The Secret of the Yoga Club: The Women's Identity is Not Simple

Ma Jinli hung up the phone, threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. He turned to the blond-haired man next to him and said, "Take that homeless man in the car and back to Keda."

Huang Mao responded and walked over to pull the homeless man up from beside the cement pillar.

The homeless man was still clutching the bag of plastic bottles he had collected, reluctant to let go, when the blond-haired man snatched it away and threw it on the ground. "You live in Keda now, why do you still need this junk? Get out of here."

The homeless man looked at the scattered plastic bottles on the ground, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back.

He bent over and followed Huang Mao into the van parked by the roadside. He huddled in the last row by the window, his hands neatly placed on his knees, but his eyes kept scanning the interior of the car, a strange curiosity showing on his dirty face.

Ma Jinli got into the passenger seat, and the van turned around and headed towards the city. No one spoke in the cabin; only the hum of the air conditioning vents could be heard.

The fat man sat in the middle row, pressing a tissue against the wound on his forehead, occasionally letting out a painful groan.

Ma Jinli glanced at the homeless man in the rearview mirror. He observed him for a while but didn't find anything suspicious.

Then he thought to himself that this old man could at least prove that Lin Feng and Ye Qinghan had indeed appeared in that unfinished building last night.

Zuo Ning wants results, and since he can't provide results right now, providing an eyewitness can at least appease him for the time being.

Whether Zuo Ning believes it or not, and how he plans to use this homeless man, is beyond his control.

The car drove to the underground parking lot of the Keda Hotel, and Ma Jinli led the homeless man to the top floor via the staff elevator.

Inside the elevator, a homeless man stood in the corner, his pungent odor—a mixture of sweat and mildew—was particularly strong in the enclosed space.

Ma Jinli frowned and took a half step to the side. He had originally wanted the old man to take a shower and change his clothes first, but thinking of Zuo Ning's frighteningly calm tone on the phone, he decided to take him there first.

The top-floor corridor was carpeted in dark colors, and several abstract oil paintings hung on the walls.

Two security guards in black suits stood at the door of the office at the end of the corridor, with earpieces on their ears. They bowed and nodded as they saw Ma Jinli approaching.

The man on the left pushed open the heavy solid wood door, and Ma Jinli led the homeless man inside.

Zuo Ning was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with his back to the door, one hand in his trouser pocket and the other holding an unlit cigarette.

Hearing the door open, she didn't turn around immediately. She just glanced at him slightly, her gaze lingering on the homeless man for a second before sweeping over Ma Jinli's sweat-soaked shirt collar. Then she turned back to continue looking at the city night view outside the window.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights of Hehai City gradually illuminated the city in the twilight, and the streetlights on the cross-river bridge stretched in an arc to the opposite bank.

"Is it him?" Zuo Ning's voice was not loud, but the office was quiet, and every word could be heard clearly.

"Yes. He's been living in Building 3 for a while now, and he just happened to see the whole thing last night." Ma Jinli gave the homeless man a push on the lower back, signaling him to move forward.

The homeless man staggered a couple of steps to the desk, unsure of what to do with his hands. Finally, he clutched the corner of his filthy shirt, its original color indistinguishable, and rubbed it back and forth.

Zuo Ning turned around, put the cigarette in his mouth, picked up the lighter on the table, and lit it with a snap.

Leaning against the edge of the desk, one foot on the ground and the other crossed over his ankle, he sized up the dirty old man in front of him.

The homeless man's hair was matted in clumps, his face was covered in wrinkles studded with indelible grime, and his clothes reeked of an unpleasant odor.

But Zuo Ning seemed completely unconcerned. He exhaled a puff of smoke, speaking casually as if he were chatting.

"What's your name?"

"Wan... Wan Jingquan." The homeless man's voice was hoarse, with a rough quality left by years of smoking and drinking.

He lowered his head, not daring to look Zuo Ning in the eye, his gaze falling on the heavy glass ashtray on the edge of the desk.

"Tell me everything you saw last night, from beginning to end." Zuo Ning flicked his cigarette ash.

Wan Jingquan scratched his neck with his dirty fingers and began to ramble on.

He spoke incoherently, rambling on and on, with a lot of irrelevant details mixed in.

He said that last night he ate half a loaf of bread that he picked up from the trash can, drank a few sips of water, and then climbed up to the third floor of Building 3 to sleep.

When I was woken up, the moon was hanging on the roof of that half-crooked, unfinished building. Then I looked down from the windowsill and saw a black car parked on the concrete ground below.

A dim yellow light shone in the car. A man and a woman sat in the back seat, with Ma Jinli next to them. The more he listened, the more uncomfortable he felt, wanting to interrupt but not daring to. Zuo Ning, on the other hand, remained in the same position, leaning against the table and smoking, her face expressionless.

Wan Jingquan said that a bright white light suddenly flashed, and the man immediately rushed out of the car, shirtless, and chased after it in a certain direction.

He ran very fast; the sound of his footsteps on the gravel could be heard from the third floor. The woman drove away a short while later.

When he looked down from the windowsill again, there was nothing there, not even the tire tracks on the ground had been swept away.

He fell asleep again, and shortly after waking up, he was surrounded by a group of strangers and brought here.

After listening, Zuo Ning stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and slowly ground it a few times. He stood up and walked to Wan Jingquan, the two of them less than an arm's length apart.

Wan Jingquan instinctively shrank his neck and took half a step back. Zuo Ning was almost a head taller than him, looking down into his eyes, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile that sent chills down one's spine.

"You just said that woman has big breasts, can you tell what she looks like?"

Wan Jingquan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "It was dark, I couldn't see clearly. I could only see the figure, the face wasn't very clear."

Zuo Ning picked up two photos of Ye Qinghan and Lin Feng from the table and handed them to him. Wan Jingquan squinted at them for a long time, his cloudy eyes slowly moving in their sockets.

He handed the photo back to Zuo Ning, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "The man's features are somewhat similar, and as for the woman... the figure matches, but I really can't be sure about the face. My eyesight has been getting worse these past two years; I'm practically blind after dark. That's all I can offer; I wouldn't dare say anything that might delay your plans."

"Do you have a cell phone?" Zuo Ning asked tentatively.

Wan Jingquan shook his head and said, "Boss, I'm struggling to even eat, how could I afford a phone!"