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

The next morning, Lin Feng was woken up by the sizzling sound of Zhang Xiulan frying eggs in the kitchen.

I turned over and my arm touched the empty pillow next to me, which still had a faint smell of shampoo on it.

Su Mengya didn't know when she had returned home; she had probably left quietly before dawn.

Just like when I was taking care of him at the hospital last time, I always woke up earlier than him and quietly cleaned up the traces.

I sat up against the headboard, picked up my phone and checked the time: 8:30.

On the screen was a message Su Mengya sent at 6:00: "Breakfast is on the table, remember to eat. I'm going to work." It was followed by a smiley face.

He replied, "Okay," and then got out of bed to wash up.

On the kitchen table sat a sandwich covered with plastic wrap and a cup of still-warm soy milk. Zhang Xiulan was flipping eggs in a pan at the stove, saying without turning her head, "That girl Mengya came to bring you breakfast early this morning, saying you've been working hard lately and wanted you to sleep in a little longer. That girl is just perfect."

Lin Feng picked up a sandwich, took a bite, and didn't say anything. He finished his breakfast in a few bites, changed into a clean white T-shirt and dark blue jeans, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and went out.

It was almost nine o'clock when I arrived at school.

In September, the campus was filled with freshmen in military training uniforms. Rows of green formations stood at attention on the playground, and the instructors' commands could be heard across half the playground.

Lin Feng walked through the sycamore-lined path toward the office building. He ran into a few male classmates on the way. They were surprised to see him and said, "You're back?"

Lin Feng nodded, and the other person patted him on the shoulder before walking away with the basketball.

The counselor's office was on the third floor of the office building. When Lin Feng pushed open the door, Zhou Mei was sitting behind her desk, writing something with her head down.

She was wearing a light gray short-sleeved shirt, with two buttons undone at the collar, revealing a small section of her fair collarbone.

The shirt was tucked into a black pencil skirt, which was a bit shorter than before, just past mid-thigh. Her calves, encased in flesh-colored stockings, extended from under the skirt and were clad in black pointed high heels.

Her hair wasn't tied in a low ponytail like before, but instead fell loose over her shoulders, with the ends slightly curled.

Her face was made up with a more delicate light makeup than before, and her lips were covered with a layer of light pink lip gloss, which sparkled under the fluorescent lights.

When Lin Feng noticed these changes, his heart stirred slightly. Zhou Mei's attire at school used to be quite conservative; she would button her shirts all the way up, wear knee-length skirts, and always have her hair neatly tied in a low ponytail.

She now looks as if she has shed something that has been weighing on her for a long time.

There were two other counselors in the office; one was answering a phone call, and the other was looking through student files.

Zhou Mei looked up and saw Lin Feng standing at the door. Her pen paused for a moment, and the tip of the pen poked a small ink dot on the lesson plan paper.

Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something but then swallowed it back. She put down her pen, stood up, and took a stack of textbooks wrapped in kraft paper from her desk drawer, handing them to him.

"These are the textbooks for this semester. I've collected them for you." Her voice maintained its usual businesslike tone, but there was a slight tremor at the end, which only Lin Feng could hear.

Lin Feng took the textbooks and flipped through them. They were textbooks for business administration, each one covered with a book cover and the edges were neatly arranged.

He looked up at Zhou Mei, said thank you, and then asked how she had been lately.

"It's alright. It's just been a bit busy since the start of the semester, with new student registration, military training arrangements, and identification of students from impoverished families—a whole bunch of things to do. I heard about what's been going on with you lately, are you alright?" As she asked this, her gaze swept over Lin Feng's face.

"It's all taken care of. I'm sorry to have worried the teacher."

The two people came out of the office and walked down the corridor toward the teaching building. Students and teachers passed by from time to time in the corridor, maintaining a normal distance between them, about half an arm's width apart.

Zhou Mei walked beside him, her high heels making a crisp sound on the terrazzo floor.

As she reached the corner of the stairs, she suddenly slowed down, glanced left and right to make sure no one was around, then took Lin Feng's arm and turned into a small corridor next to the stairwell that led to the rooftop.

The corridor was narrow, with storage rooms piled with old tables and chairs on both sides. The iron gate at the end was locked all year round, and no one usually came here.

Zhou Mei pushed Lin Feng against the wall, wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.

It took her a while to loosen her grip, her forehead resting on his chin as she breathed heavily.

Her eyes were a little red, and her fingers were clutching the collar of his T-shirt. "Last time I saw you lying in the ICU with tubes all over your body, I almost thought you wouldn't make it. And now you're in there again. When I heard the news in Qingyuan, I couldn't sleep a wink all night. I never realized someone could make me worry so much; now I understand how agonizing that feeling is. Come to my place tonight, okay?"

Lin Feng wiped away a little bit of moisture from the corner of her eye with his finger, nodded, and said he would come over after he finished his work in the afternoon.

At noon, Lin Feng and Shen Qianqian met at a corner on the second floor of the school cafeteria. She arrived before him and had already secured a seat by the window, with two untouched plates in front of her.

One plate of twice-cooked pork over rice was his, and one plate of sweet and sour pork with broccoli was hers. There were also two bottles of strawberry yogurt next to them.

Shen Qianqian wore a white short-sleeved knit top today. The neckline was a small V-neck, and then it tucked in sharply at the waist, creating a smooth and exaggerated inward curve from the lower edge of her chest to her navel.

He sat there, leaning slightly forward.

She wore a dark blue pleated mini skirt, the hem of which reached just above her knees.

Two long, gleaming white legs extended from under the skirt, with rounded, full thighs, straight and smooth calves, and ankles so slender that you could see the shape of the knuckles, all in a pair of white canvas shoes.

Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead and fair nape of the neck, and she wore the pair of silver kitten earrings that Lin Feng had given her.

Her face was the kind of baby face that you couldn't forget at first glance, with a pointed chin and a rounded, slightly chubby cheek. Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, and it shone with a delicate luster in the sunlight streaming in through the cafeteria window.

Her lips were coated with a clear lip gloss, making them look full and moisturized. However, there were two faint bluish patches under her eyes, indicating that she hadn't had a good rest.