Chapter 16: Getting Closer to Zhou Jiao

When Zhiniang pushed the door open and saw this scene, she fell silent for a moment.

Li Sui quickly explained, "She has period pains. Give her a moment to ease it."

Zhiniang looked bewildered. "Huh? Where is her aunt?"

"..." Li Sui slapped her own mouth. "I mean her menstrual cycle. She's having period cramps."

Only then did Zhiniang realize. She walked over and looked at Zhou Jiao's disheveled state, which was not unfamiliar to her.

After Li Sui stepped aside, Zhiniang placed her hand on Zhou Jiao's lower abdomen and circulated her internal energy to soothe her.

Back in the Demonic Cult, there was no shortage of women who had fainted from menstrual pain. In that era, when people often went hungry, malnourished women were even more common. Since there were no taboos against eating cold foods, such pain was quite normal. Zhiniang was used to it.

Li Sui leaned close to Zhiniang's ear and whispered, "Apply a bit more pressure and take your time. Say it's your unique massage technique so she doesn't notice anything unusual."

Otherwise, if the pain vanished the moment she touched her, it would be too ridiculous.

Zhiniang nodded. Pressing down on Zhou Jiao's belly, she began with two moderate presses on her lower abdomen.

Zhou Jiao immediately let out a hiss of pain.

What remained of Zhou Jiao's consciousness told her that these two women were very strange. But she no longer had the strength to resist.

About ten seconds later, after a warm current began to circulate in her lower abdomen, that excruciating, convulsing pain suddenly began to fade.

Zhou Jiao could clearly feel her pain slowly subsiding, and it even began to restore her sanity.

She opened her eyes to see the stunningly beautiful woman before her looking down at her with a calm, indifferent gaze. Her hand moved across Zhou Jiao's abdomen with steady, moderate pressure, her voice neither cold nor warm: "Do you feel better?"

The pain was still there, but it no longer felt like a piercing, bone-deep agony; it was gradually dissipating. Zhou Jiao's expression turned to one of surprise. "It's not as painful as before..."

In the past, this would have been just the beginning; she would have had to endure the pain for at least an hour or two before regaining her senses.

Just then, her assistant returned. Seeing Zhiniang and Li Sui, she gasped in shock. "What are you doing? Sis!!"

As she made a fuss, Zhou Jiao waved her hand. "Xiao Yuan, I'm fine. This lady is giving me a massage. I'm not in as much pain now."

Xiao Yuan was even more shocked. Zhou Jiao had tried all sorts of methods and even taken Chinese medicine to regulate her cycle, but she had never seen anything work this quickly. Yet, looking at Zhou Jiao, it did seem like the pain wasn't as severe as before. Xiao Yuan had personally witnessed Zhou Jiao fainting from the pain.

The slight sense of strangeness Zhou Jiao had felt began to vanish, and her mood improved. Looking at Zhiniang, she asked Li Sui, "Is she your friend? Does she want to act?"

She knew of Zhiniang. When she had come yesterday, everyone knew that Li Sui's martial arts stunt double had brought a friend. Someone so beautiful was impossible to forget. Up close, such a countenance was even more breathtaking; even she didn't dare to stare too long. Even Gao Tingzhong had personally asked about her, but she had declined.

Thus, Zhou Jiao couldn't figure out exactly why Li Sui had brought Zhiniang along.

Li Sui shook her head. "No, Zhiniang is a distant relative of mine. She just arrived, and I mainly brought her along to see the world."

Zhou Jiao opened her mouth. "Then does she want to act? With a face like that, it would be a waste not to enter the entertainment industry. If she's willing, I can take the initiative to sign her under my sister's company. No one would be able to touch her."

Li Sui was stunned. "Huh?"

It was just a massage; it didn't need to go that far!

Zhou Jiao bit her lip, feeling the pain in her body indeed dissipating, and hurriedly added, "I just want her to massage me once every month..."

Every time her period came, it felt like she was undergoing a tribulation. If she had a massage technique like Zhiniang's, she would be willing to throw all her resources at Zhiniang just to avoid the suffering every month. People like them, who didn't suffer from period pain, could never understand the terror she felt every month. If it weren't for the fear that taking medication to stop her period would ruin her physical foundation, she would have even considered taking medicine.

Before Li Sui could speak, Zhiniang replied, "It's too early to talk about that. With a body like yours, you need proper regulation. This kind of massage only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. I can't happen to be by your side every month."

"I have a sister who knows how to regulate someone like you. Unfortunately, I don't know how, and she isn't here."

Li Sui knew she was referring to A-Shu. A-Shu was very skilled in medicine; before joining the Demonic Cult, she was a famous physician. The prescriptions she wrote were indeed effective—so effective that even Li Sui found it unscientific. Moreover, she was very skilled at using poisons.

But she wasn't here!

Upon hearing there was a way to regulate her condition, Zhou Jiao's eyes lit up instantly. "Where is this sister of yours? As long as you have a way to regulate my body, I'll pay whatever it takes!"

Li Sui sighed. "Teacher Zhou, don't get your hopes up. We don't even know where she is right now."

Considering the fact that Zhiniang had traveled through time, Li Sui didn't rule it out entirely.

Hearing that the person couldn't be found, Zhou Jiao felt a bit disappointed. "I see..."

After massaging for a while, Zhiniang said, "That's enough."

She released her hand. Zhou Jiao felt a slight lingering pain and a sense of lingering fear; she wanted to grab Zhiniang's hand to make her continue. "Will it start hurting again?"

Zhiniang shook her head. "It won't. Do you feel warmth in your lower abdomen now?"

She had infused her internal energy into her; it was impossible for it to hurt again.

Feeling the warmth, Zhou Jiao nodded.

Zhiniang: "That's good. It won't hurt this time. Be careful; for the next few days, avoid cold foods and drinks, and eat lightly."

After saying this, Zhiniang suddenly covered her mouth and laughed. "Why am I acting like a doctor?"

Looking at Zhiniang, Zhou Jiao felt she was a very strange woman. Her movements always possessed an indescribable charm, much like an actress she had seen who specialized in period dramas. Even though she was wearing modern clothes, her every move seemed as if she had stepped out of an ancient painting. Moreover, Zhiniang was even more composed than that actress.

Li Sui gave Zhiniang a thumbs up. "Zhiniang, you're the best."

Zhiniang gave a light huff. "If it weren't for your instructions, I wouldn't care."

Zhou Jiao: "Instructions?"

Li Sui: "...She's watched too many period dramas; it's gotten to her head."

Zhiniang: "..."

Li Sui quickly changed the subject. "Didn't you say you were going to look around? Why are you back so soon?"

Zhiniang: "I looked around, but I didn't recognize anything. I felt it was boring, so I came back to find you."

Zhou Jiao blinked and took the brown sugar water brought over by the still-dazed Xiao Yuan, sipping it slowly. After a few sips, she suddenly looked up at Li Sui.

"You might not believe me, but I feel like you look somewhat familiar. I just can't remember where I've seen you. Could it be that you acted in one of my dramas before?"

But it didn't quite seem right.

Li Sui: "..."

Should she say, *I might look exactly like your little nephew when he was a child?*

That would be too terrifying.