Walking out of the Los Angeles Airport, Li Dai stopped a taxi and went to the booked hotel.

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

This is how American cities look like. Their city scale will continue to expand in the form of blocks, but the urban area itself will not change very much. The mode of demolition and construction is rare in the United States. In cities like New York and Chicago, there are buildings all over the world in the 50s, 60s, or even hundreds of years. Like New York Central Station, it has remained the same for more than 100 years, so many people will feel that the major cities in the United States are lagging behind in infrastructure.

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

After entering the main hotel, Li Dai first went to the bank and exchanged a cheque for $ 1.5 million. This was given to Li Dai by Xiao Yunan, and the private money that Xiao Yunan saved while studying in the United States. In addition, Li Dai also had 800,000 US dollars of start-up funds. This was mainly due to Li Dai helping the Duke of Gael in Europe. Remuneration earned from rehabilitation.

Li Dai plans to open a training hall in Los Angeles. The American sports industry is very developed, and the people also love sports. There are many similar sports training halls in the United States. There are special physical training halls, and there are also special training halls for a specific purpose, such as boxing Gymnasium, gymnasium, swimming pool, etc. There are non-profit and profitable ones.

Li Dai naturally does not engage in charity. He wants to open a profitable training hall, which is equivalent to starting a small business. The application procedures are not complicated, and if a professional lawyer helps, it is very easy. Li Dai does not mind spending more on attorney fees. After all, if there are professionals to operate, you can avoid a lot of worries.

If you can declare an enterprise, you must have a production and operation place, so before that, Li Dai's first thing to do is to find a suitable business place, that is, a business place to open a training hall.

Li Dai only has more than two million dollars, which is not enough to buy a suitable training venue. If you buy land for construction, the price is more expensive, and he can't afford it. Li Dai still has to leave some money for operating funds, so Li Dai can only choose to rent a piece of space.

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

Sure enough, in the next three days, Li Dai successively received more than a dozen emails, all of which were housing information sent by real estate agents.

"This is a training hall before, but the asking price is too high. If I rent it, there will not be much liquidity in my hand."

"The area of ​​use is too small. It is okay to open a gym. It is certainly not enough to open a physical training center. Oh, the introduction said that this is originally a training hall."

"This gym is big enough. Unfortunately, the location is not good, it is too remote, and there are also gathering areas for Mexicans around. I heard that there are many illegal immigrants, and the security may not be good."

"This location is good, and the price is right, but before it was a hardware supermarket, it needs to be rebuilt. It costs a sum of money. If you add fitness equipment, it is a sum of money. It is not worth it."

"This is a swimming pool, and there is a ten-meter diving platform. I am just in the beginning stage. It seems useless for the swimming pool."

"Eh, this is not bad. Well, the landlord asked for a rent for five years. Let's forget it. The time is too long. For five years, I might have moved to a better place."

Li Dai browsed the e-mails one by one, carefully screening the information sent by the real estate agent.

Finally, one of the emails attracted Li Dai.

"This is a good location. There are no slums around it. Most are middle-class neighborhoods. There is a university not far away. This stadium was originally a medium-sized gymnasium. A fitness room, there are a lot of fitness equipment, I can use these. The price ...... No price? What does it mean? "

Li Dai frowned slightly. These real estate agents in the United States are more professional. They introduce the lease in more detail, such as the price, the minimum time required by the landlord, how much deposit they need to pay, whether they can be rebuilt, etc. Clearly, as if the price was not listed, this was the first time Li Dai encountered.

"I've seen the qualification certificate of this real estate agent, it should be a more professional and reliable one. But why is there no price?" Li Dai hesitated, or dialed the real estate agent's phone.

After explaining the intention, the real estate agent immediately explained it.

"Mr. Li, this is the case. The venue you are looking for is special. It is not private and its owner is a bank. Previously, this was a gymnasium, but not long ago, scandal broke out in the gymnastics community in the United States The operator of the gymnasium was also accused of bankruptcy and faced a lawsuit, so when the bankruptcy was liquidated, the gymnasium was taken away by the bank. "

"It turned out to be the case." Li Dai nodded his head, and he also heard about the scandal of the American gymnastics community that happened recently.

At the beginning, a gymnast of the US national team appealed on social media that he was indecently sacked by the team doctor. Later, the US media began an investigation and found that this was not a single incident. Hundreds of gymnasts across the United States have encountered coach Sexual assault or sexual harassment by the gymnastics gymnasium owner and other gymnasium staff, and more importantly, these gymnasts are minors.

This time he stabbed Ma Honeycomb, known as the biggest scandal in the history of American gymnastics, and even a crime that rose to a moral level. More than 3,000 gymnasiums in the United States are managed by the American Gymnastics Association, even the United States. The chairman of the Gymnastics Association was also forced to resign.

Only the real estate agent went on to say: "The original owner of this gymnasium originally intended to sell the gymnasium to pay off the debt, but no one bought it. Later, after the gymnasium was taken away by the bank, there were three auctions, but they all ended up selling. Now. "

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

"Yes, in my opinion, the price is a bit high. The original gymnastic boss owes too much debt, and he will be prosecuted next, staying in prison for several years, even after the asset reorganization after bankruptcy, in a short time 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.

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

"In recent years, California has attracted many foreign immigrants, many of them rich, which has also pushed up housing prices throughout California, and the gymnasium ’s geographical location is very good and should be favored by foreign investors. , So banks are not willing to sell cheaply. "The intermediary continued.

"Cheap is not willing to sell, expensive and can not sell, so the bank intends to try to rent out the gymnasium first. What about the price? If the bank really wants to rent, why not mark the price?" Li Dai then asked.

"This is why I want to explain to you. In fact, the bank has issued two price codes, one is the price code for direct rental, I personally think that it is more expensive, not at all cost-effective; the other is a relatively low-cost 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 harsh?" Li Dai asked with a frown.

"I don't know how to evaluate this additional condition." The housing agency paused, and then said; "The bank said that if the venue continues to be used as a sports training venue, then the new venue operator needs to bear 10 to The training of 15 disabled athletes, in this case, you can enjoy a relatively preferential rent. Otherwise, you can only pay the original rent. "

"How come there is such a strange condition? I still have to train athletes with disabilities?" Li Dai looked puzzled.

"Well, I'm not inconvenient to disclose. In fact, I took this business because I have more business dealings with this bank. If Mr. Li is interested in this venue, I can ask someone from the bank to come and You interviewed, about this additional condition, you can communicate with each other face to face. "The real estate agent said.

...

The day after work, Li Dai came to a nearby cafe in the evening.

"Mr. Li, this is Mr. Anthony, the city councillor." The agent introduced.

"City Councillor?" Li Dai looked at the real estate agent with a puzzled look. He came here to meet the bank, but the intermediary introduced him to a Los Angeles city councilor.

The real estate agent next door explained: "This is the case. Mr. Anthony is the head of the bank in Los Angeles, and he successfully ran for election to become a member of the Los Angeles City last year."

The agent did not continue to stay in the cafe after the introduction last night, but found an excuse to leave, leaving Anthony and Li Dai.

"Mr. Li, I think you must be very curious, why do I offer such strange terms of rent?" Anthony asked directly.

"Yes, I came here as well." Li Dai nodded and said, "It's not a secret. I intend to use this venue to open a physical training hall. The additional conditions you put forward, I also have the ability Do it, but I want to know why? "

"In fact, the reason is very simple, but it's not very good to explain to the outside world." Anthony looked around and lowered his voice, then said: "When I ran for city council last year, I made a promise to the voters, I want to strengthen I was chosen to care for people with disabilities, and naturally I have to honour my campaign promises. "

"Not long ago, several amateur disabled athletes approached me. They told me that they wanted professional sports training. The coaches provided by the Disabled Persons’ Security Center were mostly low-level volunteers who could not satisfy their training. Requirements, high-level professional training halls, the price they can't afford. So I just thought of the extra conditions for this rental venue. "

"But this matter is not very convenient to disclose. After all, this venue belongs to the bank's assets. Although as the person in charge of the bank, I have the right to determine the amount of the final rent. To a certain extent, it damages the interests of the bank. This is equivalent to using my power to fulfill my personal campaign promise. "

Anthony said here, a strange smile, showing a "you know" expression.

The opposite Li Dai also nodded and smiled, indicating that he understood what Anthony meant. Unlike many so-called well-known, he advocates how clean the European and American countries are.

In fact, the fact that foreign politicians use their power or resources to seek benefits is not new, or even a tacit act, but the so-called benefits here are not necessarily expressed in the form of money. For example, by using the power and resources in your hands to help you re-elect, to help your campaign funders, or to suppress political enemies, although you did not get a penny from it, you are also seeking benefits.

Just like in the American drama "House of Cards", there are many people who are good at "using power". Some of the interests exchanges they make are not noble at all, and they can even be described as "mean and dirty". In fact, this is more like a hidden rule in European and American countries. Every politician is more or less seeking benefits for himself and exchanging interests with others. Frankly speaking, this is politics, and the whole world is almost a routine. If it is really pure like the Virgin, it is impossible to become a politician. It's like a sheep, it can never be mixed into a pack of wolves.

Anthony's behavior is the same now, except that it can only be seen as a little witch compared to "House of Cards".

Li Dai does not mind whether Anthony is using his power for personal gain or whether the bank will lose money. He is concerned about the rental price of the training hall, which is related to Li Dai's vital interests.

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

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

Seeing this number, Li Dai was already very tempted. This is a very cost-effective number. With this price, it is no longer possible to rent such a suitable venue throughout Los Angeles.

But Li Dai did not agree to it, but frowned deliberately, as if dissatisfied with it.

"Mr. Anthony, the training of disabled athletes is different from ordinary people. This requires very high professional skills. If a disabled athlete trains with me for four hours a week, then the minimum ten people you propose, I have to pay an additional 40 hours of working hours per week, which is already the weekly working hours stipulated by law ~ lightnovelpub.net ~ This is equivalent to I need to hire an additional coach for this purpose. "Li Daikankan And talk.

Li Dai's words obviously mentioned the key point. In the United States, the most valuable people are people!

The US energy price is not expensive, the land price is not expensive, although the tax is not low, but there is no additional arbitrary charges. Therefore, the cost of human resources has become the largest expenditure. Americans have high wages, and the average per capita of more than 56,000 U.S. dollars is absolutely the top five in the world. The United States has a very strong protection of labor. When hiring a formal employee, companies must pay various insurances in addition to wages. Overtime pay is not less than one point. 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 terrible, and the cost cannot be afforded. What's more, physical fitness coaches are not bricklayers and need professional skills. In the United States, for anyone who has a skill and can be called a professional in a certain industry, the salary will not be lower than the average.

Anthony knew that Li Dai said that these were nothing more than to drive down the rent. He hesitated and wrote another number on the napkin before displaying it to Li Dai.

"This is the lowest price I can offer. This training hall is, after all, a bank asset. If the rent is too low, I can't explain it to the bank." Anthony said solemnly.

Li Daicai did not believe in Anthony's utterances. He guessed that this would definitely not be Anthony's bottom line. However, Li Dai did not choose to continue to lower the price. At this price, Li Dai was already extremely satisfied; secondly, he was the identity of Anthony Los Angeles City Councillor. It may be good for both parties.

"Deal!" Li Dai extended his right hand and said.