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

The car was quiet as we descended the winding mountain road. Sister Hong gripped the steering wheel with both hands, the engine of the extended Range Rover humming low in the night.

She turned her head and glanced at Lin Feng.

"Shangguan Jinghong," she said. "That's my full name. Don't keep calling me Sister Hong; it sounds too formal."

Lin Feng leaned back in the passenger seat and silently repeated the name to himself. "The surname Shangguan is quite rare in Hebei."

"My ancestors weren't from here. My dad came from the north when he was young and settled down here." She rolled down the car window a crack, and the night wind blew in, making the hair on her forehead sway slightly.

He changed into a loose black T-shirt and dark gray casual pants, but the color was still black, and he was still completely covered up. His pale profile flickered in the dim light of the streetlights.

Lin Feng's phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and saw the caller ID on the screen read "Sister Mengya". He swiped to answer.

Su Mengya's voice came from the other end of the phone, choked with sobs and incoherent—"Lin Feng, my mom suddenly fainted. I called 120, and she's in the emergency room at the First People's Hospital now. The doctor is still inside, and I don't know what to do—" Her voice trembled.

Lin Feng held the phone close to his ear. "I'll be right there. Wait for me at the emergency room entrance, don't wander off." He hung up the phone and turned to look at Shangguan Jinghong.

"The First People's Hospital".

Sister Hong stepped on the gas, and the Land Rover accelerated into the night.

As the car stopped at the first red light, Lin Feng unconsciously tapped his fingers on his knee.

"Was that your neighbor's older sister just now?" Shangguan Jinghong's voice came from the driver's seat.

"We grew up together. Her mother suddenly fainted."

Upon arriving at the emergency room entrance, Lin Feng opened the car door. Shangguan Jinghong's voice came from behind him—"Call me if you need any help." Then the sound of the Land Rover's engine faded into the night.

Su Mengya stood in the corridor outside the emergency room, wearing a light purple slip dress with a thin cardigan casually over it.

Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red, and she paced back and forth in the corridor, clutching her phone. When she saw Raymond Lam come out of the elevator, she stopped.

"She was fine when she came back in the afternoon. She said she was going to make dumplings, and when she bent down to pick up some vegetables that had fallen on the ground, she suddenly collapsed. I called her but she didn't respond, I—" Her voice trailed off, her nails digging into her palms, "The doctor said the preliminary diagnosis is a brain hemorrhage, and they're still doing tests inside."

Lin Feng took her hand.

Her fingers were cold and trembling slightly. He pulled her to sit down on a plastic chair in the hallway. "Aunt Su is in good health. She'll be fine."

An hour later, the emergency room door opened.

A doctor in a white coat came out and removed his mask. "The patient suffered a brain hemorrhage caused by high blood pressure. The bleeding is significant, requiring immediate craniotomy." He paused, then added, "The surgery will cost approximately 100,000 yuan. Subsequent rehabilitation treatment will be charged separately. You should go to the inpatient department to complete the procedures and pay the fees."

Su Mengya stood there, her face turning deathly pale. She nearly dropped her phone, gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Doctor, can we do the surgery first? I'll go get the money right away—"

"Go and complete the formalities first. I'll arrange things at the operating room." The doctor turned and went back to the emergency room.

Su Mengya stood still.

She'd only been working for a little over a year, and the most she could afford in her account was 30,000 yuan. 100,000 yuan was just for the surgery. There would be rehabilitation treatment and hospitalization fees afterwards…

Lin Feng looked at her. The fluorescent lights in the corridor hummed.

"I'll figure out the money. You wait here." He took a few steps toward the elevator, then turned back. "Sister Mengya, trust me."

As the elevator doors closed, he took out his phone, found Shangguan Jinghong's number, and dialed it. It rang twice before being answered.

"Sister Hong, I need 300,000."

Send me your account details.

I didn't ask why, nor when I would pay it back. Less than two minutes after hanging up, a text message from the bank popped up. I turned and walked back to the emergency room entrance.

"The money's taken care of."

Su Mengya looked up at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her lips were trembling slightly. "What's wrong with you—"

"Pay first. I'll tell you later." Lin Feng pulled her towards the inpatient department.

After paying the fees and completing the hospital admission procedures, Su Mengya sat on a plastic chair outside the operating room. Lin Feng folded the deposit slip for the single room and put it in his pocket before sitting down next to her.

"I told you before that I was working part-time at a tutoring center, but that wasn't true." He placed his hands on his knees, his fingers interlaced. "I got my yoga instructor certification. Intermediate level. I work as a private instructor at a high-end club. The clients are all wealthy, some very wealthy. I just called a regular client to borrow some money. I haven't dared to tell my parents yet. I'm afraid they'll think I'm wasting my time. A college freshman teaching yoga—"

Su Mengya looked at him.

The red light above the operating room door frame was on, and the red light fell on his profile before he reached out and pressed his hand against his own.

The surgery lasted nearly four hours.

At 2 a.m., the operating room lights finally went out. The doctor came out, his mask hanging over his ears. "The surgery went smoothly, the hematoma has been completely removed. The patient is still recovering from anesthesia, so he will be transferred to the ICU for observation."

When Su's mother was wheeled into the ICU, she was covered in tubes. The green waveform on the electrocardiogram monitor flickered, and Su Mengya stood outside the glass window watching, her fingers pressed against the glass for a long time without moving away.

The nurse brought over a notification form for them to sign and explained the precautions for the single-occupancy ward.

Lin Feng took the notification slip and checked each item to make sure there were no problems. After signing it, he folded the slip and the ward deposit slip and put them in his pocket.

The next morning, Lin Jianguo and Zhang Xiulan arrived. Zhang Xiulan carried a thermos containing cooked millet porridge.

Lin Jianguo carried a bag full of fruit, stuffed with bananas, apples, and oranges. Zhang Xiulan held Su Mengya's hand and talked for a while.

Su Mengya sat on the sofa in the ward, her hair disheveled and her face pale, but she was in a slightly better mood than last night.

Lin Jianguo and Zhang Xiulan went home in the evening. Lin Feng had been running around all day handing in paperwork and also noted down the nurse's instructions in his phone's memo app.

When she returned to the ward, she brought two boxed meals—braised pork, stir-fried vegetables, and rice—carried in plastic bags. Su Mengya sat on the family member's bed, placed the boxed meals on the coffee table, opened them, broke the chopsticks in half, and handed them to her. She took a few bites.

After finishing his meal, Lin Feng leaned against the wall on the family member's bed and closed his eyes for a while. He had been running around all day and felt as tired as if his body was filled with lead.

I don't know how long I slept, but in my hazy state, I felt the mattress next to me sink in.

A hand reached out from behind and rested on his waist. Su Mengya's body pressed against his back, and through the thin slip dress, the warm, soft touch traveled through his back.

Lin Feng turned over.

In the dim light, Su Mengya's eyes were closed, but her eyelashes were trembling slightly, and her breathing was faster than usual.

His hand landed on her waist, beneath the thin silk fabric, her skin felt warm, and the curve of her waist undulated gently under his palm.

Her body pressed against his chest, separated by two layers of thin fabric, her soft breasts pressing against his chest, warm, soft, and full. Lin Feng's fingers gently caressed her back, his fingertips tracing the shallow grooves of her spine through the smooth fabric of her silk nightgown.

Su Mengya buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, her breath brushing against his neck.