Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  “How old is she?”


  I said, “Fourteen, year 2 in high school…”


  “Where does it hurt?”


  “My stomach hurts…”


  I cried, “Doctor, am I dying? I’ve lost so much blood…”


  The doctor frowned and asked Dongyu to place me on the examination bed. After ushering Dongyu out, he sat down and said meaningfully, “Young lady, did your mother not tell you about menarche?”


  The doctor’s facial muscles twitched again as he spoke calmly.

  As it turned out, this was not a terminal illness. It was a process that all girls would experience when they reached puberty. It was commonly known as “the period”.

  The process would take place every month, and it was a necessary process for a girl to evolve into a woman……

  When the doctor finished explaining, he smiled and looked highly amused. “Terminal illness? Young lady, have you been watching too many television dramas?”


  I was so embarrassed that my face turned red and I was at a loss.

  However, Mom and I had never talked about this. Neither had she ever mentioned what sort of changes a girl’s body would experience when she reached the age of puberty.

  Mom seemed to care a lot about Dongyu, and she seemed to be a little cold towards me. Dad was a typical male chauvinist who wasn’t good with words, and he was even less likely to give me too much care.

  So much so that when I came out of the doctor’s room and looked at Dongyu, who was pacing back and forth in front of the door, I didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t some terminal illness, but a normal bodily process.

  On the way home, Dongyu seemed rather awkward as well. He looked at me and then at the bag I was carrying. In the bag were the Sofi sanitary napkins he had bought at the supermarket.

  Dongyu chose and bought me the first pack of sanitary napkins in my life.

  I had trailed behind him, blushing as I watched him pick through the tampons in front of the shelves. The sales assistant had recommended Sofi, and without thinking, he grabbed a couple of packets and paid for them.

  That night, when my mother came home and learned about this, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. That was when she then taught me this knowledge.

  The reason why my stomach had hurt so badly was probably because I had gobbled a few popsicles the night before. During a girl’s period, she was not to eat anything cold. The first lesson was a harsh lesson.

  …


  In the first semester of my second year of high school, when the monthly exam was around the corner, bad news came from my hometown.

  Grandma was seriously ill. The doctor issued a notice of critical illness and told my father that the old lady was nearing the end of her life.

  After bringing Grandma home from the hospital, the old lady’s last wish was to see Dongyu and me for the last time.

  I vaguely remember there was heavy snowfall that night.

  It had rained the day before and the puddles had turned icy in the cold air.

  Father drove us all the way at sixty miles per hour. I sat in the back seat, tears streaming down my face.

  Dongyu put his arm around my shoulders, his expression grave. He usually kept his emotions to himself, but when he found out that Grandma was seriously ill, he was also worried.

  I saw that his eyes were bloodshot too.

  Our family of four rushed back to our hometown. Dongyu and I dashed to the sickbed. Grandma saw us for the last time and smiled in relief, finally releasing her last breath that she had been holding back. Then she passed on.

  When she closed her eyes, her old, withered hand did not let go of mine.

  I could not accept it, so I broke down and cried.

  Dongyu also knelt heavily beside her, his head lowered as tears fell from his eyes.

  In my life, she once held the most important place. The moment she left this world, my heart stopped briefly.