◎Cat Hair Standing on End◎

The result of emotional ups and downs and abnormal hormone secretion was that Chun Zao defensively welcomed her monthly period.

Looking at that crimson bloodstain on the bedsheet, Chun Zao silently cleaned it up without a word.

When the clock pointed to eight o’clock, she stealthily transported the bedsheet and pajama pants out of the bedroom.

Chun Chuzhen was selecting vegetables at the dining table in the living room. Catching sight of her daughter hunched over, she didn’t even need to guess: “Did you get your period on the bed?”

Chun Zao’s face heated up: “Could you lower your voice a bit?”

Chun Chuzhen glared: “Is my voice very loud?”

Her mother’s voice wasn’t loud—just medium volume—but in this not-so-spacious house, she was somewhat worried about being heard by Yuan Ye.

Chun Zao soaked the changed bedsheet and clothing in basins of different sizes, respectively.

Hearing the sound of water from the bathroom, Chun Chuzhen trotted over: “Just leave it there, I’ll wash it later.”

“Oh.” Chun Zao glanced at her.

That’s what she said with her mouth, but spent a solid half hour seriously scrubbing her clothing. Midway through, Chun Chuzhen came again with fresh interruptions and urging: “Breakfast is getting cold, come out and eat first. I already said to leave it for me to wash.”

Chun Zao replied with red ear tips: “If I wait for you to wash it, who knows when that would be.”

—What if Yuan Ye got up to wash up in the meantime?

If he saw it, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t overthink it.

The inconvenience of sharing a bathroom between men and women reached its peak during her period. For the next two days, because she had to frequently change sanitary pads, each time Chun Zao would roll them up carefully, wrap them tightly with toilet paper, and then replace the entire garbage bag next to the toilet.

Chun Chuzhen understood but didn’t approve of her behavior of going downstairs to throw out garbage at least five times a day: “No matter how many garbage bags I buy, they’re not for you to waste like this.”

Chun Zao stiffened her neck: “If I don’t use them like this, you’ll never finish the garbage bags you buy online in this lifetime.”

Chun Chuzhen, knowing the reason for her abnormal behavior, had her own logic: “If you were more generous about it, others wouldn’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

Chun Zao: “You don’t get periods anymore, what do you know?”

Chun Chuzhen showed an expression of being slandered: “What are you so proud of? Acting like you can have periods for a lifetime.”

Chun Zao: “…”

She comforted herself that her mother was already over fifty, having weathered countless storms, naturally taking a lighter view of worldly matters, and being able to handle things calmly. She had only experienced womanhood for a mere three years, so having a difficult hurdle in her heart wasn’t surprising.

Fortunately, Yuan Ye didn’t spend much time in the rental house on weekends either. He seemed to prefer going out to the vast ocean, disdaining to linger in the limited confines of a small pond. While sympathizing with his family background, Chun Zao also envied his free and easy nature.

She guessed that if this were ancient times, Yuan Ye would become one of those young knights who traveled the world with a sword, punishing evil and eliminating wickedness.

What about her then?

Chun Zao pressed her pen against her chin, sitting at her desk and absent-mindedly thinking.

A bitter young lady confined to her boudoir, never stepping outside the main gate or the second gate?

How did that seem a little bit like… the classic CP from ancient romance novels that Tong Yue had talked about before? Chun Zao couldn’t help but smile.

She shook her pen again, chasing away these unreasonable imaginings.

Early Monday morning, before leaving, she carefully tidied up and replaced the bathroom garbage can.

She had timed it perfectly—Yuan Ye finished washing up and left, then she immediately darted inside. The air still held the fruity scent of the boy’s toothpaste. She tied the drawstring of the garbage bag, wound it around her finger, said goodbye to her mother, and opened the door to go to school.

Approaching October, autumn was coming, the temperature difference between morning and evening was growing larger. Additionally, because of the need to keep warm during her period, Chun Zao wore a thin long-sleeved knit cardigan.

She carried the garbage bag, leisurely stepping down the stairs.

When she reached the second floor, the girl’s footsteps suddenly stopped.

A tall figure stood on the second-floor landing, eyes lowered, absorbed in looking at his phone.

Chun Zao looked toward him. Before she could greet him, the other party seemed to have already sensed her presence and looked up, revealing a smile more refreshing than an autumn morning: “Morning, Chun Zao.”

Chun Zao blinked: “Morning.”

“Why did you stop here?” she curiously walked over.

It couldn’t be that… he was specifically waiting for her, right?

Yuan Ye turned his phone toward her: “Pre-ordering breakfast, I’ll pick it up directly at the school gate later.”

Sorry, she was being presumptuous. Chun Zao glanced at the food ordering interface: “You can do that?”

Yuan Ye put his phone back in his pants pocket: “Mm, saves time.”

Chun Zao nodded approvingly: “I learned something.”

The two walked downstairs.

Chun Zao in front, Yuan Ye behind.

Noticing the girl bouncing along, her jet-black ponytail restored to its former liveliness, his eyebrows raised almost imperceptibly, but he didn’t ask any questions.

Today’s stairwell seemed longer than usual.

Chun Zao felt like she had a thorn in her back, unable to move her hands and feet naturally. Her throat was slightly blocked, as if a fruit-flavored hard candy was stuck there, permeating with sweetness yet neither going up nor down, just like her current self, having nowhere to settle and unable to speak smoothly.

Finally, walking out of the stairwell into the bright daylight.

Chun Zao turned around and began making awkward conversation: “The air seems pretty good today.”

Yuan Ye cooperatively took a sniff: “Seems like it.”

“…”

“…”

Brief silence.

Yuan Ye noticed the gray garbage bag she’d been carrying since the beginning: “Let me help you throw that away.”

The girl looked horrified as she tucked it behind her: “No need!” Realizing her overreaction, she leveled her tone: “It’s not heavy anyway, I can do it myself…”

Yuan Ye was puzzled: “We’ve been roommates for a month, still being so polite?”

“It’s not that.” Chun Zao couldn’t explain herself, maintaining her tight concealment. How could she explain this? She began sweating on her back.

When things reach an extreme, they reverse. In desperation, Chun Zao suddenly remembered her mother’s words: “If you were more generous about it, others wouldn’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

So she steeled herself and slowly let the garbage bag hidden behind her back drop to her side: “Inside are my used… sanitary pads.”

Yuan Ye hadn’t expected this at all.

He was caught off guard by the girl’s awkward honesty.

For a moment, he was also flustered. After a brief stunned pause, his bright black eyes looked elsewhere, just clearing his throat: “…Oh, I see, sorry.”

“I overstepped.” He began making some strange remarks.

Chun Zao’s ears were already red enough to drip blood, forcing herself to appear calm as she complained: “What are you saying…”

What are you even saying?

Yuan Ye wanted to ask himself the same thing.

Today was English morning reading. Yuan Ye casually recited the text, occasionally letting out laughter, completely unable to control his emotions.

Thinking about the morning scene was funny.

An extremely awkward, yet extremely interesting kind of funny.

Especially the girl’s progressively reddening face, like a round, plump strawberry bubble gum about to explode, ready to implicate him at any moment.

And it did implicate him.

She had a way about her, remaining silent until making a shocking statement, creating a situation ten thousand times harder to handle than an Olympiad problem. His brain froze for a moment, then.

Tu Wenwei noticed his abnormality: “Are you alright?”

Yuan Ye immediately suppressed all emotions: “I’m fine.” He glanced sideways: “Can’t you read properly?”

“You’re the one who should read properly. You keep acting crazy next to me, which affects my concentration.”

“Who’s acting crazy?”

Two minutes later, the one who denied acting crazy was leaning aside behind his book again, letting his shoulders shake twice.

Tu Wenwei looked at his thick head of hair and slightly red ear tips with lingering fear.

Finally, Yuan Ye sat up straight, coughed twice, and returned to normal.

Tu Wenwei was puzzled: “What exactly are you laughing about?” He meant, studying was so hard—shouldn’t happy things be shared with bros?

Yuan Ye lowered his textbook and glanced at him: “Want to know?”

Tu Wenwei: “Yeah.”

Yuan Ye: “Did you play ranked matches before bed yesterday?”

Tu Wenwei nodded: “Mm.”

“I spectated half a game, so…” You understand.

“Get lost.”

—

After showering that evening, Yuan Ye came out, towel-drying his hair, inadvertently glancing at the garbage can location, and wanted to laugh again.

Returning to his room, he shook his damp black hair and leaned against the headboard in a daze.

It wasn’t that he was completely unfamiliar with girls’ periods, but directly facing such situations still caused slight discomfort. Had his daytime behavior seemed somewhat impolite?

Although he later stiffly expressed concern with “Are you uncomfortable these days?” and received the girl’s serious answer: “I took painkillers in advance, so I won’t be uncomfortable.”

And educational information: “Besides, today is the third day, and there’s barely any feeling left. Generally, the first two days are more uncomfortable.”

He looked her over once more, following her words.

Aside from her deliberately tense red cheeks, there didn’t seem to be any difference. No wonder he hadn’t noticed in time.

The third day.

Yuan Ye opened his phone calendar and counted backward. So Saturday was the first day. Living under the same roof, he had been completely unaware. She had kept herself shut in her room studying all day, and they rarely even met.

While waiting for his hair to dry completely, Yuan Ye quickly finished two ranked matches and quit the mobile game interface.

He switched back to the chat app and immediately saw that Chun Zao was online. The girl’s avatar matched her username—both were simple line drawings of a small bird in black marker. Most likely drawn by herself.

He considered his words, deciding to make amends after the fact, editing a message: Actually it doesn’t matter, I don’t mind, you don’t need to go to such trouble.

—handling these special situations during special times.

He omitted the latter predicate to make this passage seem more tactful and subtle.

He wouldn’t mind at all.

He wasn’t a pervert, wouldn’t have improper curiosity, and certainly wouldn’t develop baseless prejudices against her because of such things.

On the contrary.

Yuan Ye continued typing: It’s mainly my problem, right? My moving here has made things inconvenient for you, hasn’t it?

The chat box remained silent for two minutes.

The girl aggressively sent back a “Leave me alone!!!” emoji of a cat with fur standing on end.

Yuan Ye was slightly stunned.

Looking at those three exclamation marks in the image for a while, he smiled and surrendered, replying twice in succession:

Ok

Ok

The young man lay down, pillowing his arm, silently marking September 26th on this date, and affirming his limited theoretical experience:

Mm, girls do have a few days each month when they’re not to be trifled with…