Chapter 27: Pain!
Mei Li stood there woodenly, frantically combing through old Mei Li's memories on how she dealt with her period.
Although she had an idea already, she still wanted to know if there was a better alternative.
The more she thought about it, the more bitter she felt. There were obviously no sanitary pads like she used in the 21st century. They only used cotton cloth stuffed with plant ash!
No safer or more sanitary options were found in the previous Mei Li's memories. Apparently, even rich ladies from the capital used plant ash stuffing to absorb the liquid. They had better quality cotton though.
Unfortunately, she didn't have any of that right now. What to do?
Her husbands noticed her weirdness. "What's wrong?" Shufen asked.
Mei Li stared at her men and suddenly had the desire to go rogue.
She put on an aggrieved look. "My great aunt arrived! I don't have any plant ash cloth!"
The brothers showed a confused look. Did one of the wife's relatives come for a visit? Where? Wait, that was not right…
"Wife," Jin Weimin looked at her questioningly. "How did your aunt know our village? They should have informed us of their visit ahead."
Mei Li almost choked from her mirth. "No, big brother Wei. What I mean is that thing that women have every month. I have it now."
The thing that women have every month…Could it be a woman's "inconvenient days"?
Forgive the Jin brothers for being ignorant. Their mother and Aunt Li never exposed them to these things.
As expected, the brothers stiffened on the spot.
Then, they started panicking.
Weimin: "Big brother, do something to help the wife!"
Longwei: "Plant ash, plant ash...where do we get plant ash?"
Mingyu: "Which plant do we burn into ashes?"
Haoran reached out for a smoldering firewood, prepared to burn some plants!
It was chaos.
Mei Li would have rolled on the floor laughing if she didn't feel guilty afterwards for teasing them.
"Enough." Shufen brought order back to the room. "Longwei, go call Aunt Li. She should know about this."
Shufen didn't forget to give the wife a look that said he knew she was being mischievous.
Not long after, Longwei brought Aunt Li into the kitchen. She was already informed of what happened.
"Mei-er, let's go to your room. I have what you need."
Mei Li followed Aunt Li out, leaving the brothers to deal with themselves.
The five could only sigh in relief. They were mostly capable of solving the problems at home and around the village, but how were they supposed to know about these things?
In Mei Li's room, Aunt Li handed her the cloth stuffed with plant ash. She still had many of these prepared as she, too, still has her menstruation. Yes, she was in her early 40s but she wasn't menopausal yet.
"Silly girl, you shouldn't have teased your husbands like that." Aunt Li said with a smile.
Aunt Li was really surprised when Longwei came running to her in a panic. She seriously thought something bad happened.
Mei Li chuckled upon recalling her husbands' reactions. Hey, they could use some harmless excitement in their lives.
She quickly learned from Aunt Li how to use the ancient sanitary pad alternative. Sigh, she should teach Aunt Li how to sew washable cotton sanitary pads similar to those in modern times.
She would need more expensive types of cotton stuffing and fabric, though. But money was tight so she could only shelve this plan for now.
About an hour later, Mei Li went out of her room to find Aunt Li again. This time, she had no energy for joking around. That was because she was suffering from abdominal cramps and pain!
She lamented how unhealthy her current body was. She was never troubled by cramps before.
"Aunt Li, do you know where Shufen is? I need his help."
"Shu-er is in his medicine room in the west wing. What happened?"
"Nothing serious, Aunt Li. I'm just having cramps. I'll see if he has medicine to relieve the pain."
Shufen was busy organizing his medicine room when Mei Li came in.
Her face and lips were pale and there was a sheen of sweat on her forehead. She was also clutching her abdomen and she looked weak.
Shufen hastily stepped to her side and helped her to sit on a stool. "Abdominal cramps?" He astutely diagnosed her.
"Yes, can you help me with the pain?"
"I'll brew medicine for you. Let's go back to your room first." Shufen's usual teasing attitude towards her was gone at this moment. He was all gentleness.
But Mei Li did not notice as she was truly in pain!
Mei Li went back to her room. She didn't wait that long for Shufen's medicine, which she drank right away despite the bitter taste.
He also brought a porcelain bottle that he kept warm by the kitchen fire for a few minutes.
Shufen instructed her to lie down and raise her clothing to expose her abdomen. Mei Li quickly obeyed, which surprised Shufen.
It seemed their wife wasn't the overly shy type, he thought.
But how would Mei Li still think of being shy at this moment. She only wanted to relieve the pain as quickly as possible.
Shufen rolled the warm bottle on her abdominal and stomach area for a few minutes. When the bottle lost its warmth, he switched to rubbing his palms together.
The friction made his hands warm. He then pressed his palms directly onto her abdomen with small massaging motions.
With the help of the medicine and Shufen's careful ministrations, Mei Li started to feel comfortable at last.
She murmured a sincere thank you to her fourth husband and then succumbed to her medicine-induced drowsiness.
Shufen gazed at the sleeping woman deeply. He knew the most about her body's poor condition. Mei Li had been acting tough and energetic the past few days, but he knew just how weak her body truly was.
He took her pulse and frowned. Shufen resolved to discuss his wife's condition with his master. He needed to come up with an effective nourishment plan for her.
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