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

The next morning, Lin Feng opened the door to wash up at the tap in the yard and saw Ma Qingqing coming out of the next room.

She was wearing a light blue cotton-linen shirt and white wide-leg pants, her hair was casually tied in a low ponytail, and her face still looked a little sleepy.

The faint bluish patches under her eyes betrayed her – she clearly hadn't slept well last night.

"Good morning, Mr. Lin. Did you sleep well last night? It gets cold quickly here at night, and I forgot to bring you an extra blanket. If you're cold, I'll give you another one tonight."

"You slept well and aren't cold. But you, did you not sleep well last night? You have dark circles under your eyes."

When Ma Qingqing was asked this question, her ears turned slightly red.

She really didn't sleep well last night. Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, her mind filled with the kiss that almost happened in the backyard and Raymond Lam's words, "Even if it's for you."

Sometimes she would cover her head with the blanket, and other times she would stare blankly at the ceiling until late at night before she could finally close her eyes. Her dreams were filled with caves, field ridges, and that warm embrace.

With her head down, she said, "It's just a little bit," not daring to look him in the eye. She quickly squatted down and splashed some cold water on her face, trying to clear her head.

After washing up, the two went to their third uncle's place in the front yard for breakfast.

My aunt got up before dawn to get busy. On the table were steaming millet porridge, steamed buns, several dishes of pickled vegetables, a plate of freshly fried local eggs, and a plate of bright red goji berries.

Uncle San invited them to sit down and have breakfast. Ma Qingqing sat next to Lin Feng, serving him porridge and handing him chopsticks with natural and practiced movements.

After breakfast, Uncle San drove his old farm tricycle, which he had used for more than ten years, with Lin Feng and Ma Qingqing in tow to the goji berry field.

The morning sun had not yet fully risen, the dew on the field ridges had not yet dried, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and grass.

The endless fields of goji berries shimmered with layers of green in the morning light, the branches laden with bright red berries, and the farmers were already bent over, busy picking them, their bamboo baskets overflowing.

While driving his tricycle, Uncle San turned around and introduced the area to Lin Feng, saying that this whole area was their village's goji berry fields, and every household grew goji berries. Some also grew angelica and astragalus, but not in large quantities; they mainly relied on goji berries.

He pointed to several rows of particularly lush goji berry bushes in the distance and said that those were his family's land. This year, the rainfall was good, and the goji berry bushes bore more fruit than in previous years.

Lin Feng stood up, holding onto the railing of the tricycle. Looking at the endless field of goji berries in front of him, he roughly estimated the yield and planting scale, and gained a clearer understanding of the potential of this base.

"Uncle, I have an idea. The first batch of fresh goji berries, instead of drying them, can be packaged using a freshness-locking process and shipped via cold chain to Hehai to target the high-end fresh food market. Fresh berries can fetch a much higher price than dried berries, and the demand for fresh goji berries in Hehai is growing rapidly, making this market a blue ocean. In addition, some goji berries can be juiced to make beverages, such as goji berry puree and goji berry compound juice. These products have much higher profit margins than dried berries and can reach a wider consumer base. Later, I plan to build a goji berry processing base here, where both primary and deep processing will be completed locally before being transported to headquarters for final packaging and sales. This processing base will not only serve our goji berry fields but also the surrounding villages, allowing for unified purchase and processing of goji berries. After the factory is built, cold chain logistics will also be provided, significantly reducing transportation costs in the future."

After hearing this, Uncle San's wrinkles smoothed out, and his hands, which were driving the tricycle, trembled slightly. "Xiao Lin, if what you're saying can really be done, it will be a huge help to our whole village! Before, when the dealers came to buy goji berries, they would drive down the price drastically, and we couldn't get a good price even if we took them to town to sell. If we can build a processing plant and have a unified purchasing system, we won't have to put up with those dealers anymore. You don't know, the year before last, when the goji berry harvest was abundant, the dealers drove the price down by almost half compared to previous years, and several families in the village didn't even break even that year."

"Mr. Lin, your idea is fantastic. If we can build a processing plant here, not only will my third uncle's family benefit, but all the goji berry growers in the village will also benefit. When I was a child, I saw the goji berries that the villagers worked so hard to grow being bought up by dealers at low prices, and it always made me feel terrible. If we can change this situation, that would be wonderful."

Ma Qingqing sat on the other side of the tricycle, listening to Lin Feng and his third uncle's conversation, her eyes fixed on Lin Feng.

When talking about these plans, he became exceptionally serious, showing none of his usual easygoing demeanor, but rather the sharp and focused decisiveness he displays in the business world.

Watching him stand on the swaying tricycle, facing the morning breeze, pointing at the wolfberry field and talking eloquently, a sense of pride welled up in her heart—this was the person she had chosen to follow.

"Uncle, please don't be so polite. These are all business considerations, and I'm not here to do charity. The quality of your goji berry field is indeed excellent, and it's worth the investment. However, setting up a processing plant isn't something that can be done overnight. After the initial assessment is completed, we still need to communicate with the county about land approval and policy support. When I get back, I'll have someone prepare a detailed feasibility report, and then we can discuss the specific cooperation model."

The inspection lasted for the entire morning.

Lin Feng walked from one end of the field to the other, squatted down to carefully examine the growth of several goji berry plants, picked goji berries from different plots and compared their size and color in his palm, and chatted with several growers about their planting techniques and yields.

They asked very detailed questions, from irrigation water sources to fertilization cycles, from pest and disease control to harvesting labor costs, and noted every single one down in their phone's notes app.

Uncle San followed beside him, watching Lin Feng examine the situation so seriously, and felt more and more that this young boss was genuinely interested in doing business, and not just going through the motions.

In the afternoon, Lin Feng selected a preliminary location for the processing plant—an open space near the highway at the east end of the village, with convenient transportation and close proximity to the goji berry fields.

After calling the company, Xiao Wang from the sales department arrived in Ning County that afternoon with several technicians. As per Lin Feng's request, they conducted freshness-locking packaging tests on some of the fresh goji berries, while the rest were juiced on-site, bottled, sealed, and stored under cold chain conditions, ready to be taken back to Hohai for product testing and market trials.

Shuke Company's efficiency remains as fast as ever.

By evening, several boxes of fresh-locked goji berries and goji berry juice samples had been sealed and labeled, ready to be shipped to Hohai headquarters.

Ma Qingqing stood in the courtyard, watching Xiao Wang and his team load boxes of samples onto the truck. Her third uncle stood beside her, rubbing his hands together, a smile never fading from his face, muttering that he had never seen such efficient work in his life.

Ma Qingqing thought to herself, "This is how President Lin always does things—he does what he says without hesitation, and he's swift and decisive."

She has been in Shuke for so long and has witnessed him build the procurement department's product line from scratch. Now he is going to extend this line to the upstream production areas.

The evening glow spread from the west, casting long shadows of the busy people in the courtyard.

Lin Feng stood under the jujube tree, chatting with his third uncle about the future plans for the processing plant. His profile looked exceptionally handsome in the sunset.

Once this base is built, Shuke's influence at the source of traditional Chinese medicine will be completely changed, and her position in the company will also be different.