CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: THE GYM OWNER PREPARING TO RUN AWAY

Qi Yun picked up his phone and checked the price of this treadmill online. A new one costs at least five thousand yuan, and even a second-hand one costs more than three thousand.

However, the other party’s business is probably not doing well, planning to run away during the New Year break. The price can be pressed down appropriately.

He had heard of the gym industry before; it’s quick to enter but even quicker to exit.

Collecting membership fees at lightning speed and running away immediately if the business is bad is the regular tactic.

The next day, Qi Yun knocked on the door of room 401.

"Who is it?" It was the same muscle guy from last time. He angrily opened the door: "So early, you..."

Seeing Qi Yun at the door, the muscle guy’s anger instantly disappeared, squeezing out an awkward smile: "Oh, it’s you..."

Qi Yun nodded: "You’re Zhang Liang, right?"

The muscle guy was taken aback, a vigilant look appearing on his face: "How did you know that, what do you want?"

"Don’t worry, I just need to ask you about something."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang relaxed a bit: "What is it then, go ahead."

"You work at a gym, right?"

"Hmm? Why?"

"Where is your gym?" Qi Yun pressed on.

Hearing this, Zhang Liang grew wary again: "What do you want? Let me tell you, don’t think you can threaten me with that matter, I can always move to another city."

Qi Yun waved with a smile: "You guys have been performing well recently, I pretend the last time never happened. I’m asking because I want to talk business with your boss."

"Really?" Zhang Liang still seemed doubtful, double-checking.

"Really."

Seeing Qi Yun’s expression wasn’t lying, he hesitantly asked: "What business do you want to talk to our boss about?"

"You’ll know later, just tell me first, also give me his phone number."

"Alright, our gym is on Beijing Road, named Haohan Fitness Club, his phone number is 131xxxx."

"Okay, thanks." After receiving the information, Qi Yun nodded, turned, and left. After taking two steps, he turned back to ask again, "Is your gym not doing well, about to close down?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Liang paused slightly: "Business hasn’t been great these past few months, but I haven’t heard about closing down?"

Qi Yun nodded and didn’t say more.

After returning home, he called to have Xiao Huangmao come over.

"Keep an eye on Nuannuan for a bit, I have something to do."

Xiao Huangmao looked speechless: "Brother Qi, why don’t you hire a nanny, I have to show my face every day to look after your child."

Qi Yun didn’t reply, taking a cold-looking envelope from his pocket and slapping it onto his chest.

Xiao Huangmao took the envelope in confusion, opening it to find it contained five thousand yuan.

His eyes instantly lit up, sweeping away any dissatisfaction on his face, quickly pocketed the envelope, and said with a smile: "Brother Qi, I actually quite like playing with Nuannuan, call me anytime you need to go out."

Although he viewed money as dirt when it came to AAA’s Wang Brother, that depended on the amount of money.

Three or five hundred, he wouldn’t be interested as it wasn’t more than what he embezzled in a day at the store, but this was five thousand!

The other day at Wei Yong’s house, he saw Wei Xiaoqin browsing photography-related videos, so he already decided to save up to buy a camera as a surprise gift for her.

Perhaps her being touched might solidify their relationship...

Qi Yun gave him a sidelong glance: "This is your share of the last insurance box haul."

Hearing that, Xiao Huangmao paused: "Really? That much?"

Qi Yun didn’t think it was much; selling that Honeycomb Bracelet brought in 150,000, plus Xiao Huangmao’s major contribution in finding the safe, so the five thousand is his due share.

"Alright, it’s cold outside, try not to take Nuannuan out."

"Nuannuan, Dad will be back soon, be good at home."

After preparing lunch for the two, Qi Yun gave two more reminders before putting on his coat and heading out.

Outside, he first called the gym owner.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Qi Yun didn’t directly ask about the treadmill, instead pretending to inquire if the gym was up for transfer.

Upon hearing he was interested in taking over the gym, the other party’s tone turned enthusiastic, and they arranged to discuss further at the gym.

So Qi Yun took a cab straight to the gym.

Beijing Road is considered a bustling area of the city, even though the foot traffic can’t compare to the old town, there are many shopping malls and residential complexes.

Haohan Fitness Club is located on the second floor of a commercial building in a residential community.

From afar, Qi Yun saw a bespectacled, shrewd-looking middle-aged man waiting at the door.

Seeing Qi Yun approach, he smiled broadly and asked, "Are you Boss Qi?"

Qi Yun smiled and nodded: "Yes, just call me Qi Yun."

"Hello, Boss Qi, my surname is Kong." The middle-aged man extended his hand voluntarily, they shook hands, and he continued, "Let’s talk in the office."

They walked up the stairs to the second-floor gym, Qi Yun looking around at the surroundings, the equipment placed somewhat messily, much of it covered with a thin layer of dust, and the green plants in the corners appeared a bit withered.

Upon entering the office, Boss Kong took out a bottle of mineral water from the cabinet and handed it over. After sitting down, he said, "Boss Qi, you must have seen, our fitness club has a total area of a thousand square meters.

In terms of location, decoration, and equipment, it’s all quite nice. I’m also having some family issues back home that need handling, just considering transferring it to someone who can run it well, making a profit."

Such sales rhetoric might work on young people who’ve never done business, but for an old hand like Qi Yun, not even a punctuation mark was believable.

The biggest business scam is the ’Prospering Business Transfer’.

Despite his thoughts, he showed no trace on the surface, feigning interest to ask: "I wonder how much Boss Kong intends to transfer it for, and how much is the rent here?"

Boss Kong straightened up, began to explain: "The rent here is quite reasonable. I found a familiar person to talk to the landlord, it’s 40 per square meter, about forty thousand a month.

The lease is up in a month; if you renew, I can help you negotiate with the landlord to keep it at the original price."

"As for the transfer fee, you can give me thirty thousand, and all the equipment will be left for you as is, and I will handle the members with existing memberships."

Hearing this, Qi Yun frowned, pretending to ponder.

Only after a long pause did he apologize, saying: "Sorry Boss Kong, this price exceeds my budget, and I think the rent here is too high, with my inexperience, it’d be easy to lose money."

Hearing this, Boss Kong showed a hint of disappointment in his eyes. He too initially had a rush of blood after listening to a friend’s nonsense, diving headfirst into this.

At first, after opening, the deals were good with many new memberships each month, but it didn’t last long, eventually dwindling."

Recently, he had secretly approached several other businesses wanting to offload the gym, but no one was willing to take it."

So now, he isn’t even hoping to transfer it anymore, just wanting to discreetly sell off all the equipment before the eighth and announce ’renovations’ as an excuse to cut losses and run."