”What’s wrong, husband?” Li Zhouzhou thought his husband wanted something, then he saw his husband half-stand up and hold his hand with his raised hand.

　　”Cold.” Gu Zhao wanted to say that the weather was cold, and Zhou Zhou touched the cold water to warm up. As a result, after shaking hands, he found that his hands were cold, while Zhou Zhou’s hands were warm. He had to half-coquettishly say: “Zhou Zhou, I’m so cold, can you warm me up?”

　　Li Zhouzhou was embarrassed to pull his hands away, but now he didn’t know where to put them. His heart was pounding, and he was pulled by his husband to sit in front of the stove. I don’t know if it was the temperature of the flames or something else, but Li Zhouzhou’s cheeks were hot.

　　But he held his husband’s hand very seriously to warm his hands.

　　It is late autumn and the weather is cold. The villagers do not have the conditions to take a bath every day. Boiling hot water for washing and soaking feet is considered quite particular, after all, boiling water wastes firewood.

　　After the hot water was ready, the family washed up and went back to their rooms.

　　After the family split, the Li family had only a few people, including Li Da and his brother Li Zhouzhou, but the house was well built and was one of the best in the village. The main house had three rooms, the middle one was the main room, where they usually ate and chatted, and the rooms on the left and right were for Li Da and Li Zhouzhou respectively.

　　On both sides of the main house are side houses, one is the kitchen and the other is the granary. The yard is square, with a meter-high rammed earth wall leading to the backyard, which is a toilet, pig pen and chicken coop.

　　The room was spacious, with a kang against the wall, a wardrobe at the end of the bed, and a newly made table by the window – it hadn’t been there before.

　　Li Zhouzhou’s house used to be very plain and didn’t look like a gentleman at all. But he got married and found a son-in-law. His husband, Gu Zhao, was a scholar who wanted to take the imperial examination in the future, so he added some decorations.

　　Blow out the oil lamp.

　　Li Zhouzhou took off his coat and got on the kang in his inner clothes. The quilt was not warm at all. There was a rustling sound, and a body pressed against his. In the darkness, Li Zhouzhou did not dare to move. He endured the embarrassment, thought about his responsibilities as a “wife”, and whispered: “Husband, do you want it?”

　　Gu Zhao: …

　　”I want to talk to you.”

　　Li Zhouzhou felt a little disappointed when he heard this. He hummed without showing it on his face, but he was thinking about this and that in his heart. Was it because he was not soft enough, not good enough, that his husband did not want him. He heard from Xing Ge’er^[1]a male who can give birth or ger that men are very aggressive when they first get married.

　　”Zhou Zhou, can I hug you?” Gu Zhao put his arms around Zhou Zhou’s waist and couldn’t help but touch him. Even through a thin layer of inner clothes, he could feel Zhou Zhou’s slender and strong waist.

　　Li Zhouzhou felt an itch in his waist, and his voice became softer, “Hmm.”

　　”Zhou Zhou, now we are married, we are one as husband and wife. If you are unhappy, you should tell me.” Gu Zhao resisted the urge to do anything rash, thinking about having a good talk with Zhou Zhou.

　　Li Zhouzhou: “I’m not unhappy?” Then his husband pinched his waist. It didn’t hurt, but it was very itchy and numb. Li Zhouzhou felt very strange. He couldn’t use his waist anymore. It was soft.

　　”Just now when I boiled water, I praised you for being good at it, but you got upset.”

　　Li Zhouzhou’s body was soft and his mind was a little slow. He just remembered why he was unhappy about boiling water. He didn’t expect his husband to notice it. A hint of sweetness rose in his heart, so he told the truth.

　　”I don’t know how to put it, but every time the villagers praise me for being ‘stronger than a man’, I’m different from the other guys. I’m not soft, but firm when I hug them, and I’m not as delicate as the other brothers.”

　　Gu Zhao had heard of it.

　　This world is divided into men, women, and boys^[2]brothers, gers. Boys look like men, but they can give birth to children. Boys are born with smaller frames than men, and although they cannot compare with girls, the local aesthetic of the village is that a good boy, a beautiful boy, is white, young and thin, and the more he looks like a girl, the better.

　　Li Zhouzhou was different. He also had a small frame, but he had been working since he was young. After the family split up, he not only took care of the housework, but also worked in the fields during the busy farming season. He worked more and ate more, so he grew very fast during his growth period. He was already 1.75 meters tall when he was 14 years old.

　　At this time, a matchmaker came to propose marriage to Li Zhouzhou. The matchmaker mentioned a idler from the neighboring village. His father was a widowed ‘mother’ who was mean and stingy and had raised this idler son who did nothing. If Li Zhouzhou went to the matchmaker, he would be treated like an animal.

　　The matchmaker said to Li Da at the time: “Your son Zhou Zhou is in such good condition, you should marry him off quickly while you are still young. The two villages are close to each other, and you can help with anything. It’s a good family, and they won’t look down on Zhou Zhou.”

　　He is still calculating and is eyeing Li Da’s wealth.