Chapter 226: Working on the Business
Without needing Mu Jingzhe to do anything, Li Zhaodi took care of it. She handed out all the sanitary pads. “There were more than ten left, but I gave them to Mai Miao.”
“Mai Miao?”
“The woman whose mother died and is living with her father.” Li Zhaodi sighed. “She doesn’t have a mother, and her father is a stuffy person. He might not know about female matters or be too embarrassed to tell her. I saw that there was blood on her pants and knew that her period had come, so I taught her how to use it. I also told her that her period would come every month.”
Mu Jingzhe nodded. “Mm, I’ll give her some more later.”
Mai Miao knew that Mu Jingzhe was the one who had brought the sanitary napkins. When she saw Mu Jingzhe go over, she shyly and enthusiastically brought a chair for her to sit on.
“Does your stomach hurt? If it hurts when your period comes, remember to drink more hot water. If you have brown sugar, drink some brown sugar water. Brown sugar eggs are fine too. You can’t be exposed to the cold or lift heavy things, understand?”
It was the first time Mai Miao had heard of menstruation, and she thought it was good. She nodded and blushed. “It hurts a little, but it’s not too bad.”
“Mm, if it hurts badly, you have to go to the hospital. Don’t be shy. You have to remember what I told you because this not only concerns your future marriage and children, but also your future health.”
A girl’s first periods had to be handled properly.
Mai Miao blushed even more. “Okay, I’ll be careful. Thank you, Sister Jingzhe.”
“You’re welcome. Have you adjusted to using sanitary napkins?”
“Yes, I’m just afraid it’ll fall off when I stick it on my pants.”
Mu Jingzhe looked at Mai Miao and immediately realized that she might not even have underwear.
This was basically impossible in the modern era, but it was very normal in the countryside at the time. Back then, there were no real undergarments. Many undergarments were small clothes sewn by one’s own family. This applied to women of all ages.
When Mu Jingzhe had transmigrated there, it had taken her a while to get used to it.
Mai Miao had already had her period, and her whole body was undergoing puberty, including her chest. Perhaps because she felt shy, she hunched over as she faced Mu Jingzhe, wanting to conceal it.
But how could she hide it? Over time, she wouldn’t be able to correct her hunching posture even if she wanted to.
Coincidentally, Mu Jingzhe had new undergarments at home, so she went home and got them for Mai Miao. “You should wear these in the future. They are brand new. I haven’t worn them yet. Don’t be afraid of others seeing them. Don’t think that it’s shameful. You’re just growing up.”
Mai Miao didn’t take them, feeling embarrassed because she had accepted too much kindness. “I… I’ll ask my father for money to buy some. Sister Jingzhe, you don’t have to give these to me.”
“You also need time to buy them, but he doesn’t have time to buy them for you right now, right? Just keep these for now. It’s fine.” Mu Jingzhe stuffed the undergarments into her arms. “You know how to wear them, right?”
Without waiting for Mai Miao to answer, she took them out and taught her. “These clothes are also divided into sizes. Remember to buy the right size for you when you buy some for yourself.”
Mai Miao’s face turned red, but she listened attentively to every word. “Thank you, Sister Jingzhe. How much are they? I’ll pay you.”
“No need. Consider this a gift from me to celebrate you growing up and becoming a young woman.”
On the way back, Mu Jingzhe thought of manufacturing one more thing—underwear.
In the modern age, everyone knew about physiology, and parents no longer avoided talking about it. However, in this era, parents, especially those in the countryside, rarely taught these things.
Mu Jingzhe was wondering if she should go into this line of work. Meanwhile, Mai Miao wore the underwear according to Mu Jingzhe’s instructions.
After putting them on, for the first time, Mai Miao felt at ease. She was no longer afraid of revealing herself or having the sanitary napkin fall out at all times. She could finally walk with her head held high and she no longer had to worry about anything sticking out or moving whenever she walked, attracting the attention of the villagers.
Mai Miao climbed on the roof and said thanks as she faced the direction of Mu Jingzhe’s house.
Later on, when Mai Miao found out that Mu Jingzhe had started making undergarments, she went to her without thinking, wanting to learn how to make underwear from her. She felt that they enhanced the confidence of a girl and wanted to make more.
It would only be a matter of time before Mai Miao became a capable assistant, but that would happen later. Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected that Mai Miao would remember the warmth she gave away casually.
Although she was pondering whether to expand her career into bra and panties production, that would take time. Mu Jingzhe set this matter aside in her heart and busied herself with other matters first. For example, making customized formalwear for celebrities.
The script Little Bei had previously chosen was for a guest star role. On the weekend, Mu Jingzhe took her to finish filming, and she even attended an opening ceremony held by the broadcasting station. Little Bei also walked the red carpet wearing the clothes Mu Jingzhe had made.
Mu Jingzhe was originally quite happy, but later, she witnessed a fight in the washroom. The reason was that two women were wearing the same clothes. They weren’t identical, but they were very similar. One of them was famous, while the other was a newcomer. The famous female celebrity was very displeased and had taught the newcomer a lesson.
Based on their tone, it seemed like they were in the same production team and company. The female celebrity immediately instructed her assistant to tell the company not to provide the newcomers with any more costumes.
The female celebrity was clearly more influential than the newbie. After threatening her, she left, leaving the newbie sobbing uncontrollably.
Mu Jingzhe was speechless. Indeed, such things happened all the time. She had seen it too many times. She wanted to wait for her to finish crying before leaving, but she didn’t have time to delay, so she could only come out now. When the newbie saw her, she immediately turned around to prevent Mu Jingzhe from seeing her in a sorry state.
When Mu Jingzhe saw her, she paused. She had met this person once. While Little Bei was being interviewed, because she was very popular, everyone crowded over. Someone had fallen and almost crushed Little Bei once.
Mu Jingzhe had been a little far away at the time. Fortunately, the girl walking in front of Little Bei had pulled Little Bei away.
Mu Jingzhe had been about to thank her, but she had turned around and disappeared. Coincidentally, she had bumped into her here. However, the timing wasn’t very good.
The girl wiped her face and was about to leave when Mu Jingzhe said, “Um… your face is still a mess.”
She had put on makeup and cried very hard, so even after wiping her face briefly, it was still a tragic sight.
The girl’s back stiffened. Mu Jingzhe said, “It’s fine, you can just tidy yourself up. I won’t tell anyone. Speaking of that, I still don’t know your name. I’ve been wanting to thank you for helping Little Bei.”
Upon hearing Little Bei’s name, the girl finally turned her head. “Who are you?”
“I’m Little Bei’s mother.”
“Oh, hello, Little Bei’s mother. Little Bei is very cute.” She seemed to quite like Little Bei. She then said, “Oh right, my name is Chen Ling.”
“Hello, Miss Chen Ling. Pardon me for asking, but do you need an exclusive customized dress? I can help you make one. You have a nice figure and a swan-like neck. You’d look good in anything. I want to help you make a dress to express my gratitude. If you like, you can wear it at the closing ceremony.”
Chen Ling paused. How could she not tell that Mu Jingzhe was trying to save her? “It’s… It’s too much trouble.”
She knew what an exclusive customized dress represented.