

 

“Ahh!”

 

The stench from the manure bucket filled the air, causing the onlooking neighbors to scatter in all directions, leaving only the stunned Madam Song standing there, covered in filth.

 

Taking advantage of the moment, Lu Yao quickly shut the front gate, ignoring the shouting from outside, and pulled Zhao Xiaonian and Zhao Xiaodou inside the house.

 

“Hahahahahaha…” The two children laughed so hard they could barely breathe. But when they looked up and saw Lu Yao staring at them sternly, they quickly straightened their faces and lowered their heads.

 

“Sis, Sister-in-law.”

 

“Do you realize what you did wrong?”

 

“We… we know. We shouldn’t have hit anyone.”

 

Lu Yao sighed, “It’s true that hitting someone is wrong, but your mistake was eating food from strangers. Today, you were slandered as thieves. What if it had been child traffickers? If you ate their food, you might never come back!”

 

Lu Yao wasn’t just trying to scare them. No matter the era, human traffickers were never in short supply. In Lu’s original memory, several children had gone missing from Lu’s village.

 

“We’ll listen to you, Sister-in-law. We won’t eat anything from strangers again.”

 

Lu Yao patted both children’s heads. “You did something wrong, so I’m punishing you to pull weeds in the vegetable garden. Do you accept it?”

 

Zhao Xiaonian’s eyes welled up with warmth. Ever since their parents passed away, no one except his brother had cared for them. Now, with their new sister-in-law not only making new clothes for them but also standing up for them, he was deeply touched.

 

“Xiaodou and I will make sure to pull every weed clean!” The two children happily ran outside.

 

Lu Yao grabbed some old clothes and headed next door.

 

As soon as he entered the yard, he could hear Madam Tian animatedly recounting her “great feat” to her family.

 

Lu Yao felt his face heat up. “Sister-in-law, please stop teasing me. I’m already so embarrassed.”

 

Instead of feeling awkward, Madam Tian laughed heartily. “You’ve got guts! What made you think of throwing manure at her?”

 

“Ah, I was just angry at the time. Whatever was at hand, I used.”

 

Madam Tian’s husband, Tian Feng, was also inside the house. Since he had eye problems, he was exempt from labor service. When he saw Lu Yao come in, he greeted him with a smile before stepping out.

 

“Come sit down. Today’s event had me in stitches. That old lady Song always causes trouble and bullies people. No one’s been able to deal with her, but today she finally got what she deserved!”

 

Lu Yao sat on the edge of the kang and sighed. “With Zhao Beichuan not at home, I couldn’t just let the two kids be bullied.”

 

In both of Lu Yao’s lives, conflicts with others were rare, and he had never dreamed of doing something as extreme as throwing manure at someone. But today, he had been pushed to the limit.

 

The villagers claimed they were simple and honest, and they were, but most of them were still uncivilized and rather malicious.

 

It’s said that when people are well-fed and prosperous, they understand etiquette and honor. But when they lack food and shelter, how could they grasp concepts like propriety and shame? All they knew was that you were easy to bully if you kept quiet.

 

If Lu Yao had backed down, this would only be the beginning. Today, it was Madam Song scolding them; tomorrow, it would be Madam Liu causing trouble. How could life go on like that? So, something had to be done, like killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.

 

Madam Tian wiped away her tears from laughing so hard. Suddenly, she leaned in mysteriously and said, “I’ve got something to tell you, but don’t spread it around.”

 

Hearing there was gossip, Lu Yao became interested. “Don’t worry, Sister-in-law. I’m not a blabbermouth.”

 

“Do you know why the Song family stirred up trouble today?”

 

“No, why?”

 

“That old Song widow—she asked me about Dachuan before. I think she wanted to marry him off into her family, but before she could even ask, you were already married to him.”

 

Lu Yao feigned surprise, “Really? There’s something like that?”

 

Madam Tian slapped his arm playfully, “Exactly! I guess she thought she could get Xiaonian and Xiaodou to eat the plums, but instead, she hit a dead end.” She laughed again, covering her mouth.

 

“No wonder she was so insistent on getting the kids to eat the plums.”

 

“You’re not jealous?”

 

Lu Yao shook his head. Why would he be jealous? He hadn’t even seen his convenient husband’s face, let alone had any feelings for him.

 

“Don’t worry. Dachuan is a proper man. Even during the busy farming season, when the widow brought water, he didn’t drink it. He definitely wasn’t interested in her.”

 

Lu Yao took out some old clothes to change the topic. “Sister-in-law, I want to make some new clothes for Xiaonian and Xiaodou, but I don’t know how to cut the fabric. Could you help me with that?”

 

“That’s no problem.” Madam Tian grabbed a burnt piece of charcoal from the stove, drew a few lines on the old clothes, and with a few snips of her scissors, she was done.

 

“Kids grow fast. You should make their clothes a little bigger. If the sleeves are too long, just hem them inside. Next year, you can let them out, and they’ll still fit.”

 

“Thank you, Sister-in-law.”

 

“No need for thanks. By the way, could you give me the leftover scraps? Your brother’s pants are torn, and I can use the fabric to patch them up.”

 

Lu Yao was taken aback. Madam Tian sure loved to take advantage of situations. But since she had helped, he didn’t feel right refusing, so he handed over two half-yard scraps of fabric.