Chapter 190: Planning a Base
Since Zhou You's dazzling performance at the sports meet, the school's Sanda club had entered a period of rapid growth.
Originally, everyone favored Taekwondo—it was easy to learn and the poses looked cool. Who would have thought that in actual combat, its practitioners would be utterly crushed, not even leaving a trace? In contrast, the Sanda club president had actually managed to exchange a few moves. Although he was ultimately countered by Zhou You, Zhou You's counterattack was even cooler—a mid-air kick.
Especially when watching it live, it was explosively cool.
After the sports meet ended, many people signed up for the Sanda club. Coupled with Agula's collaboration with the Sanda training center, it attracted even more attention. The gap between professional and amateur athletes was starkly visible! During training, those students realized they couldn't even break through an opponent's defense, let alone inflict harm.
Next door, the Taekwondo club suffered severe member attrition, with people flocking to the Sanda club. But there was nothing they could do—these were college students, free to choose. Who could blame them for lacking skill? Even if they wanted to spar, they didn't dare, because they couldn't beat Agula.
Originally, their marketing claimed Taekwondo was top-notch for easy learning and impressing girls. But after this incident, those lies crumbled on their own.
Agula was experiencing his moment of glory at school.
Now a sophomore, Agula had joined wrestling and Sanda as a freshman. When the wrestling club eventually lost all its members, it merged with Sanda into one club. Though Agula was from a prairie city, many of his relatives still lived in the grasslands below. He'd been in touch with his family lately, inquiring about buying horses. Buying horses was easy, but finding good ones that suited his taste was harder. A few preliminary plans were in place, waiting for a trip to the grasslands to see for himself.
As the school's Sanda club grew, more people signed up at the Sanda training center. It didn't affect Zhou You much, but it was a different story for Li Houliang.
Since Zhou You got involved, the team's overall setup—hardware and software—had improved. The training center had been moved to the first floor, making it easier for external promotion and display. Now, it was starting to feel a bit cramped.
"You Ge, there are more and more people now. Do we need to expand further?" Li Houliang asked, catching a moment after training with Zhou You.
Zhou You also felt the crowding; it wasn't as comfortable as before, since many came specifically for him. The school market still had great potential—though spending power was limited, the sheer number of students made up for it. They'd already sold hundreds of trial classes.
"Alright, like I said last time, let's take over that sales office near my neighborhood. They contacted me a while back, but I was focused on training and ignored them. Let's drag it out a bit," Zhou You said, relaxing with a massage upstairs as he spoke to Li Houliang.
"Okay, but You Ge, if we buy that too, your investment will be pretty big," Li Houliang replied, both excited and worried. Excited because more investment from Zhou You meant more profit for him too—even if his share percentage dropped, the overall returns would be much larger. Worried because such a big investment could fail.
"No worries. Buying some fixed assets is a good thing to hold onto. Like I told you before, I want to build a comprehensive center with more variety, not just for Sanda," Zhou You said, having already planned it out. He was just waiting for the sales office to be cleared out and vacated.
Whether for receiving guests or leisure and entertainment, it would be a great venue, saving him from constantly running between the guesthouse and home. It would also give him a solid foundation. Plus, being right next to his home greatly improved security—one shout, and dozens of burly men would come running. Scared yet?
Unfortunately, Zhou You had always been low-key and humble, never encountering a chance to show off.
After the massage, Zhou You took Li Houliang to the sales office.
Manager Zhao had been watching eagerly lately. Ever since Zhou You first inquired, he'd reported to headquarters. The head office's instruction was clear: sell it quickly to free up capital, even at no profit. That's how many real estate companies worked—commercial properties didn't make money; residential sales did. Sometimes, in joint local projects, pure commercial ventures were unviable unless paired with residential land.
When he got Zhou You's call, he'd been waiting at the door. Seeing Zhou You arrive, he hurried down to greet him: "Hello, President Zhou! I've been hoping you'd come. After your last inquiry, I reported to headquarters, and we'll give you the best discount."
Zhou You said, "Good, let's talk upstairs."
When Zhou You had bought his house, he hadn't looked too closely since he already knew the situation. Now, Manager Zhao gave him a tour. The project was in its final phase, with few people around.
The sales office's function was to sell houses; once they were sold, the sales team disbanded, and subsequent handovers went to property management. Real estate sales were like nomads—moving from place to place, rarely staying with one company long.
This development was the most upscale in the area, so the sales office was built luxuriously and grandly, emphasizing prestige. They'd only thought about selling the houses quickly, never imagining that selling the sales office later would be such a hassle due to its size.
The sales office had a unique design, somewhat like a pyramid. The first floor was 2,000 square meters, the second 1,500, the third 1,000, and the fourth 500, totaling 5,000 square meters. In layman's terms, it was a bit of a waste of land.
But land itself wasn't valuable—it depended on its classification. Originally, commercial land was the most expensive, then residential land took the lead, while industrial land remained stable, usually around 10% of commercial land prices. The land was the same; only its designation differed, making the price vary. Strange, wasn't it?
The sales office's land was commercial. It had been acquired as a bonus, costing less than 2 million total. Adding design, construction, and decoration costs, the total still didn't exceed 10 million. Plus, the location was a bit remote. Though commercial in nature, it wasn't part of the commercial district—only the street-facing shops along the commercial street counted as proper commercial facilities. In other words, this site had very limited uses.
Zhou You looked around. Inside, there were four elevators, two on the north and south sides each. Outside, there were about 20 parking spaces, all part of the supporting facilities belonging to this building. Unfortunately, they were all above ground.
The sales office sat to the left front of the villa complex, right next to the road, making transportation very convenient. From Zhou You's villa, it stood there like a small fortress.
To be honest, if it weren't for its commercial designation, Zhou You would have wanted to move in himself. But it was too big for living. A space too large with too few occupants lacked vitality.