Why it never ends

Under the gaze of everyone, Hesta stepped onto the podium, while Zuo Wentao stood aside. He put on his glasses in a serious manner and put on a cautious smile like a scholar.

"By the way," Zuo Wentao suddenly said, "Aren't you menstruating today?"

There was another burst of laughter from the audience.

Hesta raised her head. Although she still couldn't understand why everyone was laughing, she was somewhat used to this sudden collective reaction.

"No, Teacher Zuo." Hesta adjusted the microphone on the stage upwards. She turned her head and looked at Zuo Wentao. Her voice came through the speakers from all four corners of the classroom at the same time, "But it's too soon, because I came here last time. My period was three weeks ago.”

The laughter in the audience became even louder.

Some students who could understand Common Language were the first to laugh out loud, while those who couldn't understand were anxiously asking their peers what Hestad said in the second half of the sentence.

Hesta stood in the middle of the podium. She looked at the entire classroom in front of her, and found that the unobstructed view she had when looking down from a high place was also visible from the podium at the lowest point of the classroom.

In the field of vision, Hesta saw a girl in the front row who had always had a straight face and couldn't help laughing. Her male companion noticed this and turned to say something to her. The girl slapped him and tried to stop her smiling face. , but this attempt seems to make everything funnier.

Amid laughter, the girl looked up inadvertently and found Hesta looking at her. Her expression froze for a moment, then her reddish smile turned into a slightly apologetic wry smile, and finally she lowered her head.

Hesta suddenly understood why Lin Jiao felt that her little speech was meaningless - the audience who could understand her and echo her had all left the scene during her first confrontation with Zuo Wentao. The people sitting in the audience at this moment either had dull expressions and were indifferent to everything; or their eyes were bright, implying voyeuristic expectations; and some people glanced at her with pity from time to time. Their emotions seemed to be sincere, but with a hint of pity. A helpless inaction.

"It's good to have your period." Hesta looked at everyone and repeated it again.

The word "menstruation" seemed to have some kind of magic power, and it immediately aroused a new wave of laughter. In this moderate noise, she continued, "This is something worth laughing for me. The thing is, I have been taking medication since I retired due to illness last year. During this period, I experienced a long period of menopause, and menstruation is already a bit unfamiliar to me."

The audience gradually became quiet, and everyone's smiling faces began to freeze from "retired due to illness" to "menopause", and half of the people's laughter had stopped. By the time Hesta finished speaking, not many people in the entire classroom were still laughing - —Even those students who could not understand the common language quickly restrained their reactions due to the change in the collective atmosphere.

"I have never introduced myself before. I am Jane Hestad, a freshman who enrolled this year. I am twenty years old. Compared with other freshmen, I am older because I have been serving in the Third District in the past. .

"In the past few years, the troops I served in have been traveling in the wilderness of various regions, especially in some conflict zones. Although the work we are responsible for is medical treatment, under this high-pressure rhythm, my companions and I menstrual Irregularity is a common thing. All kinds of health resources are in short supply in the wasteland, and the same goes for sanitary napkins. The sight of sanitary napkins placed in piles like that in the school supermarket is too unfamiliar to me, and it is too luxurious compared to the wasteland. …”

Hesta paused for a moment.

"This is the first time I've been back in a livable place in a few years, and obviously I made some jokes."

There was silence in the classroom, but Zuo Wentao frowned. He coughed slightly and was about to say something, but Hesta on the stage had already continued.

"It's all good news for me though. My doctor told me that after I stop taking the pill I have to keep an eye on my menstrual signals, and if they come back, everything is normal. If they don't, I'll still need further medical check-ups. "

Hesta smiled and shrugged.

"I regard this as a gift given to me by the 14th District. It also illustrates from the side how smooth my life in the 14th District is, because, although I have not stayed here for a long time, I have grown from I feel accepted and cared for in so many places…and for that, I’m grateful.”

At first, one or two people started to applaud, and then the applause spread quickly within a second or two. What puzzled Hesta was that it was the boys who took the lead in the heckles a few weeks ago who clapped the loudest. They gritted their teeth, their cheeks on both sides puffed up, and they looked at the podium with clear eyes. Guilt - Hesta had an intuition that these people would come over to apologize during the break. Amid the applause, Hesta turned to look at Zuo Wentao. He lowered his head slightly and gave a gloomy gaze.

With their eyes facing each other, Zuo Wentao felt that more and more classmates were following Hesta's gaze towards him. He had a serious look on his face and had to raise his hand, and applauded along with everyone else.

……

"You are actually very good at it!"

On the lawn near Wenhui Building, Fawn sat next to Hesta, and the two of them basked in the four o'clock sun together.

Hesta lay down and looked at the sky, thinking about something.

"I've told you before that there are filters for the two professions of medical and military in District 14. I don't know how easy it is for you to use this to gain favor with others." Fawn grabbed his ankle, "But just say Literally, I was nervous as hell when you went on stage.”

Hesta turned his face, "Are you afraid that I will beat up that Zuo Wentao?"

"You won't, right?" Fawn looked at Hesta's expression carefully, "Not now and not in the future."

"...That's not necessarily the case."

"Don't be stupid, you're doing well as you are now, it's more or less a win back," Fawn said softly, "If I were Zuo Wentao, I would kneel down on the spot - the atmosphere was so high, don't call it an apology. It's okay to give you a kiss on the spot... I guess he probably didn't turn around right away. If you go back and think about it, you'll definitely be able to figure it out, and you guys can get over it."

Seeing that Hesta didn't respond, Fawn turned his head and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about those classmates who came to me just now to say they were sorry."

"Those boys?"

"No, there is a girl."

"Who?"

"I don't know him," Hesta replied, "I didn't ask for his name either."

Fine thought for a moment.

"What did she say when she came to you? Did she also come to apologize?"

"Well," Hesta looked at the sky, "she said she shouldn't laugh, said she meant no harm, and then wished me a happy life here - I actually didn't understand, what was everyone laughing at at the beginning? "