The Sanitary Pad Debacle

Ten minutes later, with a darkened expression, I trudged to the entrance of the downstairs supermarket.

In the end, I simply couldn’t refuse the Class Monitor, leaving me no choice but to begrudgingly head out to buy sanitary pads.

“If you don’t want your sister to suffer any more pain in the future, then go and buy them properly, understand?”

That’s what she had told me.

Damn it, I only chuckled a little!

Was that really cause for such retaliation?

If she needed sanitary pads, couldn’t she buy them herself?

Why force a grown man like me to do it?

What kind of perverse humiliation ritual was this?

My eyebrows twitched incessantly, my gaze fixed uncertainly on the small supermarket before me.

Previously, I’d entered and exited such places without a second thought, but now it felt like a bottomless pit poised to swallow me whole.

One step inside, and I would be utterly damned!

Standing frozen, cold sweat trickled down my back.

My hands clenched into tight fists, yet I couldn’t bring myself to take a single step into the small supermarket.

‘Could this, perhaps, be another trial bestowed upon me by the Demon God?’

‘Qingchen, my junior, this is a special trial from my King! Cross this threshold, and you shall ascend to a new level!’

‘But, my lord, my legs have grown weak. I can no longer accompany you in battle!’

I gritted my teeth.

‘Oh, Qingchen, my junior, do you still recall the most important words my King once spoke to you?’

‘What?’

‘No matter what anyone in this world says about me, I will only act according to my beliefs, without a single regret, now or in the future!’

!!!

I was abruptly startled.

‘Wait, wasn’t that a line from One Piece!’

‘Qingchen, my junior, how can you falter when faced with difficulty? You are the man destined to conquer the Demon Realm by my side! How can you be defeated by such a trivial matter? Go! Crumple every single sanitary pad in there to your heart’s content!’

‘Yes, Demon God!’

I lifted my head, a resolute expression now etched on my face.

All of this was for the Demon God, so I absolutely, positively had to go in and crumple all the sanitary pads…

Never mind, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I should just quickly buy a pack and get this over with.

It wasn’t that I was a coward. If I actually went in and crumpled them, I truly would ascend to a new level—a new level of perversion, perhaps even on par with that scoundrel Chen Shen!

No, it might even be a higher level than his.

Chen Shen was, at most, notoriously perverse within the school.

But if I did that, tomorrow’s headline would undoubtedly scream: “Seventeen-Year-Old High School Boy Arrested for Rushing into Supermarket and Violently Crumpling Sanitary Pads!”

Class Monitor, your prophecy would truly come to pass!

Therefore, I needed to calm down and consider if the Class Monitor, that old lady, would bring the whole class to visit me if I were arrested…

Bah, bah! Such a scenario was not part of my plan!

Why was I even assuming I would violently crumple sanitary pads and get arrested?

In any case, I needed to calm down now.

I exhaled slowly, then deliberately took my first step, advancing towards the small supermarket.

After that series of internal deliberations, my heart was finally not as timid as before.

Step by step, I made my way towards the supermarket.

Finally, I successfully entered the supermarket.

“Welcome!”

The automated voice at the supermarket entrance startled me, making me think the police had come to arrest me.

The cashier at the counter near the entrance shot me a strange glance.

It seemed my behavior just now had indeed been rather peculiar.

I offered the cashier an embarrassed smile, then quickly moved further inside, my gaze sweeping around in search of where the sanitary pads were displayed.

The location was quite obvious; I spotted it immediately.

Hastening my steps, I made my way towards the sanitary pad aisle.

Fortunately, the supermarket wasn’t too crowded at the moment, so not many people would notice me.

For this, I let out a small sigh of relief.

I quickly approached the counter, ready to grab a pack of sanitary pads and leave immediately.

However, the moment I reached the aisle and saw the rows of sanitary pads, I was utterly dumbfounded.

No, it wasn’t that I was overly excited to see sanitary pads for the first time; I wasn’t that much of a pervert!

It was just…

Why were there so many types of sanitary pads here? These things actually had daily-use and night-use versions!

What was a “comfort type,” and what exactly was a “maiden pack” for?

Damn it, Class Monitor! You didn’t tell me which kind to buy when I left! What am I supposed to do now?

I didn’t even have Lin Shujing’s phone number, so there was no way I could quickly ask her now.

In that instant, a stampede of exasperation charged through my mind. I stood frozen, utterly clueless as to what to do.

This was bad! The cashier over there was already starting to notice me.

If I didn’t make a decision quickly, I would absolutely, definitely be mistaken for a pervert!

There was no other way. At this point, I could only…

Frowning, I steeled my resolve and began to act.

With one hand, I grabbed a pack from each variety of sanitary pads, stuffing them into my arms.

Only after selecting over a dozen packs did I stop, then marched assertively towards the counter.

‘Better to over-prepare than to miss out,’ I thought. ‘Let’s see what anyone could possibly say now.’

I reached the counter and spread all the sanitary pads I held onto the surface, watching the cashier anxiously.

The cashier meticulously examined the sanitary pads on the counter, then furrowed her brow as she looked at me.

After a long moment of contemplation, she finally seemed to have an epiphany.

Slowly, she spoke: “Young man, are you conducting some kind of research project?”

Me: “……”