B. the number of valence electrons for elements in that period.
This is how the period number indicates the number of valence electrons:
Period number of valence elements
electrons
1 1 Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr
2 2 Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra
13 3 B, Al, Ga, In, Tl, Nh
14 4 C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Fl
15 5 N, P, As, Sb, Bi, Mc
16 6 O, S, Se, Te, Po, Lv
17 7 F, Cl, Br, I, At, Ts
18 8 He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn, Og
As you see, for the representative groups the last digit of the period number is the number of valence electrons.