Inextricable

The effect of this traditional Chinese medicine surprised Xu Xingxing. It caused her to start menstruating again, something that hadn’t happened in months now, within the span of a week of consuming it. Normally, the first day of Xu Xingxing’s period was light, so she looked at Huangfu Yiduo, put down her chopsticks, and said, “It’s okay, I’ll just go to the bathroom.”

Although Xu Xingxing said she was fine, Huangfu Yiduo felt that there was something wrong, so she also put down her chopsticks to follow Xu Xingxing, saying, “Jiejie, I’ll come with you too.”

The two went to the bathroom one after the other, and as soon as they entered the bathroom, Xu Xingxing smiled in embarrassment, and asked Huangfu Yiduo with a blushing face, “Did you bring sanitary pads?”

“Yes, I’m about to have my period too, so I prepared a few in advance,” Huangfu Yiduo replied. She then brought her bag and gave Xu Xingxing a pad.

Since Xu Xingxing’s menstruation usually came once every few months, she was not prepared for this. After thanking Huangfu Yiduo, she entered the bathroom cubicle.

“Jiejie, do you have a stomachache?” Huangfu Yiduo asked while waiting for her.

Xu Xingxing replied, “I’m okay.”

She seemed to only be experiencing some minor discomfort, and was not in much pain, which was odd, for she usually had to suffer through severe menstrual cramps. ‘Could it possibly be a side effect of that Chinese medicine?’ Xu Xingxing pondered, ‘How can there be such a miraculous medicine?’

She came out of the cubicle, to find Huangfu Yiduo waiting for her, leaning against the wall on one side.

“It hurts every time I have this, but that’s only for the first day. Ah Zhe makes me ginger soup to drink, so I feel fine after that,” Huangfu Yiduo said with a smile in her eyes.

Slightly surprised, Xu Xingxing asked, “Ah Zhe? Can he even make ginger soup?”

In Huaicheng, men hardly ever enter the kitchen.

“Yes, he prepares all the meals at home,” Huangfu Yiduo replied with a smile.

Xu Xingxing had never before witnessed such a thing. ‘It appears that Du Yizhe is raising a daughter rather than dating her. He treats her like a little princess out of his unconditional love for her.’ Xu Xingxing grinned, a little envious, as she thought this. Although she possessed a self-sufficient nature, she also genuinely desired someone who would spoil her in this way.

Still unable to accept that Xu Xingxing did not have dysmenorrhea, Huangfu Yiduo turned to face her and confirmed, “Is it really not painful? Do you want a cup of longan red date tea that Ah Zhe makes?”

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt,” Xu Xingxing said with a grateful smile.

However, this statement hit Xu Xingxing in her own face an hour later.

While the young pair returned to the store holding hands after eating dinner, Xu Xingxing planned to grab a taxi to get home after passing through Jiating Plaza. However, as soon as she turned the corner, Xu Xingxing felt as though someone had severely twisted her lower belly, and the pain radiating in her lower abdomen caused her eyes to fill with gold stars.

Xu Xingxing started to sweat as the pain grew more intense and sharper, sidelining the previous dull discomfort. She moved to the seating area in the plaza while holding her lower abdomen.

The pain gradually increased until Xu Xingxing sat down. She sat for a while, and after the pain decreased a bit, she took her phone out to call Huai Jing, but before she could dial his number, his call came.

Xu Xingxing answered, “Hello.”

“When are you coming here?” Huai Jing asked calmly from the other end of the line.

Xu Xingxing pursed her lips, stroked her tummy, and murmured, “I won’t be coming tonight.”

The man asked her in a raised voice, “Why?” He clearly hadn’t anticipated her saying that.

“Ah.” Explaining menstruation to a male was still a little difficult for her.

“It’s… menstruation,” she muttered.

Huai Jing didn’t hear what she said, so he asked, “What?”

She felt very shy and spoke a little louder despite her slight anxiety, “I am having my period.”

When the woman said this, Huai Jing was surprised, but this time he understood the reason and could imagine the embarrassment on the woman’s face, so he quietly smiled.

Xu Xingxing felt much worse about herself after hearing his laughter. “I… I can’t come tonight,” she mumbled.

Since she was on her period, they could not be intimate tonight.

“What are you thinking?” he asked her seriously this time, “Can’t you play the piano while having your period?”

Xu Xingxing: “…”

‘He… why is he pretending to be pure?’

………………………

Huai Jing came to pick up Xu Xingxing despite her protests. She wasn’t in much pain on the way, but just as she arrived at Huai Jing’s house, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, which almost made her fall on the floor.

Huai Jing watched her body go limp, frowned and picked her up, and asked in a deep voice, “What’s wrong?”

“I have dysmenorrhea,” she said with a trembling voice.

After Xu Xingxing finished speaking, Huai Jing carried her in his arms all the way to the second-floor bedroom, showing that he understood the meaning of dysmenorrhea.

Huai Jing placed Xu Xingixng on the bed and gently instructed her, “Lie down and rest first.”

Xu Xingxing gritted her teeth and pulled Huai Jing’s hand before he could leave, begging him to take her home because she couldn’t tolerate the discomfort any longer.

She was worried that due to there being no sanitary napkins around, she would leave a stain on the bed and be unable to sleep properly through the night.

“Why do you want to go back?” Huai Jing questioned in a deep voice as he lowered his gaze to meet hers.

Xu Xingxing’s lips twitched.

The man gave her a quick glance before humming and grinning, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted as he teased her, “Afraid that I will fight a bloody battle with you tonight?”

Xu Xingxing: “…” 

She turned her now reddened face sideways and pulled the quilt up to cover it. He was still able to crack jokes in such a situation.

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Xu Xingxing’s consciousness gradually turned foggy after the man stood up and walked away, before she eventually fell asleep. After some time, she was awakened by the soft light in the room and glanced to the side. A collection of sanitary napkins from different brands were piled up on the tiny cupboard next to the bed.

These pads were packed in a plastic bag from the same supermarket the two of them had gone grocery shopping last time, so Huai Jing must have been the one to have bought it.

Xu Xingxing imagined a 1.9-meter-tall man standing in the pink sanitary napkins section, and a slight smile rose at the corners of her mouth, with warmth spreading in her heart.

She remained dazed until she suddenly smelled the spicy smell of ginger, and soon spotted Huai Jing with a little porcelain bowl in his hands.

Even though Xu Xingxing appeared haggard lying on the bed, her complexion looked much better than before.