90. Physical Test
11/40
Monday, Aunt Flo arrived right on schedule.
Thankfully, Ning Chu had started drinking warm water a few days in advance and temporarily ditched the cola, so the pain was noticeably less intense than last month.
Just some minor discomfort, hormone fluctuations, and the heat of a sanitary napkin… all these factors had left her feeling a bit down throughout the day.
“Isn’t there gym class later?”
Ning Chu walked out of the restroom with a face that screamed “please, no,” dragging her feet over to Wen Yang.
“Want me to help you get a leave?”
“Forget it, there’s the fitness test today…”
Until now, gym class had been all about free activities, but starting this week, it was time for the dreaded college fitness assessments.
Sounds like fun, right? Just measuring height and weight, and running and jumping around.
She had just changed her sanitary napkin, but the boxers she wore weren’t the closest fit, leaving the edges of the pad rough and irritating her skin.
The emotions Aunt Flo brought along had lessened a bit in Wen Yang’s company; walking beside him made her unconsciously lean closer, and it was only after a gentle shoulder bump that she realized she should create some distance.
“What are we testing today?”
“Should be height, weight, and a 50-meter dash.”
“Guess I’m not passing that.”
Ning Chu muttered, having no idea what the consequences were for failing the physical test.
Even if she was in peak condition, there was no chance she’d hit average standards, let alone with Aunt Flo paying a visit.
After all, she was measuring up against the male standards.
With five minutes to go before class, most of the students had already gathered on the playground, chatting, bragging, and goofing off.
“Ning Chu!”
The cheerful call made her face sour.
Turning around, she found Yan Xinya had bounded up to her, her nose twitching, “Whoa, the flow is pretty heavy today, huh?”
“……”
Of course, she had to sniff it out right away.
Her face turned a shade of red as she looked away.
“Make sure to change it often, okay?”
Ning Chu glanced around, pulling Yan Xinya away from the crowd, and whispered, barely able to contain her awkwardness, “Is there a more comfortable sanitary napkin? This one’s giving me a bit of a rash…”
“That’s because you’re wearing boxers! Feels uncomfortable and likely to leak, right?”
“Not much I can do…”
Technically, asking a girl about such a natural physiological issue shouldn’t be embarrassing, but Ning Chu was hardly your everyday girl-next-door.
After a moment’s thought, Yan Xinya suggested, “How about a tampon? They’d work great for your situation!”
“What’s that?”
“It’s like a cotton stick you use to plug up down there…”
Ning Chu’s face flushed even more. She interrupted the Wolf Girl, “How about a hard pass on that?”
“Hey~ I use tampons, and they’re super comfy! No foreign feeling, and you can run and jump without worrying about leaks.”
“No thanks!”
Her rejection was even stronger now.
Although she somewhat understood how it worked during baths and restroom visits, the thought of shoving something inside her was just too much to handle.
Besides, it felt a little… weird…
“What about a menstrual cup…? Uh, never mind, that’s probably not for you.” Yan Xinya shook her head, her wolf ears also bobbing a little, “Just bear with it; it’s only a few days each month.”
“Gather up!”
Just then, the class bell rang, and the gym teacher had arrived.
The two dashed back to their class lineup, haphazardly forming four rows.
Next to the teacher was the height and weight measurement device, while Wen Yang held a score sheet nearby.
“Those called, step up and get measured; if you’re absent, it’s an automatic skip.”
In the crowd, Ning Chu craned her neck to peek at Wen Yang, then turned to Zhang Shaoqing beside her, “Hey, how tall are you?”
“1.8 meters!”
“How about you, Wang Jie?”
“1.75.”
She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and turned to Lily, “Lily, what about you?”
“1.6 meters.”
Is that so?
Ning Chu sized Lily up, feeling like she was maybe a tiny bit taller than her.
She scanned the rows of girls in the class; most were just about her height, with only a few “mature girl” types looking like they topped 1.7 meters, and a couple of “loli” types probably at around 1.5 meters.
As the height and weight measurements began, the line turned into utter chaos, most crowding around the measurement device while others hung back playing with their phones.
“Zhang Shaoqing.”
“Coming, coming!”
With a goofy grin, Zhang Shaoqing made his way over, whispering to Wen Yang as he passed, “Make sure to mark me as 1.8!”
“……”
“Shoes off.”
Kicking off his shoes, he stepped onto the device, and after a moment, the teacher called out, “1.78 meters…”
“I’m taller! I clearly hit 1.8!”
“Wang Jie, 1.71…”
Goodness, what a bunch of fibbers.
Hearing Zhang Shaoqing and Wang Jie’s real heights almost made Ning Chu burst out laughing.
Most guys were super hung up on height, always rounding up… But here she was, standing at 1.6 meters.
Her smile vanished; among all the boys, she was undeniably the shortest.
But thank goodness she was a girl! At 1.6, she was still average height among the ladies! Not embarrassing at all!
“Ning Chu, 1.59 meters, 94 pounds.”
Ning Chu stood on the measurement device, secretly lifting her toes, filled with anticipation as she looked at the teacher, “C’mon, can you check again? I’m definitely 1.6!”
“1.59, step down!”
“No way!”
Amidst Zhang Shaoqing’s joke-filled cheers from her classmates, she got even angrier, her face flushing with embarrassment as she hopped off the measuring device.
“It’s okay; I noted you down as 1.6.” Wen Yang whispered, “You do seem a bit thinner.”
“Really?”
“Way too thin,” he asserted.
After spending time together, Ning Chu quickly caught onto Wen Yang’s eyes that flicked over her chest, and she rolled her eyes, striding off toward a grassy patch a bit away, plopping down and resting her chin on her hands while watching the lively crowd over there.
And then she remembered, they still had to run 50 meters…
She was starting to worry that by the time she finished the dash, Aunt Flo would be having a leak party of her own.
“Ning Chu~” Yan Xinya and Lily approached, “Want to go to the bathroom together?”
Though she didn’t quite get it, going to the restroom together had always been a thing among friends, regardless of gender.
“Sure, why not?”
After all, the girls’ restroom had stalls; it wasn’t like her male friends who had to compare lengths while taking care of business.
Ning Chu stretched and stood up, only to suddenly sense something off.
Turning back, she gasped at the glaring dark stain on her backside.
“!!!”
Oh no! Just when I thought I was in the clear! I just changed not long ago!
Yan Xinya quickly the block the view behind her, shielding Ning Chu from the stares of curious classmates: “You need to rush back to the dorm and change pants.”
Ning Chu glanced anxiously at the nearby students, and seeing nobody seemed to notice, she relaxed slightly.
It hit her like a ton of bricks… Kind of like that time she had laughed at a girl who had leaked in class, only for karma to drop the ball on her today.
With Wolf Girl and Lily escorting her, she made a beeline for the dormitory.
“Do I need to skip the sprint? Just tell them I twisted my ankle and can’t run.”
She was typing out a message to Wen Yang to help inform the teacher.
“That’s only a temporary fix—might leak again next time.” Yan Xinya continued to advocate, “Tampons are seriously awesome! Not kidding.”
To be honest, she was a little tempted.
Ning Chu hesitantly nodded, “I’ll try them sometime.”
