“Ding.”

A notification sound from the chat app rang on his phone.

Pei Qian was in the midst of an intense battle on the big TV and only put down the controller to pick up his phone once the fight ended.

It was Coach Yaling sending today’s “training results report.”

Regarding the DGE Club, although Pei Qian believed that being unable to participate in any official competitions had eliminated its possibility of backstabbing him, he remained vigilant based on the principle of preparing for the worst.

Apart from planting Guan Peisheng in the club disguised as an assistant coach, Pei Qian had also arranged a double insurance.

He had Coach Yaling send him the players’ training results every day to supervise the coach’s work!

Of course, the so-called training results weren’t about how many training matches they played today or how many tiers the players had climbed, but rather photos.

After each day’s training, these gaming addicts had to take photos wearing tight-fitting gym clothes, and Pei Qian would evaluate Coach Yaling’s results based on these photos.

The logic was simple:

These gaming addicts were all spending a large amount of time and energy on fitness training, and they were exhausted every day after working out. Wouldn’t they have no energy left to train properly in the game?

And the method to check if they were seriously training was also simple—just look at the changes in their physiques.

After all, fitness was the one thing impossible to fake. Results might not be visible in the short term, but over time, all the effort will show in their physiques.

Of course, people have different body types. Some people develop muscles after just a couple of days of training and quickly rebound after two days of rest, while others see slow progress even after training for a long time.

But generally speaking, fitness is something that gives returns proportional to effort—fairer than most things in this world.

Pei Qian was using this principle to monitor the DGE Fitness Club—oh no, the DGE Esports Club!

Flipping through the photos one by one, Pei Qian nodded repeatedly.

Hmm, the results were immediate and obvious!

It was evident that Coach Yaling was very dedicated and hadn’t been slacking off. She had trained these gaming addicts well. Each one of them was growing in size, with biceps and pectoral muscles bulging out, and their hunched postures had significantly improved.

That reassured him!

Pei Qian put his phone aside, feeling a bit proud.

When these players retired, perhaps they could be assigned jobs as fitness coaches in the managed fitness center, solving the difficult problem of post-retirement employment for esports players.

This advanced model was way ahead of other clubs in the industry.

Perfect!

…

…

May 28th, Saturday.

Flagship store of Tuoguan Fitness.

Guo Licheng had just finished training and was wiping his sweat with a towel while doing post-workout stretches.

Another coach approached him: “Coach Guo, can I ask you something privately?”

Guo Licheng nodded: “Old Bian, just speak plainly.”

Coach Bian looked around to make sure no one was nearby and whispered, “It seems there are even fewer new members recently?”

Guo Licheng was a straightforward person and didn’t think to hide this fact. He replied honestly: “Yes. Our fitness meals increased in price again. They were already expensive, and now they’ve gone up even more per meal. Of course, customers with tight budgets are even less willing to sign up. Plus, Coach Yaling’s departure has had some impact…”

Coach Bian whispered, “So, how long do you think our fitness center can stay open? At this rate of losses, the boss will get anxious in another month or two, right?”

Guo Licheng’s expression remained calm: “Who knows? From what I’ve observed, the boss doesn’t seem to be giving up. On the contrary, he seems even more motivated. Besides, those branch locations are doing much worse than us. If any stores are going to close, they’d close those first.”

Coach Bian lowered his voice further: “Have you considered the possibility that all stores might close together?”

Their voices grew increasingly hushed, as openly discussing their fitness center’s losses and which stores might close first would be too demoralizing and couldn’t be widely publicized.

Guo Licheng casually picked up a dumbbell and handed it to Coach Bian, who immediately understood and pretended to be working out while whispering with Guo Licheng.

Guo Licheng whispered, “We’ve been good friends for several years. Let me tell you something confidential, but don’t spread it around.”

Coach Bian nodded: “Of course.”

Guo Licheng’s gaze was determined: “I believe this fitness center will make money; it’s just a matter of time. All of this is within the boss’s calculations.”

Coach Bian showed a surprised expression: “Really? Tell me quickly, what plan does the boss have? Why do you think this fitness center can be profitable?”

Guo Licheng organized his thoughts and said, “On the surface, the fitness center is indeed struggling. New members have become even scarcer since the recent price increase for fitness meals. These are obvious things everyone can see.”

“But have you noticed that those regular old members have completely accepted this model, and their fitness results are extremely significant?”

Coach Bian paused, thinking: “Yes, that does seem to be the case. But I’ve had personal training clients at other gyms who also progressed quickly. That’s nothing special.”

Guo Licheng shook his head: “You’re wrong. The key is the proportion. In your previous personal training work at other gyms, how many clients trained well and progressed quickly? A tiny minority, right? But here, all members who stick with it progress quickly! How can that be the same?”

Coach Bian was stunned, then suddenly realized: “Oh, that’s right!”

He thought for a moment and continued: “No wonder! We enforce fitness plans and require healthy meals. Fitness is essentially about controlling your diet and exercising—30% workout, 70% diet. If both exercise and diet are guaranteed, any normal person can see results!”

“And although fitness meals have increased in price, they taste better now and are easier to stick with.”

Guo Licheng nodded: “Exactly! That’s what I wanted to say!”

“Our fitness center does have fewer people. A large number who couldn’t persevere were encouraged to leave. But those who can stick with it have, without exception, all seen immediate results! In other words, we’ve filtered out everyone who couldn’t persist, and those who remain will see effects!”

“Think about it—in the long run, this is a gold-standard reputation!”

“Which training classes are most popular? Those that guarantee results! People nowadays don’t mind spending money; they fear spending money without results, wasting their money. As long as you tell everyone that their money will bring improvement, even if it’s a bit expensive, people will come.”

Coach Bian frowned: “But judging from our current situation, we don’t seem to be very popular.”

Guo Licheng said, “That’s because the word hasn’t spread yet! Think about how long it’s been since we opened!”

“Wait until our first batch of members has been training for a few months and seen real changes, even some fitness beginners achieving fitness goals they’ve never been able to achieve before—then the word-of-mouth effect will naturally take hold!”

“Combined with our fitness center’s name, ‘Tuoguan Fitness,’ once that reputation spreads, do you think we’ll lack customers?”

“The reason Mr. Pei decided to open branch locations despite the flagship store still incurring huge losses must be because he saw this phenomenon. He felt that core members’ fitness habits had already formed, and the expected brand effect had begun to emerge, so he decisively decided to open branches!”

“Otherwise, would someone as smart as Mr. Pei continue to lose money by opening branches knowing they would lose money? That doesn’t make sense. He must have seen the prospect of profit!”

Coach Bian found this increasingly convincing and nodded repeatedly.

“So, Coach Guo, when do you think this reputation will be established and our fitness center will become popular?”

Guo Licheng thought for a moment: “Hard to say. Natural word-of-mouth spreads too slowly. But Mr. Pei is a marketing master. Maybe when he thinks the time is right, he’ll find some opportunity to promote it, and it’ll take off! I’ve specifically researched this—Tenda’s internet cafes and PC assembly businesses were also originally unknown, but suddenly became popular after one marketing campaign. I think Mr. Pei is probably preparing to do it again.”

Coach Bian was thoroughly convinced: “I see. If not for your explanation, Coach Guo, I wouldn’t have known our boss was thinking so deeply! All I can say is with his brain, he deserves to make big money!”

“But Coach Guo, the fact that you can figure out so much is also impressive! No wonder the boss chose you as the store manager.”

Guo Licheng shook his head: “This isn’t business acumen—I’m far behind Mr. Pei in that regard. I’m just making reasonable deductions based on my understanding of the industry, which happens to align with Mr. Pei’s thinking.”

“I thought about it, and this probably isn’t a coincidence. For a business model to succeed, it must solve the industry’s pain points.”

“What are the fitness industry’s pain points? It’s the mutual distrust between customers and fitness centers—this distrust is deeply rooted.”

“Customers don’t trust fitness centers, thinking they’re just trying to sell memberships and classes to take their money, so they don’t want to talk to coaches.”

“Coaches don’t trust fitness centers either, burdened with sales targets and having no motivation to properly train members or focus on training.”

“Fitness centers also don’t trust customers, thinking they’ll scam one when they can and not care once they’ve sold a membership.”

“Tell me, when all three parties distrust each other, how can anything good come of it?”

Coach Bian nodded: “Right! No wonder so many people have left this industry!”

Guo Licheng continued: “But Mr. Pei’s model has eliminated all this distrust between the three parties in one stroke!”

“Customers no longer feel the fitness center is scamming them—transparent pricing, fair to all, and guaranteed training results. Coaches can focus on training and guiding members without always thinking about selling classes, working steadily and reliably. Customers don’t resent coaches anymore. The fitness center doesn’t treat customers like cash cows.”

“See? Everyone benefits in this model!”

“As for the current poor results, that’s because building trust takes time. When enough time passes and trust is established, won’t making money simply follow naturally?”

Coach Bian nodded again but soon had a new concern: “But if what you say is true, this is a great thing! Shouldn’t we promote it widely? Why can’t we tell others?”

“We should hurry and tell everyone else to build their confidence in the fitness center!”

Guo Licheng said quietly, “What are you thinking? The boss has a plan, but that doesn’t mean the plan has a 100% success rate. If it doesn’t succeed and you’ve blabbed about it, won’t the boss make things difficult for you?”

“Just keep quiet and watch. Isn’t it better to praise the boss after it succeeds?”

Coach Bian suddenly understood—that did make sense.

Think about Yang Xiu in history, who always liked to big-mouth the boss’s intentions everywhere. Didn’t he get dealt with? What boss likes subordinates who think they’re smarter than the boss?

Coach Bian looked at him with newfound respect: “Wow, Coach Guo, you’re impressive! Your emotional intelligence is increasing!”

Guo Licheng waved his hand: “Come on, what emotional intelligence? I’m like all of you—I love this place too much and naturally don’t want to see it fail.”

Coach Bian strongly agreed: “Yes, exactly! Then let’s keep a low profile and quietly wait to see the boss’s miraculous operation!”