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

He had been to Shen Wanyu's bedroom on the third floor before, and he remembered its exact location very clearly. He walked to the door and reached out to turn the doorknob.

It won't turn, is it locked from the inside?

He knocked on the door twice with his knuckles.

A muffled voice came from inside, sounding somewhat hoarse through the door: "I'm not eating, so don't bother me."

"It's me," Lin Feng said.

Suddenly, it became quiet on the other side of the door.

"Open the door," Lin Feng said again.

The silence lasted for another three seconds, then Shen Wanyu's voice came through, even hoarser than before, with a slight nasal tone, as if she was suppressing some emotion: "Why didn't you reply to my messages yesterday? I won't open them."

Lin Feng looked down at the gap under the door panel, then looked up at the doorknob, and said in a flat tone, "If you don't open the door, I'm leaving."

After saying that, he didn't actually leave. Instead, he stomped his feet twice, the soles of his shoes hitting the wooden floor of the corridor with two dull thuds that faded as they went down the stairs.

The door lock clicked open.

Shen Wanyu stood at the door, wearing pink pajamas, her hair loose and knotted at the ends, a few stray hairs sticking to her cheeks, her eyes red-rimmed, her eyelids slightly swollen, and her lips dry and chapped.

She looked like she hadn't slept all night and had cried several times, completely different from the girl who was usually well-dressed and radiated a lively spirit.

Upon recognizing that it was indeed Raymond Lam standing outside the door, tears welled up in her eyes.

She lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face in his chest, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt, "Why didn't you reply to my messages... I sent a hundred... I waited from last night until this morning... I didn't sleep a wink all night... I thought you'd never talk to me again..."

Her shoulders trembled in his arms, her words broken and fragmented, and she cried so unceremoniously that her snot and tears were all over his shirt.

"You heartless man, you stole my first kiss and now you don't even recognize me..." She clenched her fist and punched his chest, the force barely enough to swat a mosquito. After a few punches, she gripped the front of his shirt tightly, as if afraid he would run away. "Do you know how scared I was... I was so afraid you would ignore me... I didn't want to open the door when Aunt Wu knocked... I held my phone in my hand all night... and you didn't reply to a single message..."

Lin Feng gently patted her back twice: "Okay, don't cry."

Shen Wanyu was still crying.

It wasn't a hysterical wail, but a continuous sob, her face buried in his chest, her shoulders shaking as if she wanted to cry out all the grievances she had accumulated throughout the night.

Lin Feng's hand stopped on her back. After about three seconds, while she was still crying, he raised his hand and slapped her on the buttocks.

The force wasn't light; the "snap" sounded particularly crisp in the quiet corridor.

Shen Wanyu's crying stopped abruptly.

She lifted her head from Lin Feng's chest, looking at him through teary eyes, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle, and tear stains still clinging to one cheek: "You hit me..."

"If I don't hit you, will you stop?" Lin Feng looked down at her, reached behind her knees with one hand, and lifted her up in his arms. Shen Wanyu instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face in his shoulder, and sniffled.

Lin Feng carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He sat her up, but she wouldn't let go of his neck. Her arms clung tightly to him, and her legs were wrapped around the bed, making her look like a koala hanging from a tree branch.

"Come down first." Lin Feng patted her arm.

Shen Wanyu shook her head, then nodded, and finally slowly relaxed. She sat cross-legged on the bed, head down, picking at her fingernails, her hair hanging down to cover half her face, sniffing occasionally.

Lin Feng pulled up a chair from the dressing table and sat down in front of her, the two facing each other.

"I told you the night before last that I was going to wash up. I have my own life too. I was busy at the company all day yesterday. I was away from Hohai for a while, and a lot of things piled up. Documents are waiting to be signed, meeting minutes are waiting to be reviewed, partners are waiting for a call back, the two floors upstairs are under renovation, HR has a few positions waiting for second interviews, and the headhunter is still looking for a director. I haven't stopped since I entered the office this morning. My phone has been lying in the drawer all afternoon without me having time to look at it." Lin Feng's tone was unhurried, as if he were stating a fact.

Shen Wanyu kept her head down, but stopped picking at her fingers.

"I didn't mean to ignore your messages. But I can't guarantee I'll reply to every message instantly in the future. I have my work, my own things to handle." Looking at Shen Wanyu, waiting for her to raise her head, "You're not the only one in my life, you should know that. Every woman close to me knows how to maintain boundaries and distance. They won't skip meals all day just because I don't reply immediately, nor will they use this method to confirm whether I care about them. I won't get annoyed by you sending a lot of messages, but if you always do this, and you can't eat or sleep when I don't reply..."

The rest of the sentence was left unsaid.

Shen Wanyu's fingers gripped the bedsheet, her lips moving slightly: "I just wanted to text you. I'm not trying to pressure you, I just couldn't control myself. When you're not around, I want to text. And when you don't reply, I get scared. The scarier I get, the more I want to text. I know it's wrong, but I just..."

"You can send me a message if you want. I'll reply when I have time. But you can't let yourself get like this just because I didn't reply." Lin Feng pointed to her face. "Look at you, your eyes are so swollen, your lips are dry and peeling, and you've been starving all day, your face is all pale. Even if you send me a thousand messages like this, I won't be happy to see them."

Shen Wanyu fell silent again, tracing circles on the bed sheet with her finger, fidgeting for a while before finally saying, "I understand. I won't do it again. You go about your business, you don't have to reply to every message, but you can't keep ignoring me."

"Okay, I promise. But can you do as I say?"

"Yes." She nodded, then added softly, "I'll try my best."

Seeing her like this, Lin Feng didn't say anything more. He reached out and tucked the hair that was hanging in front of her face behind her ear, then leaned down and kissed her.

Shen Wanyu's body stiffened instinctively. Having learned from her previous experience, she didn't push him away this time. Her lips parted slightly as she awkwardly responded, her teeth still hitting the corner of his mouth, but it was much better than the night before.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers gripping the fabric at the back of his collar tightly, as if afraid he would run away.

Lin Feng's hand moved from her back to her front, his fingertips slipping under the hem of her pajamas. The moment his palm touched her skin, Shen Wanyu's breath hitched, and her abdomen tightened, but she didn't push him away; instead, she buried her face deeper into his shoulder.

Lin Feng moved his hand upwards, feeling a different sensation. Shen Wanyu trembled slightly in his arms, seemingly very nervous.