Chapter 5: 5. Chapter 5: Clash of Ideas – "The Sanitary Pad Edition" (Part II)

Chapter 5: Clash of Ideas—The "Sanitary Pad" Chapter (Part II)

It wasn't until this moment that Meng Youyou fully understood the meaning behind the lingering, ambiguous words Huo Qingshan had left her with before his departure.

Meng Youyou recalled some stories her mother used to tell her about her childhood. Her mother said that back then, people's thoughts were mostly traditional and conservative. During puberty, girls were extremely shy about such matters; they would hide their sanitary pads to wash them and then sneakily hang them out to dry behind everyone's backs.

Previously, Meng Youyou had only listened to these stories in passing and hadn't taken them to heart.

When she was making her list that afternoon, estimating that her period was approaching—and considering she was in an unfamiliar place—she had simply written it down without much thought.

After all, to her, this was not something linked to "sneakiness" or being "unseemly."

However, at this very moment, looking at the item wrapped in multiple layers in her hand, she gained a concrete understanding of what her mother called "simple and honest folk customs."

So, in the eyes of that serious, old-fashioned man, her act of openly asking him to help buy sanitary pads was likely considered something quite scandalous, wasn't it?

Thinking about it this way, his comment that her thoughts were "rather open" was actually quite a euphemism.

Meng Youyou curled her lip in disagreement. She could understand that people's thoughts differ across different eras, and she couldn't stand at a god-like vantage point, attempting to impose the social values of a future era onto the people of the past. That would be neither fair nor reasonable.

But as humans, we all share a common flaw: many times, we understand the logic perfectly, but whether we can actually implement it is quite another matter.

Meng Youyou was a classic example. She didn't like listening to grand theories; she only followed the truest feelings of her own heart. *Don't tell me how to do things, especially when I am not in the wrong!*

Even though the views of people in this era were generally deep-seated and widespread.

Just because everyone is like this, does that make it right?

Just because it has always been so, does that make it right?

Meng Youyou still remembered the immense shock a line from the American sitcom *2 Broke Girls* had caused her when she first watched it: "If men got periods, tampons would be free and thrown from floats like Mardi Gras beads!"

This sentence had a massive impact on the young Meng Youyou's cognition at the time. She had earnestly recorded the line in her notebook and taken it home to ask her mother.

"Mom, do you think that sentence is right?"

Back then, her mother had gently taken the notebook, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Hmm... do you remember when you scored sixty on your last math exam? The goal I set for you was to get eighty next time so I could take you to the amusement park, but you ended up getting seventy."

Her mother asked her in return, "If I had set your goal at seventy from the start, do you think you would have still scored seventy?"

It is only because there are radicals that there is room for the moderates to evolve into the neutrals.

Meng Youyou didn't know if there would truly come a day in the future when sanitary products could be placed on parade floats, tossed joyfully to passersby amidst exploding fireworks, but she held infinite hope for it.

And right now, just because she knew that women in the 21st century could face so-called "period shame" with composure and bravely "say no," did that mean the history of women's normal physiological needs—which had been stigmatized during this transitional stage—should be ignored?

Should one choose to turn a blind eye? Or feel that this was simply the natural order of things?

Should one blindly choose to accept it to conform to the safe and steady mainstream? To accept that at this stage, it *should* be a forty or fifty-percent solution? To remain indifferent?

No! Since fate had brought her here, Meng Youyou was unwilling to compromise and become a silent witness to that "period of female voicelessness in the history of sanitary pad development."

...

Consequently, when she ran into Huo Qingshan in the cafeteria the next morning, she made a point of approaching him.

Meng Youyou placed her tray on the seat opposite Huo Qingshan and sat down heavily. She looked at the man, who was eating with a blank expression, with a beaming smile and greeted him: "Good morning, Battalion Commander Huo~"

Upon hearing her, the man merely raised his eyes slightly and gave a small nod. "Good morning," he said, his tone cold and devoid of warmth.

Seeing this reaction, the smile on Meng Youyou's lips froze for two seconds, but she quickly recovered. It was replaced by an even more radiant, thick smile as she asked in the innocent, naive tone characteristic of a young girl, "Battalion Commander Huo, what did you mean yesterday before you left when you said my thoughts are 'rather open' and that I lack self-respect, and that I shouldn't ask male comrades to buy things for me in the future?"

"I racked my brains all night yesterday and still couldn't figure out what you meant." As she spoke, she maintained direct eye contact, refusing to back down. "Let's not beat around the bush. Since we've run into each other today, please be direct."

Being so blatantly insulted and choosing to swallow her pride was not Meng Youyou's style. After tossing and turning all night, she still couldn't let it go; she had planned how to retaliate today.

*“Rather open”~~? What kind of talk is that?*

*Is asking someone to help buy a sanitary pad being "open-minded"? I think it's your brain that hasn't evolved! I have to deal with you today and give that underdeveloped brain of yours some stimulation.*

Huo Qingshan looked up and met a pair of bright, watery eyes that seemed to be intensely pleading: *I don't understand anything, can you please tell me?*

But the experienced Battalion Commander Huo saw through the woman instantly. She was merely playing the fool to catch the tiger.

He did not follow her lead to answer her question, but instead asked coldly, "You don't know what I am referring to?" The man's gaze met Meng Youyou's feigned innocence head-on, his imposing aura instantly shattering her carefully crafted disguise.

Since things had come to this, Meng Youyou abandoned her indirect approach and interrogated him directly: "Then let me ask you, if one day your superior asked you to help him buy a pack of cigarettes, would you find that behavior strange and label him a man with 'open thoughts'?"

"I do not believe these two things can be compared. There is a fundamental difference between them. Your comparative question is conflating concepts," Huo Qingshan countered dismissively.

"Oh? What fundamental difference? Why don't you tell me then." Meng Youyou's gaze gradually sharpened, possessing a formidable momentum at first glance.

Huo Qingshan pondered for a moment, merely staring at the person opposite him without speaking. His expression was indifferent, carrying only a hint of slight displeasure, as if he felt she was being unreasonable, or more likely, that there was no need to explain something so obvious.

Seeing this, Meng Youyou's brow furrowed deeper. She said with certainty, "See? What an arrogant person! When faced with a question he cannot answer, he refuses to communicate." She couldn't help but provoke him; she hated his condescending attitude.

"In reality, you are just trying to avoid the pain point, am I right, Battalion Commander Huo?" She raised an eyebrow mockingly. "The truth is, even you cannot explain it. You cannot say what the fundamental difference is between buying cigarettes and buying sanitary pads. Do you know why? Because there is no difference."

"Buying sanitary pads and buying cigarettes are both equally common and normal things; there is no need to hide them. Buying sanitary pads is not something shameful or something that should be hidden from view.

It is just an undifferentiated hygiene product. It is the long-term immersion in certain ideologies that has endowed it with special meanings and prejudices. In fact, when a woman hands someone a sanitary pad, it should be as matter-of-fact and natural as a man handing someone a cigarette."

As Meng Youyou said this, she didn't actually hold much expectation of changing his mind. After all, many times, when people stay too long in a rigid and closed environment, they become steeped in those old ways.

"Therefore, Comrade Huo Qingshan." Her voice was firm and commanding: "Yesterday, because of my request for you to help buy sanitary pads, you hastily labeled me as a woman with 'rather open thoughts' who lacks self-respect. I have sufficient reason to believe that the word 'open' you used yesterday was not meant as a compliment, and I find it deeply offensive."

"And so, I intend to give you an unceremonious critique in return. Battalion Commander Huo, I think you are excessively conceited, obstinate, and highly chauvinistic. You are stuck in your ways and lack flexibility. I sincerely suggest that you try to listen to the opinions of others, rather than stubbornly remaining a trapped beast pacing in circles."

Ultimately, Meng Youyou still held a grudge regarding the punishment of Zhang Yong, and she had been dwelling on it until now.

After venting that long string of words, Meng Youyou didn't care about the man's reaction. She picked up her tray in one breath to leave, but after walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.

She turned around, walked back in a few quick strides, and slammed a stack of banknotes heavily in front of Huo Qingshan. "That's one hundred and five yuan in total. The extra thirty cents is a tip for your errand, Battalion Commander." As she said this, she didn't forget to glare at him provocatively.

The woman, moving like a whirlwind, left the cafeteria aggressively, leaving only Huo Qingshan sitting motionless at his seat, wondering what he was thinking.

And a group of soldiers who were glancing at each other, trying their best to lower the sound of their eating.