Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 717 The Bowling Ball of the Past

Chen Hui said, "How about we find a place to set up a gym? Bowling and all that exercise equipment would be fine."

Xiao Wei shook his head: "I've never been there, I've never even seen it, I don't know."

Around 91, bowling suddenly became popular in China, and bowling alleys and gyms of all sizes began to be built. These were the earliest fitness centers in China, with a variety of fitness equipment available for use.

From 91 to 2000, bowling and fitness represented aristocratic sports in China and became fashionable, but the cost was a bit high. What was originally a popular sport from abroad became a high-cost activity after it entered the market.

It's like how a bathhouse that's a popular place for the general public in Northeast China becomes a high-end place when it's in the South.

After 02, with the continuous improvement of living standards and economic levels, more and more sports became popular. Bowling, which was relatively expensive, declined in popularity. Instead, sports such as tennis, basketball, golf, and outdoor sports emerged. High-income groups went to play golf and outdoor sports, while low-income groups could not afford it. As a result, many golf clubs closed down, and fitness centers were separated into independent projects.

But back in the 90s, bowling was the most popular form of exercise. Many high-end hotels and swimming pools started making bowling lanes and fitness equipment essential facilities, and considered it a must-do activity for the elite. Back then, inviting someone to a bar or coffee shop wasn't a matter of making plans; simply mentioning "XXX bowling alley" immediately made you seem incredibly sophisticated and high-class.

Chen Hui was taken aback: "You've never been to a bowling alley?"

Xiao Wei glanced at Chen Hui: "What's so strange about that? Just because you've never been before doesn't mean you absolutely have to go!"

Chen Hui gave Xiao Wei a disdainful look: "Do you even know what class is? Can a successful person be called successful if they don't bowl?"

Xiao Wei smiled and asked, "What's it like inside?"

Chen Hui got excited and gestured, saying, "You have to change into special shoes to go in. The fairways are row by row, each fairway is more than a meter wide, and they're as smooth as a mirror. There's a ball this big, and nine wooden posts in front of it. You have to knock down the posts with one ball. The more posts you knock down, the better."

There's a rest area inside where you can sit on the sofa and have a drink, or eat—Western food. There are also various exercise machines—foreign equipment for arm strength, abs, and legs.

Xiao Wei said, "It's similar to the game of throwing a sack when we were kids. You throw it out to hit things, and whoever knocks them down wins. I'm quite interested in that fitness machine you mentioned, but this ball... well, never mind, it doesn't seem very interesting."

Chen Hui said, "Whether you're interested or not doesn't matter. This thing is hot right now, tons of people are playing it, it's lucrative."

Xiao Wei shook his head: "You're always thinking too much. If there are so many ways to make money, why would we do them all? Besides, whether it's profitable or not is just what other people say. Who knows if it's true or not? Just from what you're saying, I know this thing requires a huge investment and must be very expensive. How many ordinary people can afford it? I don't think it's reliable. Compared to this, I'd rather open a bigger bathhouse. At least we'd understand what's going on inside."

Chen Hui scratched his head: "You really don't want to do this?"

Xiao Wei said, "If you really don't want to, I advise you not to either. It's better to focus on doing well in the business we have now. It's best to avoid things you don't understand. Besides, we're already doing enough: real estate, food, restaurants, animal feed, furniture, cars, shopping malls, training schools—isn't that enough? Yesterday, Han San said he wanted to get into hotels, but I didn't agree."

Chen Hui asked, "Han San wants to run a hotel? He wants to partner with us? Where is it?"

Xiao Wei said, "He wants to open a hotel on the tenth or twentieth floor of our headquarters building. I told him that if he wants to do it, he can do it himself and we can just collect the rent. He said he'll go back and discuss it with his family."

Chen Hui asked, "Why don't we do it?"

Xiao Wei said, "There are two aspects. One is that we don't understand it, you understand? The investment is not small. To run a decent hotel, you can open dozens of cake shops. How much money can dozens of cake shops make? We don't understand hotel management at all, we don't even know where the money comes from."

Another issue is the lack of manpower. We don't have enough staff right now. Lao Xia has to go to work. You can run around for now, but you'll still have to go to work eventually. Geng Hui and Chen Xiao can manage finances and administration, but they can't handle everything on their own.

For food, there's Brother Long; for cakes, there's Master Li; and for feed, they've managed to capture Liu Hongliang. But for restaurants, real estate, furniture, cars, and shopping malls, there's practically no one available.

The restaurant is still open, the cake shop is still open, where are we going to get people? Besides, we're currently using loans, and relying on loans to do things we're not familiar with is too risky; we can't afford it.

Chen Hui nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll listen to you. It's not that I absolutely have to do it, I'm just quite interested."

Xiao Wei said, "There are too many things that can arouse interest, and no matter what, we have money now. It's not difficult to spend some money to set one up. You could say it's very easy. But if we run it, we're doomed. How can we make money? Right? Actually, of the things we're doing now, I feel that food is the most sustainable, followed by real estate. Furniture counts too, but it can't be completely considered ours yet."

I can't predict the future of restaurants and shopping malls, but those don't require much specialized knowledge. Just do your best to make things work. Anji has the legacy of Fifth Brother, so I'm not worried. As for animal feed, once we get started, we'll probably need to hire some professionals. We don't really understand it; I wouldn't have done it if the costs weren't so low.”

Chen Hui said, "You haven't mentioned pig farming and cars yet."

Xiao Wei said, "What's the big deal about raising pigs? As long as there are people, they'll need meat. It's not a matter of making a lot or a little, I won't lose money. I've never even thought about cars. I'm mainly doing this for my own cheap use. How many families can afford a car these days?"

Chen Hui put his legs on the stone platform by the roadside to press down, and said, "I don't really care about the restaurant. People have to eat. If business is good now, it won't be bad in the future. There will only be more and more rich people, not fewer."

I think selling a car makes sense. There will be more and more wealthy people in the future, and who wouldn't want a car? Now China Construction Bank has launched the Great Wall Card, which has a credit limit. You can spend it directly without going through any formalities, and then pay it back later.

So I feel that loans might gradually be opened up to private individuals in the future, and sooner or later they will be available to ordinary people. Do you think people will take out loans to buy cars?

Xiao Wei said, "You mean, we should set up this car sales business?"

Chen Hui said, "Anyway, we have a house, so let's just display one. Whether they buy it or not, it's just for show, and it'll boost our image. Everyone'll see us selling cars everywhere. Do you think when people want to buy a car in the future, we'll be the first one they think of?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then let's put it there. It won't take up much space anyway."

Chen Hui leaned against a tree by the roadside, lifted one foot to take off his shoe and let his foot breathe and rest. He said, "Actually, I feel that for now, one restaurant is enough for Xidu. But we can open a few more cake shops, seven or eight, and observe the situation."

(End of this chapter)