Yan Aohan carefully carried Zhu Yanyi into his room. Zhu Yanli quickly returned from her own room with a pack of sanitary pads, handing them to Zhu Yanyi. "Do you need help?"
Zhu Yanyi’s face turned red, and she shook her head slightly. "No need. I’ll go inside to change and wash." She took the clean clothes and the pads into the bathroom.
Zhu Yanyi opened the package. These were among the earliest sanitary pads to enter the Chinese market. They were not very large, and their absorbency was not as good as later brands. However, being an early product, they were far more comfortable and convenient than the old-style cloth belts stuffed with paper.
After washing and changing, Zhu Yanyi came out. Yan Aohan was no longer there. Zhu Yanli immediately took the soiled clothes. "I’ll wash them for you."
"No need. I’ll wash them myself." Zhu Yanyi felt embarrassed to trouble her sister.
"It’s your first time. You shouldn’t touch cold water. I’ll wash them. We can’t keep these until after the New Year." Normally, trash was not thrown away during the New Year period; it was kept aside until after the first day of the lunar new year. However, Zhu Yanyi’s situation was unexpected, and the bloodstains made it unsuitable to keep. It needed to be disposed of immediately.
"Your sister is right. Let her do it. You don’t need to go downstairs either. There is a spirit projection in your room. You can watch the Spring Festival Gala in bed. I’ll bring you some food you can eat and a hot water bottle for your stomach." Xie Xinlian held a hot water bottle in one hand and a bowl of brown sugar eggs in the other.
Zhu Yanyi knew this was her mother’s and sister’s love. She sat in the bed and took the hot water bottle from Xie Xinlian, placing it on her stomach. Actually, her stomach did not hurt much, except for a slight pain when the bleeding started. There was only a feeling of heaviness. After all, she had drunk spirit spring water for many years, so her physical condition was very good. The heaviness was likely because she had eaten sugarcane, water chestnuts, and other fruits recently. Now, with the warmth of the hot water bottle, even that feeling was almost gone.
"Eat the brown sugar eggs. Let’s celebrate Ani growing up. After the New Year’s Eve dinner, Ani is considered fifteen years old. I didn’t expect her first period to come today. What a coincidence." Xie Xinlian smiled happily. She had been worried because Zhu Yanyi’s period had not come yet. Although the medicine elder had said it would come by the first half of fifteen at the latest, she was still anxious. Now that it had arrived, she felt relieved. She also felt a bit emotional, realizing that her daughters were all growing up.
Zhu Yanli washed the soiled clothes for Zhu Yanyi. After spinning them in the washing machine, she hung them on the balcony outside Zhu Yanyi’s room. When she finished, she smiled. "These clothes will need to dry for two years."
Zhu Yanyi had just finished the brown sugar eggs. Hearing this, she laughed. "If you say that, it seems like if it doesn’t come, it won’t come. But if it comes, it comes for two years."
"Haha." Zhu Yanli laughed too.
Zhu Yanli stayed and chatted with Zhu Yanyi for a while before Zhu Yanyi sent her away. It was impossible to stay up all night guarding her.
Xie Xinlian brought many snacks for Zhu Yanyi, such as sunflower seeds, peanuts, and spiced dried meat. Knowing Zhu Yanyi liked fruit, she specially prepared some fresh juice, heated it, and brought it up.
Actually, Zhu Yanyi rarely ate much at night. So even though many things were brought up, she did not eat much.