98. A wealthy man remains a true gentleman, but a poor man struggles to be one.

Qian Niu completely trusted Bai Haonan’s methods of picking up women. He stood outside the big tent, blocking the other team members from coming over to watch the spectacle. Two driver assistants in black suits stood nearby as well. Since the large tent was open on all sides, everything inside was visible and any shouted words could be easily heard—there would be no problems.

Yu Jiali was quite fond of Bai Haonan because he didn’t fuss over the mismatched sports meals. Despite coming from a wealthy family and being a boss himself, she didn’t look down on the stainless steel trays or the less-than-ideal hygiene conditions. She sat at the table eating with Bai Haonan and the others, responding cheerfully when the younger players tentatively tried to make conversation. She explained that she was working with Coach Wang to lose weight and get fit. Bai Haonan recited his strict diet plan—no eating anything at all—and Yu Jiali’s elegant handwriting promised repeatedly that she wouldn’t sneak any snacks at home, even though she hadn’t eaten much that night.

This somewhat unusual fitness and weight loss routine actually continued.

Every afternoon after work, Yu Jiali came straight over. She ran first, then did stretching, and finally moved on to the machines. Bai Haonan suddenly realized that his brief coaching stint in Rongdu hadn’t been in vain at all. Especially because he had taken advantage of those moments guiding nurses through exercises to flirt and steal some glances, he had come to understand many fitness details related to women. Combining that with training male amateur players, he had gathered plenty of solid practical knowledge.

Had he been thrown into the current situation fresh out of Jiangzhou to coach a client alone, he probably wouldn’t have known where to begin, maybe even getting tongue-tied like the first time he addressed a football team publicly.

Now, he was confident.

In the professional player world, there were well-established methods for using intense exercise to quickly build or reduce muscle and burn fat. Bai Haonan was cautiously adapting these for an ordinary young woman with little athletic talent or experience. The very next day, he found an old notebook and began drafting training plans and data logs.

One had to admit, Bai Haonan was quite clever. As long as it was within his realm of expertise, he was used to managing proper plans and logs. Aside from some basic guidelines taught by Old Chen, he never proactively sought out learning. He had never borrowed Qian Niu’s laptop to search for related materials online.

Of course, that old laptop was mostly used by Qian Niu chatting with his online girlfriend at night, and Bai Haonan had no interest in interrupting.

But from Yu Jiali’s perspective, Bai Haonan was extremely serious, professional, and uniquely original as a personal fitness coach.

Because Bai Haonan had never checked how others did things, he simply broke down and imparted his familiar professional methods to Yu Jiali, distinctly different from the usual fat-burning routines involving spin bikes, yoga, or treadmills.

Furthermore, good professional football coaches tended to design lots of small warm-up and conditioning exercises. Especially in professional teams, to prevent players who train daily from becoming bored or lazy, better teams frequently updated these exercises, adding game elements and variety.

Now, applying this approach exclusively to Yu Jiali was a perfect fit for Bai Haonan.

In the first day or two, Yu Jiali had a flutter of excitement about spending time with the handsome coach after work. But after four or five days, she was genuinely enthusiastic, even eagerly guessing what new moves the coach would introduce. On Friday, she arrived and handed Bai Haonan a brown paper envelope with both hands. “I’ve never liked sports since I was little. I’ve signed up for many weight-loss classes at fitness centers but never stuck with any. I really didn’t expect this to be worth every penny. Thank you!”

Bai Haonan took the envelope with a satisfied smile, guessing it contained about twenty thousand yuan. Without further ado, he slipped it into his pocket and started leading Yu Jiali through warm-up exercises. Today, using a football, she was instructed to squat while touching the ball with one hand, then do one-legged squats, even arching backward with the ball behind her waist. After about ten minutes, the young woman was drenched in fragrant sweat. Only then did Bai Haonan lead her into aerobic exercises.

“Always remember, when you start this kind of workout, your body is like a cold pat of butter just taken out of the fridge—hard and brittle. Your muscles, tendons, even bones are like that. Only after a proper warm-up can you be soft and pliable, like warmed butter that can be shaped into anything…”

He had used this metaphor to tease nurses at the fitness center before, and some girls would give him a playful scold: “You’re so annoying!”

Yu Jiali, however, only noticed: “In the future? You won’t be working here long-term?”

Bai Haonan was a little surprised by her perceptiveness. “Huh? Did I say that?”

She focused intently. “No, but I can sense it.”

He casually replied, “I’m just here to see a friend. Today’s the first pay I’ve gotten here. Now that I have some money, I can go travel again.”

Yu Jiali hesitated as if regretting her generosity but was a capable businesswoman. After a moment, she proposed a suggestion she had clearly been mulling over: “I’ve lost six kilos these days. I’ve reached that weight briefly at other gyms before, but this time I know it’s not a false result from short-term dehydration. I’m starting to enjoy exercise and confident I can keep it up. Have you thought about opening your own gym and starting a business?”

Bai Haonan was momentarily stunned. From childhood until now, he had never thought about entrepreneurship. He certainly never had the strong desire to open a store like Yisha. Or rather, he was a typical dreamer with lofty ideals but little practical skill. Opening a grocery store was embarrassing enough, but a fitness center?

Never crossed his mind.

So his first reaction wasn’t an immediate refusal but to blurt out, “No money!” Though similar to his response to Yisha’s proposal, the meaning was entirely different.

Lying on the abdominal board, Yu Jiali smiled. “I can invest. You manage it, and we co-own it. How about that?”

Compared to the somewhat conservative black-gray fitness clothes she wore on the first day, Yu Jiali had subtly switched to styles with bright peach-pink trim in recent days. Women always loved to look good, and this not only showed her growing confidence in her changing body but also reflected her shifting mindset, especially her trust in Bai Haonan. Lying there chatting and smiling without a trace of guardedness was truly remarkable.

In an ordinary setting, could a man and woman lie like that and talk so freely?

She took advantage of her reclined position to watch Bai Haonan’s reactions closely, sensing his obvious interest. “Don’t you sometimes complain about how poor the equipment is here? If you had better gear, wouldn’t your professional skills really shine? No one’s career falls from the sky. You have the talent and character. Investing in you to run a gym would be a promising project for my company. What do you think?”

This was the first time Bai Haonan had ever been praised for his character. He had never negotiated business with a female boss before—in fact, he had never really done business at all. Yet this time, he was genuinely moved.

This was a world apart from coaching a medical staff team in Rongdu, where the job was decent but temporary, with no security or future. Here, he was offered a shareholder’s position, even if a minor one. Bai Haonan knew some retired players dreamed of exactly this kind of livelihood—once the business got going, they could live carefree lives as absentee owners.

And this would definitely not involve identity issues. The Yu family was like a great tree here, under whose shade one could enjoy comfort. This was an advantage he had never had before in any circumstance.

Yu Jiali was no good at romance, but she was excellent at business, accurately grasping Bai Haonan’s stirrings of interest, and decisively pressing her advantage: “How about this? It’s the weekend anyway. Come to my house for lunch tomorrow. You said you wanted to meet my father, right? You can talk with him. Though I can make decisions on my own, you can still ask for his opinion. How about that?”

Bai Haonan hesitated but nodded.

Yu Jiali held back a triumphant smile and continued chatting casually while working out.

She truly enjoyed this feeling.