"I have an assignment from the company I work for to acquire a gym. I need someone to help take photos of every piece of equipment there and find out their prices on the internet. Usually I ask Mei Mei for help, but she’s sick and has to be absent. That’s why I want to ask for your help with this," Qian Yingyue explained.
"Are you sure you want to ask me for this?" Liam asked.
"After all, you have a lot of experience with part-time jobs. This shouldn’t be difficult for you. I’m not sure about the others," Qian Yingyue replied.
"Of course, I’ll pay you hourly according to the minimum wage," she added.
"If you trust me, then alright..." Liam had no intention of refusing from the start.
He just wanted to know the woman’s reason.
It turned out she was quite optimistic about his abilities, even though she had just bought research results from him.
To the gym?
Liam actually liked that even more.
He could learn from this, since he might buy a gym himself later.
He wanted to know the price of a gym first.
"Let’s use my car." Liam took out his car keys.
Qian Yingyue nodded and followed him to the parking lot.
Walking together with such an exemplary international student, Liam once again surprised some of the students.
He hadn’t seen Fiona Wilson so far; perhaps she hadn’t arrived yet.
When they arrived in front of the car, Qian Yingyue looked quite surprised.
"You have a car like this?" she said.
Liam didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard that.
"It’s been a few days since I bought it and brought it to the university," Liam replied.
"It seems you have more money than people say. Did I make a mistake hiring you?" Qian Yingyue said.
"No, not at all. Honestly, I also want to learn. It wouldn’t matter even if I wasn’t paid," Liam replied.
"Alright!" Qian Yingyue nodded immediately.
Liam didn’t know what she meant by "alright"—whether it was about not needing to pay him.
He didn’t plan to dwell on it.
"Please!" He gestured for the woman to get into the passenger seat.
She got into the front passenger seat, and Liam entered the driver’s seat.
"So, which gym is it?" Liam asked.
"This one, do you know it?" Qian Yingyue showed a location on her phone displaying a map.
Liam showed a strange expression when he saw it—it was the gym where he trained.
"Yes, I know it!" Liam started driving.
The road was quite congested since it was rush hour.
Liam drove slowly while occasionally glancing at Qian Yingyue, who was busy reading data on her phone.
"Yingyue, do you have a boyfriend?" Liam asked, unable to resist bringing it up.
Qian Yingyue looked at him with some surprise.
Then she shook her head.
"No," she said briefly before looking back at her phone.
"I thought you had a boyfriend in your country," Liam continued.
"I’ve never even dated," the woman replied.
"Why?" Liam was quite surprised.
"No time."
"No time..." Liam laughed when he heard that.
She really was someone obsessed with studying.
But from what Liam saw when she spoke, she wasn’t the rigid or emotionally unintelligent type.
"It must be exhausting being you," Liam said.
"Not entirely, I quite enjoy my life."
"I think you haven’t really enjoyed life."
"That’s just a difference in definition. In China, we are expected to focus."
"If you focus too much, you’ll eventually grow old. They say the working world is even busier—are you going to let your life after college be consumed by work? The world is actually more beautiful when you do enjoyable things in between your busy life."
"It seems you like giving advice to others," Qian Yingyue said.
"This is my first time. I just can’t bear to see you too busy."
"Maybe I am a bit excessive. Thank you for the advice." Qian Yingyue actually nodded.
This was beyond Liam’s expectations.
Then, he saw the woman looking at him suspiciously.
Liam looked back to the front.
"Sometimes I’m interested in the Western lifestyle that gives more freedom, but too much freedom isn’t the kind of life I like. I think there still need to be boundaries."
"Do dating and living together fall outside those boundaries in your opinion?" Liam asked again.
"If it’s just that, it already happens a lot even in my country. People are too busy to deal with marriage. I don’t have a particular opinion since I don’t even have a boyfriend," Qian Yingyue replied.
Liam wanted to ask what kind of man she liked, but he thought it was too early since the woman was already suspicious.
If he rushed too much, she might feel uncomfortable.
The fact that they could go out together was already a rare opportunity he didn’t think would come.
He nodded in response without saying anything else so Qian Yingyue could return to looking at her phone.
Not long after, they arrived at the gym.
Liam saw that the bald manager was already standing at the entrance, as if waiting for someone.
He looked quite surprised when he saw Liam’s car.
Qian Yingyue got out of the car, and the manager looked even more surprised.
"Miss Qian..." He approached and greeted her, then looked at Liam, who got out from the driver’s seat.
"Mr. Hemsworth, I didn’t expect to see you again. Are you and Miss Qian colleagues?"
Qian Yingyue was surprised to hear that from the manager.
She didn’t expect him to know Liam.
"No, we’re classmates at the university. I’m here to help with her work," Liam replied.
"Ohh..." The manager nodded.
"Mr. Harris, how about we go in now?" Qian Yingyue said.
"Of course, please... You can observe this gym. All rooms are open to you," the manager replied, guiding them inside.
Qian Yingyue acted professionally, focusing on observing the gym.
At that hour, the gym was naturally quiet. Liam only saw a few people who weren’t particularly muscular, lifting relatively light dumbbells.
"Liam, just take photos of those dumbbells and attach their prices to the photos. Later, send those photos to me," Qian Yingyue said.
"Of course..." Liam nodded, taking out his iPhone.
This wasn’t a difficult job, and he could do it while trading every hour.
Liam took photos of each dumbbell from different angles, checked their prices on the internet, and then wrote them directly onto the photos.
Qian Yingyue did the same, but she worked on the second floor, which was specifically for women.
Even though there were hundreds of pieces of equipment, Liam could find their prices and record them within a minute.
He only needed to keep writing without paying excessive attention to detail—as long as it was clear that the item shown online matched the one he photographed.
Paying attention to detail would be Qian Yingyue’s task.
The manager followed Qian Yingyue upstairs, so Liam worked without any interruptions.
Liam noticed his Physique Power increasing little by little, though not enough for him to actually feel stronger.
(Physique Power: 0.6502192)
The change in the numbers was very small even after two hours, and he finished his work.
He grabbed an energy drink from the fridge, then sat back and relaxed while waiting for Qian Yingyue, sending the photos he took to her number, which he found in the class group.
So far, he had completed two more trades.
Around 500 thousand dollars had been distributed, and half of it was stored in his wallet.
The balance in that wallet had now reached 7 million dollars due to additional incoming fees.
Qian Yingyue came down from the second floor about 15 minutes later, chatting with the manager.
"Liam, I’m done, let’s go," she said.
"Alright!" Liam wasn’t interested in staying longer in a gym with so few visitors.
They left the gym right away.
"Do you want to have lunch? I’ll treat you. It wouldn’t be polite if I didn’t give you anything," Qian Yingyue said once they were on the road.
Liam rolled his eyes when he heard that.
Chinese people really prioritize profit above everything else.
Even 20 or 40 dollars wouldn’t be spared if it could be saved.
"Sure, where?" Liam replied.
He wanted to see what kind of restaurant she would choose, and it turned out she pointed to a fast-food restaurant—McDonald’s.
Liam could only hold back a smile, pretending he had no problem with it.
After all, he was quite used to eating there.
They picked a table and ate there.
"How much do you think that gym is worth?" Liam asked.
"I can’t decide yet. The price of the equipment still needs to be calculated and reduced since they are already used," Qian Yingyue replied.
"Just an estimate," Liam said.
"Around 3 million dollars, since the place is owned by them, not rented. Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious," Liam answered.
With that price, he could afford to buy it, since his personal funds were already quite large.
He didn’t even know exactly how much he had, as it was spread across bank accounts, exchanges, wallets, and forex.
"Right, why is the gym being sold?" Liam asked again.
"The parent company is having financial problems, so they have no choice but to sell some of their assets."
"Will your company renovate it?"
"Maybe. That’s up to the higher-ups. I’m only assigned to assess the fair value of their assets. Of course, we’ll also negotiate to lower the price."
"I see..."
DING!
(You have obtained the Property Cheat; a cheat that allows you to pay only 10% of a property’s actual price. When making a purchase, you only need to transfer 10% of the price. However, this cheat can only be used once per day!)
Suddenly, a surprising notification from the System appeared, causing Liam’s eyes to blink repeatedly.