Chapter 183: Sanitary Napkin Samples
Xie Changning cleared her throat. "It was nothing. I just offered them a traditional Chinese greeting."
’So pathetic. I only got one sentence out before they ran off.’
Cheng Jinghao was dumbfounded. ’What on earth did I just hear?!’
’Our director cursed out those foreigners?’
’No, wait, that’s not the right way to think about it. Our director isn’t a crude person. Those foreigners must have said something about us first. That’s the only reason she would’ve spoken up.’
’The director isn’t unreasonable. She wouldn’t just start a fight for no reason.’
’If the director did start cursing, then it’s definitely the other party’s fault. They’re the ones who need to reflect on their behavior!’
Xie Changning could see Cheng Jinghao’s surprise, so she explained, "They were over there laughing at my team. My people. When did it become their turn to laugh at us?"
’A bunch of simpletons whose brains never fully developed.’
Cheng Jinghao nodded.
"They deserved it!"
Their conversation was quiet, so the people walking ahead didn’t hear them.
Xie Changning didn’t want them to hear, either. It would only make them feel insecure.
’It’s perfectly normal to look surprised when you see something new and fascinating. That doesn’t make you inferior.’
Cheng Jinghao understood what Xie Changning meant and didn’t say anything more. Instead, she hurried to catch up with the others and began explaining things to them.
They had already seen all this on their last trip, so Cheng Jinghao was able to identify the daily necessities they had bought before.
With Cheng Jinghao acting as a guide, their surprise lessened considerably.
Just as Xie Changning had instructed, each of them bought a few daily necessities. They bought things they didn’t need as well, planning to distribute them to other factories back home for research.
On their last trip abroad, Xie Changning had completely forgotten about sanitary napkins. At the time, neither she nor anyone else on the team was on their period, so the matter had slipped her mind.
Coincidentally, one of the young women on the team had gotten her period last night.
She had been too embarrassed to tell Xie Changning, but Xie Changning noticed she was unwell and asked her privately, which is when she finally admitted it.
So, as she was leading them out of the department store, Xie Changning bought sanitary napkins of all different types and sizes.
After buying them, Xie Changning didn’t try to hide them.
She simply stuffed what she could into her bag and carried the rest in her hands.
Along the way, quite a few foreign men pointed and stared at Xie Changning. She glared back at every single one of them and muttered, "Ignorant fools."
Perhaps being called worthless by a Chinese woman was a blow to their pride.
In any case, they stopped paying attention to Xie Changning.
The team members Xie Changning had brought with her noticed the commotion, but since they were out on the street, they were too embarrassed to ask. They decided to wait until they were back at the hotel.
"Mr. Xie, what are those things you’re holding? Why were all those foreigners pointing at you?"
The one who asked was the female technician who had gotten her period the night before.
Xie Changning took out a package of sanitary napkins and handed it to her. "This is called a sanitary napkin. It’s for a woman’s special time of the month," she explained, deliberately lowering her voice.
She made sure no one else heard.
Xie Changning could talk about sanitary napkins without batting an eye, but the young women of this era couldn’t.
So, Xie Changning was being considerate of her feelings.
"Take this for now. I’ll tell you how to use it later." After speaking, she patted the young woman’s shoulder and told the others to take all the purchased items to her room.
The young woman blushed, hid the sanitary napkins, and hurried back to her room.
Seeing her strange behavior, the other female technicians frowned slightly.
Thinking something was wrong, they dropped the things off in Xie Changning’s room and then followed the young woman to her room to ask what was going on.
As for the male technicians—
Some were curious, but Xie Changning’s answer was, "They’re for women. You won’t have any use for them."
As soon as they heard they wouldn’t use them, they lost interest.
But one was still curious, so Xie Changning shot him a sidelong glance. "They’re for a woman’s menstrual period. Do you want to buy some for the women in your family?"
"..."
The male technicians who heard this all turned bright red.
They didn’t know how Xie Changning could say such a thing without a change in expression, but they certainly couldn’t listen to it without blushing!
Xie Changning: "..." ’All right then. It seems both the men and the women are easily embarrassed.’
’It makes me seem like the odd one out.’
After shooing them away, Xie Changning went to the young woman’s room. She found all the female technicians gathered there, curiously pinching and examining the package of sanitary napkins.
When they saw Xie Changning come in, they handed the sanitary napkins back to their owner.
"Everyone’s here?"
"Yes," the young women answered obediently.
They were just too curious. The menstrual pads from abroad were so different from what they used back home!
"This thing is called a sanitary napkin. It’s a disposable product for women to use during their period..." Xie Changning began to explain to everyone how to use them.
As the young women listened to Xie Changning’s explanation, their eyes shone with amazement.
’To think such a miraculous thing exists overseas!’
"But this must be so expensive! To throw it away after just one use... that would be such a waste of money..." one of the female technicians said with a frown, thinking it was wasteful.
Xie Changning shook her head. "Not necessarily..."
She went on to explain to the women that sanitary napkins were clean and hygienic, which could lower their risk of getting sick, and so on.
After hearing Xie Changning’s words, it dawned on the young women.
’So there were so many illnesses they didn’t even know about!’
"Then shouldn’t we stock up on some to take back?" After listening to Xie Changning, one technician felt that what she said must be right. She wanted to take better care of herself.
Besides...
They earned over thirty yuan a month; they could afford it.
"I think that’s a great idea!"
Xie Changning was pleased to see that they were developing an awareness of self-care.
"It’s a shame there are no factories like this in our country. Otherwise, I’d use these from now on," Cheng Jinghao said with regret.
At this time, sanitary napkins really didn’t exist in China. The very first factory to produce them wouldn’t import its first production line until 1982.
This was also why Xie Changning was bringing sanitary napkins back this time.
’I want to give development a little push,’ she thought.
’I don’t want to use cotton strips anymore!’
"I think it will be soon. After all, Mr. Xie is bringing samples back. For the sake of foreign exchange, the country will definitely consider adding a production line," a sharp young woman said, having already guessed Xie Changning’s intentions.
Xie Changning nodded.
"We have to speed things up. Otherwise, in the next ten or twenty years, our domestic market will be completely overrun by these foreigners. When that time comes, it will be hard for our own factories to survive."
They couldn’t afford to fall behind. They couldn’t even give those foreigners an opening!
Hearing Xie Changning’s words, a sense of urgency also grew in the young women’s hearts.
"They fight dirty. The moment they force their way into the Chinese market, our old, established factories won’t stand a chance."