The fitness center manager offered Lin Canrong a cigarette, which Lin declined with a wave of his hand.

“Who’s taking it over?” Lin Canrong asked curiously.

A little investigation would reveal that this store had been open for several months. Logically, with many high-end customers in the area and being in a commercial district with heavy foot traffic, the fitness center should have been thriving, but it just wasn’t profitable!

Who was bold enough to take over this place?

The fitness center manager took a drag of his cigarette and said in surprise: “Hm? Manager Lin, don’t you know? It’s your Tenda! Tenda is taking it over!”

Lin Canrong was stunned.

Mr. Pei was taking over this fitness center?

That made sense. Mr. Pei seemed to be working on a project called “Managed Fitness” or something like that recently, with the first store reportedly near the company headquarters.

They were already opening branch stores so quickly?

Business must be booming!

Lin Canrong had initially felt sorry for whoever was taking over, thinking they were wasting money and would probably have to pack up and leave after just a few months.

But upon hearing it was Mr. Pei, Lin Canrong immediately perked up.

Mr. Pei would have a way to turn this place from a loss to a profit!

He had created such a large commercial district just like that—how could he not handle a small fitness center?

Impossible!

All one needed to do was pull up a small stool and watch Mr. Pei work his magic.

The fitness center manager, while exhaling clouds of smoke, happily said: “Manager Lin, you have no idea how happy I was when I heard this news.”

“Some time ago, I heard that something big was happening in Jingzhou’s fitness industry.”

“They said Tenda was entering the market!”

“Everyone was extremely nervous at the time. Who doesn’t know Tenda? They’re flush with cash. If they started a price war with us, wouldn’t all of our small fitness centers die on the spot?”

“But surprisingly, Tenda had no intention of competing with us. They opened their first fitness center with extremely low-key operations. If I hadn’t personally gone to investigate, I wouldn’t have believed it was so quiet. Even quieter than mine!”

“After some time, with no further news, everyone relaxed.”

“Then, a couple of days ago, Tenda suddenly started aggressively taking over fitness centers, but they only picked those that were well-decorated. As long as the decoration was good, they didn’t care about performance at all!”

“You have no idea how many fitness centers were on the verge of closing, just waiting to be taken over. They were all eagerly anticipating it, almost to the point of renovating their fitness centers to entice Tenda to take over!”

“Of course, no one did that. What if they renovated and Tenda still didn’t take over? Wouldn’t that be a huge loss?”

“I was just hoping for Tenda’s people to come knocking, and believe it or not, today it finally happened! Your Tenda really has money—the offer was straightforward, and after calculating, it seemed quite fair, so I transferred it right away.”

“We’re moving out overnight, and in a couple of days, this store will probably hang up the ‘Managed Fitness’ sign.”

The original fitness center manager had a kind of smug satisfaction like someone who had escaped a stock market crash at the peak.

Lin Canrong couldn’t help but become interested.

If it were any other fitness center taking over, Lin Canrong would have played a sad tune, waiting for its bankruptcy.

But with Mr. Pei entering the scene, there must be some deeper strategic layout!

And why open near Mingyan Mansion?

Would there be some future connection with their own Mingyan Private Kitchen?

Lin Canrong said: “Could you briefly share with me your views on Tenda’s ‘Managed Fitness’?”

…

…

May 5th, Thursday.

Pei Qian was on his way to Sloth Apartments, feeling a bit excited.

After nearly a month of busy preparation, he could finally move in!

The apartment itself was already fully decorated. Liang Qianfan, as the designer, was mainly responsible for the soft furnishings, including furniture, appliances, smart devices, etc., so it could be completed in a short time.

Moreover, Pei Qian had specifically required it to be decorated in a “bare walls style,” which meant even fewer modifications could be made.

Pei Qian planned to take a look and, if satisfied, move in right away.

Moving into a new home was something to be excited about!

After parking in the underground garage, Pei Qian and Xiao Sun took the elevator to the top floor of the building, where Liang Qianfan was already waiting in the apartment.

The security door to the living room was slightly ajar, and Pei Qian pushed it open.

The first impression upon entering was: how spacious! How bright!

The sunlight was incredibly radiant, bathing the fan-shaped, large living room in warm sunshine, involuntarily creating a feeling of languidness.

The entire space gave Pei Qian the same first impression as the renderings he had seen before.

Extremely spacious, open, and bright.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading across the mirror-like floor, reflecting the silhouettes of the few pieces of furniture.

The dark sofa seemed to hover over a clean lake surface, or as if floating lightly in the clouds.

On the wall facing the sofa was a massive television, with no visible wires or outlets, its pure black panel resembling a window to another world.

Pei Qian remembered that he had requested gaming consoles and various game discs, but he didn’t see them near the TV.

Pei Qian guessed they were probably well hidden in the simple, low TV cabinet below the television.

There were also some other furniture pieces, such as tables and chairs, which were also very minimalist but with an obvious sense of quality.

The entire space completely fulfilled Pei Qian’s requirements, extremely minimalist to the point of being bare, as if it had just been looted empty.

Of course, from an artistic perspective, taking a photo from any angle in this living room would produce an impressive work.

Extreme space also brought extreme waste.

It was evident that Liang Qianfan was a designer who pursued the ultimate.

In the entire living room, only the low TV cabinet could be considered storage space; there were no other cabinets.

The vast space, devoid of any excess clutter, made one feel at ease.

Liang Qianfan was standing at the curve of the living room, looking at the scenery outside. Hearing the door, he turned around: “Mr. Pei, are you satisfied with this style?”

Pei Qian nodded: “Very satisfied!”

He had to admit, this Designer Liang was also quite ruthless.

Pei Qian had asked for a “bare walls style,” with as few pieces of furniture as possible, but he didn’t think Liang Qianfan would eliminate functional items like storage cabinets, coffee tables, dining tables, etc.

Even if the cabinets were made smaller, there should still be one or two, right?

But Liang Qianfan had determinedly eliminated them all!

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this. Such obedient designers were hard to find.

Combined with the strict rule that tenants couldn’t buy furniture or change the interior layout, let’s see who would still want to rent this apartment!

Pei Qian couldn’t help feeling a bit smug, feeling that the Sloth Apartments project had already succeeded by a large margin.

Liang Qianfan said, “Mr. Pei, please allow me to explain where the money was primarily spent.”

“To achieve this ultimate minimalist style, I had to ruthlessly cut out many daily necessities. For instance, the storage space is completely insufficient for daily use, but since you said it wasn’t needed, we removed it.”

“However, there are some things that couldn’t be eliminated, like curtains.”

“For the needs of light blocking and privacy, curtains are essential, but under such an extremely minimalist style, even the simplest curtains would appear bulky and steal the show.”

“So, I replaced all the glass with smart-tinting glass, which not only has all the properties of safety glass—being safe and environmentally friendly—but also has good transparency and light transmission, can block ultraviolet and infrared rays, and avoid the adverse effects of direct sunlight.”

“In short, this type of glass can adjust the light transmittance and the intensity of sunlight entering the room within a large range, making the indoor light soft, comfortable, and pleasant, which is very suitable for this extremely minimalist living scenario.”

“In addition, to achieve the ultimate in indoor minimalism, I’ve hidden almost all visible outlets, and the light switches are all operated on transparent glass smart panels.”

“These smart panels are hidden in various corners of the room. When not activated, they are just mirrors, but once activated, they become touch panels that can control the brightness of all the lights in the house. Of course, the same effect can be achieved using a smartphone.”

“Furthermore, other furniture, appliances, and even toilets are all selected from top domestic and international brands, absolutely carefully chosen, achieving a perfect balance between practicality and artistry.”

“Next, I’d like to proudly introduce this television. This is the latest 85-inch 4K TV from a foreign manufacturer, priced at 240,000 yuan, paired with the latest audio-visual system, which will provide you with the most perfect gaming experience.”

The purchased gaming console is hidden in the TV cabinet. Just take out the controller, and you can immediately enter the exciting world of games!”

Liang Qianfan cleared his throat: “Of course, I originally thought buying such a large TV wasn’t practical, but the budget you gave was too much…”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but give a thumbs up: “Very good.”

“I’m very satisfied with this TV!”

Although the cost-effectiveness of everything in this room was poor, there was no doubt that Liang Qianfan had perfectly fulfilled Pei Qian’s requirements.

Take this TV for example: although in ten years it would cost only 20,000 yuan, at present it was an undeniable rarity, with probably only a few dozen available nationwide.

Pei Qian had given Liang Qianfan a large budget while also mandating that he must decorate according to the “bare walls style,” cutting the quantity of various furniture again and again.

As a result, each piece of furniture and appliance that remained had a budget that was through the roof.

Pei Qian liked this place.

Because living here, he only had two needs: sleeping and entertainment.

And he was living alone.

This extremely simplified living environment wouldn’t make his life inconvenient; instead, this minimalist style made the entire environment pleasing to the eye.

But for other tenants, it was a different story.

Compared to other houses, this one could hardly meet the needs of more than two people living together. There was no storage space, and tenants weren’t allowed to purchase furniture or change the layout of the room, while it could only be rented as a whole.

It was only suitable for one type of person: someone living alone, who didn’t care about the monthly rent of 9,000 yuan, and who definitely wanted a long-term lease.

In other words, someone who purely viewed this space as a piece of art to appreciate.

Such people were true wealthy individuals, who might have already bought more than one house, or even lived in villas. Why would they need to rent here?

Even if one or two wealthy people had a moment of madness and decided to rent it, they would be a minority.

Liang Qianfan said, “Mr. Pei, if there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, we can still make adjustments at any time.”

Pei Qian raised his hand: “I’m very satisfied and there’s nothing that needs adjusting! You’ve perfectly realized what I wanted, this is exactly what I was looking for!”

“Designer Liang, I appreciate your design ability. Would you be interested in working at Tenda?”