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

Tuesday was a full day of classes.

Final exams are next week, and every teacher is highlighting key points. The classroom is so quiet that only the sound of turning pages and the scratching of pens on paper can be heard.

Lin Feng sat in the back row, his notebook filled with dense notes, half of which was filled with writing.

During lunch, he sent Luo Ruoxi a message, asking if his afternoon class could be moved to Wednesday morning.

A few minutes later, Luo Ruoxi replied with an "OK" and then asked, "Is there something wrong at school?"

He replied "Final Exam Review," and the other person didn't say anything more.

When he got home that evening, he spread his notebook out on the table and looked at it again. His mother brought in a bowl of mung bean soup, placed it on the table, and left without saying anything.

The alarm clock rang at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Lin Feng sat up in bed, his shoulders and back stiff from sleeping on the table for a short while last night.

He turned his neck and his joints clicked.

I took a shower and changed clothes, then took the misty blue short-sleeved shirt from the closet and put it on. The fabric felt cool against my skin, and I remembered Shen Qianqian's ears turning red when she said, "I've been choosing for a long time."

We arrived at Forest Peninsula at five minutes to eight.

Xiao Wei was already at the front desk, organizing and filing a stack of appointment forms. She looked up and smiled when she saw him. "Sister He is already here, changing in changing room number one. She arrived even earlier than you today."

Lin Feng entered Yoga Room Number Three and changed into a white yoga outfit. He straightened his collar in front of the mirror, and then the door opened.

He Qianwen walked in, already changed into her yoga clothes. Today she was wearing a burgundy outfit, the short-sleeved cut fitting her figure perfectly, making her shoulders and neck look exceptionally graceful. Her hair was still slightly damp from washing, but she didn't look as relaxed as last time; even her shoulders were slightly hunched unconsciously, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes, the weariness from working overtime for days was almost impossible to hide.

Lin Feng's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before quickly shifting away, noticing that she looked tense and exhausted.

Good morning, Sister He.

He Qianwen smiled at him.

That smile was different from last time; the curve of her lips was much smaller, carrying a hint of perfunctory weariness. "Good morning, Teacher Lin."

Walk to the center of the mat and stand facing the mirror.

Lin Feng stood on the mat next to her. "Sister He, today we'll start with relaxing your shoulders and neck."

He Qianwen nodded. "Just a few simple ones will do today. I'm a little tired."

Lin Feng led her through a set of shoulder and neck rotations, then transitioned to the cat-cow pose. He Qianwen's movements were much slower than the previous two times, and the curve of her waist when she inhaled and arched her back was not as smooth as before. Each movement was somewhat strenuous, and her breathing was also unstable.

When she arched her back, Lin Feng noticed that the muscle between her shoulder blades was very taut, like it was twisted into a hard knot.

"Sister He, are you under a lot of work pressure lately?"

He Qianwen lifted her head from the cat-cow pose and glanced at him, her breathing still a little labored. "You figured it out?"

"The muscles in your shoulders and neck are much tighter than last time. Your sleep quality probably isn't very good either?"

He Qianwen transitioned from the cat-cow pose to the downward-facing dog pose, her voice coming from between her arms, tinged with a hint of muffledness. "The company is currently working on a merger and acquisition deal, and I'm the main person in charge. I've been working overtime for several days in a row, sleeping less than five hours a day."

Lin Feng stood behind her, supporting her hips with both hands and lifting her up. She was having some difficulty in Downward-Facing Dog today; her back was arched, her knees were bent involuntarily, and she was only able to support herself with her arms.

One hand pushed up her spine from her sacrum, and when it reached the middle of her shoulder blade, the palm could clearly feel that the muscle was hard and full of blocked nodules.

"Sister He, I know some massage techniques. If you don't mind, I can help you relax your back."

He Qianwen lowered her knees from downward-facing dog and sat down on the mat. She turned her head to look at him, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, then nodded, her tone softening. "Okay."

Lin Feng took a clean, large bath towel from the changing room and spread it on the mat. "Sister He, lie down on this."

He Qianwen lay on the bath towel, her arms crossed under her chin, the lines of her back rising and falling slightly with her breathing, the muscles in her shoulders and back still very taut, like a fully drawn string.

Lin Feng knelt down beside her, rubbed his palms together to warm them, and then placed the heels of his palms on her back, pushing upwards from her lumbar spine.

The muscles under the palm are as hard as a board, especially the one between the shoulder blades. When you push it up, you can feel obvious nodules, and it stiffens as soon as you touch it.

"It will be very sore here." Lin Feng pressed down on a nodule on the inner edge of her right scapula with his thumb.

He Qianwen groaned and buried her chin in the cushion, but did not flinch.

"Bear with it." His thumb gently massaged the nodule, rubbing it clockwise a few times, then counterclockwise a few times.

The hard muscle under his fingertips slowly softened a little, and his tense shoulders and back gradually relaxed.

He Qianwen's breathing gradually deepened, and her whole body relaxed, even her tense shoulders slumped slightly. "Teacher Lin."

"Um."

"You know, isn't life tiring?"

Lin Feng paused for a moment, then continued rubbing, but with less pressure. "Why did Sister He suddenly bring this up?"

He Qianwen turned her face to the side, resting her head on her arm, her eyes looking towards the French windows.

Golden rays of morning light streamed through the gaps in the Venetian blinds, casting long, thin shadows on the floor. "I married a man thirty years my senior."

Lin Feng continued to massage her back without stopping or interrupting, listening quietly.

"He's the chairman of my company. When I first joined the company after graduating from university, he was still married. I was his secretary." He Qianwen's voice was flat, as if she were talking about something that happened to someone else. "His family didn't agree to his divorce, and they made a big fuss about it for a long time. In the end, they still got divorced. He was fifty-eight when we got married, and I was twenty-eight."

Lin Feng's palm pressed down from her shoulder blade to her lumbar spine with steady and even pressure. Her back gradually relaxed under his massage, the muscles softening considerably compared to when she had first collapsed, and she completely let down her guard.

"People at the company talk about me behind my back. They say I climbed the social ladder by being a mistress, that I'm after his money. My in-laws still don't acknowledge me. During the Lunar New Year, he went to his mother's house for dinner, and I was home alone." She paused, her tone flat, as if she were talking about someone else's gossip. "He's actually quite good to me. He gives me whatever I want and never gets angry with me, but he's fifty-eight."

Lin Feng's fingers paused on her back for a moment.

"Do you understand what I mean?" He Qianwen turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were calm in the morning light, without any sense of grievance or complaint. She was simply stating something in a plain and simple way, but there was an unyielding emptiness hidden in her eyes. "No matter how good he is to me, there are some things he can't give me. I'm only thirty-three years old."

Lin Feng's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and his tone softened. "Sister He, everyone pursues happiness differently. What others say is their business; you are the one living your life."

He Qianwen looked at him, and after a few seconds, she turned her face back and buried it in her arms, her voice muffled, with a hint of relief in her soft voice. "Teacher Lin, your massage technique is really good. Better than my private therapist."

Lin Feng continued massaging her back with his fingers. The heel of his palm pushed across the muscles on both sides of her lumbar spine; those muscles were much softer than before, and most of the nodules had dissipated.

"A little higher," He Qianwen's voice came from under her arm.

Lin Feng moved his hand up half an inch.

"Go further up."

His fingers stopped at her shoulder blade.

"Go up further." He Qianwen turned her face away from her arm, and the wine-red neckline slipped slightly as she turned, revealing her slender and prominent collarbone, her skin shining white in the morning light.

She simply turned over and lay face up on the bath towel, raised her hand to tidy the sweaty stray hairs on her forehead, her gaze first falling on the ceiling, then slowly turning back to Lin Feng's face.

"Lately, I've been feeling tightness in my chest, and the muscles in my shoulders and chest are always tense. Even when I wear clothes, I don't feel as relaxed as before." She looked up at Lin Feng, her voice flat, as if she were talking about something very ordinary, but there was an inexplicable probing in her eyes. "Teacher Lin, don't you know massage? Could you help me relax those muscles in my chest and shoulders too?"