Chapter 523 - The Initial Effects of the Management Trainee System (1/2)

May 20th, Friday…

At Deposit Fitness…

There were not many people in the gym in the morning, and so it looked quite empty. There were only four female students training on the whole row of treadmills; the other machines were empty.

Things were not much better where the free weights were. There were only six people, and three of them were fitness trainers who were working out.

Guo Licheng had just finished training. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead with a towel and then sat down at the resting area.

He had been quite busy as the branch manager these days.

Preparations for the other branches were in full swing. Of course, Guo Licheng could not manage everything on his own. Thus, he had found a few fitness trainers in Deposit Fitness’ flagship store whom he knew very well and made them branch managers of other branches.

He purchased equipment of the same brand and informed Rui Yuchen of Fish-Catching Take-Out as well. Placing the exact same orders at all the nearby Fish-Catching Take-Out outlets would be easy to do. Only recruiting new employees would be quite troublesome.

Guo Licheng had already set recruitment guidelines for the other branches. He followed Boss Pei’s instructions strictly: they had to assess every trainer’s muscles and body shape first. Even if they could talk extremely well, they would not be hired unless they could train equally well.

That meant that many trainers did not make the cut because of their body shape. Thankfully, Boss Pei was offering a generous remuneration. Thus, despite the strict recruitment standard, a significant number of trainers who matched the criteria jumped ship.

Thus, preparation for the various branches was going quite smoothly. Deposit Fitness’ branches were going to start opening for business over the next two days.

It seemed like the Deposit Fitness outlet at Ming Yun Villas would be the first to open. Since Guo Licheng had been extremely busy, he had not found the time to take a look. He had also had no idea whether the gym would operate well or not once it opened for business.

According to Guo Licheng’s preliminary judgment, it would not go well.

One look at the state of the flagship store, and one would be able to tell.

Apart from being occupied by the other branches, Guo Licheng had been following Boss Pei’s instructions strictly and training hard. He was afraid that Boss Pei would be able to tell if he slacked for a day or two and that he would end up being criticized.

However, that also meant that Guo Licheng had no time to attract new customers or publicize the gym.

Things had been alright when Coach Yaling was still around. Each day, new customers would register for slots because of her. However, now that Boss Pei had transferred Coach Yaling away, the gym was much more deserted.

“Branch Manager, the fitness meals are here!” The lady at the front desk called out to Guo Licheng.

He looked up and saw two delivery men from Fish-Catching Take-Out carrying insulated delivery boxes on their backs. They placed them down, retrieved the take-out boxes from inside, placed them neatly on the table, and then left in a hurry.

It was almost noon, and the delivery men had other deliveries to make. Since Deposit Fitness was family, they had not felt the need to be polite. That was why they left immediately after completing the delivery.

Guo Licheng called out to the rest of the trainers. “Meal time!”

“Oh…” A few listless replies came from around the gym. Guo Licheng was helpless, too. He knew why everyone was in low spirits. They had no interest in the fitness meals whatsoever.

Fish-Catching Take-Out’s fitness meals were not that different from other fitness meals in the market. They were mainly made up of salad. Although there were other ingredients and the meal was relatively well-balanced, it still tasted bland.

If they were only eating it from time to time, they would probably be alright with it. However, they had eaten it so many times that just smelling cup noodles made them drool now.

The few students in the gym were loyal customers—the extreme minority. They had very strong wills and so had not been turned away by the meals. In fact, they had already been eating them for a long time.

To them, eating fitness meals had become nothing more than a daily task. Each day, no matter what went into the fitness meal, they would wolf it down after training and lie to their stomachs. They did all of that just to complete their tasks.

Of course, they had no interest in eating those meals.

There weren’t many people in the gym, and so there was no need to eat in smaller groups. Everyone took their respective seats and opened the lunch boxes in front of them.

After opening his own lunch box, Guo Licheng became stunned.

“Has there been a mistake?”

Half the lunch box was filled with stewed rice with mushroom and chicken breast while the other half was filled with tomato eggs and steamed tofu.

The stewed rice with mushroom and chicken breast had been made with brown rice, and it was topped with chicken breast, diced carrots, corn kernels, shiitake mushrooms, and green peppers. It had been stir-fried with a little oil and then steamed together with the brown rice. The taste of all the ingredients had been infused into the brown rice.

As for the tomato egg and steamed tofu… the tofu had first been fried with a small amount of oil. Then, the fire had been turned up, and the egg mixture poured in. Once the egg was fully-cooked, it had been wrapped evenly around the tofu. Finally, a small amount of green onion had been sprinkled over it. Both of those dishes were the latest outcomes of Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Gourmet Laboratory. The former amounted to 320 kcal, and the latter amounted to 398 kcal per serving. After taking half a serving each and combining them, a well-balanced and nutritious meal was formed.

Rui Yuchen thought that both of those dishes had satisfied his initial wish for a ‘more sustainable fitness meal’. Thus, he arranged for them to be delivered to Deposit Fitness’ flagship store today for everyone to try, so that they could all give their feedback.

However, he had not emphasized this to the delivery men. Since the latter had been busy, they had forgotten to inform Guo Licheng as well.

Guo Licheng heard someone gulping down their saliva.

They had been eating salad for such a long time. Now, everyone drooled after catching a single whiff of cup noodles. Smelling skewers was all the more torturous. Who could hold themselves back upon seeing the piping hot and fragrant meal in front of them? Still, nobody touched their cutlery. Instead, all of them looked at Guo Licheng, stunned.

Guo Licheng gulped his saliva as well. He cleared his throat and said, “I think it was a mistake. I guess there’s no other choice. We shouldn’t waste food. Let’s eat; we’ll train after this.”

“Alright!”

Everyone immediately grinned as they grabbed their lunch boxes and stuffed themselves with food.

Guo Licheng knocked on the table. “Slow down! Chewing slowly helps with digestion and prevents you from getting fat.”

It was only then that everyone slowed down.

Two of the girls held their spoons and swallowed mouth after mouth of stewed rice and tofu. Their eyes welled up with tears.