Chapter 131 Friday, April 8th

Pei Qian followed Assistant Xin to an upscale gym near the company.

It wasn't far; it was only a five-minute walk from the company, and of course, it wasn't far from Handong University either.

The gym was located in a street-front store, with the gym's brand above the main entrance: Platinum Sand Fitness, Handong University Branch.

These large characters were all art fonts, giving a dynamic and fashionable impression. In addition to the smooth floor-to-ceiling windows, the front of the gym also featured dynamic, abstract artwork on both sides of the main entrance. They were all figures in motion, dunking, swinging badminton rackets, and boxing with gloves...

These artworks were divided by lines, and this irregularity gave a comic-like feeling, further highlighting the dynamic and youthful qualities.

Pei Qian frowned slightly.

He was quite satisfied with the decoration of this store. After taking it over, he could open it directly in a short period of time without delaying. However, he was a little dissatisfied with this flashy front.

It was too eye-catching!

Tengda's industries must be as low-key as possible.

But that was easy to solve. After taking over, he could find a construction team to repaint the entire facade, choosing a low-key color to avoid attracting attention as much as possible.

These were all minor issues.

Before entering, Assistant Xin briefly introduced the current situation.

"President Pei, I sent people to inquire about the nearby gyms. Three gyms are willing to transfer ownership. This gym has the best decoration and best meets your requirements."

"Platinum Sand Fitness is a national chain of gyms with several branches in Jingzhou. It has been expanding rapidly in recent years. But it is precisely because of this blind expansion that some problems have arisen."

"Platinum Sand Fitness's Handong University branch originally hoped to create a high-end gym near Handong University, specifically targeting students from Handong University and white-collar workers in nearby office buildings, but some problems arose during the operation."

"Because there are too many gyms near Handong University, many small gyms are engaged in price wars, and annual cards are very cheap, which has almost divided up the nearby fitness population."

"Even Platinum Sand Fitness has another branch a little over a kilometer away, which has further dispersed the customer flow."

"And the store manager of this store initially targeted high-net-worth individuals, and the gym's card fees were higher than other gyms."

"It was okay at the beginning. The gym's good environment also attracted a part of the high-asset population. But as more and more cards were sold, the potential users were exhausted. The revenue from new card sales and private lessons could not cover the operating costs, and eventually it became unsustainable and fell into a loss-making state."

"If you like this place, there are two options:"

"The first is to take over everything, including the gym's members and coaching team. Of course, the store manager would definitely love us to do this, but we can use this as a reason to bargain and get a more favorable price, even far below expectations."

"But the disadvantage is that we have not actually received the gym card money from these members, but only used this to get some discounts from the original owner. Of course, we can continue to earn money from the members through private lessons."

"The second is to only take over the store, not the members and coaches, and even not the equipment, and let the original owner clear out the store and we re-plan. There is another Platinum Sand Fitness branch about one kilometer away, so let the original owner arrange for these members to transfer their cards to another Platinum Sand Fitness chain store."

"Although this seems to reduce the burden, there are only so many members with fitness habits in one area, which may lead to a situation where we can't attract members when we first open."

Unable to attract members?

That's great!

Pei Qian said calmly, "Okay, I understand. I'll take care of the next things. You're only responsible for handling the procedures."

Assistant Xin nodded. "Okay, President Pei."

The two walked into Platinum Sand Fitness's Handong University branch.

As soon as they entered, a man in a suit and leather shoes, who looked to be in his thirties, greeted them.

"President Pei! Hello, hello, I'm the store manager of this store, my surname is Wei."

Obviously, Assistant Xin had already revealed Pei Qian's identity to this store manager in advance, so he was so attentive.

Although they were all looking for someone to take over, those who took over were also divided into different classes!

Extremely rich take-over people were no longer take-over people, but gold master fathers!

When Manager Wei heard that Tengda Group had taken a fancy to this store, he was immediately overjoyed.

This store had been losing money all along, and Manager Wei had already thought about it: transfer all the members to the neighboring chain store, and then close the door and call it a day to stop the bleeding in time.

And now that Tengda Group was willing to take over, although he was still losing money, he would be happy to lose a little less.

"President Pei, let me give you a quick tour."

Under the leadership of Manager Wei, Pei Qian took a complete look at the entire gym.

The area was large, the decoration was good, and the environment was considered relatively superior among all the gyms in Jingzhou.

However, there was no swimming pool, nor were there any fancy things like saunas and massages.

Pei Qian knew very well that this was a small disadvantage for a gym positioned as high-end.

The facilities of a traditional gym could be said to be the more complete, the better. Gyms with swimming pools and saunas were often easier to attract members than other gyms.

The reason was simple: for many newbies, their mentality when choosing a gym was "I may not use it, but you can't not have it." Although they couldn't swim now, what if they had a whim to learn to swim one day?

Therefore, gyms with complete facilities, even if the membership card was a bit more expensive, many people would still pay for it.

This was a disadvantage for others, but it was very good for Pei Qian.

It further reduced the gym's attractiveness!

Manager Wei obviously wouldn't tell Pei Qian these things, and just exaggeratedly introduced how much the entire gym had invested and how good the prospects were.

Pei Qian didn't listen carefully, just letting it go in one ear and out the other. Anyway, he would just let Assistant Xin handle the bargaining.

After touring the gym, Manager Wei called all the fitness coaches in the gym over and had them stand in two rows in front of Pei Qian.

These fitness coaches stood tall and puffed out their chests, full of energy.

These days, it wasn't easy for fitness coaches to find a job.

If this store closed down, these fitness coaches would only be able to apply to other gyms, and they might not be successful. Now that someone was willing to take over, it would be best to perform well in front of the new boss and strive to have the boss take over the store and the people together.

Manager Wei's meaning was also very clear: he definitely couldn't arrange for all these fitness coaches. If President Pei could take a fancy to some of them and let them continue to stay in this gym, it would obviously be the best.

"President Pei, let me introduce you to some of our store's most popular gold medal coaches..."

Pei Qian raised his hand and interrupted Manager Wei.

Compared to Manager Wei's recommendation, he trusted his own eyes more.

His gaze quickly swept over these fitness coaches, and then he passed them one by one.

Those who were not in good shape definitely couldn't be hired.

If these people could continue to work in the gym, it must be because they were particularly good at selling courses, particularly good at fooling people, and their brains were relatively flexible. Bringing in these marketing geniuses would probably make him bleed from earning too much.

Those whose eyes were full of expectation and who were in good spirits also couldn't be hired.

These people looked like strivers at a glance, with a positive work attitude, and had been brainwashed by several gyms. They didn't meet his expectations either.

Finally, Pei Qian bypassed the bulging muscles of the coaches in the front row and locked onto a coach who was always looking down in the farthest corner of the back row.

He wasn't tall, wore glasses, and looked relatively old from his appearance. Hidden behind a group of coaches, it was impossible to see what his figure was like.

"You, the big brother with glasses, come out."

Pei Qian beckoned with his finger.

The coaches' gazes all looked at this big brother with glasses. He looked up in disbelief and pointed to himself in confusion.

Pei Qian nodded. "That's right, it's you, come out."

This person separated the coaches in the front row with a confused look and came to Pei Qian.

When Pei Qian saw this mountain-like figure, the scene from *Kung Fu* involuntarily appeared in his mind.

He couldn't tell. This coach wasn't tall, and he wasn't eye-catching hidden behind the other coaches. His muscles were so developed...

"What's your name?" Pei Qian asked.

This private coach said in a muffled voice, "Guo Licheng."

Pei Qian was stunned. "I'm asking for your real name, not your nickname."

Manager Wei hurriedly explained, "President Pei, this coach's name is Guo Licheng, his surname is Guo, and 'Licheng' is the 'Licheng' from *xiuci lichen (cultivating rhetoric and establishing sincerity)*." (idiom meaning to carefully choose one's words and express them sincerely)

Pei Qian: "...Sorry, I'm uncultured."

"But your name doesn't sound very conducive to losing weight."

Manager Wei hurriedly pulled President Pei aside. "Ahem, President Pei, there's something I must make clear to you in advance."

"It's not that this Coach Guo is not good, it's just that he's not very smart, doesn't understand management, and his interpersonal skills aren't very strong. His sales ability is at the bottom of the entire team."

"Of course, if you're just counting on him to be a private coach, that's definitely no problem, he's very professional. But if you want him to manage the gym, I'm afraid there will be a bit of a problem..."

"Moreover, Coach Guo had already thought about not working in the fitness industry."

"I can recommend another one to you, he's definitely not worse than Coach Guo, and he's smart and quick-witted, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Pei Qian shook his head. "No need! I don't want anyone but him."

"Uh...okay." Manager Wei wanted to persuade him again, but then he thought, what does it matter to him where these coaches go? There's no need to meddle in other people's business.

Manager Wei dismissed the other coaches, leaving only Coach Guo Licheng to await President Pei's instructions.

And Pei Qian also said a few simple words to Assistant Xin.

"Have all the gym equipment taken away and sell it second-hand to other gyms. We'll replace it all with new ones."

"Let him transfer all the members to other chain stores. We won't accept them."

"Only keep Coach Guo. I'll talk to him."

"Pick a few faults and bargain a little, but don't bargain too much. Don't let this store manager think of us as suckers."

Assistant Xin nodded and went to discuss the contract with Manager Wei.

And Pei Qian found Coach Guo Licheng.

Before he could speak, Guo Licheng had already said, "President Pei! I'm very sorry, there's something I need to make clear to you."

"Actually, I've already thought about leaving the fitness industry, so I'm very sorry, but you should find another coach."

Pei Qian was silent for a moment. "Are you sure you don't want to hear how much the salary is?"