Losing Money to Be a Chapter 523 - The Initial Effects of the Management Trainee

Chapter 523 The Initial Effects of the Managent Trainee System

May 20th, Friday...

At Deposit Fitness...

There were not many people in the gym in the morning, and so it looked quite empty. There were only four female students training on the whole row of treadmills; the other machines were empty.

Things were not much better where the free weights were. There were only six people, and three of them were fitness trainers who were working out.

Guo Licheng had just finished training. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead with a towel and then sat down at the resting area.

He had been quite busy as the branch manager these days.

Preparations for the other branches were in full swing. Of course, Guo Licheng could not manage everything on his own. Thus, he had found a few fitness trainers in Deposit Fitness’ flagship store whom he knew very well and made them branch managers of other branches.

He purchased equipnt of the sa brand and inford Rui Yuchen of Fish-Catching Take-Out as well. Placing the exact sa orders at all the nearby Fish-Catching Take-Out outlets would be easy to do. Only recruiting new employees would be quite troubleso.

Guo Licheng had already set recruitnt guidelines for the other branches. He followed Boss Pei’s instructions strictly: they had to assess every trainer’s muscles and body shape first. Even if they could talk extrely well, they would not be hired unless they could train equally well.

That ant that many trainers did not make the cut because of their body shape. Thankfully, Boss Pei was offering a generous remuneration. Thus, despite the strict recruitnt standard, a significant number of trainers who matched the criteria jumped ship.

Thus, preparation for the various branches was going quite smoothly. Deposit Fitness’ branches were going to start opening for business over the next two days.

It seed like the Deposit Fitness outlet at Ming Yun Villas would be the first to open. Since Guo Licheng had been extrely busy, he had not found the ti to take a look. He had also had no idea whether the gym would operate well or not once it opened for business.

According to Guo Licheng’s preliminary judgnt, it would not go well.

One look at the state of the flagship store, and one would be able to tell.

Apart from being occupied by the other branches, Guo Licheng had been following Boss Pei’s instructions strictly and training hard. He was afraid that Boss Pei would be able to tell if he slacked for a day or two and that he would end up being criticized.

However, that also ant that Guo Licheng had no ti to attract new custors or publicize the gym.

Things had been alright when Coach Yaling was still around. Each day, new custors would register for slots because of her. However, now that Boss Pei had transferred Coach Yaling away, the gym was much more deserted.

“Branch Manager, the fitness als are here!” The lady at the front desk called out to Guo Licheng.

He looked up and saw two delivery n from Fish-Catching Take-Out carrying insulated delivery boxes on their backs. They placed them down, retrieved the take-out boxes from inside, placed them neatly on the table, and then left in a hurry.

It was almost noon, and the delivery n had other deliveries to make. Since Deposit Fitness was family, they had not felt the need to be polite. That was why they left imdiately after completing the delivery.

Guo Licheng called out to the rest of the trainers. “al ti!”

“Oh...” A few listless replies ca from around the gym. Guo Licheng was helpless, too. He knew why everyone was in low spirits. They had no interest in the fitness als whatsoever.

Fish-Catching Take-Out’s fitness als were not that different from other fitness als in the market. They were mainly made up of salad. Although there were other ingredients and the al was relatively well-balanced, it still tasted bland.

If they were only eating it from ti to ti, they would probably be alright with it. However, they had eaten it so many tis that just slling cup noodles made them drool now.

The few students in the gym were loyal custors—the extre minority. They had very strong wills and so had not been turned away by the als. In fact, they had already been eating them for a long ti.

To them, eating fitness als had beco nothing more than a daily task. Each day, no matter what went into the fitness al, they would wolf it down after training and lie to their stomachs. They did all of that just to complete their tasks.

Of course, they had no interest in eating those als.

There weren’t many people in the gym, and so there was no need to eat in smaller groups. Everyone took their respective seats and opened the lunch boxes in front of them.

After opening his own lunch box, Guo Licheng beca stunned.

“Has there been a mistake?”

Half the lunch box was filled with stewed rice with mushroom and chicken breast while the other half was filled with tomato eggs and stead tofu.

The stewed rice with mushroom and chicken breast had been made with brown rice, and it was topped with chicken breast, diced carrots, corn kernels, shiitake mushrooms, and green peppers. It had been stir-fried with a little oil and then stead together with the brown rice. The taste of all the ingredients had been infused into the brown rice.

As for the tomato egg and stead tofu... the tofu had first been fried with a small amount of oil. Then, the fire had been turned up, and the egg mixture poured in. Once the egg was fully-cooked, it had been wrapped evenly around the tofu. Finally, a small amount of green onion had been sprinkled over it. Both of those dishes were the latest outcos of Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Gourt Laboratory. The forr amounted to 320 kcal, and the latter amounted to 398 kcal per serving. After taking half a serving each and combining them, a well-balanced and nutritious al was ford.

Rui Yuchen thought that both of those dishes had satisfied his initial wish for a ‘more sustainable fitness al’. Thus, he arranged for them to be delivered to Deposit Fitness’ flagship store today for everyone to try, so that they could all give their feedback.

However, he had not emphasized this to the delivery n. Since the latter had been busy, they had forgotten to inform Guo Licheng as well.

Guo Licheng heard soone gulping down their saliva.

They had been eating salad for such a long ti. Now, everyone drooled after catching a single whiff of cup noodles. Slling skewers was all the more torturous. Who could hold themselves back upon seeing the piping hot and fragrant al in front of them? Still, nobody touched their cutlery. Instead, all of them looked at Guo Licheng, stunned.

Guo Licheng gulped his saliva as well. He cleared his throat and said, “I think it was a mistake. I guess there’s no other choice. We shouldn’t waste food. Let’s eat; we’ll train after this.”

“Alright!”

Everyone imdiately grinned as they grabbed their lunch boxes and stuffed themselves with food.

Guo Licheng knocked on the table. “Slow down! Chewing slowly helps with digestion and prevents you from getting fat.”

It was only then that everyone slowed down.

Two of the girls held their spoons and swallowed mouth after mouth of stewed rice and tofu. Their eyes welled up with tears.

They were moved!

Finally, they did not have to eat grass anymore. Finally, they could eat food ant for humans!

Guo Licheng looked like he was enjoying himself, too. He had to admit that food of this temperature and taste was much, much better than salad.

While eating, Guo Licheng felt increasingly confused. Although it felt like the delivery had been a mistake, the food was actually quite healthy. It looked like less oil had been used. What’s more, brown rice, carrots, green peppers, corn kernels, chicken breasts, eggs, and tofu were all relatively healthy ingredients

Yet, on second thought, Fish-Catching Take-Out’s food leaned towards the healthy side. Their daily nu contained small amounts of oil and salt as well; it was not as intense as other take-out brands.

Thus, Guo Licheng remained silent. In his heart, he made a note to ask Rui Yuchen about it when he got the chance in the future.

May 21st, Saturday...

The Managent Trainees had their eting as usual.

One by one, the Managent Trainees of various departnts gave their respective updates. Every ti they ntioned sothing interesting, Pei Qian would ask one or two questions. However, after confirming that nothing was out of the ordinary, he would let them pass.

“...a few more of Deposit Fitness’s branches have opened for business, but they’re equally empty and deserted.

“On Friday—which was yesterday, Fish-Catching Take-Out seed to have delivered the wrong als to Deposit Fitness’ flagship store. However, Coach Guo led everyone to train more after that, and the effect was cancelled out,” reported the Managent Trainee of Deposit Fitness.

Delivered the wrong als?

Pei Qian detected that sothing was amiss.

Would Fish-Catching Take-Out make such a low-class mistake? They wouldn’t, right?

Rui Yuchen and his subordinates were not useless. If they had committed such a low-class mistake, they would have inford

about it. Why am I only finding out now?

Pei Qian turned to look at Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Managent Trainee.

Indeed, the Managent Trainee—who was also a waiter at the Gourt Laboratoryraised his hand. “That wasn’t a mistake. It was the new fitness al that the Gourt Laboratory developed.”

Pei Qian: “?”

An important revelation!

“Tell

about it in detail.” Pei Qian felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.

Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Managent Trainee explained himself. “Boss Rui thought that the fitness als were awful before and were not suited to the locals’ taste. Thus, after so research, he decided that he had to strike a balance between the al’s taste and health benefits.

“This version of the fitness al contains more calories than the previous one, but it’s healthier as well. Er... of course, it also costs more.”

Pei Qian’s expression had darkened at first, but after hearing that it contained more calories and cost more, he felt much better.

Since it contained more calories, the fitness als would be less effective. Since it cost more, it would have a stronger dissuading effect on custors who were still on the fence.

It did not seem like such a bad thing after all.

“How much more does it cost?”

The Managent Trainee answered, “Every fitness al costs about three yuan more. That amounts to about seven yuan more per day.”

Pei Qian quickly calculated in his head. If the als cost seven more yuan per day and one trained three tis per week, that would be close to a thousand yuan per year!

Er... Deposit Fitness’ prices would balloon.

Deposit Fitness had already dissuaded a large group of potential custors because of its prices. Now that prices were going to increase further, wouldn’t fewer custors sign up?

That was not bad.

Pei Qian asked, “How is Rui Yuchen solving the price problem?”

Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Managent Trainee answered, “Boss Rui plans to let the students choose whether to eat salad or the new fitness als. Each would be priced differently.”

Pei Qian imdiately shook his head. “That wouldn’t do!”

If students wanted to save money, they would eat the salad. Once they got sick of it, they would spend several more yuan to lead a better life. Students wouldn’t be dissuaded at all — that would achieve the opposite effect, wouldn’t it?

The shared gym was already proving that the current pricing strategy was working. Custors were turning away. Of course, they had to keep increasing prices.

“Our gym is called Deposit Fitness, with emphasis on the deposit! If custors get to choose what to eat, how are they depositing their bodies with us?

“Get the Gourt Laboratory to continue spending money to develop new fitness als. I don’t care about the cost; just bundle the cost together with the gym’s prices!”

Fish-Catching Take-Out and Deposit Fitness’ Managent Trainees exchanged a look and then said, “Alright, Boss Pei.” “Hold on.” Pei Qian seed to notice a problem. He raised his hand and said, “Neither of you should do anything. I’ll inform the respective heads myself.”

He could not let the heads know about the Managent Trainees. They were ant to be transparent in their departnts. He could not allow the heads to beco suspicious.

“Alright, next.” Pei Qian gestured for the eting to continue.

Thriller Hostel’s Managent Trainee reported, “Boss Pei, for Thriller Hostel... Boss Li and the other investors just signed a contract with Boss Chen. The investors have agreed to pour money into building a huge shopping mall within Thriller Hostel, and they will share half of the profits with us.”

Pei Qian remained silent as question marks filled his mind.