Traditional gyms are troublesome to open, the key is finding sales and personal training talent, which is not easy.

If the gym's sales aren't strong enough to attract membership sign-ups, and the trainers don't have much muscle, giving customers an unreliable first impression, then even if the gym opens, it's likely to lose money.

But Star Bird Fitness is different, taking a different route. The gym is full of smart fitness drying racks and cardio equipment. The daily training schedule is arranged by "Fitness Battle," so sales and personal training can all be cut.

It only needs to retain positions similar to "internet cafe managers" and "receptionists," and at most hire three or four professional fitness coaches to answer questions on-site.

This kind of personnel training is much simpler than the traditional model.

Moreover, after cutting these personnel costs, the gym's expenses are also reduced a lot. Time-based fees, monthly fees, and other charging models are very flexible. There is not as much revenue pressure as a traditional gym, and the fees can be slightly reduced.

This "lightweight fitness model" is very popular among some young people and office workers.

In the past few days, Li Shi and other investors have been purchasing a large number of properties in and around the Auspicious Garden community in the name of the company.

And Che Rong is fully occupied with the expansion and opening of new branches for Star Bird Fitness.

Everything is progressing in an orderly manner.

...

...

July 6th, Friday.

Pei Qian was in his office, reviewing reports from various departments.

"Dream Creation Ventures' investment in Star Bird Fitness has been completed. He Desheng is reliable."

"Hmm, He Desheng handled this matter quite discreetly, not bad."

"Since they're both gyms, Star Bird Fitness' development should also take some market share away from the托管 (tuo guan) gyms, right?" (managed gyms)

"On the contrary, gog..."

"This summer sale has been going on for so long, what's Finger Company's reaction?!"

Pei Qian flipped through the reports from Tengda Games and even Shang Yang Games, but he couldn't find any information about the summer sale.

This shows that, so far, the summer sale is proceeding smoothly according to the original plan.

But no problems is the biggest problem!

Is Finger Company just watching?

For this summer sale, Pei Qian had made careful preparations, bargaining with the system and considering Finger Company's bottom line, finally coming up with a promotional plan that was relatively friendly to everyone.

But when Finger Company's summer sale started on June 26th, they actually went for a 60% discount, stubbornly standing against Tengda's 30% to 50% discount.

Disappointed, Pei Qian decided to wait a little longer.

What if Finger Company hadn't reached a consensus internally and needed to discuss it further?

But he waited and waited, and today arrived.

Seeing that the summer sale had been going on for more than a week, and it was going to end next Wednesday, Pei Qian couldn't sit still anymore.

When is Finger Company going to start burning money with me?!

I can't wait any longer!

"Ah, looking at Finger Company's attitude, I'm afraid I won't be able to squeeze anything out of them in the short term."

"Forget it, let them recover, this time I'll let it go, and I'll find them to burn money next cycle."

Seeing that Finger Company had no reaction at all, Pei Qian felt that he couldn't continue like this.

Even if Finger Company didn't react, gog's summer sale had to enter the next stage.

Although Finger Company was already like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, and wouldn't react no matter how stimulated, Pei Qian still had to spend money for the settlement.

Before, in order to take care of Finger Company's fragile feelings, Pei Qian hadn't set the first stage of the summer sale too extreme, leaving some leeway.

Now he could pull out all the stops.

If Finger Company didn't want to follow this time, then so be it, everyone would have plenty of opportunities in the future.

Pei Qian quickly finalized the promotional plan for the second half of the summer sale.

Looking at this plan, Pei Qian sighed silently.

Ah, it looks so hopeless.

It's like agreeing to a duel, but being stood up by the opponent, and only being able to unleash all the energy that had been building up for three days on a sandbag in impotent rage.

High mountains and flowing water, it's hard to find a soulmate!

...

...

July 8th, Sunday.

Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station.

"Manager Zhao, no need to see me off, go back, it's not like it's my first time going to Jingzhou," Eric said, carrying his suitcase and saying goodbye to Zhao Xuming.

Zhao Xuming was still a little sentimental: "But when you come back, you'll be flying straight to Europe after a stopover in Shanghai, there won't be a chance to meet."

"Although what you said sounds serious, I... I think this is mostly a routine debriefing, you may be overthinking it."

Eric shook his head: "I have a premonition, and I know what the higher-ups are thinking."

"They're making me go back before the summer sale is even over, it's definitely not good news."

Zhao Xuming said indignantly: "If you ask me, President Pei's update on Friday for the second stage of the summer sale was definitely premeditated! This is a psychological warfare tactic! It's like firing off all the remaining shells as fireworks after a victory, showing off your power!"

Eric sighed: "What else can we do?"

Eric was also powerless to do anything about this summer sale.

Although he also wanted to burn money with President Pei, and Finger Company was fine with it, the Dake Group couldn't accept it.

This time Eric wasn't flying to Los Angeles to meet with the higher-ups of Finger Company, but to Europe to meet with the higher-ups of the Dake Group, and there was a fundamental difference between the two.

Although they didn't say what the specific matter was, summoning Eric in such a hurry during the summer sale, bypassing the other higher-ups of Finger Company, was not a positive sign.

As the head of the Greater China region, Eric and Cretian are fundamentally different.

Cretian was originally one of the core designers of Finger Company, but Eric was originally a high-level executive in the media business of the Dake Group.

When Eric first came to be the head of the Greater China region, the Dake Group rejected Finger Company's original choice and directly parachuted him in.

Although Eric needs to report to Finger Company's higher-ups in his daily work, he should obviously be serving the Dake Group even more.

Eric had a premonition that maybe he would have the opportunity to return to Shanghai, but even if he did, it probably wouldn't be the same situation as it is now.

So he planned to go to Jingzhou one more time before leaving. If he could see President Pei, that would be best, and if not, at least he could see what Jingzhou looks like now.

Judging from the discussions online, Tengda's various industries are expanding rapidly. They are no longer satisfied with Jingzhou or even Handong Province, and various physical industries have begun to take root in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Even Shanghai has opened some Lazy Hub Internet Cafes, Lazy Hub Takeaways, and托管 (tuo guan) gyms. (managed gyms)

So, what kind of scene would Jingzhou, where Tengda headquarters is located, be like at this time?

After waving goodbye to Zhao Xuming, Eric walked into the high-speed rail station.

Zhao Xuming got into the car with a look of melancholy.

"Ah, actually, it's pretty good to work with Eric. At least he's willing to take the blame for anything."

"I hope they don't change the person in charge, ioi's revenue is far from what we expected, but at least it's still making money."

Zhao Xuming sighed, he also knew that he had no say in this kind of thing at all. God knows what the higher-ups of the Dake Group are thinking.

...

...

July 9th, Monday.

At 9:00 a.m., Pei Qian was still asleep when his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, it was an unfamiliar number, with the area code for Shanghai.

Pei Qian answered the phone: "Hello?"

A foreigner's voice with a slight accent came from the phone: "President Pei, it's really not easy to get your phone number..."

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, but then he remembered the voice.

Eric!

His voice wasn't very distinctive, but after all, he was a foreigner with an accent, and Pei Qian didn't know many foreigners who could speak Chinese, so he immediately remembered.

Hearing Eric's voice, Pei Qian was instinctively a little excited.

Could it be...

He's going to burn money with me?

Is he here to issue a challenge?

He looked at the date. It was only July 9th now, and there were still three days left until the end of the summer sale on July 11th. Although there was only one tail left, he would still welcome them if they were willing to burn money together!

Pei Qian couldn't help but beam with joy: "Oh, it's you, Brother Eric! What made you think of calling me today?"

Eric corrected him speechlessly: "It's not today that I thought of it, I arrived in Jingzhou yesterday and have been wanting to call you."

"But I asked several Tengda employees, and they all said that they don't work on weekends and can't disturb your rest, and they stubbornly refused to give me your phone number."

"I waited until today's working hours to get your phone number."

"Fortunately, the plane ticket I booked was originally for 8 p.m. tonight, otherwise I would have had to change it to meet you."

"I have to take the high-speed rail back to Shanghai at 1 p.m., I only have a few hours left. President Pei, can we meet?"

Pei Qian was a little embarrassed.

Look at the trouble this caused!

If he had known that you were coming yesterday, I would have given up my time playing games at home yesterday to meet you.

Now there are only a few hours left, it's so rushed, there's not even enough time to eat a good meal.

"Okay, then let's meet directly at Mingfu Family Banquet, I'll treat you to lunch."

What a pity, if it was Sunday, we could have eaten at No Name Restaurant. Although Eric doesn't eat much, he should be able to finish a few lobsters.

But today is Monday and there are no reservations, so we can only make do with it at President Li's restaurant.

Although he was still a little sleepy, after all, he was going to meet an old friend who helped him burn money, Pei Qian stubbornly got out of bed and washed up.

His hair was a little messy, and Pei Qian was still hesitant about whether to wash his hair or not, but then he thought that he was just going to see Eric anyway, so what did it matter if he washed his hair or not.

He's been waiting for a day, so it's better to go over as soon as possible.