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

Ye Qinghan picked up the clothes, glanced at the collar, then at Lin Feng's expression, and smiled slightly. Without saying a word, she hung the clothes back on the hanger and turned to look at other styles.

"Don't you want this one?"

"If you say no, then don't want it." She said this while looking at another shirt next to her. The shop assistant saw this and opened her mouth slightly, probably surprised that this woman, who seemed to have a strong presence, would put down the clothes she liked just because of a man's words.

In the end, Ye Qinghan bought three outfits, and Lin Feng bought two shirts and a pair of trousers. When it was time to pay, Lin Feng took out his card, but Ye Qinghan reached out and pressed his hand back.

The fingers were cool to the touch, the fingertips were soft, while the palms were slightly damp and warm.

I'll buy my own clothes.

"I spent the whole afternoon shopping with you, and you won't let me pay for the two clothes you bought?"

"No."

Her tone left no room for negotiation, and Lin Feng didn't insist.

Ye Qinghan swiped her card, filled in Hehai's address, and asked the clerk to mail it back directly.

After leaving the International Finance Center, Ye Qinghan said she was a little hungry. Instead of choosing a restaurant in the mall, she took Lin Feng to a nearby food street.

The street wasn't wide, and it was crowded with all sorts of stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants on both sides. The smoke from grilled skewers mixed with the aroma of jianbing (Chinese crepes) wafted across half the street. Wearing high heels and a floral maxi dress in this kind of place seemed a bit out of place, but Ye Qinghan clearly didn't care.

He stopped in front of a stall selling candied hawthorns, pointed to the top string of hawthorns covered in a thick sugar coating, and said, "I want this one."

As she reached for the candied hawthorn, her arm rose, pulling up the collar of her sweater. The full contours of her lower collarbone, encased in the white fabric, almost spilled out. A young man eating grilled gluten on the roadside glanced up and nearly dropped his gluten.

Lin Feng paid, and the woman took the candied hawthorn, took a bite, and the sugar coating made a crisp cracking sound between her teeth. Lin Feng noticed a little sugar residue on the corner of her mouth and reached out to wipe it off for her, but she stuck out her tongue and licked it off first, her movements so quick as if nothing had happened, but there was clearly a deliberate smile in her eyes.

For the next hour, Ye Qinghan played the role of a "gluttonous girl" to the extreme—eating three skewers of grilled gluten, one skewer of grilled squid, half a bowl of stinky tofu, and then queuing for ten minutes at the entrance of the milk tea shop to buy a cup of handmade lemon tea. After taking a sip, she thought it was too sweet and handed it to Lin Feng to finish.

The two sat in the rest area, with Ye Qinghan's upper body almost lying on the table, the neckline of her knitted sweater swinging forward, the heavy weight on her chest swaying inside the neckline.

Lin Feng's hands were soon piled high with half-eaten snack wrappers. The two walked and ate as they went. Ye Qinghan stopped in front of a row of claw machines.

The glass case was piled high with various plush toys: a pink hippo, a yellow duck, and a blue whale huddled together. Standing in front of a machine, I took two coins out of my bag and inserted them. My hand movements were steady as I operated the joystick, but when the claw landed, it veered off course by half an inch, and the plush rabbit wobbled at the edge of the claw before falling back down.

"Let's try again." She tossed in two more coins.

This time, the claws grabbed the rabbit's ear and lifted it high enough, but then it slipped off when the rabbit moved sideways.

Ye Qinghan frowned and patted the glass panel of the machine. The action caused her upper body to lean forward slightly, her chest bumping against the edge of the machine, being squeezed and slightly deformed before bouncing back. A boy next to her who was playing the claw machine had his eyes glued to her, forgetting to operate the joystick in his hand.

Lin Feng reached out from behind her and grasped the joystick.

He placed his hand over hers, his thumb pressing on the back of her hand, guiding her hand to adjust the joystick's position. "A little to the left, if you go too far, back up one notch. Don't rush to press when the claw is descending, wait until it reaches the lowest point before grabbing."

The third time, the paw landed steadily in the center of the rabbit's body, closed, lifted, moved horizontally, and released in an instant, and the plush rabbit fell out of the exit.

Ye Qinghan bent down, picked up the rabbit, pinched its ears, and put it into Lin Feng's arms. "Hold this for me."

Lin Feng took the rabbit. The plush toy had a faint smell of disinfectant. The rabbit's button eyes were sewn crookedly onto its face, and the workmanship was rather rough. It was worth at most ten yuan.

The other party spent almost forty or fifty yuan to catch this, and smiled helplessly.

"What are you laughing at?" Ye Qinghan turned to look at him.

"It's nothing." Lin Feng tucked the rabbit under his arm, his gaze involuntarily falling on the curve of her chest, and he couldn't help but reach out and pinch it. "Let's go, you big glutton, it's time for dinner."

They did not linger on the food street.

Ye Qinghan ate until she was half full. The grilled gluten and grilled squid were just snacks and couldn't fill her stomach, plus she hadn't eaten much of them.

Lin Feng threw the remaining bamboo skewers and paper bag into the roadside trash can, clapped his hands, and said, "Dinner has to be a proper meal."

Ye Qinghan wiped her mouth with a tissue. "You find a place. I'm not familiar with restaurants in Suzhou."

Lin Feng took out his phone and scrolled through the menu, then made a reservation at a private restaurant serving Suzhou cuisine on Shantang Street. The place was hidden in an alley, not on the main street, so tourists usually couldn't find it, but locals recognized it.

This was recommended by Minister Lu, who is a local. He makes authentic braised eel and soy sauce, and the environment is quiet.

The two took a taxi there.

When we got off the bus, it was already getting dark. The white walls and gray tiles on both sides of the alley took on a faint bluish-gray hue in the twilight.

Ye Qinghan walked ahead, her high heels clicking on the bluestone slabs, the sound echoing through the narrow alley. As she walked, the hem of her skirt gently slapped against the front of her thighs, her waist cinched extremely slender, the curve between her waist and hips particularly distinct in the twilight.

The restaurant has a small storefront, a narrow wooden door, and two red lanterns hanging at the entrance, with the words "Suzhou Flavor" written on the lantern paper.

Pushing open the door leads to a small courtyard paved with blue bricks. In the corner grows a clump of bamboo, its leaves gleaming green under the lamplight from the corridor.

The proprietress was a woman from Suzhou in her fifties, with a soft, gentle voice. She led them to a window seat on the second floor.

The windows are old-fashioned wooden lattice windows, and when you push them open, you can see the river below. The river is not wide, and the houses on both banks are reflected on the water, the shadows of lights being broken and pieced back together by the ripples.

In the distance, there is a stone arch bridge, and a few fallen leaves float on the water beneath the bridge arch.

Ye Qinghan sat down by the window and glanced outside. "How did you find this place?"

"It was recommended by Minister Lu from BYD." Lin Feng pushed the menu in front of her. "Let's order. Their braised eel in sizzling oil is their signature dish."

"You order, I won't pick and choose." Ye Qinghan pushed the menu back, propped his elbows on the table, rested his chin on the back of his folded hands, and continued to look at the river outside the window.

The light from the window shone on her profile, highlighting the clean and sharp lines from her cheekbone to her jawline. The curve of her neck extended all the way to her collarbone, and below that was the full silhouette outlined by the V-neck of her dress.

When she calms down, her entire demeanor is completely different from when she was on the food street that afternoon.

Lin Feng ordered four dishes: braised eel in sizzling oil, braised pork belly, stir-fried shrimp, and sweet soup with water chestnuts. After the proprietress wrote down the names of the dishes, she brewed them a pot of Biluochun tea. The tea soup was clear and green, and the aroma wafted out from the spout of the pot.

"Secretary Fu, how long of leave did you take?" Lin Feng poured her a cup of tea.

Ye Qinghan picked up his teacup, blew on it, and took a small sip. "There's a Standing Committee meeting early tomorrow morning. I have to go back, and then I have to catch my noon flight."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng paused for a moment as he picked up his teacup.

Does this mean I don't have to go back tonight?