Chapter 9: Calculating Schemer!

At exactly 9:00 PM, Caesar Club cleared out and closed for the night, with all staff clocking off. Because Gao Yun had resigned, there was no post-shift meeting or performance review for the trainers, allowing everyone to leave earlier than usual.

After a brief discussion, the group decided—given the limited options at such an hour—to head to "Shangpin Lamb Legs," a place known for its excellent indoor atmosphere and barbecue.

Once they arrived and settled in, the two gluttons, Guo Kun and Li Jianchen, immediately went on a ordering spree. They called for two lamb legs, a heap of seafood, and various cuts of beef and lamb. Finally, they had the waiter bring five crates of beer to the private room before taunting Gao Yun.

"Brother Yun, do you know what this means?" Guo Kun asked with a mischievous grin, holding up a fist with one index finger extended.

"What does it mean?"

"Drink non-stop!"

"Brother Yun, look at this." Li Jianchen nudged him, raising his right fist with all fingers extended except for the middle one. "Know what this means?"

"Drinking without a middle finger?"

"Exactly! Today, you’re going to be carried out horizontally!"

Gao Yun sneered. "Looking for revenge? Trying to drink me under the table? Do you think that just because I’ve resigned, I can’t keep you in check anymore?"

Guo Kun protested, "That’s not it! We’re just celebrating you escaping the sea of bitterness."

Li Jianchen chimed in, "Exactly. Brother Yun, you’re now financially independent, so we have to drink until we drop. Today, we’re risking our lives to keep you company!"

Wei Ya, who didn't drink, didn't want the three of them to overdo it either. She urged, "You two need to settle down. Brother Yun is planning to open a gym in the New District. Let's just have a few drinks and keep it light; the main point is to discuss that."

Hu Yue glanced at Du Yuan, who was sitting next to Gao Yun, and said in a flat tone, "Business comes first. Besides, Brother Yun might have plans after dinner, so don't you two hold him up."

"Brother Yun is opening a gym?"

"Oh, in that case, let's drink less."

Li Jianchen and Guo Kun had mostly been joking, but upon hearing about the New District gym, they immediately reined it in. If this project succeeded, they would certainly follow Gao Yun. Given the location of the New District, the economic status of its residents, and the level of market development, the gym's performance would undoubtedly crush Caesar's.

Better gym performance meant higher wages for the trainers. With their own futures at stake, they had to take this seriously.

"Don't listen to her," Gao Yun said. "Let me formally introduce her: this is my middle school classmate, Du Yuan."

Gao Yun kept a cheerful smile on his face, but under the table, he gave Hu Yue a gentle kick. He regretted it deeply in his heart—one really shouldn't eat the grass growing right by one's own doorstep; it brought too much trouble.

The story between the two of them was simple: it was just a dark and stormy night when Hu Yue, his subordinate, suddenly sent him a WeChat message...

"(Terrified) Brother Yun! I think there’s a thief in my apartment!"

"Come quickly! He’s in the living room, I can hear him rummaging through things, and I’m too scared to go out!"

Back then, Hu Yue and Gao Yun were the only fitness trainers at Caesar. Gao Yun was still quite naive; he thought it wasn't easy for a girl from a rural background to come out and work, and the security around the staff dormitory provided by Old Feng was indeed poor. As her supervisor, he felt a responsibility and an obligation to check on her.

As for why Hu Yue chose to text him instead of calling the police, there was a perfectly logical excuse: they lived close enough that it was only a five-minute drive.

So, clutching a bottle of anti-wolf spray, Gao Yun went without hesitation.

When he arrived, he found no thief, but he did find a "scheming girl."

Hu Yue, with tears in her eyes, said she might have misheard, but she was too scared to sleep alone. She insisted that Gao Yun stay and lie on the bed with her.

In the long night, with just the two of them alone, Gao Yun was, after all, no Saint Liu Xiahui. Everyone can guess what happened.

Although they had crossed that line, it only happened that once. Under the pressure of office romance, they tacitly agreed to let it go, treating it as nothing more than keeping each other warm on a cold, damp, rainy night. No one else around them ever knew.

Pulling his thoughts back to business, Gao Yun said, "Regarding opening the gym, I do indeed have that idea."

"In the future, you guys should take some time to look around the New District. If you find a good location, take some photos and show me."

"The space must be large—five thousand square meters at minimum. Rent doesn't matter."

Li Jianchen exclaimed excitedly, "How bold, Brother Yun! How much are you planning to invest?"

Gao Yun thought for a moment. "Let's start with seven million."

"Ah? That much?"

"Brother Yun, calm down. Isn't seven million a bit too much?"

"Exactly. In this small place, investing seven million in a gym? It’ll be hard to break even."

The four of them began to debate, seemingly unimpressed.

Du Yuan, unfamiliar with the industry, asked, "Is seven million a lot?"

Wei Ya explained, "Caesar Fitness is two thousand square meters, and including the rent, it only cost one million to invest. The first year, we had the most members, with a net profit of 1.2 million. By the second year, the local residents' market was already tapped out, and profit dropped to 800,000. In the third year, because of new gyms opening nearby, it dropped again. Getting 600,000 in profit would be considered good."

"In the years following, profits are expected to continue a downward trend. The life cycle is quite short."

Li Jianchen picked up where she left off. "A gym's profit isn't tied to how much you invest; it's primarily affected by the number of local residents and their consumption levels."

"Whether you invest two million for a three-thousand-square-meter gym or seven million for a five-thousand-square-meter gym, the total number of people who come to buy memberships and private training sessions won't change drastically."

"Therefore, the profit won't change much either, unless we raise the prices of memberships and personal training. But with the income levels here in Hu City, we can't raise them much. If we do, people won't be able to afford it, and they won't come."

The group's analysis was spot on. Gao Yun had been in the industry longer than them, so he naturally understood these principles.

However, his goal in opening the gym wasn't to make money. He wanted a professional space where he could better break through his own physical attributes. Since his starting point was different, his perspective was naturally different.

Gao Yun waved his hand. "You were all trained by me; do you think I don't understand these things?"

"I didn't even consider breaking even when I decided to open this gym. To be honest, I don't plan on breaking even. As long as the losses are minimal, that's fine."

"I just want a professional training space of my own. You could call it fulfilling a dream."

At this point, Gao Yun added with a mix of three parts truth and seven parts artifice, "At the same time, I want to find a good path for you all. I'll take a bit of a loss so that you can make more."

Caesar Fitness, having been open for three years, was now saturated due to tapped-out local resources and competition. It had inevitably begun its downward slide in accordance with the industry's life cycle.

Right now, the four trainers' salaries were decent, but in a year or two, they would certainly earn less and less. With their future looking bleak, changing jobs or switching industries was inevitable.

Once these words were spoken, the others understood. While they were amazed by his "wealthy and willful" attitude, they couldn't help but feel touched.

"Brother Yun is a boss!"

"Brother Yun is the best!"

"Come on, let's all toast to Brother Yun."

"I'm off tomorrow. I'll drive to the New District and spend the whole day scouting it out properly. Brother Yun, wait for my good news!"