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

There was silence on the other end of the phone for about three or four seconds.

Then came her mother's voice, noticeably louder: "You have a boyfriend? When did this happen? Why didn't you say so sooner? What does the young man do? How old is he?"

Zhou Mei slipped on her slippers, leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes, and quickly organized her thoughts, "We haven't been talking for very long. I was planning to tell you after things settled down. He's a department manager at a listed company, two years younger than me, and earns around 300,000 yuan a year."

These words came out of her mouth so fluently, as if she had prepared them in advance. In fact, she had finished making them up within three seconds of answering the phone.

Her mother's voice on the other end of the phone had changed from surprise to satisfaction. "A listed company, a department manager, young and promising. Your father and I will go over tomorrow to meet him. We also had plans with Xiao Chen, but I'll tell your Aunt Liu we can't meet him now."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and after hanging up the phone, Zhou Mei sat on the sofa for a long time.

Zhou Mei, you really know how to have your student pretend to be your boyfriend!

Then she picked up her phone and sent that message to Raymond Lam.

Zhou Mei turned over and buried her face in the pillow.

I wonder what her mother's expression would be if she knew that this "department manager of a listed company" was actually a freshman in her class.

After much thought, only Raymond Lam met the "requirements." His social circle wasn't large to begin with, and he didn't have many female friends around him.

The main reason is what happened at the Boston Hotel last time; he was able to stop at the last minute.

She didn't dare to think about whether any other guy would have stopped in that situation. Based on that alone, she could at least trust him to pretend to be her boyfriend for a day.

After making up her mind, she sat up in bed and took off her shirt and suit skirt.

She rolled the black stockings down from her toes, making a soft rustling sound as they slipped off her skin.

She unhooked her bra, and the lace straps slid down her shoulders. Barefoot, she walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and hot water poured over her head, flowing down her collarbone.

When I closed my eyes, Lin Feng's image suddenly popped into my mind, looking as well-behaved as an obedient student.

Tomorrow I'm going to have him pretend to be my boyfriend. I wonder how that guy will react.

Zhou Mei tilted her head back and let the hot water wash over her face.

Lin Feng went to bed early that night.

When he got home, he took off his T-shirt, which was covered in wall dust, and soaked it in a basin of water. He rubbed it a couple of times, and the dust stains faded a little but were not completely removed.

I wrung out the T-shirt and hung it on the balcony, took a shower, took some anti-inflammatory medicine, and went to bed.

On a September night, the window was half open, and the chirping of insects came in from outside.

I rolled over, and the band-aid on the back of my right hand rubbed against the blanket. I tore the band-aid off and threw it into the trash can next to the bedside table. The wound had already formed a thin scab and stopped bleeding.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

On the same night, in the girls' dormitory building at the school.

Shen Qianqian lay on her side on the bed, the light from her phone screen shining on her face. The blanket was pulled up to her shoulders, revealing only her baby face and one hand.

His thumb slowly slid across the WeChat chat window, opening and closing Lin Feng's chat window repeatedly.

I typed a few words first—"Thank you for today." Then I looked at them and deleted them.

He typed a few more words—"Does your arm still hurt?"—looked at them, and then deleted them.

I put my phone face down on the pillow, turned over, and stared at the bed frame above me. My roommate on the upper bunk was already asleep, his even breathing carried down to me.

He picked up his phone again, opened Lin Feng's chat window, hovered his thumb over the keyboard for a long time, and finally typed three words and sent them.

"Are you asleep?"

After the message was sent, a small "delivered" message popped up next to the text on the screen.

Place the phone next to your pillow, screen up. A minute passed, and the screen went dark.

Reach out and light it up.

Three minutes later, she turned it on again.

Five minutes, ten minutes passed, and the only thing in the chat box was the three words she had sent.

This sense of disparity kept her awake all night.

Nine o'clock the next morning.

Lin Feng was woken up by the urge to urinate. After getting out of bed and using the toilet, he picked up his phone and glanced at it.

On the screen was a message Shen Qianqian sent last night: "Are you asleep?" The message was sent at 11:47 PM last night.

As she walked towards the bathroom, she typed: "Sorry, I fell asleep last night."

After sending the message, he put his phone on the sink and turned on the tap to brush his teeth. Halfway through brushing, his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw that Shen Qianqian had replied with a single word: "Mm."

Lin Feng put the toothbrush in his mouth and continued brushing.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, my phone vibrated again. It was another message from Shen Qianqian: "What size clothes do you usually wear?"

Lin Feng still had a toothbrush in his mouth, toothpaste foam stuck to the corner of his lips. He picked up his phone and replied with three words followed by a number: "180. What's wrong?"

After a few seconds, Shen Qianqian replied with two words: "It's nothing."

Lin Feng stared at the three words "Nothing" on the screen and waited for a while, but no new messages popped up in the chat box.

I put my phone back on the sink, then took a clean T-shirt from the closet, put it on, went into the kitchen, and cooked a bowl of noodles.

After finishing his noodles, he sent Su Mengya a message: "Did you have fun at your uncle's house?" Su Mengya didn't reply; she was probably still sleeping.

At 10 o'clock, Xiao Wei sent a WeChat message: "Sister He has scheduled a class for you at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, don't forget!" Lin Feng replied "Okay", then went into the bedroom, spread the yoga mat on the floor, and began to practice his own postures.

Before I knew it, it was 12:30.

I stood up, rolled up my yoga mat, leaned it against the wall, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I changed into the only decent-looking item I had: a dark gray T-shirt and black casual pants.

I tousled my hair in front of the mirror, grabbed my phone and keys, and went out.

I took the bus to the Zhonghai City A District stop and got off at 1:50.

Standing at the entrance of the residential complex, the September sun was blazing, and there was no shade by the flower bed. I put my hands in my pockets and stared at the exit of the underground parking garage.

1:55.

A white sedan drove out of the underground parking garage and stopped in front of him. The car window rolled down, revealing half of Zhou Mei's face.

"Get in the car."

Lin Feng opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

As the car door closed, the faint scent of gardenia perfume wafted into my nose. The air conditioning was on full blast, and cool air blew out of the vents.

He glanced at Zhou Mei, his gaze moving from her face to her body, and then fixed on her.

She was wearing a black bodycon dress today. The neckline was off-the-shoulder, just below her collarbone, revealing the lines of her shoulders and collarbone.