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

She arrived at the teahouse ten minutes early at noon.

The private room wasn't large, but the window facing the street offered a view of the passing traffic. Ouyang Qian selected a pot of Tieguanyin tea, personally scalded the cups, and brewed the tea leaves. The tea soup gradually changed from light yellow to golden yellow, and a delicate fragrance filled the room.

I placed the two gift boxes on the chair next to me and started to sit and wait.

Deputy Director Sun arrived five minutes late. He was wearing a dark gray jacket and silver-rimmed glasses, and his hair was slightly gray. He looked refined and cultured, unlike Director Cheng, who had a fat and bloated appearance.

Upon seeing Ouyang Qian for the first time, he visibly paused, then gave her a polite smile.

"I never expected Director Ouyang to be so young and beautiful."

Ouyang Qian stood up and bowed slightly. "Director Sun, you're too kind. Please have a seat. Let me make you some tea. This place has a good reputation for Tieguanyin; I tried it beforehand."

Deputy Director Sun sat down opposite her. When he took the teacup, his gaze lingered on her face for a moment before shifting away without lingering any longer.

Ouyang Qian breathed a slight sigh of relief; at least this one looked more respectable than the one from yesterday.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the conversation shifted from company business to the recent municipal projects at Hohai University. While refilling his tea, Ouyang Qian steered the conversation towards herself, saying, "Director Sun, besides bringing you a Mid-Autumn Festival gift, I have a personal matter I'd like to ask you about."

Deputy Director Sun picked up his teacup but didn't drink it immediately. "Go on, I'm listening."

"My daughter just turned eight this year. She used to study in another province, but she moved to Hohai with me this year and wants to transfer to a primary school there." Ouyang Qian paused here, putting her teacup on the table. "I originally wanted to try the Experimental Primary School, but... I had dinner with Director Cheng yesterday, and he made some rather inappropriate conditions. I didn't agree at the time, but he said that if we didn't do things his way, my daughter wouldn't be able to get into any primary school at Hohai."

Deputy Director Sun paused for a moment while holding his teacup.

He then put down his teacup, looked at Ouyang Qian, and his expression became somewhat subtle. "Director Cheng... his conduct is indeed not very good; there have been some rumors circulating about him over the years. But Director Ouyang, he is, after all, the director, and I am just the deputy. It's not that I don't want to help you with some things; it's just that I have my own difficulties."

Ouyang Qian's fingers clenched on the teacup for a moment, then slowly relaxed. "I understand Director Sun's difficulties. What if we don't go to Experimental Primary School, but to the Second Primary School? Or some other ordinary school, as long as it's not too bad. I don't necessarily want to squeeze into the best one."

Deputy Director Sun was silent for a moment, tapping his fingers lightly on the table twice, before finally shaking his head. "Director Ouyang, Director Cheng is a very petty person. If he knew I helped you with this behind the scenes, even if it was just the Second Primary School, he would hold a grudge against me. To tell you the truth, his wife and Mayor Wang's wife have always gotten along very well, and he's been able to stay in his position all these years because of that relationship. If you had come to me earlier, it would have been just a matter of a phone call, but now... it's a bit..."

Looking at his expression, Ouyang Qian knew he was telling the truth.

She picked up the teapot and poured him another cup of tea, her tone unchanged, "It's alright, I understand. Thank you again for taking the time today. I'll figure out a way to resolve this."

She picked up the gift box from the chair next to him and placed it beside him. "This is a small token of the company's appreciation. Please take it home and try it. They are all health products and of good quality."

Deputy Director Sun glanced at the two gift boxes, did not refuse, stood up and accepted them. "Director Ouyang, then I won't stand on ceremony. The tea is finished, I have a meeting this afternoon, so I'll take my leave now."

Ouyang Qian dropped him off at the entrance of the teahouse. The driver was already waiting by the roadside. When he saw Deputy Director Sun come out, he opened the trunk and put the gift box inside.

Deputy Director Sun sat in the back seat, holding the car door as he was about to close it, when he suddenly leaned out halfway and said something to Ouyang Qian.

"Director Ouyang, instead of wasting your time here, why don't you go find your General Manager Lin? Maybe he can help."

After saying that, he closed the car door, and the car slowly drove out of the parking space and merged into the afternoon traffic.

Ouyang Qian stood on the steps at the entrance of the teahouse, watching the taillights of the black sedan disappear around the corner. She stood there without moving, the wind blowing gently through the stray hairs on her forehead.

I mentally rehearsed Deputy Director Sun's last words twice.

He glanced down at his phone, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't make the call. He put the phone back in his pocket and turned to walk in the opposite direction from the parking lot.

……

Lin Feng stayed at Tianlong Group for three days.

The first day was spent getting familiar with the department, the second day was for a board meeting, and the third day was for individual talks with the heads of several key business lines.

Tianlong Group is larger than Shuke Group, and its management is more mature. He doesn't need to do everything personally like he did at Shuke Group, but as the newly appointed largest shareholder, he needs to make his presence felt and express his attitude.

On the last day of the board meeting, he proposed a plan.

"Tianlong's core business is logistics and transportation. New energy is the major trend now, and the province is providing strong support. We happen to have a truck manufacturing plant. Although it is not large, it has complete qualifications and production lines. My idea is that Tianlong and Shuke jointly invest in expanding this plant into a professional new energy truck production base, taking advantage of the policy support that Shuke has already received."

Lin Feng projected the presentation from his tablet onto the screen.

The presentation consisted of a few slides with limited data, but the core logic was clear. The operating costs of existing gasoline-powered trucks are rising year by year, while the demand for new energy commercial vehicles and policy incentives are growing in tandem.

If a factory can be built locally, Tianlong can use its own fleet first, and sell the excess production capacity to external customers. This would reduce transportation costs and increase profits.

There were more than a dozen people in the conference room, half of whom were directors of Tianlong Group and half were heads of various departments.

"Everyone knows the market growth of new energy commercial vehicles in the past two years." Lin Feng stood next to the screen without sitting down. "This year, the province introduced a special support policy for the manufacturing of new energy vehicles, and Shuke has already obtained the qualification. Tianlong happens to have a truck manufacturing plant, which is not large in scale, but has a complete production line and all the necessary qualifications. My idea is for the two companies to jointly expand production, with Tianlong providing manufacturing resources and Shuke providing policy resources, and jointly holding a controlling stake."

Turn to the next slide of the PPT, which lists several key data points: the existing manufacturing plant's capacity, qualifications, land conditions, and surrounding infrastructure.

Zhang, the deputy general manager of the logistics division, spoke first, "President Lin, I support this direction. Tianlong's fleet currently has more than 400 vehicles operating in the province, and the annual expenses for fuel and maintenance alone are a considerable sum. If we switch to self-produced new energy trucks, the operating cost per vehicle can be reduced, which will look much better on the financial statements. Moreover, after using them ourselves, we can also sell them to others, which is equivalent to locking in the sales channels before expanding production, making the risk much smaller than blind investment."

The CFO then flipped through the data sheets in his hand. "Let me explain from a financial perspective. With an annual production scale of 5,000 units, plus subsidies from the provincial and municipal levels and cost deductions for Tianlong's own use, I've done a preliminary calculation. The cash flow recovery period is about three years. This is shorter than traditional manufacturing projects, mainly because of the larger subsidies, and the self-use portion is essentially an internal order, so there is no sales pressure."

The technical director, sitting across the conference table, adjusted his glasses. "I have a concern about the technology. Our existing manufacturing plant mainly focuses on modification and assembly. We lack the capability to independently develop the core three-electric systems—battery, motor, and electronic control. If we cooperate with BYD, to what extent are they willing to open up? Is it just technology licensing, or joint development? The investment and return cycles for these two cooperation models differ significantly."