Chapter 47: Affection and Loyalty are Priceless!

Huang Zhui stepped down from the ring. Although somewhat shaken by Lu Feng's overwhelming skill, he couldn't help advising, "Xiao Feng, with moves like yours, try not to use them outside unless it's absolutely necessary. It's simply too dangerous."

"Brother Zhui, I understand," Lu Feng nodded. He walked over to a corner and began striking a heavy punching bag.

Wearing boxing gloves felt rather cumbersome, so he removed them entirely, unleashing bare-handed strikes directly against the leather bag.

This time, there was no awkward restriction whatsoever. His movements flowed naturally, and each punch slammed into the bag with tremendous force, sending it swinging violently and producing deep, booming echoes that would make anyone shudder just watching.

Before long, Lu Feng stopped, having thoroughly worked up a sweat and satisfied his urge to spar.

Huang Zhui walked over, handing him a bottle of sports energy drink. "Here, have a drink."

Lu Feng took the bottle, downed a couple of gulps, and asked, "Brother Zhui, is running a gym like this actually profitable?"

Huang Zhui smiled and replied, "Nowadays, fitness is all the craze among the general public, so running a gym is definitely profitable. But you have to manage it properly. Take our gym, for example—we clearly have a ton of regular members, yet the owner refuses to renovate the facilities or hire attractive, curvy female personal trainers. Instead, he wastes money tipping live-stream hostesses."

"That's why the gym's business struggles to thrive. Right now, the owner is going through a messy divorce with his wife and is even thinking about selling the gym just to transfer his assets!"

"Oh!" Lu Feng chuckled in surprise.

Indeed, live-streaming hostesses had become the catalyst for the downfall of many marriages these days.

He couldn't help wondering if those men possessed pig brains.

Once those hostesses removed their makeup and turned off their beauty filters, they looked terrifying enough to make a person abandon their car and flee overnight, yet these fools were actually stupid enough to tip them lavishly.

Of course, stories of internet top-donors running away with loaded trains overnight happened all the time.

"By the way, the owner wants to sell the gym?" Lu Feng suddenly latched onto that detail and asked with a smile, "Brother Zhui, can you get in touch with your boss? Just tell him I want to buy this gym."

He knew nothing about managing a gym, but since Huang Zhui said it could make money, then it certainly could.

Naturally, turning a profit wasn't his primary goal; he simply wanted to buy the gym and put Huang Zhui in charge.

He remembered everyone who had previously helped him scrape together money, and he intended to repay every single one of them. His purpose was to return the favor Huang Zhui had shown him.

As he had said before, whether that money ended up being spent or not didn't matter—the sentiment was what counted most.

Huang Zhui had stepped away from the martial world, and since he was already working in the fitness industry, buying this gym and letting him manage it would give him far more prestige than simply working as a boxing coach. His salary would be higher, and he could even receive a share of the profits.

As for whether the gym turned a profit, Lu Feng didn't really care; even breaking even would be fine.

Some might call him a fool for throwing money away like this, but genuine friendship and deep gratitude were priceless. How could ordinary people understand that?

Huang Zhui didn't overthink it, asking with a trace of uncertainty, "Xiao Feng, are you serious about buying this gym?"

"Yes!" Lu Feng nodded decisively.

Having received confirmation, Huang Zhui took out his phone and dialed the owner's number.

A few moments later, a young man sporting a thin mustache arrived. Upon seeing Huang Zhui, he asked, "Huang Zhui, who is looking to take over my gym?"

Huang Zhui pointed at Lu Feng and introduced them: "This is Lu Feng. He wants to buy the gym."

The young man immediately turned his gaze to Lu Feng and stated bluntly, "Mr. Lu, the premises and all equipment go as a package for 400,000. It's an absolutely fair price, which you can verify with Huang Zhui. If you really want it, we can sign the contract and process the paperwork at any time."

Lu Feng glanced at Huang Zhui.

Huang Zhui nodded back in agreement.

The gym had a sizable floor space. Although the interior decoration was a bit dated, the equipment was quite new, and there was a solid base of regular members. The asking price was thoroughly justified.

"Alright, I'll take it. We can sign the contract right now," Lu Feng told the gym owner with a smile.

The owner was indeed eager to offload the property, likely in a rush to elope with his favorite live-streaming hostess. He immediately retrieved the transfer contract from his office and accompanied Lu Feng to complete the official registration at the industrial and commercial bureau.

In no time at all, the gym officially became Lu Feng's property.

Upon returning to the premises, the staff were left in a daze, suddenly realizing they had a new boss overnight.

"Xiao Feng, do you want to change the name of the gym?" Huang Zhui suggested to Lu Feng, adding, "The name 'Jianhu Fitness Club' sounds a bit tacky."

"True, there's no need to keep someone else's name," Lu Feng laughed. "How about changing it to Qingfeng Fitness Club?"

While the name Qingfeng wasn't exceptionally flashy, it sounded pleasant and grew on you once used. The teahouse was called Qingfeng Teahouse, and the tea factory could be named Qingfeng Tea Factory as well, so calling the gym Qingfeng Fitness Club would simply unify his business brand names.

With that settled, he cut straight to the chase: "Brother Zhui, I usually have a lot on my plate and won't be able to look after the gym myself. I'd like you to help me manage it!"

After all, this was his primary objective all along.

Hearing this, Huang Zhui froze visibly before processing the statement.

So this was the real reason Lu Feng had bought the gym?

"Xiao Feng, you..." Huang Zhui was momentarily at a loss for words.

He had heard Ah Lin and Ah Pao mention that Lu Feng was an exceptionally loyal person—even when running a guaranteed-profit tea factory business, he had been willing to bring them along and let them invest for a share.

"Brother Zhui, just make sure you don't lose my money!" Lu Feng joked with a grin.

Huang Zhui, however, replied with utmost sincerity, "Xiao Feng, since you think highly of me, I will definitely work hard and make sure you don't lose a cent."

Although he had stepped away from the streets for the sake of his wife, who wouldn't want to live a better life?

Working as the director of this gym was infinitely better than remaining a mere boxing coach, wasn't it?

"I trust you, Brother Zhui," Lu Feng nodded with a smile, then added, "By the way, go ahead and renovate whatever needs remodeling in this gym. Afterward, I'll transfer the necessary funds directly into the gym's account."

Having entrusted all matters concerning the gym to Huang Zhui, Lu Feng went home to take a refreshing bath before heading to the hospital to visit his mother.

Upon arriving at his destination, the attending physician happened to be there and greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Lu, congratulations. Your mother is completely out of danger and can be discharged tomorrow."

"Thank you, Doctor." A wave of pure joy washed over Lu Feng's face upon hearing the news.

Nevertheless, for his own peace of mind, he raised his diagnostic wristwatch and scanned his mother's body.

Instantly, Lin Shuang's anatomical lines and structural status appeared on his visual smart glasses.

"The target shows no major issues at present. However, having just undergone surgery, careful post-operative recuperation is required!"

Reading the diagnostic data, Lu Feng felt completely reassured.

Afterward, he shared this wonderful news with Yang Qingxue.

Early the next morning, he arrived at the hospital punctually to pick up his mother. Yang Qingxue had also arrived, and to his surprise, Chen Fen was there as well. He quickly stepped forward to greet her, "Auntie, you came too."

"Your mother is being discharged, of course I should come," Chen Fen said with a warm smile, immediately stepping forward to help Lin Shuang carry her belongings. "Lu Feng's mom, since you've just been discharged, you need to rest and recuperate properly. I brought a free-range chicken I slaughtered myself, and I'll stew it up for you to eat later."

Knowing that Chen Fen was Yang Qingxue's mother, Lin Shuang beamed with delight. "Qingxue's mom, you're far too kind!"

Knowing that the family was entirely free of debt and that her son was becoming successful, her greatest wish was for her son and Yang Qingxue to have a happy ending.

Now that Yang Qingxue's mother had personally come to help her leave the hospital, it was absolute proof of a promising future, bringing her boundless joy.

Lu Feng drove his mother back to their home at the The One residence.

It was Lin Shuang's first time stepping inside the new apartment. The spacious layout of over one hundred and twenty square meters filled her face with a mixture of excitement and sheer delight.

After all, her ultimate dream had merely been to help her son put down a deposit on a tiny apartment so he could find a wife, yet her son had managed to buy such a magnificent place entirely on his own.

At noon, Chen Fen used the free-range chicken she had brought to stew a nourishing soup for Lin Shuang.

Perhaps because both women were single mothers, or perhaps because their children were in a relationship, over the course of a single meal, their bond grew remarkably close.

After lunch, Lu Feng took his mother out to visit the teahouse.

Upon seeing the spacious interior and high-end, elegant decoration of Qingfeng Teahouse, Lin Shuang realized just how successful her son had truly become.

No sooner had they stepped into the office with his mother and the others than Da Fei hurried over. "Young Feng, the tea production line has arrived ahead of schedule, and the technicians from the manufacturing company are currently calibrating it. Some of the raw tea-processing materials have also been purchased. Once the line calibration is finished, we can begin test production."

Hearing this, Lu Feng asked little Yao to stay behind and entertain his mother and the guests while he followed Da Fei out of the teahouse and headed toward the tea factory.

The special herbal powder formula used to produce Qingfeng Tea was possessed exclusively by him, and he had already filed and registered the patent!

However, he still needed to instruct Da Fei on the process.

Upon arriving at the factory, several people were already bustling about.

Components of the tea production line were scattered all across the floor, and the technicians dispatched by the manufacturing firm were busy assembling and fine-tuning them.

"Where are the materials?" Lu Feng inquired.

"In the warehouse over here!" Da Fei led Lu Feng into a storage room to inspect the required ingredients.

Lu Feng had Da Fei bring out a portion of the tea ingredients, demonstrated the method for preparing the herbal powder formula, and guided him through the process several times.

Following that, the two of them walked over to an assembled piece of machinery, where they programmed the sequence for mixing the ingredients into the control panel. From then on, the machine could automatically produce the specialized herbal powder blend.

The tea production line took half a day to fully calibrate.

After cleaning the equipment thoroughly, Da Fei started the machinery and initiated a test run.

Before long, a small package of finished tea leaves emerged from the chute.

With a mixture of nervousness and anticipation, Da Fei fetched a kettle of boiling water, brewed a pot using the newly produced leaves, poured a cup, and took a sip. A look of ecstasy immediately lit up his face. "It's a success!"

Lu Feng poured himself a cup as well and drank it. Sure enough, a rich, fragrant aroma rushed into his nostrils, followed by a lingering, sweet aftertaste—it was the exact signature flavor of Qingfeng Tea.

Da Fei whipped out his phone, dialed a number, and shouted into the receiver with a beaming face, "Chen Hai, Lin Qian, hurry up and help me procure the freshest tea leaves!"

It was no wonder he was so excited; this meant a continuous, endless stream of Qingfeng Tea could now be manufactured.

A single box of this tea sold for 7,500, and what was the production cost? It was pure, unadulterated windfall profit.

Next on his mind was figuring out the best strategy to market and sell the tea.

"Right, don't forget to invite County Magistrate Lin," Lu Feng reminded him, recalling that Lin Xuecheng had mentioned the matter previously and even offered to help secure intangible cultural heritage status for Qingfeng Tea.

Da Fei nodded vigorously. "I remember. I'll make a personal trip to the county office later."

Before long, Lin Xuecheng received the invitation from Qingfeng Tea Factory.

He naturally remembered the affair concerning the tea factory.

After all, Hu Quan's investment had been secured thanks to Qingfeng Tea, and Hu Quan's early-stage pulmonary tumor had been detected purely because of Lu Feng's warning.

Furthermore, he deeply hoped that Yucheng could foster a premier tea brand, and Qingfeng Tea had all the makings of one.

Upon receiving the notice, Lin Xuecheng dialed Hu Quan's number. As soon as the call connected, he asked, "Director Hu, how is your health?"

Hu Quan's voice came through: "No major effects at all. It was the initial stage, so medication is sufficient. I really have to thank Mr. Lu for his warning."

Lin Xuecheng smiled and replied, "Mr. Lu's tea factory is about to start production. Would Director Hu be interested in taking a look when the time comes?"

"Naturally, I would!" Hu Quan responded without hesitation. "I've been meaning to thank Mr. Lu anyway, so I'll make sure to introduce several tea distributors to him as well."