Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 90

Chapter 90

 

Sun Mazi was almost driven mad. Early in the morning, Huang Yazi came over and told him that the identities of the two children were unusual. He immediately sent his men to find Aunt Lan, hoping she would take the children back.

 

Aunt Lan, who was better informed than him, had already heard rumors last night that someone was looking for these two children.

 

Naturally, she didn’t want to take on this burden and sent his men back, saying, “You’re the ones who caught them, and they’re locked up in your place. What does it have to do with me?”

 

Sun Mazi was furious but couldn’t do anything about this venomous woman. Left with no choice, he had to think of a way to quietly dispose of the children. If someone came looking for them, his life might be in danger.

 

The group was discussing in the room how to handle the two children. Someone suggested taking them to Niu’s yard to lock them up until the heat died down and then selling them off.

 

Others thought it was too risky. If it was just the military camp, it wouldn’t be too bad, but now that it involved Master Cao Wu, who wielded influence in both the underworld and legitimate circles, it could escalate into a big problem if he found out.

 

After much debate, everyone agreed that keeping the children was too dangerous. It would be better to strangle them and throw them into the well in the backyard. When no one was looking for them anymore, they could fish them out and bury them.

 

A sudden knock at the door interrupted their plan. Sun Mazi cursed and walked out.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Is Brother Sun home?”

 

Sun Mazi heard a somewhat unfamiliar voice from Lu Yao. Peeking through the door crack, he saw a handsome young man standing outside. “Who are you looking for?”

 

Hearing noise in the yard, Zhao Beichuan immediately rushed forward and kicked the door hard. The wooden door, along with the person behind it, flew open.

 

The centurion standing behind him was startled and quickly ordered his men to go in and arrest everyone!

 

Sun Mazi lay on the ground, spitting out blood and clutching his chest in pain. His ribs were undoubtedly broken.

 

Zhao Beichuan, like an enraged lion, grabbed his collar and roared, “Where are my brother and sister?!”

 

Sun Mazi realized that someone had come for the children. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

 

It didn’t take long before the four people in the house were captured. Scared out of their wits, they confessed the children’s location without even being interrogated. Lu Yao and Zhao Beichuan rushed to the woodshed in the back and broke the lock. Seeing their brother and sister huddled inside, they were so overwhelmed with emotion that they burst into tears.

 

“Sister-in-law? Big brother!” Xiaonian and Xiaodou cried out as they ran over.

 

“It’s okay, sister-in-law is here. Don’t be afraid; we’re here.”

 

The two children were crying so hard they couldn’t speak. Meanwhile, Zhao Beichuan noticed another teenager in the room. He waved at him, “Are you coming out?”

 

The boy stood up timidly, limping toward the door. Having been locked up for so long, the sudden sunlight made him squint and instinctively close his eyes. Tears streamed down his face.

 

The children were found. Apart from being frightened and hungry, they were unharmed, which was a blessing amidst the misfortune. Lu Yao brought them home, washed them, changed their clothes, and gave them porridge before they fell asleep.

 

The teenager followed them back as well. Lu Yao assumed he had also been kidnapped and asked after the meal, “How old are you? What’s your name? Where’s your home?”

 

The boy nervously fidgeted with his hands. “I’m eleven years old. I don’t have a proper name; at home, they just called me Dunghead.” He suddenly knelt down and said, “I wasn’t kidnapped. My father sold me. If my benefactors send me back, he’ll just sell me again.”

 

Lu Yao quickly pulled him up. “Then what will you do in the future?”

 

The boy shook his head. “I don’t want to go home. If I have no other choice, I’ll beg in the city until I’m strong enough to find work and survive.”

 

Lu Yao had an idea. The eatery happened to be short-staffed, and if this child had nowhere to go, keeping him could provide an extra pair of hands.

 

But this needed to be discussed with his husband when he returned. For now, the boy’s injured leg needed treatment regardless of whether he stayed.

 

After the meal, Lu Yao cleaned up an unused room in the west wing. He laid down an old mat and quilt. “You can rest here for now.”

 

The boy nodded, climbed onto the kang bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. It was the first time he’d slept soundly in days.

 

Lu Yao looked at his thin, pale face and sighed. He, too, had a tough life. He gently closed the door and returned to the central room to stay with his younger siblings. Every now and then, he’d touch one’s hair or squeeze the other’s small hand.

 

The feeling of recovering something lost was indescribable. Lu Yao clasped his hands together and silently offered his gratitude. Once an atheist, he now believed in any deity that could bring peace to the children.

 

As for Zhao Beichuan, he escorted the kidnappers to the authorities. The officials immediately detained the culprits. With instructions from Magistrate Liang, it was certain they wouldn’t be let off lightly.

 

Having troubled others for help, and now that the children were safe, Zhao Beichuan didn’t know how to express his gratitude. He invited the centurion and his men to a meal at the eatery.

 

“No need, no need. We just made a trip and didn’t help much. Go home and check on the children.”

 

Zhao Beichuan stopped insisting, thanked them sincerely, and rushed back home.

 

Entering the yard, he saw Lu Yao washing clothes. “Where are the children?”

 

“Asleep.”

 

Zhao Beichuan went in to check and came back out. “I’ll wash. You didn’t sleep last night; go rest.”

 

“I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I get anxious.” The incident had frightened Lu Yao, and it would take him a while to recover.

 

Zhao Beichuan sat beside him and gently massaged his shoulders. “Don’t overthink it. The children are back now. They’ve learned their lesson and won’t dare wander off again.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“By the way, what about the boy we rescued?”

 

“He’s sleeping in the west room.”

 

“Did he say where he’s from? I’ll take him back this afternoon.”

 

“The boy said he wasn’t kidnapped but sold by his own father.”

 

Zhao Beichuan frowned. “What now?”

 

“For now, his leg is injured. I want to help him recover first. If he’s willing to stay, he can work in the kitchen with you. If not, we’ll let him go.”

 

“Alright. Let’s heal him first and worry about the rest later.” Zhao Beichuan wanted to observe the boy’s character. If he was grateful, they’d treat him well. If he was ungrateful, it would be better to send him away sooner.

 

After finishing the laundry, Lu Yao planned to buy some meat to make dumplings for the children to ease their nerves. He also wanted to order some pork intestines and kidneys from the butcher for tomorrow.

 

When he arrived at the west market, he ran into many acquaintances, all asking about the children.

 

“They’re found. They were almost taken away but are safe now.”

 

“Oh, thank goodness. Are they alright?”

 

“They’re fine, just shaken up.”

 

An old woman selling apricots pulled him aside and whispered, “Shopkeeper Lu, listen to me. Tonight, burn some mugwort near the children. Take ten steps east, call their names three times, then walk back without turning around. Once you’re home, it’ll be fine. This is a countryside remedy for scared children.”

 

“Thank you, ma’am.”

 

“No need to thank me. As long as the children are fine.”

 

After exchanging a few words, Lu Yao found the fishmonger and asked him to deliver more fish to the shop tomorrow. Then he went to the butcher to buy a pound of pork, three ribs, and some pig ears, which the children loved. He bought a pair to braise for dinner.

 

Returning home with his purchases, he found Zhao Beichuan had already tidied up the yard and fed the puppy and the hen.

 

Since the children were still sleeping, the couple had a simple lunch of leftover porridge and pickles.

 

Zhao Beichuan said, “Now that the children are back, how should we thank Master Wu?”

 

“Giving him money is out of the question; he’s not lacking. Inviting him for a meal might seem insincere,” Lu Yao replied, feeling troubled.

 

“How about letting him eat for free at the eatery from now on?” Zhao Beichuan suggested.

 

Lu Yao shook his head. “He’d probably come twice and then stop. No one wants to be seen as freeloading, especially someone like Master Wu who values his reputation.”

 

“What should we do, then?”

 

Lu Yao suddenly thought of the liquor he was planning to brew. Once it was ready, he could give him a jar of high-proof white liquor. That would be a more meaningful gesture.

 

“Tomorrow, we’ll invite Master Wu for a meal, and later, I’ll send him some of the liquor once it’s ready.”

 

“Alright, let’s do that.”

 

Lu Yao added, “What about the soldiers? Even though they didn’t do much, they were still dedicated.”

 

Zhao Beichuan told him about treating the soldiers to a meal earlier. “It looks like we should invite Lieutenant Liang and Captain Ge for a proper dinner.”

 

“That’s only right. Invite them when you have time, and we’ll serve them a proper meal.”

 

Besides them, the most deserving of thanks was Huang Yazi, who had helped them find the children. Lu Yao decided to give him fifty taels of silver as a reward.

 

Fifty taels was no small sum. Even last time, the shopkeeper at Yazhaiju only paid twenty taels to cause trouble for them.

 

That very day, Zhao Beichuan delivered the money to Huang Yazi, who hesitated briefly before accepting it. “Shopkeeper Zhao, keep this between us. If you ever need help, just come to me!”

 

Zhao Beichuan nodded. “Of course, of course.”

 

In the afternoon, Lu Yao prepared the dumpling filling and braised the pig ears. The young boy woke up just in time, blushing as he limped out and asked where the toilet was.

 

“It’s behind the house,” he said.

 

On his way back, he bumped into Zhao Beichuan, who was tidying up the vegetable garden. The two crossed paths. Unsure of how to address him, the boy simply lowered his head and called him “Benefactor.”

 

After returning from the toilet, Zhao Beichuan called out to him.

 

“Come here.”

 

The boy limped over. Though eleven years old, he wasn’t even as tall as Xiaonian, barely reaching Zhao Beichuan’s chest.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“I don’t have a name. Back home, my father and brothers called me ‘Dunghead.'”

 

In poor families, names were often given casually, as it was believed that a lowly name would make a child easier to raise. Especially in families with many children, a name would often be derived from whatever the parents saw at the time of birth.

 

Zhao Beichuan noticed the boy standing unsteadily and pointed to a small wooden stool nearby. “Sit down.”

 

The boy sat down cautiously.

 

“I heard from my husband that you don’t want to go back home?”

 

“Mm. My parents don’t like me. They say I came to collect a debt from them. When I was at home, they often scolded and beat me, sometimes not even giving me food. Later, when my second brother got married and they couldn’t gather enough for the bride price, my father sold me.”

 

Zhao Beichuan frowned. What kind of family would do such a thing, selling their own child?

 

What the boy said was true—his parents treated him poorly because his mother had nearly died from postpartum complications when he was born. Though she survived, she lost the ability to have more children.

 

An old blind man in the village, who was known for his fortune-telling, claimed the boy was cursed and would bring misfortune to the family if he stayed. From then on, the family treated him as a harbinger of bad luck. By the age of five or six, they had driven him out to live in the livestock shed, leaving him poorly clothed and often hungry. If his parents were upset, they would beat him. Recently, they sold him to a human trafficker.

 

Zhao Beichuan grew angrier as he listened. Even if one’s child was disappointing, the least they could do was raise him until adulthood and let him fend for himself. Selling him to traffickers was a fate from which he might never recover, potentially consigning him to a life of slavery.

 

“Would you like to stay with us?” Zhao Beichuan asked.

 

The boy was stunned. He hurriedly knelt and kowtowed. “I’d like to! I’d like to!”

 

“Get up,” Zhao Beichuan said, lifting him up with one hand. “If we take you in, it won’t be for free. My family runs an eatery. If you stay, you’ll have to help out in the shop.”

 

The boy nodded enthusiastically. “I’m willing! I can do any kind of work!”

 

Zhao Beichuan patted his thin shoulder. “Then let’s get your leg treated first.”

 

The boy’s eyes reddened with emotion upon hearing this. He had never imagined that he would encounter such kind people. He had assumed that, at best, he would escape the traffickers only to beg for survival in the city. Overwhelmed with gratitude, he couldn’t help but wipe away his tears.

 

Zhao Beichuan led him into the house, where Xiaonian and Xiaodou had just woken up and were curiously observing the boy.

 

Lu Yao said, “Wash your hands. Let’s make dumplings and eat.”

 

Xiaonian fetched a basin and water for everyone to wash their hands before setting the table and preparing the bowls for the meal.

 

The boy stood awkwardly to the side, not daring to step forward for fear of being disliked.

 

When the water in the pot boiled, Lu Yao added the dumplings. They had made a lot of dumplings today, more than one pot could handle. When the first batch was cooked, he served it on a plate and let the children take it to the table while he started cooking the second batch.

 

“Why aren’t you eating?” Lu Yao asked when he saw the boy still standing in the kitchen.

 

“I… I’m not hungry.”

 

“How could you not be hungry? You only had a bowl of porridge in the morning. Go and eat.”

 

The boy lowered his head shyly, looking at his dirty clothes. “I’d better not.”

 

Realizing the boy felt too ashamed to join them, Lu Yao simply scooped a bowl of dumplings for him and said, “If you don’t want to go in, just eat here.”

 

The boy stared at the dumplings—plump and white—and couldn’t help but swallow hard as his stomach growled.

 

“Th-thank you.”

 

“No need to thank me. My husband told me you agreed to stay. From now on, you can call us ‘Sister-in-law’ and ‘Big Brother,’ just like Xiaonian and Xiaodou.”

 

“Sister-in-law.”

 

“Yes. That name you had isn’t good. How about I give you a new one?”

 

“Yes, please!” The boy nodded vigorously.

 

“You’ve suffered a lot as a child, but your life will surely improve from now on. How about the name Zhao Fengchun, symbolizing a tree blossoming in spring after enduring hardships? You’ll be called Xiaochun from now on.”

 

Though the boy didn’t fully understand, he clutched the ceramic bowl and repeated tearfully, “Fengchun, Fengchun. I have a name now. It’s such a good name!”

 

Years later, Zhao Fengchun, the most famous chef in the capital, would recall this moment with tears in his eyes.

 

It was the best meal of dumplings he had ever had, a taste he could never forget. It was Big Brother and Sister-in-law who had pulled him out of the mud and given him the hope to live on.

 

—

 

After the meal, Zhao Beichuan took Xiaochun to the clinic to have his leg examined.

 

The doctor felt the boy’s shin bone and said, “Why are you only coming now? The bone has already set incorrectly. This leg is likely crippled.”

 

Xiaochun panicked. He was afraid that if he became lame, he wouldn’t be able to do heavy work and would be a burden to Big Brother and Sister-in-law.

 

Zhao Beichuan asked, “Is there no other way?”

 

“There is a way, but I’m afraid he won’t be able to endure it.”

 

“I can! I can endure it!” Xiaochun said anxiously.

 

The doctor stroked his beard. “We’ll have to break the leg again, realign the bone, and let it heal properly. But even then, there’s no guarantee it won’t remain a bit lame. You came a little too late.”

 

Zhao Beichuan turned to look at Xiaochun. Having a leg broken was pain most people couldn’t endure.

 

Xiaochun, pale-faced, nodded. “Go ahead. I can handle it.”

 

The doctor called a few assistants to hold Xiaochun down and placed a few chopsticks in his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.

 

He found a mallet and placed a cushion under the leg before striking it.

 

“Uh!” Xiaochun clenched the chopsticks in his mouth, holding back a scream.

 

But the improperly healed bone was too sturdy, and three strikes couldn’t break it.

 

Zhao Beichuan couldn’t stand it any longer. “Let me do it. Hold on.”

 

Xiaochun shut his eyes and nodded frantically, his hair drenched with sweat.

 

Zhao Beichuan grasped the deformed shin and, with a slight twist, the bone snapped with a crack!

 

“Mm—!” Xiaochun gasped in pain, his body trembling uncontrollably.

 

“It’s done! Hold on while I set it,” the doctor said as he manipulated the bone with practiced skill. Within moments, the bone was aligned and secured with splints, wrapped tightly in cloth.

 

“I’ll prescribe some medicine for mending bones and tendons. Rest and recover for a year or so, and he should be fine.”

 

“Thank you, doctor,” Zhao Beichuan said, paying for the medicine. The total came to four taels of silver.

 

Xiaochun, wiping sweat from his brow, saw how much Zhao Beichuan spent on his treatment and felt moved to tears. His father had sold him to the traffickers for just three strings of cash, yet this family was willing to spend so much to heal his leg.

 

After buying the medicine, Zhao Beichuan carried him home, asking Lu Yao to heat a pot of water. He would wash the boy himself, as the smell on him was unbearable.

 

Xiaochun hesitated. “Big Brother, I can wash myself.”

 

“Your leg was just reset. Don’t let it go out of place again. We’re all men here; there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

 

Xiaochun fell silent, removing his clothes in the west wing and sitting in the tub as Zhao Beichuan helped wash him.

 

The boy was so thin he was practically just skin and bones, with scars covering much of his body. The deepest one ran half a foot down his back. Zhao Beichuan couldn’t imagine how the boy had survived all these years. He sighed as he scrubbed, the water in the tub turning to muddy soup.

 

After the first round, he changed the water and began washing Xiaochun’s hair. The tangled parts he simply cut off with scissors, and the lice crawling on his scalp made Zhao Beichuan’s skin crawl. He quickly scrubbed the boy’s head with wood ash several times, intending to comb it out later.

 

By the third or fourth rinse, the water finally ran clearer, revealing the boy’s original appearance.

 

Though not unattractive, Xiaochun’s gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes gave him a frightening look. Proper care and nourishment would surely restore his appearance.

 

Lu Yao found some old clothes of Xiaonian’s for Xiaochun to wear. The plain brown garments were unisex and fit well enough. Dressed in clean clothes, Xiaochun hobbled out of the house with support, where Xiaonian and Xiaodou eyed him curiously. Their sister-in-law had just told them that this new brother would be staying with them.

 

Xiaochun stammered, “Sister Xiaonian, Brother Xiaodou.”

 

The two children replied in unison, “Brother Xiaochun.”

 

Zhao Fengchun’s nose tingled with emotion, and he softly responded, “Mm.”

 

From then on, the Zhao family had one more child.

 

(im crying)