Aixi did not speak, and her tears began to fall.

She cried silently, but it made his heart ache even more.

Mu Jingpei felt his heart fall with her tears.

He regretted that his tone was too strong.

His expression softened a little and he asked, "Does your stomach hurt?"

Aixi still stubbornly refused to speak, just shedding tears.

Mu Jingpei was completely defeated.

He pulled her to his side and said, "I'll carry you back."

"I don't want it!" Aixi wanted to shake off his hand, but she couldn't.

Usually, it was hard to coax a soft little girl when she was really angry.

Mu Jingpei put his uninjured hand around her shoulder, and his body fell slightly behind, covering her from head to toe and sheltering her from part of the rain.

"Then you can go by yourself. I'll cover you. No one will see it." His voice was gentler than before, as if he was coaxing her, but his movements on hands were very strong.

Aixi pursed her lips and did not speak. Being led back by him, her tense body showed that she was still a little resistant.

On a rainy day, everyone stayed at home. There was no one on the village road.

The rain was thin and dense. Aixi and Mu Jingpei were both wet, especially Mu Jingpei.

In order to cooperate with Aixi, Mu Jingpei walked very slowly.

"It's really wrong for me to run out like this," Aixi suddenly said. "After I leave, I will definitely say goodbye to Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Zhang."

When Mu Jingpei heard what she said, his first thought was that she was not going to say goodbye to him.

Aixi continued, "I will go to Shanghai by myself and will never be with you again."

Mu Jingpei could tell that she really gave up going to Shanghai with him.

The little girl was so persistent about going to Shanghai. If she didn't go with him this time, she would go with others next time when she had a chance, or she would go by herself. This was expected by Mu Jingpei, but it had nothing to do with him.

This was clearly the result he wanted. He should have heaved a long sigh of relief, but he didn't think about it now.

The little girl's stomach hurt so much that her face turned pale.

Noticing that Aixi was walking slower and slower, Mu Jingpei came to her and said, "Let me carry you back."

Aixi refused. "No."

"Or, you want me to hug you? My hand is not recovered, so I can only carry you. Do you want to have a try?" Mu Jingpei was half joking and half scaring.

Aixi refused in silence.

Mu Jingpei squatted down with his back to her and said, "Come up and listen to me. Otherwise, I'll really carry you on my shoulder."

Aixi bit her lip and finally lay on his back under his urging.

Aixi rose into the air and nervously wrapped her arms around the neck of Mu Jingpei.

Mu Jingpei stood up steadily with her on his back.

Aixi was lighter than he had imagined.

She was too light.

He had to take good care of her in the future.

Realizing that he had used the word "in the future", Mu Jingpei paused for a moment.

Lying on the back of Mu Jingpei, Aixi could feel the constant heat coming from bodies, which made her feel a little better.

Aixi had mixed feelings now. Embarrassment and contradiction.

She had originally decided to go different way with him, but now she couldn't bear to do so.

She felt sad and soft in her heart. She shed a few more drops of tears. She didn't know if she was angry with him or with herself.

The wound on his arm had not healed yet. She did not know if his arm would be fine in the rain.

Thinking of this, her tears fell even more.

Sensing that she was crying, Mu Jingpei asked with concern, "Does your stomach hurt? I'll walk faster."

Aixi shook her head and burst into tears.

"Why is Mu Jingpei so annoying?"

**

Seeing them come back, Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.

Mu Jingpei called Mrs. Zhang aside and told her about Aixi.

Aixi stood with her back to the wall and looked at them with a red face.

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang whispered to Aixi, "I don't have any new ones here. Wait for me. I'll make one for you with a clean cloth."

Aixi blushed and nodded obediently.

What they said was not very cearly. Mu Jingpei searched in his mind and came up with an old word. He asked uncertainly, "Are you talking about... a sanitary pad?"

Aixi and Mrs. Zhang both looked embarrassed.

In the eyes of Mu Jingpei, there was nothing to be embarrassed about period. It was just a normal physiological phenomenon. It naturally existed and there was no need to feel ashamed.

Their reactions showed that he was right. Mu Jingpei was a little surprised and asked Mrs. Zhang, "Don't you have sanitary napkin?"

Mrs. Zhang blushed as she discussed this with a man. "That's too expensive."

"Is there any place to sell it?"

"There should be, but it takes more than 40 minutes to go back and forth."

Aixi said, "It's so far!"

Mu Jingpei glanced at her and said, "Wait a minute. I'll buy it."

Aixi stopped him. "It's still raining outside. Don't go."

"I'll be fine." Mu Jingpei smiled at her. His wet short hair hung down in front of his forehead, covering his eyes, but it couldn't hide the intoxicated and reassuring smile in his eyes.

Aixi felt her nose twitch again.

After Mu Jingpei asked Mrs. Zhang to take care of Aixi, he took the umbrella and wallet and went out.

The mountain road was very difficult to walk on, and Mu Jingpei's heart became more and more depressed.

According to Mr. Zhang's directions, it took him more than 20 minutes to find the small shop.

It wasn't easy.

The shop was not big, and there was a glass counter at the entrance of the door. Maybe because it was old or something else, the glass looked gray and green. Because of the mountain torrent, there was a power outage nearby for a few days until the night before yesterday. Above the counter hung an incandescent lamp that emitted a dim yellow light.

A woman in her forties sat behind the counter. She should be the owner, and behind her was a simple shelf with some drinks, snacks, toothbrushes, and other daily necessities.

Mu Jingpei wondered if such a small shop could be sold with sanitary napkins.

The owner of the small shop looked at him and spoke in authentic local dialect, probably asking him what he wanted to buy.

Hearing that he wanted to buy sanitary napkin, the owner glanced at him and took out a few bags from bottom of the counter.

Although the shop was small, it had everything one needed.

Mu Jingpei only knew a little about women's supplies from advertisements. These bands were not commonly seen in advertisements.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

The owner said a few words. Seeing that he didn't understand, she turned around and went into the room. Then a young woman in her twenties came out impatiently.

When the woman saw him, her eyes lit up, and the impatience on her face was instantly replaced by restraint.

"We only have these brands here. As a man, you definitely don't understand." The woman enthusiastically introduced, "This one is relatively thin, and this one is soft. This one is for daily use, and this one is for night..."

Even if Mu Jingpei heard it, he couldn't make it clear, so he simply said, "I'll take all of them. Take a few more bags."

The woman took out a plastic bag with red and white stripes and packed up all the bags, and then gave change to him. Her eyes were fixed on him all the time.

In the middle of the night, a handsome man from another city came to buy sanitary napkin with a serious face, which was really rare.

When he got the change back, Mu Jingpei found that there was still a piece of fruit candy.

The woman blinked at him and whispered, "It's for you. My mother doesn't know."