Back to the prime of life

Chapter 111 Error
Yin Anyan's major was accounting. She really couldn't understand the books on programming languages, and she had even less idea about the lines of code that Lu Changge was typing on the computer.

What she could understand was that Lu Changge suddenly started to spend a lot of time studying again. At first, she thought it was still a training course, but she didn't expect that he was learning professional knowledge.

Yes, she thought so.

So she didn't ask too many questions. It was normal for a computer science student to learn programming languages.

On November 11, Wang Hongcheng called and said that he had made an appointment, but he had to go to Jinling.

Lu Changge didn't even look at the class schedule and just skipped class and left.

There is a saying that when you buy a new car, you should take it to the highway to test the engine. Lu Changge has never worked on cars before and doesn't understand the principle behind this, but he still does it.

So this time he was driving and Wang Hongcheng was just a freeloader.

"These past couple of days, I asked someone to find a design institute with swimming pool design qualifications. It's called Tianning. I don't know if you've heard of it. The professional designer, surnamed Liu, is in his 30s and still single. He speaks softly. He talked to me about my ideas for a long time and said that this way of carrying out the design work would be more efficient.

Through his explanation, I learned that swimming pools have very high load-bearing requirements per cubic meter. Even a pool that's 1.5 meters deep must meet a net load-bearing capacity of 300 tons per cubic meter. Therefore, even if it's built on the ground, the possibility of subsidence must be considered, let alone in a shopping mall. Each floor in a shopping mall has a load-bearing capacity of 500 to kilograms per cubic meter. If it's upstairs, the pool would need reinforcement.

Wang Hongcheng wasn't a professional in this field, so he was quite surprised to hear that such a thing existed. "Then it would be best to build it on the ground floor or in the basement. Otherwise, how would we reinforce it?"

“Common reinforcement methods include increasing the cross-section, external steel reinforcement, and prestressed reinforcement.”

"I don't understand. Just build it on the ground floor. We have an area without a basement. If you build it upstairs, if there's a load-bearing problem, it could be a major accident."

Lu Changge gave a barely perceptible smile, "I just happened to have my eye on that spot on the first floor."

There is a parking lot at the entrance of that place, and it faces the main road, so it will be very convenient to put up a billboard or for customers to enter and exit.

Wang Hongcheng finally realized what was happening. He laughed out loud and looked at Lu Changge and said, "You are such a complete fool."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, this is an engineering structural requirement. If you don't believe me, ask the designer next time, or your friend who built a swimming pool. They're absolutely honest."

"Okay. But why are you telling me how old the designer is or whether he has a wife?"

"Did I tell you?"

"You said it, you're in your 30s and still unmarried, just what you just said."

Lu Changge was completely unaware and said, "I just said it casually. This is his characteristic. Besides, why are you paying attention to these characteristics of a man?"

"Hey, you're quite good at making excuses. If you don't say anything, I won't listen, will I?"

"Hahaha."

Lu Changge couldn't help laughing, and Wang Hongcheng laughed along with him.

"Seriously, why did you promise me six months of free work?"

Wang Hongcheng said, "Maybe we're different people. If you grew up in a family like mine, you'd know that having more money doesn't make any difference. The key is whether you're willing to spend it. Two months' rent versus six months' rent—that's about the same difference in my eyes."

He compared it with his thumb and index finger, which meant that it was basically negligible.

After arriving in Jinling, they ran towards the location. When they got there, Lu Changge discovered that Wang Hongcheng's friend was a woman, tall and long-legged, and looked like a swimming coach.

Moreover, this was the most boldly dressed woman he had seen since his rebirth. The pants were fine underneath, but the main thing was the top, which was a low-cut top with a women's suit jacket on the outside.

It was hard for Lu Changge not to take a look at the white area under his neck. After all, he was so generous. After looking at it, he found that there was a groove, the curvature was good, and the inclination angle was sufficient, so it was not very flat.

After sitting down, Wang Hongcheng introduced the woman. She was surnamed Ji, with a single character for "Shi" (poetry). She was a friend he had known since junior high school. She had previously owned three swimming pools, but they all went bankrupt, costing her family over a million yuan.

Of course, he spoke the following information while riding in the car.

Ji Shi also heard some basic information about Lu Changge. She was quite straightforward and asked directly, "What do you want to know?"

Lu Changge said, "I want to know what you think is the worst decision you've ever made? Or what's the biggest pitfall you've ever fallen into." Ji Shi glanced at Wang Hongcheng. "As someone who values my reputation, you're the only one who can list the mistakes I've made."

"There's nothing I can do. You're the only one I know who runs a swimming pool." Wang Hongcheng spread his hands.

"Okay. Actually, if I were to talk about pitfalls, I've fallen into several. I can't say which one was the biggest, because they were all quite significant. First, my initial goal was to create a truly exceptional home. Since I had the money, I was relatively relaxed on the renovations, using brand-name materials for everything. Later, the contractor figured out my temperament and kept raising the price and quality. But the renovation industry is so complex, even if he'd used off-brand materials, I wouldn't have been able to tell. So, the first renovation project went over budget, by about 20 yuan."

Lu Changge frowned. Although this was not a mistake he would make, he also wanted to have a good one, and he didn't know much about decoration.

"and after?"

"Later, during the operation, I gradually realized that ticket revenue could not cover normal operating costs. Swimming is a relatively niche and non-essential activity. If it became too expensive, other than a few wealthy loyal enthusiasts, no one else would come. But I didn't understand this at first, so customer flow was insufficient for quite a long time."

The woman crossed her legs and said, "If I were to do it again now, I definitely wouldn't focus on the ticket revenue. Not only that, I would organize a free swimming event during the winter and summer vacations, especially before summer vacation. Then I would focus on promoting summer swimming classes for children."

When this marketing strategy came out, even Wang Hongcheng laughed. He crossed his hands and squeezed them hard, "Is it worth driving for a few hours in vain?"

Lu Changge also realized that this method was actually aimed at enrolling children.

Children like to play in the water, and adults at least think that swimming is a good exercise.

Then you can earn money for classes.

As for how much profit there is, just raise a child and enroll him or her in any interest class and you will know. The pain of paying out of pocket at that time is equal to the profit here.

Anyway, if you work hard for two months, you can definitely earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Lu Changge asked, "What if a lot of children rush in for training in the summer, causing the pool to become crowded and affecting the experience of adult swimmers?"

Ji Shi's lips curled up. "Only people who have never done it would think so. You think these customers will stop coming, right?"

"If it were me, I wouldn't be here."

"So don't push the single-use pass; push the annual pass. He can just stop traveling or travel less during the summer vacation. Just pay the fee and it's fine."

"It's okay to cheat people like this for one year, but what about the second year?"

"That's not how it works. Let me put it this way: aren't all swimming pools packed like dumpling dumpling in the summer? Customers won't leave because they have no choice. Even if crowding reduces customer flow, that's fine. You can't rely on ticket sales in the first place. Holidays are peak season for swimming pools, and you need to serve the actual paying customers."

This is actually somewhat close to business thinking. You protect the experience of whoever is the big customer.

……

……

Lu Changge chatted with Ji Shi for more than an hour. The other party said quite a lot, and he found it very useful.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with how smart you are. If you don’t practice, you won’t realize that you will encounter various problems in the process.

Later, he left her phone number and said some words of thanks. If she needed help in the future, he would naturally not refuse her within his ability.

After we finish here, it will be dark.

Lu Changge politely offered to treat them both to a meal, but Ji Shi was as casual as the wind. She waved her hand and left, saying that she had something to do and there was no need to be so polite.

In the end, it was just him and Wang Hongcheng.

Wang Hongcheng wants to go home, and Lu Changge wants to go find his sister.

Before leaving, Wang Hongcheng said, "I've learned this too. Listen to more stories about people's failures. The lessons are profound, and the experiences are deceptive. They only make people inexplicably feel like they can do it too. But how did you come up with that?"

Lu Changge said, "Because I've made a lot of mistakes, and I don't think I won't make mistakes in the future. Having a reverent attitude towards mistakes is one of the necessary conditions for success."

(End of this chapter)