509 Boss Pei's New Neighbor
The branch manager of the gym handed a cigarette to Lin Canrong who waved his hand to reject him.
"Who took it over?" Lin Canrong asked curiously.
He only needed to conduct some brief research to discover that the shop had already been opened for a couple of months. There were many high-end people here, and this was a commercial district with high traffic. Logically, the gym should have been doing very well. Yet, it just was not generating any profits!
Who would be so hard-headed as to take over this place?
The branch manager inhaled deeply and shot Lin Canrong a strange look. "Huh? Branch Manager Lin, don't you know? It was Tengda! Tengda took over it!"
Lin Canrong could not help but feel stunned.
Boss Pei took over the gym?
That sounded logical. Boss Pei had indeed started on a project called 'Deposit Fitness' or something. It was said that that gym was near the company's headquarters as well.
Was he opening another branch now? It must have been doing quite well, then!
Lin Canrong had been feeling sorry for the buyer because he had thought that this would be a waste of money. He had even guessed that history would repeat itself, and the new shop would close down in a few months as well.
However, after hearing that Boss Pei was the buyer, Lin Canrong immediately perked up.
Boss Pei must have a way of turning the losses here into profits! He had singlehandedly developed this entire commercial district. How could he be stumped by a mere gym?
It was impossible!
He could just sit back and watch what Boss Pei would do from now on.
The branch manager of the gym exhaled a cloud of smoke and grinned as he said, "Branch Manager Lin, you have no idea how happy I was when I heard the news.
"Just a while ago, I heard that something has shaken the gym industry in Jingzhou. People were saying that Tengda had entered!
"At the time, everyone became extremely nervous. Who doesn't know about Tengda? It's so wealthy and brave. If Tengda started a price war, none of the little gyms would have been able to stand it.
"What I didn't expect was that Tengda would show no intention of competing with us. It set up its first gym and maintained an extremely low profile.
"If I had not gone down to see for myself, I would never have thought that it would be so deserted. In fact, it was much more deserted than I had imagined!
"After some time, everything remained peaceful, and everyone gradually relaxed.
"However, just two days ago, Tengda suddenly began to take over many gyms around the city. What's more, it's taking over well-renovated gyms. As long as the gyms are well-renovated, their results would not matter!
"You have no idea how many gyms were on the verge of closing down. We were all waiting for someone to take over. Every one of us was waiting expectantly. We were just stopping short of renovating the gyms to tempt Tengda to take over them!
"Of course, no one would really do that. What if Tengda still refused to take over the gyms once renovations were completed? The owners would have incurred huge losses, wouldn't they?
"Thus, I waited eagerly for Tengda's employees to approach me, and that's exactly what they did today! Your company is indeed rich—they offered such a high price. Once I confirmed that the price was worth it, I agreed to sell my gym immediately.
"We're moving throughout tonight. I guess that Deposit Fitness' signboard would be up in two days."
The branch manager of the original gym looked so happy that one would think he had just escaped a calamity.
Lin Canrong could not help but feel intrigued. If another gym had taken over this place, Lin Canrong would have sat back and waited for it to close down.
However, the fact that Boss Pei had taken over the gym showed that there was another plan taking place on a deeper level!
Furthermore, why was Boss Pei opening a branch near Ming Yun Villas? Was it so that the gym could collaborate with Ming Yun Private Kitchen in the future?
Lin Canrong asked, "Can you tell me briefly what you all think about Tengda's Deposit Fitness?"
…
…
May 5th, Thursday…
Pei Qian sat in the car, on his way to Sloth Apartments. He was feeling slightly excited. After being busy with work for a month, he could finally move in!
The apartment had been exquisitely renovated. As a designer, Liang Qingfan had been mainly in charge of soft renovations for the house, including the furniture, electrical appliances, smart facilities, and the like. Thus, he could finish his tasks within a short period.
What's more, Pei Qian had already made his requests clear. The houses were to have a 'four bare walls' style. Thus, there was little left for Liang Qingfan to do.
Pei Qian planned to take a look at the house today. If he was satisfied, he would move in at once.
Moving to a new residence was still exciting!
He alighted from the car in the basement parking lot and then took the elevator up to the penthouse of the building, together with Little Sun. Liang Qingfan was already in the house, waiting for them.
The living room was being hidden behind the entrance door. Pei Qian quickly pushed it open and entered.
His first thoughts upon entering were that the house was spacious and bright!
The light was extremely bright, bathing the fan-shaped living room in the warmth of the sunlight. Pei Qian could not help but feel like a sloth. Pei Qian's first impression of the space was that it looked exactly the same as the rendering that he had seen earlier.
The house was extremely vast, empty, and bright.
The sun shone through the windows and into the house, reflecting off the clean and clear ground and reflecting the few pieces of furniture inside.
The dark-colored couch looked like it was floating above a clear lake but also like it was hovering gracefully above a cloud.
On the wall that the sofa was facing was a big television. Pei Qian could not see any wires or plugs. Instead, the black screen looked just like a window that showed Pei Qian a whole other world.
Pei Qian remembered that he had asked for a game machine and game discs. However, he did not see any of those items by the television.
Pei Qian guessed that they had been well-hidden inside the simple and short television cabinet sitting under the television.
Apart from that, there were other pieces of furniture like a table and chairs. They looked simple as well, but one could tell with one glance that they were top-quality.
The entire space fit Pei Qian's requirements perfectly. It was so minimalistic that one could say there were only four bare walls. Some might even think that this house had just been robbed empty.
Of course, from an artistic point of view, a photograph of the living room would leave a lasting impression on anyone, no matter which angle it was taken from.
The elite space was accompanied by elite waste.
It was obvious that Liang Qingfan was a designer who treasured being elite.
Apart from the short television cabinet under the television, there was no other storage space in the living room. There wasn't a single cabinet other than that.
The huge space and the absence of trash lying around made Pei Qian feel extremely comfortable.
Liang Qingfan stood at the arc of the living room, looking out at the scenery. When he heard the doorbell ring, he turned around. "Boss Pei, are you happy with the style of this house?"
Pei Qian nodded. "I'm very happy!"
He could not help but praise Designer Liang for being ruthless.
Pei Qian had instructed him to make the four walls bare and to save on as much furniture as they could. However, he had not expected Liang Qingfan to get rid of functional pieces of furniture like cabinets, tables—dining tables and chairs as well.
Even if Liang Qingfan had wanted to cut back on the cabinets, Pei Qian would have expected him to place one or two small ones in the living room at least.
Yet, Liang Qingfan had resolutely decided against them!
Pei Qian was very happy with this. It was not easy to find such an obedient designer these days.
I've included hard rules prohibiting people from buying their own furniture or changing the layout of the house. I'll wait and see who would still be interested in renting these apartments now!
Pei Qian could not help but rejoice inwardly. He felt like he was halfway to success with Sloth Apartments.
Liang Qingfan said, "Boss Pei, allow me to show you where all the money has gone.
"To achieve this level of minimalism, I had to cut out a lot of daily necessities. For instance, there is not enough storage space here to meet anyone's daily needs. However, since Boss Pei said it wouldn't matter, I did away with it anyway.
"However, there's something that we cannot do away with—curtains.
"To give this apartment shade and privacy, curtains are a must. However, against the backdrop of such extreme minimalism, even the simplest curtains would look out of place and eye-catching.
"Thus, I changed all the glass on the windows to smart light-adjusting glass. Not only does it have all the special characteristics of safety glass, but it also is safe for the environment, has relatively high transmission, and has daylight functions. The purple and red wavelengths can be separated so that the negative effects of sunlight are dealt with.
"All in all, the rate of transmission of the glass can be greatly varied, along with the intensity of the light in the house, so that the room can feel warm and comforting. That would suit the minimalistic style of the apartment.
"On top of that—to push the minimalism of the apartment to its maximum, I have hidden all the power sockets. All the light switches have also been made into transparent glass on the smart boards.
"Those smart boards have been hidden in various corners of the room. While they're inactive, they look just like a mirror. However, once you activate them, they become touch screens that allow you to control all the lights in the house. Of course, you could also use your phone to achieve the same effect.
"The other furniture and electrical appliances, including the toilet, were bought from first-tier local brands. They were carefully selected to strike the perfect balance between functionality and art.
"Next, let me introduce you to this television. It's the latest 85-inch 4K television manufactured overseas. It's sold for 240 thousand yuan, and it comes with the latest entertainment system. That would guarantee the best gaming experience for you.
"The game machine has been hidden in the television cabinet. Once you pick up the controller, you will enter an exciting and brilliant gaming world!"
Liang Qingfan cleared his throat. "Of course, at first, I thought that buying such a huge television would not be practical. However, your budget was too high, Boss Pei…"
Pei Qian could not help but stick out his thumb. "Very good. I'm very happy with this television!"
Although all the items in the house had poor quality-price ratio, Liang Qingfan had undoubtedly fulfilled all of Pei Qian's requests perfectly.
Take the television, for example. Although it would only cost twenty thousand yuan in ten years, it was still an extremely rare appliance right now. Only tens of sets existed in the local market at the moment.
Pei Qian had left Liang Qingfan with a very high budget. At the same time, he had insisted on keeping the house looking like 'four bare walls'. Liang Qingfan had been told to cut down on the furniture as much as possible.
Thus, all the furniture and electrical appliances in the house had been bought to meet the budget.
Pei Qian liked the apartment a lot. That was because he only needed it for two things: sleep and play. What's more, he would be living there on his own.
The extreme minimalism would not cause inconvenience in his life. Instead, it was precisely the minimalism that made the place look so pleasing to his eyes.
However, he could not say the same for potential tenants.
Compared to other houses, this house would do poorly to accommodate two or more people. There was no storage space; people wouldn't be allowed to purchase their own furniture or change the layout; and they could only opt for the entire tenancy.
The apartment was more suited for one group of people: people who lived alone, would not care about having to pay nine thousand yuan for rent each month, and intended to stay there in the long-term.
In other words, the place was meant to be treated solely like a work of art to be appreciated.
Such people would be true ballers. Perhaps they would already have another house or would already be living in villas. Why would they need to rent this place?
Even if one or two ballers were retarded enough to rent an apartment here, they would be the minority for sure.
Liang Qingfan said, "Boss Pei, please see if there's anything that you're not satisfied with so that we can fix it soon."
Pei Qian raised his hand. "I'm very happy. There's no need to fix anything! You've turned my dreams into reality perfectly. This is exactly what I wanted!
"Designer Liang, I really appreciate your designing skills. I wonder if you're interested in working for Tengda."
