After coming out, Su Xiaoqi felt that her entire body smelled of hot pot and grilled meat, which was very unpleasant.
She was not feeling peaceful in her heart.
She felt a bit awful.
The tears in her eyes hadn't dried. As she walked, she cried all the way.
She had too much confusion and lack of understanding.
As she walked past one car after another, she unknowingly arrived at the gymnasium.
The gymnasium was in the shape of a large half-egg, gorgeous illuminated at night, like a glowing egg.
She went inside. People were coming and going, dressed very athletically, with somewhat flushed complexions. Some came out alone, some came out chatting and laughing together, with an indescribable feeling of relaxation about them.
When they went in, their expressions seemed rather serious.
When they came out, whether exhausted or relaxed, their spirits seemed very loose.
She stood at the entrance for a while, then got ready to go inside.
The inside was brightly lit, with a very large plaza.
She said she came to sign up to learn swimming. The staff then took her inside.
This was her first time coming inside. She had only been to the outdoor playground of the gymnasium during school sports meets before.
The swimming pool was on the right side of the gym. Looking up, there was a transparent glass ceiling. Walking in, it was a stretch of azure. There were many people inside, especially many children, with the sound of whistles, very lively.
There were eight lanes, four in the shallow water area and four in the deep water area.
The shallow water area was one and a half meters deep, and the deep water area was two meters deep. Next to it was a kids' pool for little children to play in, with several little yellow ducks floating on it.
The lights in the swimming pool at night and the ceiling lights made the whole pool shimmering.
Su Xiaoqi grew up in the deep mountains. She was still a little afraid of water, like the little creek in front of her house. When she was in second grade, after heavy rain, a female classmate of hers accidentally fell into the creek on the way to school and was washed away, only to be found two days later, having been washed very very far away.
From then on, her parents warned her never to play in the water.
The streams and rivers in the mountains were naturally formed without regulation. It was easy for accidents to happen if one went in.
But now in this bright hallway, one could see the bottom at a glance. The water was also clear, with laughter everywhere.
Seeing the people in the swimming pool swimming forward vigorously, occasionally raising their heads to breathe, Su Xiaoqi felt they looked very cool.
At this moment, that dimly-lit private booth in the bar felt so far away.
She liked it here.
"This side is the swimming area. There are also badminton courts, tennis courts, and an equipment area on the left side, mainly for practicing strength, as well as treadmills," said the staff, seeing that the little girl was full of admiration, and should really want to learn, so she introduced everything in detail.
Su Xiaoqi followed along for a tour. There were people playing badminton and tennis on those courts. As one person cannot play sports alone, she went to the equipment area. She had originally thought the equipment area was for men, and had not expected that there were also quite a few women working out.
Wearing shorts and vests, they had really good figures, with very slim waists.
It felt like the popular "A4 paper waist" and "vest line".
There were also chubby women, especially fat ones, whose legs shook when they jumped, while the coach next to them shouted, "Keep jumping, don't stop."
There were also women coaches.
When Su Xiaoqi walked in, although she was not as exaggerated as those chubby women, she would still feel embarrassed to wear little shorts and little vests, as she had a small belly and very fat legs. She was too shy to reveal so much.
She really envied those girls over there who wore so little clothing yet had such slender and beautiful figures. They didn't seem to be very tall either, yet gave people a very comfortable feeling, like they exercised very regularly, bit by bit, looking good with sweat dripping down.
After making a big round, she decided to get a membership card, so she could come here every day.
The gym was even more vibrant than the bookstore.
She liked this atmosphere. Whether children, youths, or seniors here, everyone felt so healthy and energetic.
"I need a swimming coach and a fitness coach, female only, who can teach one-on-one. I only have time during the summer vacation. Can you take a look for me and see how I should get a membership card?" Su Xiaoqi said directly to the staff after the tour.
The staff had thought that the girl would only apply for a regular membership card at best. He did not expect that she actually needed coaching, and even private lessons. He was extremely delighted. The gym had newly renovated and reopened, with promotional discounts, but private lessons were not discounted and were still very expensive, so even casually, it would be quite a considerable commission.
He was very excited, but seeing that the girl still had an indifferent expression, he calmed down too.
"Please wait a moment, miss. I’ll pour you a glass of water first. Then I’ll check the coaches’ schedules this month and will surely provide you with the most satisfactory plan."
Su Xiaoqi sat down on the sofa in the entrance lounge area, holding a cup of chrysanthemum tea.
She watched the staff flip through notebooks excitedly, make phone calls, write and draw in notebooks, before finally coming back after quite a while.
"Miss Su, I have a suggestion for you after our chat just now. As you've never had contact with swimming before, my recommendation is for you to learn two courses - freestyle and breaststroke, 12 sessions total, enough for six sessions to learn each one. The coach is extremely outstanding, having just obtained 6th place in the National Women's Swimming Competition this year, and 2nd place in the Provincial Swimming League. The course fee will be slightly higher, $600 per session. For the fitness coach, considering that your amount of swimming exercise is already quite large, she has arranged only to provide guidance to supplement your daily training, which will be cheaper, only $300 per session. She is also a female coach - the one you saw just now leading the dance aerobics. Considering the time frame, I've only selected 12 sessions, so you can use them up within a month, which is more reasonable."
As the staff member spoke, he displayed the price list, as well as introductions of those two coaches.
There was a lot more information introduced about the female swim coach, including all the competitions she had participated in and awards she had obtained.
There was less information for the private fitness coach, but looking at her own figure which was quite good - curvy and sexy yet fit, and a nice cheerful smile, it was also convincing.
Su Xiaoqi calculated the price - 12 swim sessions at $600 each, plus 12 fitness sessions at $300 each, that was $600 + $300 = $900 per session, times 12 sessions = $10,800. Having just finished the big college entrance exam, she could calculate it all instantly in her head. It turned out to be over $10,000!
In the past, she would surely have been shocked speechless to spend money so easily.
To be able to spend five digits of money so easily, used to improve herself, just from casually walking by the gym after a meal. She would have never imagined spending this much before.
Looking at the amount of over $12,000 remaining in her account, she still habitually asked, "Any opening promotion offers or discounts? I saw that there were discounts right?"
Hearing this, the staff became even more enthusiastic. A customer who was willing to bargain intended to really make the purchase.
"Miss Su, regular membership cards have 20% off discounts, but private lessons do not have discounts. So here is what I can offer you - a complimentary one-year regular gym membership card, so you can also come to work out on your own during ordinary times without private coaching. I will also gift you a gym bag and one year’s usage rights of a locker in the gym."
As the staff member spoke, he showed her the prices of these gym membership cards, locker rental, and gym bag, which would normally cost over $3,000 to apply and purchase. Getting them for free was like a 30% discount.
Something was better than nothing.
Su Xiaoqi decided to get the membership.
She nodded and went with the staff to swipe her card.
The staff had an even bigger smile on his face. He was about to get off work and had received quite a decent sale order at the last minute. He carefully registered and swiped the card, and also saved the girl's WeChat contact. He saw it was a WeChat account with no profile photo yet, with a very simple introduction of the name Su Xiaoqi, no Moments posts either, which was a bit unexpected, but he would take it slowly.
After Su Xiaoqi finished swiping her card, she saw there was $1987 remaining in her account.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
Spending money felt so good!
"Host has spent a five-digit amount of money for the first time, used to improve herself. Host has unlocked the correct way to spend money, rewarded with 30-day Swimming Talent buff."
