An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 5: A Clash of Ideas – The Sanitary Napkins Chapter (Part 2)
It wasn't until this moment that Meng Youyou finally understood the meaning behind Huo Qingshan's ambiguous and unsatisfying last words before he left.
Meng Youyou recalled some childhood stories her mother had told her. She said that people's thinking was mostly traditional and conservative at that time, and girls were very shy about such things during puberty. They would secretly wash their sanitary pads and then secretly dry them behind people's backs.

Previously, Meng Youyou would just listen casually and not take it to heart.

When I was making a list this afternoon, I figured the date was approaching, so I just wrote it down without thinking too much about it.

After all, during her student days in her later life, she was used to asking her childhood friend Shen Xin to buy sanitary napkins for her in case of emergencies. Later, with the rapid development of food delivery platforms, it was also commonplace for her to order errands and ask deliverymen to buy things for her.

However, at this moment, looking at the things wrapped in layers of packaging in her hands, Meng Youyou finally had a concrete understanding of what her mother meant by "simple and honest folk customs".

So... in the eyes of that serious and old-fashioned man, his act of openly asking him to help buy sanitary napkins was probably considered a great act of treason, right?
Thinking about it this way, his earlier assessment that she was relatively open-minded was actually quite tactful.

Meng Youyou pouted in disagreement...

She understands that people's thoughts will differ in different eras, and she cannot stand in God's shoes and try to judge people of the past by the social ideas of the future; that would be unfair and unreasonable.

However, as human beings, we all share a common flaw: we may understand the principles, but whether we can actually put them into practice is another matter entirely.

Meng Youyou is a typical example; she doesn't like to listen to grand theories and only follows her own truest feelings.

Please don't tell me what to do! Besides, I haven't done anything wrong!
This is the prevailing and deeply ingrained mindset among people of this era.

If all of these are true, does that mean they are correct?
Just because it has always been this way, does that mean it's right?

Just because she knows that women in the 21st century can openly face the so-called "menstrual shame," dare to bravely "say no," and confidently hang "you can borrow sanitary napkins from me" tags on their backpacks, does that mean that the normal physiological needs of women who were once stigmatized during the transition period should be ignored?

Or choose to turn a blind eye?
Or do they think this is just a given?
Blindly choosing to accept something just to conform to the mainstream view of safety and stability?

no!
Since fate has brought her here, Meng Youyou is unwilling to compromise and become a numb, silent witness to "that period of female silence in the development of sanitary napkins".

She needs to speak out!

Even if we can't change anything, we will never remain silent!
……

So when she ran into Huo Qingshan in the cafeteria the next morning, she made a point of going up to him.

Meng Youyou placed the plate opposite Huo Qingshan, then plopped down in her seat. She smiled and greeted the man across from her, who was eating with his head down and expressionless, "Good morning, Battalion Commander Huo!"

Upon hearing this, the man merely raised his eyes slightly and nodded gently, saying, "Good morning." His tone was icy, utterly devoid of warmth. Seeing this reaction, Meng Youyou's smile froze for two seconds, but quickly returned to normal, replaced by an even brighter, more intense smile. With the innocent naivety of a bewildered young girl, she asked, "What did Battalion Commander Huo mean yesterday before he left by saying that he thought I was too open-minded and lacked self-respect, and that I shouldn't let strange men buy things for me? I racked my brains yesterday but couldn't understand what he meant. Let's not beat around the bush; since we've met today, please be frank."

Being openly insulted and choosing to swallow one's anger is not Meng Youyou's style. She thought about it late last night and still couldn't swallow her anger, so she planned how to get revenge today.

If you're not convinced... then let's fight!
Thoughts~~
Comparison~~
Open~~
Does asking someone to buy you a sanitary napkin mean you're open-minded? I think your brain hasn't evolved yet! I have to confront you today and give your still-developing brain a workout.

Huo Qingshan looked up and met a pair of big, bright eyes that blinked rapidly, as if they were strongly saying: I don't understand anything, can you tell me?

But Battalion Commander Huo, who had seen countless people, immediately saw through the woman in front of him. She was just pretending to be ignorant and playing dumb to deceive others.

He didn't follow her lead in answering her question, but instead asked, "Don't you know what I'm referring to?" The man's gaze met Meng Youyou's feigned innocence and inquisitive eyes, his imposing presence instantly shattering her carefully crafted facade.

Since things had come to this, Meng Youyou simply abandoned her roundabout approach and went straight to the point, asking him: "Then let me ask you, if one day your leader asked you to buy him a pack of cigarettes, would you find that behavior strange and consider him an open-minded man?"

"I don't think these two things can be compared. There is a fundamental difference between them. Your analogy is confusing the concepts," Huo Qingshan retorted dismissively.

"Oh, what's the essential difference? Tell me." Meng Youyou's eyes gradually sharpened, giving her a rather intimidating air at first glance.

Huo Qingshan pondered for a moment, then remained silent.

Seeing this, Meng Youyou pressed her advantage, saying, "Look, even you can't explain it clearly. You can't say what the essential difference is between buying cigarettes and buying sanitary napkins. Do you know why? Because there is no difference between the two. Buying sanitary napkins and buying cigarettes are equally common and normal things. There's no need to hide it. Buying sanitary napkins is not something shameful or embarrassing. In fact, we women should hand over sanitary napkins as naturally and openly as men hand over cigarettes."

"Therefore, Comrade Huo Qingshan, yesterday you hastily labeled me as a woman with a relatively open mind and a lack of self-respect simply because I asked you to help me buy sanitary napkins. I have every reason to believe that the word 'open' you used yesterday was not a compliment, and I feel extremely offended by this. So, today I intend to give you a blunt critique: Battalion Commander Huo, I think you are overly arrogant, stubborn, and extremely chauvinistic, rigidly adhering to your own ideas and inflexible in your approach to people and matters. I also sincerely suggest that Battalion Commander Huo listen to others' opinions instead of stubbornly clinging to your own views and becoming a trapped beast that stands still."

Ultimately, Meng Youyou still harbors resentment about Zhang Yong's punishment and remains so to this day.

After venting her long string of thoughts, Meng Youyou ignored the man's reaction and picked up the plate to leave. She had already taken a few steps when she suddenly stopped.

He turned around and strode back, slamming a stack of banknotes heavily in front of Huo Qingshan: "That's a total of one hundred and five yuan. Consider the extra three mao as a tip for Battalion Commander Huo for running errands." As he said this, he didn't forget to glare at him provocatively.

The woman, as swift as the wind, stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving Huo Qingshan sitting motionless in his seat, lost in thought.
And... a group of soldiers looking at each other, trying their best to keep their eating noises down.

New readers, please read this book promptly these next couple of days. Don't save it for later, as it's currently in a competition phase. If you only add it to your bookshelf but don't actually read it, it will actually lower the book's readership rate. In that case, the competition results might not be as favorable as you hope.

This is just a suggestion, but ultimately it depends on each reader's mood and time.
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(End of this chapter)