The Little Husband I Took In, Grown Up

Zhou He'an is eight chi tall, handsome and broad-shouldered. Without a ge'er mole, he looks just like a man.

Unable to marry, and not wanting to, he carries home a sickly young man he found by the roadside.

His family advises him to take the boy as a live-in son-in-law.

On their wedding night, the young man says coolly, "I don't like men."

Zhou He'an replies, "What a coincidence. Neither do I."

Apart from being a little taciturn, the young man is clever and hardworking, and does very well in his studies.

Zhou He'an prepares himself to shoulder the burden of supporting the household, never expecting that the young man has come to repay his kindness.

The young man knows everything from astronomy to geography. He leads the whole family in digging up kudzu roots, making soap and refining brown sugar. They store grain in good years and water in droughts, making it safely through one disaster after another.

He turns their large family into a thriving household.

Zhou He'an has always treated the young man like a younger brother.

He never expected that after the young man passes the highest imperial examination, he would blush and ask to consummate their marriage.

Zhou He'an is left in a daze. Wait, didn't you say you didn't like men?

Before he realizes it, the young man who used to be shorter than him has grown half a head taller.

His cool, refined features soften with a tender warmth only when he looks at Zhou He'an.

Handsome bottom, not a burly one. A sunny, cheerful, handsome man (spoiled into one by the top).

There are ge'er conventions, but perhaps the bottom thinks he's a man, or perhaps he really is one! Don't read if that's a dealbreaker.

The top is young and will grow up.

Actually, the title should be What Do I Do When My Wife and I Have Become Brothers? I wrote it this way so everyone would recognize it as an ancient-style farming story.

Theme: If you can't manage your own household, how can you manage the world?