Chapter 131: A Sharp Edge Bared in a Maiden Test (Monthly Tickets Requested)

Walking under the white canopy at this moment, one could see the promotional roll-up banner beside it, introducing the fitness center’s head coach as Kara, the former famous football star from Congo...

Kara was demonstrating his miraculous dance moves on the treadmill again, using quick, nimble steps to spin, leap, and twist his body on the moving belt. Bai Haonan had tried it himself, and almost ended up falling flat on his face just like Li Lin, so perhaps this was simply a matter of racial talent.

This Congolese player, who had once participated in two World Cups, actually did not have many stellar achievements to his name, nor had he ever played in high-level European leagues. However, a decade ago, riding the wave of being a Jia-A foreign mercenary, he was practically a household name among Chinese football fans. Though he had put on some weight now, his facial features still revealed that it was indeed him, causing great excitement among ordinary football enthusiasts.

Even though Bai Haonan was a former professional player in his prime, his fame truly could not compare to Kara's. Moreover, media dissemination a decade ago was much more limited; television and just two or three professional football newspapers featured the names of these foreign players in every single issue. Even fans with a mild interest in football who had never attended a live match were intimately familiar with the names of many Jia-A players from various teams—a stark contrast to the current situation where most people pay no attention to anyone other than superstar players.

Old Li, who had nothing much to do besides looking after his daughter, was wearing a Canaan Fitness Center staff T-shirt and hovered around Kara with a flattering smile, acting as his attendant. He proudly used his Northeast Mandarin to boast to the fans about how much Kara had contributed to the fitness center, explaining that he lived right here in the center and taught fitness classes every day. This heartfelt praise prompted the fans to crowd around frantically, demanding Kara's autograph.

Chinese people simply loved this sort of thing. Although none of them knew what the signature was worth or where it could be cashed in, since it was a free perk, they refused to miss out, packing the area so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.

Fortunately, two or three other fitness trainers quickly stepped in to start registration, accept inquiries, and emphasize that the fitness center was now open for sign-ups, but the first batch was limited to only one hundred and twenty spots. They added that promotions would be conducted at four other amateur football fields next, and it would be first-come, first-served—those who arrived later might miss out entirely...

Bai Haonan and the others had repeatedly rehearsed all of this at the fitness center.

If Li Lin's face had grown slightly stiff from smiling during the previous half-hour, she was truly busy now... taking pictures with people!

At first, two or three football-playing family members came over to snap pictures secretly, but soon many others were holding up cameras. It had to be said that Northeast girls possessed the distinctive traits of fair skin, long legs, and great beauty, generally standing taller than the local women here. Combined with high heels and a flight attendant-style uniform, she looked like a bona fide model. Before long, some people timidly asked if they could take a photo together.

Given the young woman's mindset of wanting to do her job well, how could she possibly refuse? It was just taking pictures, after all—perhaps this was what she felt most confident about. She looked gorgeous from three hundred and sixty-five degrees with no dead angles. Besides, Old Li simply stood guard nearby to ward off any wandering hands.

Just as Bai Haonan had reminded Old Li, there were always a few knuckleheads or guys who, like Bai Haonan, felt a bit too good about themselves, inquiring whether the girl was a model or doing part-time work somewhere. Li Lin proudly replied, "I'm a fitness assistant at the Canaan Fitness Center!"

A fitness assistant?

Just the thought of it made the men feel a little lightheaded!

Seeing that the promotional materials were almost all distributed, and Chen Meijuan having the alertness to watch over Li Lin on Bai Haonan's behalf at any moment, the five marketing girls in fitness wear returned to interact with Li Lin. They urged her to switch shifts and head over to the folding table to introduce the materials or take a break with a drink of water. They genuinely looked like colleagues, and each possessed a unique style of beauty.

This made the male football enthusiasts experience a surge of adrenaline. With such gorgeous babes at the fitness center, it was definitely worth a visit. Several of them immediately made up their minds to sign up for membership cards, even though it was highly likely that such a gorgeous babe was already captured in the pocket of that Cayenne-driving boss. Moreover, it looked like there was another imposing, beautiful woman over there constantly glaring at him, who looked for all the world like the boss's wife.

The only one wearing fitness attire who had not been overshadowed was, of course, Yu Jiali. She stood at the edge of the venue, watching the situation on both sides with a thoughtful expression. Professional football standards combined with stunning feminine allure—to say Bai Haonan hadn't factored these two elements that appealed most to him into the plan would definitely be a lie.

Perhaps sports-loving men simply had more vigorous male hormones. With every single detail covered like this, how could it possibly fail?

That usually lackadaisical man lacked genuine business acumen or orthodox operational experience, yet he was able to grasp the core competitiveness to generate commercial value. Wasn't that just like old man Yu back in the day?

A satisfied and proud smile could not help but spread across Yu Jiali's face.

She undoubtedly believed that she was the one who had discovered this man's value from a group of down-and-out players amidst that chaotic training base, and had guided and molded him into what he was now, right?

This was also her success in investment.

She could not have been more satisfied.

Therefore, when the football enthusiasts took another look at the two imported vans painted and stickered with the Canaan Fitness Center logo, along with the bearded boss's Cayenne SUV, the backing of this fitness center spoke for itself. There was not a single reason left not to go and check it out!

By the time Bai Haonan and the others had lunch together outside at noon, the fitness center had already started calling in with good news: people were coming in one after another to register. More than ten people had signed up, then over twenty. After touring the hardware facilities, which could be ranked among the top tier in the provincial capital, and seeing the unique football field equipment, people were already asking about the pricing and time slots for renting the field privately, wanting to book matches to play there tonight and tomorrow!

Bai Haonan's ungreedy nature—or rather, his tendency not to take money too seriously—surfaced once again. He emphasized to the vice president left behind guarding the fitness center: "No bookings! The pitch is not rented out for external matches; it's strictly our training ground. If they're interested, after signing up... we'll hold a free trial class tonight at six-thirty, and they're welcome to come..."

Yu Jiali once again expressed high praise for Bai Haonan's decision: "Look! This is what I meant by your mindset and disposition. You instinctively choose the longer-term and more magnanimous direction, rather than getting blinded by immediate cash and trying to scrape together some pitch rental fees. This approach will definitely allow the fitness center's future to go much further, because these major competition venues are the reservoir for the fitness center. The fitness center won't compete with them over these meager venue fees, and that's how a healthy market atmosphere and ecosystem can be formed. Wonderful! I love it!"

Bai Haonan chuckled with a silly grin, rubbing his chin as he raised his beer glass to toast all the employees present, thanking everyone for their hard work. He hoped they would continue to keep up the momentum and push through these couple of days of promotional operations, after which the coaching staff would transition fully into fitness operations, while the outreach department would continue weekly promotional work outside. Moreover, such promotional work would become easier and easier because once the initial brand awareness was established, the trainees would naturally become the best promotional name cards.

Although they still had to work in the afternoon, their joy was unstoppable. The men each had a bottle of beer, the drivers took just a token sip, and the girls shared a bottle of red wine among themselves, truly feeling as though they had won the opening battle.

After lunch, led by Chen Meijuan, everyone summarized the gains and losses of the morning's work, making the afternoon's publicity even more proficient. All the links cooperated quite organically, and even Yu Jiali enthusiastically joined in to distribute flyers. If people knew she was the heiress and boss of Jiaheng, and yet she was mingling in such a street-team promotion squad, it would probably make people's jaws drop to the floor.

Dinner was originally planned back at the fitness center, followed by preparations for the evening's demonstration trial class, where an estimated forty people would participate. However, just past five o'clock as they were wrapping up, another venue called to ask if tomorrow's promotion could be moved up to tonight. This was because they were hosting the opening ceremony of an internal banking system tournament tonight with a huge turnout, and through industry connections, they had already learned about the overwhelming success of the fitness center's promotions at the two sports fields during the day. Eager to snap up business and wanting to appear high-class in front of major clients like the banking tournament, they extended an invitation to come over and boost the atmosphere.

Even someone like Bai Haonan felt a little overjoyed. After a brief discussion with Kara, he decided to take part of the coaching team back while Kara led the others to continue setting up booths elsewhere: "Hard work today, everyone, overtime pay will be included, and you'll all get commissions. I reckon everyone's income today will reach several hundred. Let's push a bit harder?"

The crowd burst into cheers.

Yu Jiali asked which bank it was and made a snap decision: "I'll go with old Kara. I know most of the leaders from this bank. I'll drop by to see them, introduce our connection with the Jiaheng Group, and see if we can establish some kind of corporate relationship with this banking system as well."

Bai Haonan shook hands with her in a formal manner to express his gratitude, and Yu Jiali certainly knew how to save face for a man: "I'm a shareholder too, it's only right." But when she left, she took all the girls with her, especially Li Lin.

This girl was actually probably the most exhausted among everyone today, her face stiff from smiling, yet she was brimming with excitement.

As a result, the evening promotion team did not return to the fitness center until ten o'clock. The trial classes here had already concluded victoriously, and Yu Jiali kept her composure until she saw Bai Haonan, delivering a surprise: "The provincial bank leadership has decided to buy twenty annual passes and fifty seasonal passes from us as rewards for the champion, runner-up, and third-place teams in this year's provincial banking system football tournament!"

That alone was a massive order worth over a hundred thousand!

Bai Haonan reciprocated in kind: "Today we signed a total of fifteen annual passes, thirty seasonal passes, and twenty-seven monthly passes. We're finally officially on track!"

Although it was only a turnover of two to three hundred thousand—a mere drop in the bucket for Jiaheng Investment—this was clearly a booming start, and it was a favorable situation officially driven by Bai Haonan ever since his return. Yu Jiali turned serious: "Old Bai, cherish this momentum. My father often told me that making a pot of money is no difficult feat; everyone gets lucky once or twice in their lifetime to make a bundle. But many people only get those one or two chances because they don't know how to cherish and seize them. You are someone who has tasted success, so you should understand all the more how painful it is to lose it. I will do my absolute best to help you grow this career, act as your strongest backing, treat your career seriously, and cherish this venture of ours, alright?"

No matter how cynical he usually was, Bai Haonan was somewhat touched. He slowly nodded: "I... you manage the money, and I'll charge ahead and do the work. You handle the accounts so I don't end up squandering it all."

It had a faint flavor of men tilling the fields while women weave at home. Yu Jiali was very satisfied with this statement: "I had a chat with your subordinate in charge of financial distribution this afternoon. I was a bit startled by the model she set up; it has shades of Ponzi data, but she managed to harness a kind of initiative that can be utilized. If we steer clear of the characteristics of multi-level marketing, there is actually a lot of potential here. Because fitness... during the days you were away, I took a leading team to thoroughly research this industry: out of a hundred people who buy membership cards, only twenty percent actually stick with it. Therefore, the impulse consumption within this industry yields extremely high net profits. The key lies in the business model. If we run it right, we can truly build a nationwide, large-scale chain promotion, creating a smoke-free, eco-friendly industry with an annual output value in the hundreds of millions. That also aligns with the state's macroeconomic policies, and we could even pursue a public listing..."

Bai Haonan turned back to look at the brightly lit fitness center. Even at this late hour, it was still bustling with activity, and everyone looked quite excited. In his eyes, this was truly just a fitness center, and he had always believed Yu Jiali was merely doing him a favor by setting it up. He never expected that in her eyes, it would rapidly transform into an industry, even an aircraft carrier-level major enterprise.

Smiling with a hint of disbelief, he said, "Let's go, I'll walk you home."

Yu Jiali requested to walk back: "My daily exercise quota isn't fulfilled yet!"

It wasn't really far, but it had the feel of young lovers strolling down the street. Yu Jiali stopped talking about enterprises and instead chatted about Bai Haonan and his people, especially the six girls. She had gained a new understanding of Li Lin; the girl was truly adorable, devoid of hidden motives and rather simple-minded—probably the type who wouldn't even flirt back if a Cayenne door was left open for her. As for the other five, they were far too realistic, realistic to the point of being a little frightening. Given just a sliver of light and space, they would fight tooth and nail to seize it. Chen Meijuan was particularly prominent, but Xiaowan possessed the greatest talent for assisting leaders, because she belonged to that quiet type easily relied upon by superiors in an office environment.

Bai Haonan chuckled, saying that ever since his return, he hadn't had any special interactions with them whatsoever.

Yu Jiali almost blurted out that she had been watching everything through the surveillance cameras.

In the end, she even complained that her home was too close, watching Bai Haonan walk away with a lingering sense of reluctance.

By the time Bai Haonan returned, the young people at the fitness center were still lively, holding a small party at the rooftop water bar to celebrate the fitness center's genuine operation. Naturally, every employee hoped their workplace business would boom, especially since Bai Haonan was such a generous boss.

Consequently, Xiaoman had already roughly calculated a list: after deducting the commissions returned to various venue promoters, the staff present today could each take home around a thousand yuan in bonuses alone. It was certainly enough to be happy about.

Li Lin walked up to Bai Haonan with a glass in her hand, beaming with excitement: "Uncle! Thank you! Today was seriously awesome!"

Seeing that she was also holding a glass and assuming it was just a soft drink, Bai Haonan tossed his head back and gulped it down, nearly choking to death: "St-strong... liquor?!"

Li Lin giggled, narrowing her eyes as she downed her own glass in one go. She seemed to have quite a high alcohol tolerance. Bai Haonan could only gesture for her to go torment someone else, while casually and absentmindedly reaching out to tug the loosened collar of Li Lin's dark blue flight attendant-style uniform back into place before brushing past her. The thick-