Chapter 1946: Proposal

Fitness is naturally a good thing—exercising and staying healthy is undoubtedly beneficial for everyone, especially for someone like Dong Guoxiang who lacks exercise.

But the problem was, no matter how Zhao Fusheng listened, he felt that what Zhang Qian was teaching Dong Guoxiang seemed to be the training regimen from the military.

Zhao Fusheng seriously doubted what Dong Guoxiang's frail body would turn into if he followed Zhang Qian's methods.

"Can't you teach him in a normal way?"

Watching Zhang Qian start telling Dong Guoxiang to get up at six every morning and run a five-kilometer cross-country, Zhao Fusheng finally couldn't hold back and complained speechlessly.

"Huh?"

Only then did Dong Guoxiang realize that Zhang Qian was using military training methods on him.

"You, Zhang Qian, that's not right," Dong Guoxiang said helplessly to Zhang Qian. "I'm not one of your men."

He knew that Zhang Qian, back at Future Security, used to take those retired soldiers on cross-country runs every day, practically replicating the military routine.

"My men are stronger than you."

Zhang Qian said sincerely.

Zhao Fusheng and Dong Guoxiang were left speechless.

Not done yet, Zhang Qian glanced at Zhao Fusheng and said flatly, "Old Chen said you came by the company earlier and mentioned you wanted to exercise. I think..."

"Stop! Hold it right there!"

Zhao Fusheng quickly cut Zhang Qian off. "I don't care what you think; I think..."

No way!

If Zhang Qian kept going, he'd probably come up with some fitness plan for him.

That guy always assumed others had the same physical fitness as him. Was that even comparable? They were worlds apart.

"But seriously, I think the security company could open a fitness center."

Zhao Fusheng suddenly thought of something and said to Zhang Qian.

"Fitness center?"

Zhang Qian was taken aback, a bit confused. Clearly, his train of thought couldn't keep up with Zhao Fusheng's.

Dong Guoxiang, however, seemed thoughtful.

After all, he was different from Zhang Qian; Zhang Qian's mind didn't wander as quickly as Dong Guoxiang's.

Not that Zhang Qian wasn't smart, but he wasn't good at this kind of thing.

"Look, at the security company, they train every day and all look like muscle freaks. Even though your training intensity is high, you have to admit the methods are pretty good."

Zhao Fusheng said frankly to Zhang Qian. "I don't like it because I'm not into exercise. Old Dong can't handle it because of his work habits and physical limits. But the thing is, some people do like it! In this capital, so many people love fitness, especially those muscle men, and the women who like muscle men, tsk tsk..."

For some reason, when he said that, Zhang Qian felt a chill down his spine, sensing something odd.

But before he could speak, Dong Guoxiang nodded and said firmly, "Fusheng is right. If we set up a fitness center with security company people as trainers, plus some professional managers and fitness instructors, I think it could work."

"Not only that, we can also offer yoga and aerobics classes, hire professional teachers, and then we'll cover both men and women!"

Zhao Fusheng was already starting to plan.

In his later life, he had seen plenty of such fitness centers, especially in big cities, where membership fees were not cheap, yet customers still flocked in.

As they say, when hunger and cold are satisfied, other desires arise. For many people, once their living conditions improved, they began to have expectations for their own physical fitness.

No one likes having a beer belly or a bunch of flab on their stomach. Who doesn't want a better figure?

And that was a business opportunity!

In the capital, the fitness industry was still in its infancy. In Zhao Fusheng's view, Future Security had the people and the money, so why not do it?

It wouldn't take much effort—just a simple move.

With that in mind, he looked seriously at Zhang Qian. "So, do you want to give it a try?"

"The security company isn't my responsibility anymore. If you want to do it, call Old Chen," Zhang Qian shrugged, looking indifferent.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Just then, the women, done with their gossip, walked over and asked Zhao Fusheng and the others.

Dong Guoxiang explained Zhao Fusheng's idea, and to everyone's surprise, Dong Chenxi and the others were very supportive.

"I think this idea is really good," Dong Chenxi nodded directly.

"Yeah, I've always wanted to work out, but I never have the time, and I don't know how to exercise," Bai Jie also nodded.

"I think it's feasible, and we could open a chain of stores," Zheng Yao's vision was even bigger.

"I'll invest."

Fan Baobao looked left and right, then suddenly said.

"Huh?"

Everyone exchanged glances, none of them expecting her to say that.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing no one respond, Fan Baobao said curiously, "Since this is such a good thing, why don't we all do it together?"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone laughed, but as they laughed, they all froze.

"Yeah, we can do it together," Dong Chenxi murmured.

Bai Jie also nodded. "I have some savings."

"Let's make it our shared endeavor."

Dong Guoxiang suddenly smiled. "I remember it's been years since we worked together on something."

Everyone laughed.

Looking back, since Future Group became formal and subsidiaries kept appearing, they hadn't worked together on a single project like this in a long time.

Once upon a time, when they gathered, they mostly talked about how to grow Future Advertising back then. Now, each of them had a mountain of things to handle.

Even Bai Jie, who didn't lead a subsidiary, managed the most important finances of Future Group.

Although there was a professional accounting firm, Zhao Fusheng still had Bai Jie involved in the company's finances because he didn't trust outside accountants except her.

"Then it's settled. Each of you puts in five hundred thousand, and I'll cover the rest."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to everyone, "You each get ten percent of the shares, I get forty percent. Any objections?"

Then he pointed at Fan Baobao. "You're included too."

"Pfft, I have my own money," Fan Baobao shot Zhao Fusheng a look.

She had income from endorsements, TV dramas, and movies, and hadn't spent much over the years, so she had saved some money. Five hundred thousand wasn't much to her.

"Five hundred thousand might not be enough."

Zheng Yao thought for a moment. "Just renting a place would cost a lot."

"Yeah, how about one million?" Bai Jie suggested.

Over the years with Zhao Fusheng, each of them had made a good amount of money. Although Future Group wasn't listed yet, just from salaries and other income, they had assets worth a few million.

Most importantly, everyone present trusted Zhao Fusheng. With him around, making money wasn't hard.

"No need to make it so complicated. You just put in the money, and I'll cover the rest."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand with a smile. "Let's start by opening eight stores in the capital. Instead of renting, we'll buy the properties directly. Since property prices are low now, let's buy a few commercial units and see how it goes."

Everyone exchanged glances, then looked at Fan Baobao. Clearly, their man was heading down the road of being a spendthrift.

"Whatever, I have no objections."

Fan Baobao said calmly.

She wasn't the kind of woman who didn't understand things. Everyone here today were the people Zhao Fusheng trusted most. The entire Future Group was built on their unwavering loyalty to him.

Rumor had it that if anyone wanted to shake Future Group or poach Zhao Fusheng's people, they'd first have to get rid of all these people; otherwise, it was an impossible task.

They were essentially Zhao Fusheng's founding team.

Would Ma Xiaoyun be stingy with his eighteen Arhats?

Of course not.

Even Alibaba's former receptionist later got 0.1% of Alibaba's shares, let alone the others.

Zhao Fusheng was the same.

So Fan Baobao certainly wouldn't object.

"Since that's settled," Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Bai Jie, "You have the most free time. You and Fan Baobao can handle the site selection."

"I'll go too," Dong Chenxi raised her hand. "I don't have much to do lately."

"Nothing going on at Future Investment?"

Zhao Fusheng was a bit surprised and asked curiously.

"You said to tighten the purse strings," Dong Chenxi nodded. "So we haven't invested in any new projects lately. For the projects we have, once they're profitable, we sell off our shares. Except for companies like Tencent and Alibaba, we're sorting out the shares of other companies."

"Good."

Zhao Fusheng nodded with satisfaction. It was best that Dong Chenxi remembered his words.

With that decided, the women gathered together and started discussing locations for the fitness center.

"Wait, are we really doing this?"

Zhang Qian was still a bit confused and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "What, you think it won't make money?"

Zhang Qian shook his head. "Making money or not doesn't matter. The fact that everyone can do something together is good in itself."

That was his honest opinion. Being able to be with these friends was, for someone with his personality, a particularly comforting thing. Zhang Qian was just worried that if the business lost money, Zhao Fusheng would take a hit.

According to Zhao Fusheng's plan, opening eight stores, buying the commercial properties, plus all the labor costs, the conservative estimate was an investment of tens of millions. The money they put in was just a token; the real bulk would come from Zhao Fusheng.

In that case, if they lost money, Zhang Qian would naturally feel bad about it.

After all, if he hadn't told Dong Guoxiang about those fitness exercises, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have thought of opening a fitness center.