Chapter 107: A Touch of Vermilion (Part 2): A Bit of Education Part 2

She had it. Mu Qian Tan thought of a way. She would egg Shang Shan on to ask. If she got beaten, it would be her, not Mu Qian Tan.

Decided. She would try it next time.

“Varies by person?” Oblivious that she had been sold out, Shang Shan looked up. “Which days for you, Master?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Stop prying into my business.”

Shang Shan said, “Do you get bellyaches? I’ve never heard you complain about pain.”

Mu Qian Tan pushed her forehead. “I said quit prying.”

Pushed back into the chair, Shang Shan first saw the starry sky overhead, then looked down at the woman. “Does everyone get this?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Only women do.”

“Ah?” Shang Shan was shocked and waved her hand angrily. “That’s so annoying. Being a woman sucks!”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Being human sucks.”

She poked her belly with her finger, still fuming. “Where does this blood come from? Why only women?”

As expected, this question came. Mu Qian Tan’s scalp tingled, and she kind of wanted to head back to the hall.

The original novel skimped on romantic developments between the protagonists. There was not even a single kiss by the end, earning it the reader nickname of bland as plain water. The main reason was this stupid dragon’s utter inability to read the romantic atmosphere.

Every tender moment after life-and-death struggles, every accidental touch, every spark from locking eyes—all ended up interrupted by Shang Shan’s bizarre excuses like being hungry or sleepy. The Male Protagonist found it regrettable but was helpless against her.

Of course, the original ending was not this world’s ending. The book closed, but the story continued. If they ended up together, after multiple interrupted flirtations, things would naturally progress as they should.

So why was she doing this irrelevant popular science? It had nothing to do with her.

Mu Qian Tan crossed her arms, her gaze cold.

After a moment, she said, “It’s called the uterus. Only women have it, so only women bleed.”

Shang Shan picked up the dawn robe and put it on, fastening the waistband. She shifted her legs uncomfortably. “Where is it? What’s it for?”

A flicker of subtle irritation crossed her face. Mu Qian Tan leaned back against the stone table and pulled out the explanation she had once used to coax her little sister. “It’s… the place for carrying babies.”

That was true for humans, but for the Dragon Clan, it was probably laying eggs. The Female Protagonist had crawled out of a dragon egg, so by the same logic, hers would be eggs too.

At her words, Shang Shan’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That’s it, then I’m not annoyed anymore!”

Her mind changed so quickly that Mu Qian Tan was too lazy to comment. “Reason?”

Shang Shan touched her belly. “Because it’s amazing!”

“Hm?”

“Look, there are people everywhere, and all women give birth to them. Isn’t that amazing? They can create the most precious thing in the world—life! And it’s exchanged for bleeding every month like this immortal spell! It’s innate, no need to specially open qi apertures or anything. Everyone has it! Magical!”

Mu Qian Tan muttered, “You make it sound so mystical.”

“I miss my mother,” Shang Shan said, her eyes dotted with moonlight. She smiled happily. “I’ve never seen her, and that makes me regretful because I’ve never had the chance to tell her thank you for giving birth to me, for giving me the chance to be Shang Shan. And that I love her very much.”

Mu Qian Tan’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. “She gave birth to you and then abandoned you.”

Shang Shan said, “But I saw before that giving birth is very painful! Just thinking that my mother might have endured that pain for me makes everything else irrelevant. And she must love me to have decided to let me be born, or why would she bear that suffering?”

The evening breeze blew between them, strands of hair brushing their faces. Mu Qian Tan lowered her eyes and lightly stroked her storage pouch again and again. “No matter how hard childbirth is, not every mother loves her child.”

“No problem. I love her, that’s enough.”

After saying that, Shang Shan asked doubtfully, “I saw those married sisters with little babies before. Their bellies swelled up. I always thought the babies lived in the stomach. So it was the uterus! Such a simple answer. Why didn’t they tell me when I asked every time?”

You definitely wouldn’t get a straight answer if you asked directly. Being asked by a teenager or even a little kid where babies come from, any normal adult would find it hard to speak up. Mu Qian Tan laughed softly and put away the storage pouch. “Others don’t like you.”

Shang Shan saw through her lie. “That’s not true. They like me a lot and even gave me wedding candies to eat.”

“Is that so.” Mu Qian Tan said softly, unsure what she was thinking.

Sea waves quietly washed over the rocks. The sky and earth were equally still, with only the rustling of leaves hidden among them. Occasionally, a bird flew by, chirped briefly, and perched back on the branches amid the tree shadows.

“If others….”

After a long silence, Mu Qian Tan spoke after careful consideration. “Later, if someone wants to touch you or do strange things to you, you have to know how to refuse, understand?”

Shang Shan agreed. “Okay. What do you mean by strange things?”

She still asked. Mu Qian Tan gritted her teeth. “Refuse anything you don’t understand.”

Shang Shan said, “Including yours?”

Mu Qian Tan’s temper flared. “Have I ever done anything strange to you?”

Shang Shan shrank back her neck. She looked like she wanted to admit it but, for the sake of her little life, said, “No.”

Mu Qian Tan took a deep breath, feeling it catch in her chest. She added, “Before having babies, there’s another kind of… activity. If a man says sweet words to you, tempts you with things you like to get you to go play with him, what should you do?”

Shang Shan shook her head. “I’d definitely refuse.”

Mu Qian Tan sneered. “Is that so, idiot? Why do I feel like one piece of candy could trick you away?”

Shang Shan naturally followed up. “If it’s you, no candy needed.”

Suspecting this person hadn’t taken it to heart at all, Mu Qian Tan rubbed her brow hard and, uncharacteristically, suppressed her temper again.

The sudden arrival of this stupid dragon’s physiological period right in front of her was like a drop of vermilion ink dripping between lines of text. As part of the overflowing character, it suddenly added a label of vulnerability to harm, introducing—on her smooth path as the big female protagonist—the possibility of being physically hurt or taken advantage of due to complete ignorance about such matters.

Sadly, Mu Qian Tan found she couldn’t ignore this possibility.

If all went smoothly, after getting the spiritual medicine, she could leave, skip all the subsequent plots, and follow her own path. But this stupid dragon would continue to face all sorts of trials, experience much growth, and mature. Yet regarding these sensitive topics, no specific plot existed to make her grow up.

Text could bury details like physiological periods, so had there been hidden losses that weren’t explicitly stated?

After all, this idiot knew nothing about it.

Mu Qian Tan seemed to see again that female classmate whose pants were stained red.

If she hadn’t written that note, the victim would surely have become unwitting gossip fodder, with all sorts of bottomless rumors spreading. She had seen firsthand how vicious kids in puberty could be.

Her fingertips tapped on the tabletop. After a moment of silence, Mu Qian Tan spoke as if leaving final instructions. “Remember everything I just said. Also, in the future, when facing those strange men, don’t get close casually, don’t trust easily, and absolutely don’t casually take off your clothes like you did in front of Hu Xinsu last time.”

“Normally, if there’s any slightly off touch, immediately stay away. This kind of off feeling and the strange behaviors I mentioned include but are not limited to touching your chest, waist, butt, legs, or other places, as well as verbal offenses. Don’t think being touched once or hearing one off comment is no big deal. You have to know men and women are different; they’re doing it precisely to take advantage of you. Just because you don’t mind doesn’t mean they don’t. If you can beat them, teach them a lesson; if not, run. Also, that guy called Jiang… called Wen Jingfeng. You might see him a lot; keep an eye out. He’s not a good person.”

She always felt that guy wasn’t up to any good and inexplicably repelled him. Since many plots had been altered big and small so far, could Jiang Yuanqi also start acting up early?

Shang Shan listened seriously and replied, “You mean Sister Wen? Why do you all keep saying she’s a man?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “He is definitely a man, and can only be.”

Jiang Yuanqi only looked somewhat feminine from the face, easy to mistake, but saying he was a woman was absolutely impossible. Unless the book’s plot had changed from a dozen years ago when the male protagonist was born, in a ridiculously absurd way, directly reversing the protagonist’s gender.

With Li Biyuan’s high-intensity observation of character changes—noticing even side characters’ hearts exploding—it was impossible she hadn’t noticed if the male lead was a woman.

After casually thinking about it, all the mixed emotions from before dissipated. Having delayed too long tonight, Mu Qian Tan cleared her mind and stood up. “Alright, I’ve said what I needed to. You…”

“Master, are you going to have little babies in the future?”

The question was sudden, and Mu Qian Tan answered quickly. “No.”

Shang Shan tilted her head. “Why?”

There was no reason; she only loved money in this life and had cut off all romantic ties with humans. Before she could speak, the girl muttered to herself there. “Not having them is good too; then you definitely won’t get married.”

Mu Qian Tan found it amusing. “Mind your own business, nosy parker.”

Rubbing her hands back and forth, Shang Shan started swinging her legs again. “Anyway, I just don’t want you to marry. Isn’t it good for us master and disciple to live in the Narrow Sea forever?”