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

After the business was concluded, County Head Zhang hosted a banquet at the county government guesthouse. The banquet was very grand, and in addition to County Head Zhang and the people from the Investment Promotion Bureau, there were also representatives of several major local goji berry growers.

Lin Feng was seated at the head of the table, with County Head Zhang personally accompanying him. After a few rounds of drinks, they began to address each other as brothers. Lin Feng raised his glass and clinked it with County Head Zhang's, then clinked glasses with several officials from the Investment Promotion Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau, and the atmosphere at the table gradually warmed up.

"County Chief Zhang, rest assured, I, Lin Feng, am not the kind of person who makes quick money and leaves. Since I've decided to settle down in Ning County, I will definitely make sure the industrial chain is solid, from planting standards to processing techniques to brand sales, every link will be done to the highest standards. In the future, Ning County's goji berries will not only be sold domestically, but will also go abroad."

"Great! With Mr. Lin's words, I'm relieved. Here, let me toast you again!"

Ma Qingqing sat next to Lin Feng, holding a wine dispenser the whole time. Seeing that Lin Feng had drunk quite a bit, she stood up several times to help him avoid drinking too much. A deputy director from the Investment Promotion Bureau came over with a wine glass, insisting on toasting Lin Feng. Ma Qingqing stood up, raised her glass, and smiled slightly at him.

"Director Sun, President Lin has drunk quite a bit today. I'll drink this one for him." She tilted her head back and downed the drink in one gulp, then turned the empty glass upside down to show it to him.

"Excellent! Secretary Ma has a great capacity for alcohol; she's a woman who doesn't yield to men!"

After Ma Qingqing sat down, Lin Feng turned his head to look at her slightly flushed profile and asked in a low voice if she could still hold on and not to push herself.

Ma Qingqing gently shook her head and said it was alright, President Lin. She could drink, and she couldn't let him handle the situation alone today.

Her voice was slightly soft from the alcohol, and Lin Feng's heart stirred as he looked at her earnest expression. Her courage and sense of responsibility in standing up to shield him from drinking in this situation only increased his admiration for her.

After the banquet, Lin Feng helped Ma Qingqing out of the guesthouse.

She drank several extra glasses of alcohol today to help him fend off the drinks, and now that the effects of the alcohol are kicking in, she leans limply against him, her steps unsteady, and he is practically half-carrying her forward.

His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, the color spreading from his cheekbones to his ears. His lips were slightly parted, and his breathing was hot and rapid.

Lin Feng booked a suite at the best hotel in the county, helped her into the room and settled her on the bed, took off her high heels, and pulled the blanket up to cover her.

"Qingqing, lie still and don't move. I'll get you a glass of water. Is your stomach upset? Do you feel like throwing up?"

"Mr. Lin, I'm fine, don't bother... You drank even more than me today, you should get some rest too." She lay on her side on the bed, her hair spread out on the pillow, mumbling incoherently in a soft, fragmented voice. Lin Feng leaned closer to listen carefully and finally understood that she was calling his name.

"President Lin... Lin Feng..."

He leaned back in the chair by the bed, watching her curled up in a ball on the bed, then looked away and picked up his phone to scroll through unread messages.

More than an hour later, Ma Qingqing suddenly turned over, covered her mouth, sat up in bed, and staggered towards the bathroom.

Lin Feng immediately followed, only to find her vomiting violently in front of the toilet. The baijiu (Chinese liquor) was indeed potent; she had drunk too much while shielding him from the alcohol, and now her stomach was churning.

Lin Feng squatted down beside her, holding her hair with one hand to prevent the ends from getting wet in the toilet, and gently patting her back with the other hand.

"Just throw it up. Don't hold it in, just throw it all up. Don't drink so heavily in the future. I can handle my own drinking, why are you, a girl, trying to drink for me?"

Ma Qingqing leaned against the bathroom wall, her eyes welling up with tears from vomiting. She watched as Lin Feng squatted down to clean up the stains on the floor for her, wrung out a towel with warm water, and gently and carefully wiped her face and hands, as if afraid of hurting her.

A feeling of inexplicable guilt and emotion welled up inside me, and my voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"Mr. Lin, I'm so sorry... I've made the room dirty. Please don't worry about it, I can handle it myself."

"It's okay, you'll feel better once you've thrown up. Just sit still and don't move around. I'll go get you some hot water. Is your stomach still upset?"

"A little bit. Mr. Lin, you've had quite a bit to drink today too. Don't worry about me, you should rest too. I'm fine, I'll be okay after I throw up."

Lin Feng ignored her and helped her back to bed, then called the hotel housekeeper to change her to a new room.

I went downstairs and bought a bowl of stomach-soothing porridge and a jar of honey. I borrowed a small pot from the hotel kitchen to boil honey water and put it in a thermos.

As I pushed the door open again, carrying the porridge and honey water, Ma Qingqing was just coming out of the bathroom. She had just finished showering, wearing a white hotel bathrobe, her hair still wet and hanging loosely over her shoulders, water droplets running down the ends and dripping onto the collar of the bathrobe. Her face still had a flush from the alcohol, but she seemed much more sober.

The bathrobe's belt was loosely tied at her waist, and the neckline was slightly open, revealing a small patch of fair skin below her collarbone, with the contours of her two full breasts faintly visible beneath the white bathrobe.

Her legs were long; the hem of her bathrobe just covered the middle of her thighs, and two slender, fair legs extended from under the bathrobe, her feet clad in disposable hotel slippers.

Seeing Lin Feng push the door open and come in, carrying porridge and a thermos, she froze for several seconds.

"Mr. Lin, why did you go to buy porridge yourself? You could have just ordered takeout. You drank quite a bit today; you should have rested earlier."

"Takeout is too slow. There's a porridge shop downstairs, it's convenient. Drink the porridge first, it's good for your stomach. Baijiu (Chinese liquor) is too harsh on the stomach. Drinking some hot porridge after you vomit will make you feel much better. Drink the honey water while it's hot too, it helps with hangovers."

Ma Qingqing took the bowl of porridge and felt his gaze on her as she lowered her head to drink it, causing her ears to involuntarily turn red.

She remembered him standing behind her on the ridge of the field, his arms around her waist; she remembered carrying her back to the visitor center from inside the cave…

And that night, I sat by her bedside for a long time, patting her back and wiping her face. I even went out in the middle of the night to buy her porridge and honey water.

From childhood to adulthood, apart from her parents and third uncle, no one had ever taken care of her like this. She drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, put down her spoon, and looked up at him.

"Mr. Lin, why are you so good to me?"

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair by the window, lit a cigarette, and looked at her through the thin smoke, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

Ma Qingqing was taken aback by his question, paused for a moment, then smiled. "I want to hear both. What is a lie? And what is the truth?"

"The truth is, it's because you're my secretary, you have outstanding work skills, you've done a great job with the new product line, and you helped me fend off a lot of drinks during this inspection. It's only right and proper for me to take care of you. The company needs key personnel like you, and it's only natural for a boss to take care of his subordinates."

As he spoke, he took the cigarette out of his mouth, slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at her through the smoke, and said in a calm and unhurried voice, "To be honest, I just think you're beautiful, have a great figure, are hardworking, and kind-hearted. I want to win you over."

Ma Qingqing froze, the spoon she was holding clattering into the porridge bowl. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widened, and her ears quickly turned from a pale pink to a deep crimson, even her neck flushed red.

My fingers unconsciously gripped the spoon handle, and I felt my heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my throat.

She mentally confirmed the sentence several times, and her breathing became rapid. She didn't even dare to look up at him, afraid that he would see the panic and secret joy that she couldn't hide on her face.

"Mr. Lin, I..." Her voice trembled slightly, her fingers gripping the rim of the porridge bowl tightly. "I... I don't know what to say. I didn't expect you to say that. I just feel that you've been too good to me, so good that I can hardly believe it."

"Then don't think about it for now, just drink your porridge. Cold porridge is bad for your stomach, we can talk about other things later. You can take what I'm saying today seriously or not, it's up to you. No matter what you think, your position in the company won't change. These things have nothing to do with work—I won't let personal matters affect work, nor will I suppress personal matters for work. So don't feel pressured, take your time to think about it."

Ma Qingqing lowered her head and slowly stirred the porridge in her bowl with a spoon, her heart churning with complex emotions she had never felt before.

The other party didn't pressure her or make the atmosphere more tense; they simply gave her a way out, telling her to finish her porridge first.

Suddenly, she felt like crying, not because she was sad, but because no one had ever valued her feelings like this before.

She looked up at Lin Feng, who was leaning against the window smoking. His gaze was calm and gentle, as if he was waiting for her to process what he had just said, or as if he was checking on her current state.

"Mr. Lin...do you really like me?"

Lin Feng flicked his cigarette ash, his gaze piercing through the smoke to land on her face. His voice was low but steady. "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would treat every employee this well? I never lie to myself, and I would never lie to you."

Ma Qingqing looked into his eyes, where there was not a trace of hesitation or wavering. Then she said something in an extremely soft voice.

"President Lin, I...I like you too!"