usenovelgroup Chapter 118 How can such a shameful thing be brought up in public!
Chapter 118 How can such a shameful thing be brought up in public!
Lin Weiwei stood outside the propaganda department, listening to the aunties inside shouting at the top of their lungs, and a surge of anger rose in her chest.
She gripped the notebook tightly, her nails digging into her palms.
"Section Chief, you can't let her into the propaganda department!" Aunt Lin's voice was the loudest. "The sanitary napkins she makes are made of cotton! Cotton is so precious! We barely use enough to make winter clothes for our kids, and she uses it to make that filthy stuff!"
"Exactly!" Aunt Li chimed in. "They're even telling everyone to use it, telling all the young women and wives to use it. Aren't they deliberately corrupting children? My daughter is only thirteen; if she learns these things, how will she ever get married?"
Aunt Zhang lowered her voice, but Lin Weiwei outside the door could still hear clearly: "Section Chief, not that we're being nosy, but what's Lin Weiwei's background? A capitalist's daughter! Her actions are just bourgeois hedonism! Our army values hard work and frugality; her seeking special treatment is just tarnishing the military region's reputation!"
Hearing this, Lin Weiwei couldn't hold back any longer and pushed open the door, rushing inside.
The sounds in the office suddenly stopped.
The section chief sat behind his desk, his brows furrowed tightly.
Officer Wu stood to the side, looking troubled.
When the women saw Lin Weiwei come in, they were first taken aback, and then their faces showed expressions of "the main character has arrived."
"Comrade Lin, you..." the section chief began.
"Section Chief, ladies," Lin Weiwei interrupted him, her voice trembling slightly, not from fear, but from anger, "I heard everything outside. I need to make this clear: sanitary napkins aren't dirty stuff, and it's not about giving special treatment!"
She took a deep breath and hugged the notebook to her chest: "Yes, I made sanitary napkins out of cotton. But why? Because during those few days of the month, we women use wood ash and rags, which is unhygienic! It's easy to get sick! The ones I made are made with sterilized cotton and fine cotton fabric, clean and comfortable, so women can suffer less! How is that hedonistic thinking?"
The plump auntie curled her lip: "That's easy for you to say. Don't you know how rare cotton is? How could ordinary families afford it?"
"Cotton is rare, but a single sanitary napkin doesn't use much cotton," Lin Weiwei said, looking at her. "Besides, I've thought about teaching everyone to use clean old cloth, with a layer of cheap toilet paper or dried soft straw in the middle. That's much better than using dirty cloth directly! I did that because I wanted to find a good way to ensure that all women can use clean, healthy products!"
Aunt Li snorted, "That shouldn't be spread around! How can you talk about something like that in public? Aren't you ashamed!"
"What's there to be ashamed of?" Lin Weiwei raised her voice slightly. "Menstruation is a normal physiological phenomenon; every woman does it! We ourselves are ashamed of it and don't talk about it. What will happen to our daughters when they grow up? Will they end up like Anar, thinking they're going to die?"
As she spoke, her eyes reddened slightly: "I joined the publicity department because I wanted to work hard, to draw pictures that people like to see, and to write articles that people can understand. This sanitary napkin issue is something I personally wanted to do for women; it has nothing to do with my job. But if you say I have a problem with my thinking because of this, I won't accept it!"
The office fell silent.
The section chief pushed up his glasses, looked at Lin Weiwei, then at the women, and sighed.
"Comrade Lin Weiwei," he began, "I roughly understand your thoughts. However, given the current situation..." He paused, "Here's what we'll do: you go back first. I need to report this matter to my superiors. As for your onboarding, you can wait for further notice."
Lin Weiwei bit her lip and nodded: "Thank you, Section Chief."
She turned and walked out of the office, the door closing behind her. Inside, she could still hear the plump woman muttering softly, "See? The section chief is reasonable after all..."
At the other end of the corridor, Wang Xiuying and Gu Lin stood at the corner, looking this way.
When Lin Weiwei came out, Wang Xiuying smiled, though she quickly suppressed it, but the smugness in her eyes was unmistakable.
Gu Lin turned her face away, pretending to look at the slogans on the wall.
Lin Weiwei ignored them and walked straight out of the office building.
The sun was still shining brightly, but she felt cold all over.
When Lin Weiwei got home, she threw her notebook on the table, picked up a broom, and started sweeping the floor.
She swept very hard, and the dirt on the ground flew up and rolled towards the corner of the wall.
After sweeping the floor, she went to fetch water to wipe the table, the rag making a swishing sound as she rubbed it.
My mind was filled with those words from earlier.
"Bourgeois hedonistic ideology"...
"Smearing the military region's reputation"...
"How shameful!"
As she wiped the table, tears began to fall.
It wasn't that I felt wronged, it was that I was angry.
He was so angry that his hands were shaking.
On what grounds?
She just wanted to do something good and to make women suffer less. How did that become a sin?
Bai Si'an returned around 3 p.m.
He heard about it while he was in the lab.
One of the staff members in the technical department had a family member who worked in the publicity department. During lunch, he casually remarked, "Your Lin Weiwei caused quite a stir in the publicity department today."
Bai Si'an was adjusting the equipment when he heard this and paused: "What kind of show is this?"
The clerk lowered his voice: "Several women from the family compound went to make a scene, saying that her dealing with sanitary napkins was bourgeois and that she didn't deserve to be in the propaganda department. Comrade Lin got into a heated argument with them on the spot. The department head told her to go back and wait for further notice, but it looks like things are going badly."
After listening, Bai Si'an put the tools in his hand on the table and turned to leave.
"Technician Bai, where are you going?" a colleague asked.
"Go report to your supervisor." Bai Si'an said without turning his head.
He went directly to the regimental headquarters and found the deputy regimental commander in charge of the technical department.
The deputy commander was looking at documents when he saw him come in, and was a little surprised: "Technician Bai, is something the matter?"
"Reporting to the commander," Bai Si'an stood ramrod straight, "I'm here to report on the research and development of sanitary napkins."
The deputy commander was taken aback: "Sanitary napkins? What sanitary napkins?"
"It's a sanitary product for women during their menstrual period," Bai Si'an said calmly. "I designed and produced it based on an idea suggested by my wife, Lin Weiwei. It uses sterilized cotton and fine cotton cloth, so the cost is controllable. The purpose is to improve women's menstrual hygiene and reduce the incidence of gynecological diseases."
He recounted the entire process, from the initial design concept to the selection of materials and the several improvements, in detail.
He spoke clearly and logically, with precise data, as if he were reporting on a serious technical project.
The deputy commander listened, his brows gradually furrowing: "This... I've never heard of it before?"
"Because it's still in the experimental stage," Bai Si'an pushed up his glasses. "We originally planned to report to the organization after the effects stabilized. We didn't expect it to cause a misunderstanding."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Commander, the original design of sanitary napkins was to solve practical problems, and it has nothing to do with hedonistic ideas or bourgeois behavior. If the organization thinks there is a problem, the responsibility lies with me, as I led this project."
The deputy commander looked at him and remained silent for a long while.
"Okay, I understand." The deputy commander waved his hand dismissively. "You can go back now. I'll report this to my superiors."
"Thank you, Commander." Bai Si'an saluted and turned to leave.
When he got home, Lin Weiwei was hanging clothes to dry in the yard.
With her back to him, she tiptoed to hang a shirt on the rope, her movements a little hurried, the hanger making a clanging sound as it hit the rope.
Bai Si'an walked over and took the clothes hanger from her hands.
Lin Weiwei was startled. She turned her head and saw it was him, her eyes still red.
"Why are you back so early?" she asked in a muffled voice.