Chapter 25: Mother and Daughter Practice Yoga at Home

Ruan family.

Late night.

Ruan Liuzheng finished a set of exam papers and tiptoed to the bathroom, suddenly widening her eyes—she saw faint light glowing in the living room, under which an exquisitely graceful curve was continuously stretching.

Just that beautiful body curve made her cheeks flush and heart race.

Not to mention the body was performing various high-difficulty, suggestive poses—she clapped a hand over her mouth, barely stifling a scream, and after a closer look, it was none other than her mother.

Ruan Lu wore a tight yoga outfit that fully revealed her body’s contours, deeply focused on her practice, utterly unaware that her daughter’s face had turned red from watching.

But even if she knew, she wouldn’t care.

Because she was far too familiar with such gazes—she had encountered far more complex and intense ones before.

Precisely to avoid the envious, jealous, and resentful stares from other yoga students, and the instructors’ subtle attempts to woo her into becoming a promotional face, she had already decided not to renew her yoga class membership.

With He Chen causing a stir just two days into Gao San’s new term, she accelerated her plan and simply stopped going altogether, practicing at home instead.

Because Song Qian, mother of Qiao Yingzi, and Tong Wenjie, mother of Fang Yifan, were also members of the fitness center’s yoga class—she had seen them.

Now that this conflict had erupted, running into them again would inevitably spark unnecessary trouble.

It wasn’t that she feared being at a disadvantage.

It was that she feared Tong Wenjie and the others were clueless, couldn’t control their emotions, and might lash out at her.

Even if she didn’t care, if word reached He Chen, it would be them—and their children—who suffered the consequences.

She wasn’t worried about them—she just didn’t want He Chen wasting time and energy on them.

It was completely unnecessary.

Ruan Lu continued stretching her body; she had practiced for over a year, fully integrating yoga into her life and deeply feeling its benefits.

Only when she finished and was winding down did she notice the watching gaze—when she saw it was her daughter, she frowned and beckoned her over.

Women are especially sensitive to being watched; she hadn’t noticed at first, but after a while, she sensed someone was observing her.

She just hadn’t expected her daughter to stand silently for as long as a full aerobic session.

When Ruan Liuzheng saw her mother had finished and signaled for her to come over, she quickly stepped out from the shadows, hurried to her mother’s side, gazed at her mother—drenched in sweat, radiating the beauty of movement—and admired: “Mom, you’re so beautiful.”

“Why are you out of your room?” Ruan Lu wiped her sweat, asking casually.

“Mom, how come you suddenly started doing yoga? Why didn’t I know? When did you start?” Ruan Liuzheng explained briefly, then asked curiously.

“A year already,” Ruan Lu replied offhandedly.

“A year already…” Ruan Liuzheng was acutely sensitive to that timeline—she fell silent all at once.

A year ago was precisely when He Chen joined this family.

Why is he everywhere?!

How annoying!

Wait!

Suddenly remembering something, she looked again at her mother’s yoga outfit, hugging her curves tightly, and blushing, warned: “Mom, why are you practicing at home? What if he walks in? That’d be so awkward…”

“How could he possibly walk in?” Ruan Lu said calmly. “His schedule is more punctual than an alarm clock—he falls asleep exactly at nine, and by now he’s fast asleep, never gets up at night.”

“I know, but…” Ruan Liuzheng still felt something was off, but couldn’t say it outright, so she changed the subject, hugging Ruan Lu’s arm sweetly: “Mom, I want to learn yoga too—teach me, please!”

“You’re so young—why learn yoga?” Ruan Lu shook her head. “Besides, you’re in Gao San now—your time and energy must go to studying. We’ll talk about it later.”

“A good body is what lets me push hard through Gao San!” Ruan Liuzheng pouted. “Both of you are practicing—why can’t I? Am I the outsider?”

Before, when He Chen practiced, she only felt embarrassed.

Now that she saw her mother secretly practicing yoga for over a year, she suddenly couldn’t stay calm.

The embarrassing He Chen had become aligned with her mother—was she now the outsider?

That was absolutely unacceptable!

Seeing her daughter’s tone rising to the level of love or rejection, Ruan Lu thought for a moment, then didn’t refuse her daughter’s request to learn yoga by proximity—she agreed to teach her.

But absolutely no impact on studies.

Ruan Liuzheng nodded eagerly, promising.

Without delay, Ruan Lu began teaching Ruan Liuzheng basic yoga knowledge, then told her to rest.

This wasn’t the priority, so she couldn’t spend too much time daily—take it slow.

But Ruan Liuzheng was filled with anticipation.

She wanted to be as beautiful as her mother!

The next day.

When she saw He Chen practicing again beneath the pine tree, she abandoned her preconceived disdain and embarrassment, and truly looked.

She realized his movements, though easily reminiscent of Emperor Jiajing’s absurd antics in “Ming Dynasty 1566,”

yet once she set aside prejudice, she suddenly saw that He Chen’s practice truly carried the elegance, nobility, and ethereal aura of a celestial crane!

For a moment, she felt as if she truly saw a crane flapping its wings, ready to soar into the heavens.

This was a completely different feeling from last night’s yoga session with her mother.

One was direct sensory stimulation.

The other leaned toward the spiritual.

“Maybe I should learn the Crane Art from He Chen…” A thought suddenly flashed through Ruan Liuzheng’s mind—then she swiftly crushed it.

After all, her name came from the dream Ruan Lu had when she adopted her: a stray kite.

But if she learned the Crane Art and became a crane soaring to the ninth heaven, no matter how ominous a broken kite string might be, it would turn misfortune into fortune, disaster into blessing.

But that was just a fantasy—she didn’t truly believe practicing this could turn her into a crane, so she’d be practical: follow her mother and learn yoga to bond.

Besides, she had always mocked He Chen’s practice—suddenly reversing her attitude by 180 degrees, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Up so early?” When He Chen finished his practice and smiled, inviting her to breakfast, she was still dazed.

Today was free—no school. Formal classes began on September 1st. After breakfast, she stayed home until mid-morning, when Lin Miaomiao came upstairs to play and told He Chen the gossip she’d heard last night.

“Ji Yangyang’s dad and Fang Yifan’s dad were childhood friends. Yesterday, Fang Yifan’s mom went to Ji Yangyang’s dad, trying to use connections—but he refused. Fang Yifan’s dad was sentenced to one month’s detention, no probation…”

He Chen heard the news without surprise.

Not only was the value of this childhood friend, with whom he’d cut off contact long ago, highly questionable, but the man likely had no desire to help from the bottom of his heart.

Ji Yangyang’s mother, Liu Jing, had personally heard He Chen’s blunt, harsh truths—how could she possibly want to get involved? If she did, heaven help her—her career could be ruined!

The words may be harsh, but in this era, truth carries weight when spoken loudly.

He Chen dares to speak his mind, to voice truths they don’t want heard, and he actually follows through—he escalates the matter seriously, relentlessly. Thus, his weight outweighs that of the ordinary-family Fangs, even as Ji Yangyang’s father’s childhood friend.

It’s that simple.