Almighty Coach

After walking out of Los Angeles Airport, Dai Li hailed a taxi and went to the reserved hotel.

The urban area of ​​Los Angeles is still the same as it was a few years ago, and there is no change at all, which makes Dai Li feel a familiar smell.

The cities in the United States are like this. Their cities will continue to expand in the form of blocks, but the urban areas themselves will not change much. The model of demolition, construction and demolition is rare in the United States. In cities like New York and Chicago, buildings from the 50s, 60s, or even hundreds of years are everywhere. For example, Grand Central Station in New York has remained the same for more than a hundred years, so many people will feel that the big cities in the United States are backward in terms of infrastructure.

The situation in downtown Los Angeles is similar. Although it is very prosperous, it is almost the same every year, and there is no change.

After entering the main hotel, Dai Li went to the bank first and exchanged a check for 1.5 million US dollars. This was given to Li Dai by Xiao Yunan. It was Xiao Yunan's personal money saved when he was studying in the United States. In addition, Li Dai also had 800,000 US dollars in start-up funds. This was mainly because Li Dai helped Duke Gale and others in Europe. Remuneration earned by people recovering.

Dai Li plans to open a training gym in Los Angeles. The sports industry in the United States is very developed, and the common people love sports. There are many similar sports training halls in the United States. There are specialized physical training halls, and there are also training halls for specific sports, such as boxing. gymnasium, gymnasium, swimming pool, etc. Some of them are not-for-profit and some are for-profit.

Dai Li is naturally not engaged in charity. He wants to open a profit-making training center, which is equivalent to setting up a small business. The application procedures are not complicated, and it is very easy with the help of a professional lawyer. Dai Li doesn't mind spending more on legal fees. After all, if there are professionals to operate, he can avoid a lot of worries.

If you can apply for a company, you must have a production and business location, so before that, the first thing Li Dai has to do is to find a suitable business location, that is, the business location for the training center.

Dai Li only has more than two million US dollars, which is not enough to buy a suitable training venue. The price of buying land for construction is even more expensive, and he can't even afford it. Dai Li still needs to leave a part of the money for operating funds, so Li Dai can only choose to rent a venue.

The Los Angeles real estate market has always been relatively prosperous, which also supported a large number of real estate agents. Li Dai found several real estate agents, left his email address, and returned to the hotel with peace of mind. He knew the properties The agent will send the information to himself shortly.

Sure enough, in the next three days, Li Dailu received more than a dozen emails one after another, all of which were housing information from real estate agents.

"This was a training hall before, but the asking price is too high. If I rent it, I don't have much liquidity in my hand."

"The usable area here is too small. It's okay to open a gym, but it's definitely not enough to open a physical training center. Oh, it's said in the introduction that this is a training hall."

"This gym is big enough, but it's a pity that the location is not good, it's too remote, and there are Mexicans gathering around it. I heard that there are many illegal immigrants, and the law and order may not be very good."

"The location is good, and the price is right, but it used to be a hardware store and needs to be remodeled. It will cost a lot of money, and adding fitness equipment will cost a lot of money, so it's not worth it."

"This is a swimming pool, and there is also a ten-meter diving platform. I am just starting out now, and it seems useless to have a swimming pool."

"Hey, this one is not bad. Well, the landlord requires a five-year minimum rent, so let's forget it. The time is too long. Five years, maybe I will move to a better place."

Dai Li browsed emails one by one, and carefully screened the information sent by the real estate agency.

Finally, one of the emails attracted Dai Li.

"This is very suitable, the location is very good, there are no slums around, most of them are middle-class neighborhoods, and there is a university not far away. This venue was originally a medium-sized gymnastics gymnasium. A fitness room with a lot of fitness equipment, I can use all of them. The price... there is no price tag? What do you mean?"

Dai Li frowned slightly. These real estate agencies in the United States are more professional, and they introduce the lease agreement in more detail, such as the price, the minimum lease time required by the landlord, how much deposit is required, whether it can be remodeled, etc. Clearly, it seems that there is no price listed. This is the first time Dai Li has encountered it.

"I've seen the qualification certificate of this real estate agency. It should be a professional and reliable one. But why is there no price?" Dai Li hesitated for a while, but still dialed the number of the real estate agency.

After explaining the purpose of coming, the real estate agent immediately explained.

"Mr. Li, it's like this. The gym you're looking at is quite special. It's not privately owned. It's owned by a bank. Previously, it was a gymnastics gym, but not long ago, a scandal broke out in the American gymnastics circle. , and the operator of this gymnastics gym was also accused, he went bankrupt and faced a lawsuit, so during the bankruptcy liquidation, the gymnastics gym was taken away by the bank."

"So that's the case." Dai Li nodded. He had also heard a little about the recent scandal in the American gymnastics circle.

At the very beginning, a gymnast of the U.S. national team appealed on social media that he was molested by the team doctor. Later, the U.S. media began to investigate and found that this was not a single incident. Hundreds of gymnasts across the U.S. have encountered coaches , gymnastics gym owners, and other gymnastics staff sexual assault or sexual harassment, more importantly, these gymnasts are minors.

This immediately stabbed a hornet's nest. It was hailed as the biggest scandal in the history of American gymnastics, and it rose to the level of moral crime. More than 3,000 gymnastics gyms in the United States are under the management of the American Gymnastics Association. Even the United States The president of the Gymnastics Association was forced to resign as a result.

I only heard the real estate agent continue to say: "The original owner of this gymnasium planned to sell the gymnastics hall to pay off the debt, but no one bought it. Later, after the gymnastics hall was taken away by the bank, there were three auctions, but all failed in the end. gone."

"Why? Is the price too high?" Dai Li asked.

"Yes, in my opinion, the price is a bit high. The original gymnastics owner owes too much debt, and he will be sued next, and he will spend several years in jail. It is impossible to repay the debt, so the bank hopes to recover the loss as much as possible, and the auction price is relatively high." The intermediary continued.

"Then why not sell it a little cheaper?" Dai Li continued to ask.

"In recent years, California has attracted a lot of foreign immigrants, many of whom are rich, which has also pushed up housing prices in the entire California, and the location of this gymnasium is very good, it should be favored by foreign investors , so the bank is unwilling to sell at a low price." The intermediary continued.

"It's not willing to sell it if it's cheap, but it can't be sold if it's too expensive, so the bank decided to try to rent out the gymnasium first. What about the price? If the bank really wanted to rent it out, why didn't the bank indicate the price?" Dai Li continued to ask.

"This is exactly the reason I want to explain to you. In fact, the bank offered two prices. One is a direct rental price. I personally think it is more expensive, and it is not cost-effective at all; the other is a relatively low price. The rent, but there are additional conditions. Because of this, I did not attach a specific price." The real estate agent said.

"There are additional conditions? Is it more stringent?" Dai Li asked with a frown.

"I don't know how to evaluate this additional condition." The real estate agent paused, and then said; "The bank said that if this venue continues to be used as a sports training venue, then the new venue operator will have to bear 10 to 100 yuan for free. The training of 15 disabled athletes, so that they can enjoy a more favorable rent. Otherwise, they can only pay the original rent.”

"How could there be such a strange condition? You still have to undertake the training of disabled athletes?" Dai Li looked puzzled.

"Well, it's not inconvenient for me to disclose. In fact, I accepted this business because I had a lot of business dealings with this bank. If Mr. Li is interested in this venue, I can ask people from the bank to come out and talk to him. You can talk to each other face to face about this additional condition." The real estate agent said.

...

When he got off work in the evening of the next day, Dai Li came to a nearby cafe.

"Mr. Li, this is the City Councilor, Mr. Anthony." The intermediary introduced.

"City Councilman?" Dai Li looked at the real estate agency with a puzzled expression on his face. He came here to meet someone from the bank, but the agency introduced him to a Los Angeles City Councilman.

The real estate agent next to him explained: "It's like this. Mr. Anthony is the head of that bank in Los Angeles, and he also successfully ran for the Los Angeles City Councilman last year."

The agent didn't stay in the cafe after the introduction last night, but found an excuse to leave, leaving Anthony and Dai Li behind.

"Mr. Li, I think you must be very curious, why would I offer such a strange lease condition?" Anthony asked directly.

"Yes, that's why I came here." Dai Li nodded, and continued, "To tell you the truth, I plan to use this venue to open a physical training gym. I am also capable of the extra conditions you proposed. It does, but I want to know why?"

"Actually, the reason is very simple, but it's not easy to explain to the outside world." Anthony looked around, lowered his voice, and continued: "When I ran for city councilor last year, I made a promise to voters. Caring for the disabled, I was elected later, so naturally I have to fulfill my campaign promise.”

"Not long ago, several amateur disabled athletes approached me, and they told me that they hoped to receive professional sports training, but most of the coaches provided by the Disabled Persons Security Center were low-level volunteers who could not satisfy their training needs. The requirements of the high-level professional training hall, the charging price is beyond their affordability. That's why I thought of the additional conditions of this rental venue."

"However, it is not very convenient to disclose this matter. After all, this venue belongs to the bank's assets. Although I, as the person in charge of the bank, have the right to decide the final amount of rent, if I lower the rent without authorization, it is actually a certain amount. It has harmed the interests of the bank to a certain extent. This is tantamount to using the power in my hands to fulfill my personal campaign promises.”

When Anthony said this, he smiled strangely, showing a "you understand" expression.

Dai Li on the opposite side also nodded and smiled, expressing that he understood what Anthony meant. He is not like many so-called public intellectuals, who always advocate how clean and honest European and American countries are.

In fact, it is not new for foreign politicians to use power or resources in their hands to seek benefits, and it is even a tacitly tolerated behavior, but the so-called benefits here are not necessarily expressed in the form of money. For example, use the power and resources in your hands to help yourself re-elect, help your campaign sponsors, or suppress political opponents. Although you don't get a penny of benefits from it, you are still seeking benefits.

Just like the American TV series "House of Cards", there are many people who are good at "using power", and some of the benefit exchanges they make are not noble at all, and can even be described as "despicable and nasty". In fact, this is more like an unspoken rule in European and American countries. Every politician is like this, more or less seeking interests for themselves, and exchanging interests with others. Frankly speaking, this is politics, and the whole world is pretty much the same routine. If you are really pure like the Virgin, it is impossible to become a politician. It's like a sheep that can never blend in with the wolves.

Anthony's current behavior is also the same, but it can only be regarded as insignificant compared with "House of Cards".

Dai Li doesn't mind if Anthony is using his power for personal gain, nor does he care if the bank will suffer losses. What he cares about is the rental price of the training hall, which concerns Dai Li's immediate interests.

So Dai Li asked, "Mr. Anthony, if I am willing to accept this additional condition, how much discount can you give me in terms of rent?"

"These." Anthony took out a pen and wrote a number on the napkin in front of him, and Liang showed it to Dai Li.

Seeing this number, Dai Li's heart was already tempted. This is a very cost-effective number. With this price, no such suitable venue can be rented in the whole of Los Angeles.

But Dai Li didn't agree, but frowned deliberately, as if he was very dissatisfied with it.

"Mr. Anthony, the training of disabled athletes is different from that of ordinary people. It requires very high professional skills. If a disabled athlete trains with me for four hours a week, then what you proposed is based on the minimum of ten people. I have to pay an extra 40 hours of work per week, which is already the weekly working hours stipulated by law. This is equivalent to the fact that I need to hire an extra coach for this purpose." Dai Li talked eloquently.

Dai Li's words obviously touched on the key point. In the United States, the most valuable thing is people!

The price of energy in the United States is not expensive, and the price of land is not expensive. Although the tax is not low, there are no extra arbitrary charges. Therefore, the cost of human resources has become the biggest expense. Americans have high wages, more than 56,000 U.S. dollars per capita, definitely ranking among the top five in the world. The United States has a sound labor protection system. To hire a formal employee, the company must pay various insurances in addition to the salary, which exceeds the working hours. Overtime pay is not less than one cent. Counting other statutory benefits, the cost of hiring people is actually very high.

Therefore, for small businesses in the United States, hiring one more person is actually quite fatal, and the cost cannot be afforded. What's more, physical coaches are not brick movers, they need professional skills. In the United States, anyone who has a skill and can be called a professional in a certain industry will have a salary that will not be lower than the average.

Anthony knew that Dai Li said these were nothing more than to lower the rent, so he hesitated for a moment, re-wrote another number on a napkin, and then showed it to Dai Li.

"This is the lowest price I can offer. After all, this training hall is the property of the bank. If the rent price is too low, I can't explain it to the bank." Anthony said solemnly.

Dai Li didn't believe Anthony's nonsense. He guessed that this would definitely not be Anthony's bottom line. But Li Dai did not choose to continue to lower the price. Firstly, Li Dai was extremely satisfied with this price; secondly, because of Anthony's status as a Los Angeles City Councilor, Li Dai didn't want to do things too badly, so he left some leeway If so, it may be beneficial to both parties.

"Deal!" Dai Li stretched out his right hand and said.