In the afternoon, at a new Star Bird Fitness branch near Yuanda Tiandi, Che Rong was directing several employees with the setup.

“Move that row of machines a bit to the side, closer to the floor-to-ceiling windows for a better view.”

“Everyone, pay attention. All the new machines are equipped with call systems. You can see which position is calling with just one click. You must respond immediately—don’t keep customers waiting, understand?”

Che Rong meticulously repeated his instructions, attending to every detail.

Of course, he had known about Jingzhou’s new subway planning phase for some time.

Although he had sold a house right before the subway opened, which sounded like a tremendous loss, Che Rong didn’t feel it was a loss at all. On the contrary, he felt he had profited immensely!

Obviously, Mr. Pei had likely known in advance that the subway would extend here, which is why he had purchased property in this area earlier, to better observe Tenda’s industries in this old industrial district.

But Mr. Pei was clearly someone who didn’t take advantage of others.

A drop of kindness deserves a gushing spring in return!

When Che Rong bought this house, he had some thoughts of real estate speculation, but he quickly regretted it and decided to sell the house to invest the money back into his gym business.

This viewpoint had evidently won Mr. Pei’s approval, which is why Mr. Pei had Yuanmeng Venture Capital invest in Star Bird Fitness.

Where else could you find such good fortune—selling one house and receiving investment funds, while also gaining Mr. Pei’s friendship?

He would have given the house to Mr. Pei for free if needed!

But Che Rong felt that giving it away for free would still be inappropriate.

Mr. Pei wasn’t short of money. What would it look like if he just gave a house away? It would not only seem presumptuous but also appear shady and not above-board.

So, the current situation was perfect.

After receiving substantial investment, Che Rong had become bolder.

He discussed with Mr. Li and felt that for Star Bird Fitness to continue developing, they needed to gradually establish a high-end image and couldn’t remain tucked away in obscure locations.

Therefore, the new store locations were chosen more boldly, with this flagship store opening near Yuanda Tiandi, Jingzhou’s most prosperous commercial district.

The location was excellent and impressive, and naturally, the rent wouldn’t be low.

With Star Bird Fitness’s current business model, it would be difficult for this store to turn a profit.

But Che Rong and Li Shi believed this store would help establish Star Bird Fitness’s high-end image and increase brand awareness. This store was like a giant billboard—although it might struggle to be profitable due to high rent, it could enhance brand recognition and help other branches become profitable.

Moreover, it might attract more investors’ favor and secure additional funding.

The benefits seemed to outweigh the drawbacks no matter how they looked at it.

In terms of location, they deliberately maintained some distance from large shopping malls like Yuanda Tiandi and Jinsheng Plaza to avoid competing with Tenda’s managed fitness centers.

The store’s decoration and layout also involved considerable effort, particularly drawing on the advanced experiences of Tenda experience stores.

As everyone knew, Tenda experience stores’ “transparent service” was highly praised, and this service approach was also very suitable for Star Bird Fitness branches.

Setting up call buttons next to all smart fitness clothing racks, where pressing one would directly notify staff to come answer questions, greatly improved the overall environment and atmosphere of the store.

Che Rong had been overseeing things here for several days, and now everything was finally arranged properly and ready for the official opening.

The other branches were also almost ready.

On opening day, there would definitely be grand opening promotions, and people would be arranged to distribute flyers and advertise in the surrounding areas.

Tenda’s businesses never distributed flyers, but that was because they were impressive enough without them.

Che Rong didn’t think he could achieve Mr. Pei’s magical level of marketing, so he still followed conventional promotional methods to be safe.

Just as he sat down to take a sip of water, Che Rong saw Li Shi walking quickly into the store.

“Mr. Li,” Che Rong stood up and said, “Everything has been arranged for this branch, and we can open this weekend.”

Li Shi nodded slightly and asked, “Have you encountered any difficult problems?”

Che Rong thought for a moment: “There aren’t any major issues.”

“However…”

“My only concern is that the opening day might not generate enough buzz, and people might not be interested.”

“After all, the hype around the smart fitness clothing rack and ‘Fitness Battle’ has already died down, and Star Bird Fitness’s model has been operating steadily for some time.”

“It’s hard to say whether the new store opening can create the same sensation as when Star Bird Fitness first transformed its business model.”

Che Rong’s concerns were obviously reasonable.

Previously, when Star Bird Fitness had just transformed to a business model centered around smart fitness clothing racks, both “Fitness Battle” and the smart fitness clothing racks were trending hot topics with extensive online discussions.

Due to insufficient production capacity of the smart fitness clothing racks, combined with their high price and large space requirements, many people wanted to try them but couldn’t.

This provided Star Bird Fitness with an excellent business opportunity to stand out.

But now, the hype for both “Fitness Battle” and smart fitness clothing racks had died down. Those who had impulsively wanted to try the smart fitness clothing racks had already done so and no longer had that strong desire.

Would opening new stores under these circumstances still be as successful as before?

Would they lose money due to insufficient customers?

This was what Che Rong was most concerned about now.

Li Shi couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“You don’t need to worry about that at all.”

Che Rong was stunned for a moment: “Does that mean you’ve already thought of a solution, Mr. Li?”

Li Shi shook his head: “How could I have such great abilities?”

“It’s Mr. Pei!”

“Do you think Mr. Pei wouldn’t anticipate problems that you could think of?”

“Look at this.”

As he spoke, Li Shi handed over his phone.

Che Rong took it and saw a very simple message: “Fitness Battle” now has a VR version!

“This!”

Che Rong’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Although he hadn’t played this game or even seen its visuals, just imagining it, he could envision what it would be like.

“Fitness Battle” was already a very successful game. After being converted to VR, with the basic gameplay unchanged and only the presentation format changed, it would surely remain a successful game!

The only thing Che Rong found confusing was: when did this happen?

Not a single piece of news had leaked out, and even Mr. Li didn’t know about it!

This was truly an unexpected delight.

Li Shi smiled slightly: “Actually, there’s no need to be too surprised.”

“I’ve said it before—when cooperating with Mr. Pei, if you just show a bit of goodwill, Mr. Pei will naturally give you more benefits. Working with Mr. Pei, you’ll never lose out!”

“You didn’t think Mr. Pei would just provide some investment and that’s it, did you?”

“Also, look at this.”

Li Shi opened the AiLiDao website on his phone and found Lin Jiaqiang’s video.

In the video, Lin Jiaqiang was still persisting with his smart fitness clothing rack workouts, checking in daily.

And his physique had undergone an earth-shattering transformation!

Previously, Lin Jiaqiang had lost 4kg in just two weeks, and now it had been two months since he started using the smart fitness clothing rack.

Although his weight loss had slowed down, his body shape had undergone a complete transformation!

The formerly chubby guy with a fat face was gone, and his original clothes had become too loose to wear.

After changing his clothing style, he looked like a well-maintained middle-aged man.

Although his physique hadn’t reached the six-pack abs level, the transformation in his body was evident to all.

Clearly, Lin Jiaqiang was a living advertisement for the smart fitness clothing rack!

Placing his before and after photos side by side, people might think it was false advertising.

The change was too dramatic!

Obviously, with the release of “Fitness Battle VR Version,” Lin Jiaqiang’s fitness videos would likely spark another wave of discussion.

This would undoubtedly add fuel to the fire for the soon-to-open Star Bird Fitness branches.

Previously worried about lack of buzz, now the buzz had arrived!

Che Rong was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Mr. Pei was so thoughtful!

This was like sending charcoal in snowy weather—no, it was like sending an entire boiler in the snow!

Che Rong even felt his concerns had been completely unnecessary.

It was like being in a game dungeon with a team, where the tank was worried about not having good enough equipment to hold back the monsters, only to see the powerful mage in the team rush forward and aggro all the mobs by himself.

It was so surprising that Che Rong even started to doubt the reality of it all.

“Mr. Li, Mr. Pei is being far too kind. I don’t even know what to say…”

“Did Mr. Pei think of this in advance and specifically create a game to help us?”

Li Shi smiled slightly: “What are you thinking? How could that be possible!”

“The VR version of ‘Fitness Battle’ was definitely in the development plan from the beginning. After all, this game has been a huge success, and the smart fitness clothing racks have sold well. Now Tenda-invested Chi Xing Studio has produced a very successful VR headset, converting ‘Fitness Battle’ to VR can create synergy across multiple industries.”

“Including Lin Jiaqiang’s videos, which were certainly planned from the start as a long-term promotional strategy.”

“Mr. Pei had planned all of this long ago, but definitely for Tenda’s fitness-related industries. Star Bird Fitness benefiting from it is just a side effect.”

Li Shi paused, then continued: “But this is where Mr. Pei’s greatness lies.”

“When others help, they exhaust themselves solving problems, bustling about, letting you know they’ve made great efforts to help you.”

“But Mr. Pei isn’t like that.”

“He’s already arranged everything, appearing relaxed and natural, as if it’s just a small gesture.”

“Yet the help he provides is far greater than what others could give even with their utmost efforts!”

Che Rong nodded.

This time, he truly understood what it felt like to “drink the soup”!

It was so wonderful—no wonder Mr. Li was addicted to drinking soup and couldn’t stop!

“So, Mr. Li, are we going to purchase a large quantity of VR headsets now?”

Li Shi nodded: “Of course! I’ve already contacted Chi Xing Studio for bulk purchases, to equip every smart fitness clothing rack at Star Bird Fitness with VR headsets!”

“Whether customers use them or not is their business, but we must have them available!”

…

…

July 21st, Saturday.

It was the weekend, and Pei Qian had originally planned to sleep in and have a good rest at home.

But he felt inexplicably worried and couldn’t sleep soundly.

There were only ten days left until settlement, and Pei Qian truly wasn’t sure how much money he could lose this cycle.

Although he had arranged a plan for a final spending push in the last week, the problem was that Qiao Laoshi had predictably worked his magic again!

Pei Qian had already seen Qiao Liang’s video.

By all rights, Pei Qian should have been severely wounded.

But Pei Qian didn’t feel that way; instead, he had become somewhat accustomed to it.

It wasn’t the first time Qiao Laoshi had posted a video—what was the big deal?

It would be more surprising if he didn’t post a video.

In fact, Pei Qian had already factored in Qiao Laoshi posting a video, and even prepared for the Doubt VR headsets selling well.

After experiencing so much, many things became easier to accept…

Although he was still shocked that Qiao Laoshi could so thoroughly misinterpret his intentions, shocked that netizens had once again been tricked and fooled by Qiao Laoshi’s sweet talk, Pei Qian felt he could completely bear it.

Because the investment in the VR headsets and “Animal Island VR” was so large, even if they became wildly popular and sold out within a week, they still couldn’t recover the development costs.

Even if they made money, that would be an issue for several cycles later.

Moreover, the VR headsets were priced with low profit margins to begin with. Tenda had invested in Chi Xing Studio, true, but the money would only be distributed after Chi Xing Studio earned it, and the profit-sharing would definitely be minimal and slow.

So, the VR headsets selling well alone didn’t actually pose much of a threat to Pei Qian.

As long as this fire didn’t spread elsewhere, there wouldn’t be a problem.

After getting up, Pei Qian strolled around, thinking of going to Slackin’ Internet Café for breakfast.

However, just as he arrived at the entrance of Slackin’ Internet Café, Pei Qian felt something was off.

Why were there so many people?!

Pei Qian didn’t come to Slackin’ Internet Café for meals every day; it depended on when he woke up. But in the past week, he had been here at least three times, and it had never been as busy as today!

Plus, there were many unfamiliar faces.

Slackin’ Internet Café had already opened many branches, so regular customers were usually those living nearby, and after coming often, their faces would become familiar.

Seeing so many unfamiliar faces was quite strange in itself.

Fortunately, it was still early, not yet 9 AM, and there were still seats available in the coffee area.

Pei Qian found an empty table and sat down, called over the waiter, and asked quietly: “What’s going on today? Why are there so many people?”

The waiter said softly: “Mr. Pei, don’t you know? The VR experience area on the second floor officially opened today!”

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then remembered.

He had almost forgotten about this!

Earlier, he had told Xiao Peng to renovate Slackin’ Internet Café in batches, converting half the internet space into a VR experience area.

Later, he hadn’t continued to monitor this matter.

Recently, Slackin’ Internet Café had begun renovations in batches, and the entire second floor of this café had been closed off for decoration and setup.

Now, with the booming sales of Doubt VR, Slackin’ Internet Café’s VR experience area had officially completed its transformation!