Acting Cute on Her Period to Make Her Archrival Rub Her Belly

Shao Enci was already in the classroom when he received Lu Xiaoxiao's message.

For computer science students, late April was a busy period, with midterms, assignments, and research all piling up. The recent campus basketball tournament had delayed quite a few classes, so the Tianji Class students had classes practically all day.

That morning's classes were "Theory of Computation" and "Mathematical Foundations of Machine Learning," both notoriously tough nuts to crack. The professors never waited for anyone, and missing a single class meant spending two or three evenings catching up on your own.

Under normal circumstances, Shao Enci wouldn't have missed class.

But Lu Xiaoxiao was on her period today. After receiving her message asking for help, he closed his laptop without hesitation and handed it to Xie Yihui beside him. "Watch this for me. I have to go out for something," he said casually.

After a pause, he added, "Record the screen for me during this morning's classes."

With that, he got up and left.

Holding the laptop, Xie Yihui looked utterly bewildered. "Shao Enci, the professor's almost here. Where are you going?"

Shao Enci didn't look back, leaving only the sight of his aloof figure as he walked away. "I have something to do."

"What's more important than Professor He's class?"

Xie Yihui's voice came from behind him, but Shao Enci didn't answer.

After leaving campus, Shao Enci opened a delivery app and searched for nearby convenience stores as he headed toward the parking lot. He chose the nearest one and ordered a pack of daytime pads, a pack of nighttime pads, and a pack of overnight period underwear.

He added a box of brown sugar and ginger tea.

After a moment's thought, he added a pack of disposable heat patches too.

After closing the delivery app, he opened the map and searched for nearby pharmacies.

He wanted to buy Lu Xiaoxiao some medicine to relieve her menstrual cramps.

When Shao Enci walked into the pharmacy, the only people there were two middle-aged women chatting at the counter.

He stood in front of the counter and hesitated for a few seconds, unsure how to begin.

The plump woman noticed him first and smiled. "What a handsome young man. You must be 1.9 meters tall, right?"

The sudden approach left the usually quiet young man a little embarrassed. He instinctively scratched the back of his head and said in a low voice, "Yeah, 191 centimeters."

"Not only are you tall, but you have such handsome features too," the thin woman chimed in with a smile. She teased, "My daughter likes fair, clean-cut boys like you."

Shao Enci lowered his eyes, avoiding their gazes, and glanced over the neatly arranged medicine cabinets. He casually made up an excuse. "Ma'am, my girlfriend has menstrual cramps. Is there any medicine that could help?"

The two women immediately understood.

The plump woman deftly took a box of Motherwort Granules from the shelf and handed it to him. "This will do. When she has cramps, dissolve a sachet in warm water and drink it. It relieves pain and drives out the cold—it works best."

"Thank you."

Shao Enci scanned the code to pay and left with the box of medicine. Behind him, he could still hear the two women talking.

"That handsome young man is such a catch. He's got a good character, he's good-looking, and he knows how to care for his girlfriend."

"My daughter should find a thoughtful boyfriend like that someday too."

The young man didn't stop, quickening his pace as he fled the pharmacy.

He then went to the convenience store to pick up his order. As he carried the two bags toward the parking lot, his phone vibrated.

A message from Lu Xiaoxiao popped up on the screen.

[Bro, I'm really in a hurry. How much longer until you get here?]

Shao Enci sent a voice message, his voice low and pleasant. "Soon, about fifteen minutes."

He opened the car door, drove the black Mercedes-Benz G-Class out of the underground garage, and headed toward the location Lu Xiaoxiao had sent him.

Lu Xiaoxiao was lying in bed. After receiving the voice message, she asked 037, "How much time is left on the countdown?"

037: [Time remaining: 20 minutes and 13 seconds]

She breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was enough time, that was fine.

To make it easier for Shao Enci to get in, she had specifically changed the door lock's one-time temporary passcode.

When Shao Enci arrived at her home, he opened the door using the passcode she had given him.

This was his first time visiting the place where Lu Xiaoxiao had grown up, and he felt a little awkward. As he bent down to change his shoes, he glanced at the entryway. Several photos sat on the shoe cabinet: her parents' wedding photo, snapshots of her and her brother Lu Jiayan growing up, and a family portrait.

Everyone in the photos had beautiful smiles.

He looked away and carried the bags into the living room.

Lu Xiaoxiao's home was decorated in a French style, with warm white walls and a soft carpet spread over the wooden floor. Sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the whole room with warmth. Photos covered the walls from the living room to the hallway, recording the little moments of the family's life over more than a decade.

It was warm and lively, completely unlike Huaqing Jiayuan, where he lived alone.

No wonder Lu Xiaoxiao was always so bright and full of life. She was a girl who had been carefully nurtured in love as she grew up.

Hearing the movement outside, the girl on the bed called through the door, "Shao Enci, I'm in my room. Come on in."

Following her voice, Shao Enci walked to the bedroom door. His fingertips hovered over the handle, but he didn't press it down.

He felt a little awkward.

It's a girl's private room. Wouldn't it be improper to go in?

Besides, her parents weren't home, yet she was letting an adult man into her bedroom. She was really too trusting, without the slightest sense of caution.

After thinking it over for a moment, the young man spoke through the door. "I've left it by the door. Pick it up yourself."

Lu Xiaoxiao dragged her weak legs to the door and opened it, leaving the two of them separated by the threshold.

She looked up at Shao Enci.

He wore a red plaid short-sleeved shirt over a white top, giving him a lazy, carefree youthful air. His lashes were long and slightly curled, and his nose was high and straight, giving his face a more sculpted look.

There was clearly no sunlight in the room, yet Shao Enci seemed to be bathed in a halo of light, strikingly eye-catching and unruly.

Lu Xiaoxiao blinked and reached for the bags in his hands. She wanted to thank him, but the words wouldn't come out. After all, they had been archrivals for so many years that it was hard to say thank you.

"They're pretty heavy." She hefted them. "What did you buy?"

"Just a few things." He lazily lifted his eyes and leaned loosely against the doorframe. Looking at her pale cheeks, the curve of his thin lips faded, and his voice held a touch of concern. "Looks like your cramps are pretty bad."

Lu Xiaoxiao wore a white cotton nightgown, her long hair falling somewhat messily over her shoulders. There was little color in her face or lips. She looked soft and limp all over, without her usual claws-bared vigor.

She dragged her sickly body back to the bed and sat down, sighing. "It hurts so much I had to take the whole day off. What do you think?"

Shao Enci grew anxious. Looking down at the things in the bag, he said, "I bought you some motherwort for the pain. It might help."

"You were pretty thoughtful." Lu Xiaoxiao opened the bag and took out the box of medicine, the corners of her lips lifting. "But this medicine is too bitter. I can't drink it."

Shao Enci followed the girl into the room, and the sight of her sitting on the bed involuntarily brought to mind the erotic dream he'd had that morning.

Feeling guilty, he didn't dare go near her. He deliberately stood far away, leaning lightly against the edge of the desk, his posture stiff, like a bodyguard.

"It's not like you're a three-year-old who needs someone to coax you into taking medicine." Shao Enci didn't even notice that his lips curled up slightly as he said it, his tone tinged with indulgence.

Just then, 037's voice sounded in Lu Xiaoxiao's mind: [Task 7: Act cute and get your archrival to rub your belly. Time remaining: 9 minutes and 59 seconds.]

Her pupils trembled slightly. She glanced at the young man beside her out of the corner of her eye, clenched her back teeth, and cursed inwardly, 037, can't you act like a decent person?