But this was Cheng An’an’s body, and examining it meant touching her private areas. As a grown man, Shen Yu genuinely had no idea how to proceed.
Shen Yu pulled his pants back up and, supporting himself against the wall, made his way back into the room.
“Cheng An’an, I’m bleeding! I’m bleeding a lot!”
Cheng An’an had eaten her fill and was lying on the bed, idly counting her fingers.
She turned her head and saw Shen Yu looking like he was on the verge of death. She nearly burst out laughing.
“Honey, didn’t you ever take a health education class?”
“This is your period.”
“Or, as people commonly say, your monthly visitor.”
Your period?
Shen Yu froze.
He had heard the word before, but that was all—he had only heard it.
In the military, it was a term exclusive to female soldiers and a complete blind spot for male soldiers.
He only knew that female soldiers couldn’t use cold water for a few days each month and that their training load would be reduced by half, but he had never connected that with heavy bleeding.
“You mean… menstruation?”
Shen Yu struggled to get the word out.
“Bingo! Correct, but unfortunately, there’s no prize.”
Cheng An’an snapped her fingers.
“Congratulations, Comrade Shen Yu. You’ve finally experienced your first rite of passage as a woman. This is the bleeding week every woman goes through once a month. Surprised? Shocked?”
Shen Yu went completely rigid.
Every month?
Once?
With this much blood loss every month, could a person even survive?
What on earth were women made of?
“Switch back.”
He ground his teeth.
“Right now. Immediately. I can’t wait another second.”
“If you switch back with me right now, I’ll forgive everything you’ve done in the past.”
“Even if you want the stars in the sky, I’ll find a way to pluck them down for you.”
“Switch?”
Cheng An’an laughed.
“Keep dreaming. I have a severe history of menstrual cramps. Every time my period comes, it feels like I’m going through a tribulation. Now that I finally have someone else to take my place, why would I run away? Should I stay here and suffer?”
Although she had a healing ability, that tiny bit of energy had already been used to repair Shen Yu’s body. She had none left over to deal with menstrual cramps.
This kind of purely physical suffering could just be endured by a soldier with a strong will.
After all, a soldier’s duty was to endure hardship.
Shen Yu could hardly believe his ears.
How could this woman be so shameless and still sound so self-righteous?
“I’m a man,” Shen Yu growled. His voice trembled from the pain. “How am I supposed to deal with this?”
“Oh, look at me. I forgot to give you your beginner’s instructions. Everything has a first time. You’ll get used to it after a few tries.”
Cheng An’an pointed toward the wardrobe beside the wall.
“Go get the blue cloth bundle at the very bottom of the cabinet.”
Shen Yu suppressed the anger boiling inside him and shuffled over to the wardrobe.
He crouched down and quickly pulled out the blue cloth bundle.
When he opened it—
Inside was a pile of long strips of cloth with thin strings attached to both ends.
There was also a roll of toilet paper and a bag of wood ash.
Shen Yu picked up one of the cloth strips and asked the quintessential clueless-man question.
“What is this thing?”
Cheng An’an propped her head up with one hand, thoroughly enjoying the sight of this battle-hardened military man being utterly flustered for the first time.
“A menstrual cloth. See those two strings? Tie them around your waist. The pouch-like section in the middle needs to line up with the important area. Remember to put a packet of wood ash or some toilet paper inside. Unless you’re planning to use your pants to catch the blood?”
Wood ash?
Shen Yu’s eyes filled with suspicion toward the entire world.
“You mean… put what in there? Ash?”
“What else, big brother? Did you expect me to magically produce overnight pads with wings, extra-long and extra-thick?”
Cheng An’an shrugged.
“Our conditions are pretty decent already. At least we have some toilet paper.”
Shen Yu stared at the strip of cloth, making one final attempt to resist.
“Do I really have to wear it?”
He could sneak behind enemy lines and take out a target without even blinking.
But asking him to figure out how to wear this thing?
He would rather go clear a minefield.
“Or do you want to let the blood run down your pant legs and have the entire village come tomorrow to watch Shen Yu’s wife turn into a leaky sieve?”
Cheng An’an spread her hands.
“Go on. Be a good boy. Don’t waste time. If you keep dawdling, those pants really will be ruined.”
Shen Yu closed his eyes. His chest heaved several times before he finally managed to calm himself down.
He took the things along with a clean pair of pants and practically fled back into the latrine.
Ten long minutes later—
Shen Yu returned walking in an extremely awkward posture.
His legs were slightly spread apart, and with every step, the rough fabric rubbed against the insides of his thighs. It was more agonizing than carrying a thirty-kilometer load on a forced march.
He stiffly sat down on the stool, afraid to make any unnecessary movement.
He was just about to speak when his lower abdomen suddenly cramped violently.
A wave of intense pain surged through him, and a suppressed groan escaped his throat.
His legs went weak, and he slid straight off the stool, dropping to his knees.
He didn’t even have the strength left to curse.
Pain.
It hurt so much.
This kind of pain was completely different from the gunshot wounds and knife wounds he had suffered before.
A gunshot wound was sharp and localized.
This pain was continuous and dragging, accompanied by a suffocating soreness that felt as though his internal organs were being pulled downward, as if they were about to fall right out of his body.
“What’s wrong?”
Cheng An’an looked at Shen Yu’s deathly pale face and clicked her tongue without a trace of sympathy.
“Looks like you’re having a pretty bad reaction this time. It’s fine. Just endure it and drink plenty of hot water.”
“Cheng… An… An…”
Shen Yu’s vision kept going dark.
“This… body of yours… is it… sick?”
“Menstrual cramps. Completely normal.”
Cheng An’an explained, “It happens when the uterine lining sheds and too many prostaglandins are produced, causing the smooth muscles of the uterus to contract violently. Simply put, that chunk of flesh inside your abdomen is cramping. If it hurts badly, take deep breaths. Don’t hold your breath, or you might faint.”
Shen Yu wanted to kill someone right now.
Just then, Wang Xiulan’s loud voice came from the main room.
“An’an? Why haven’t you come out to eat yet?”
Immediately afterward, footsteps approached.
The curtain was suddenly lifted.
Wang Xiulan walked in carrying a bowl of chicken soup, smiling brightly.
But the sight before her nearly scared her soul out of her body.
Her “daughter-in-law” was curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach with both hands, her entire body trembling like a sieve.
“Oh, heavens!”
The bowl in Wang Xiulan’s hands clattered onto the table, splashing soup everywhere.
She rushed over in three steps and scooped the “daughter-in-law” into her arms.
“An’an! An’an, what’s wrong? Don’t scare Mom! You were perfectly fine just now. How did you suddenly collapse like this?”
Shen Yu was in so much pain that his consciousness was becoming hazy. Hearing her wailing, he instinctively wanted to tell her he was fine.
But when he opened his mouth, all that came out were a few broken groans.
Wang Xiulan touched his hand and found it ice-cold.
Her mind instantly became a tangled mess.
Had she eaten something bad?
Or was this some kind of life-threatening illness?
“No, no! We need to go to the hospital!”
Wang Xiulan said anxiously, “An’an, hold on! Mom will go call the brigade chief right now. We’ll hitch up the ox cart and take you to the commune clinic!”
“If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to face the ancestors of the Shen family after I die?”
With that, Wang Xiulan got to her feet and rushed outside, looking as though if she were even one step too slow, her beloved daughter-in-law would stop breathing.