Chapter 9: Affinity with Women

Chapter Nine: Popularity with Women

"Logically speaking, just as you mentioned earlier, a nutritional consultant's image is just as important as a personal trainer's, directly determining a client's level of trust. Then I think the image of this nutritional consultant named Ji Lu is quite good. Without even calling him a nutritional consultant, if you told me he was a fitness instructor, I'd believe it completely. Why isn't his popularity on par with Song Chengliang's?" An Changpu seemed to find it somewhat incredible that Song Chengliang's reputation surpassed Ji Lu's. After all, although Ji Lu wasn't extraordinarily handsome, his physique was well-built and athletic, and overall he possessed a very masculine charm. Whether viewed through the lens of the same sex or guessing the aesthetic preferences of the opposite sex, he far outperformed Song Chengliang.

"The problem lies in the fact that a nutritional consultant has to interact with clients, not just stand there as a 'brand ambassador'. Ji Lu's image is indeed flawless, which is why he was always popular among our nutritional consultants previously. But the man is a bit too arrogant and treats clients with a haughty attitude. Some people might like that style, thinking it exudes authority, but others dislike it," Xiao Cai explained the reason to An Changpu. "Some people come to us not only to beautify themselves and achieve a good physical condition, but primarily for the standard of service. Otherwise, aren't there slimming centers with lower prices than ours? Imagine spending a sum of money only to have to put up with someone else giving you attitude day after day—giving you a smile when they're in a good mood and a sullen face when they're not. Would you feel comfortable?"

"I see! So that's the reason why Song Chengliang is so popular!" An Changpu nodded in understanding.

"Right. In this regard, Song Chengliang is the exact opposite of Ji Lu. He is exceptionally patient and enthusiastic with clients, always managing to say things that touch upon their inner thoughts. Even when giving suggestions, people find them relatively easy to accept rather than feeling repelled. Therefore, when Song Chengliang first arrived, whenever we recommended him to clients, we had to mention his previous work experience as a nutritionist for celebrities. Later on, clients would frequently hear about Song Chengliang from their relatives or friends and come straight to us, asking specifically for him to help design their slimming programs. Actually, it's not just towards clients; Song Chengliang was also extremely enthusiastic and generous toward the rest of the staff here. He often bought small snacks like biscuits and melon seeds for everyone, and during his free time, he would come out to chat with us. You know, sometimes people don't care about how many tangible benefits they receive; what matters is that warmth. No matter how good someone's appearance is, if their personality is that poor, how good can their popularity possibly be?"

By the time Xiao Cai finished speaking, her subjective bias had been expressed quite clearly, indirectly giving Qin Ruonan and An Changpu a glimpse into Song Chengliang's daily performance at the slimming center.

Harassing others furiously after having his ear scratched by Cui Lidong, drifting away from colleagues' social circles at the food company like an invisible phantom, and maneuvering effortlessly with the agility of a fish in water at the slimming center.

Under different circumstances and through the mouths of different people, the image and behavior exhibited by Song Chengliang varied wildly. While it could be said that people are multifaceted, such a stark contrast in the same person's behavior across different scenarios was nothing short of astonishing.

The manager of the slimming center hurried back shortly after. After greeting An Changpu and Qin Ruonan one by one, he dispatched Xiao Cai back to her post at the front desk, remaining in the consultation room himself to handle the criminal police officers' inquiries.

According to the manager, although Song Chengliang enjoyed immense popularity there, he had always been a part-timer. Recently, because his popularity continued to surge, negotiations were already underway to transition him from a part-timer to a full-time employee. Tragically, he lost his life in this sudden catastrophe.

Like Xiao Cai, this manager—who happened to be on duty tonight—firmly believed in the rumors of Song Chengliang's past stint as a celebrity nutritionist. He spoke of Song Chengliang's competence in glowing terms, candidly stating that had he not died, he would have undoubtedly been a rising star at the slimming center, a cash cow, and the golden-brand nutritional consultant they would heavily promote in the future.

Originally, including Song Chengliang, there were five nutritional consultants at this slimming center. Previously, the most popular one had been Ji Lu. Later, after Song Chengliang joined, he transformed from an obscure rookie into the most popular choice, forcing Ji Lu to settle for second place. The other three nutritionists, who used to rank behind Ji Lu, now simply had Song Chengliang ahead of them as well, so they harbored no rebellious sentiments and maintained a relatively peaceful mindset.

"Does that mean the only people capable of forming a competitive relationship here were Song Chengliang and Ji Lu?" Qin Ruonan asked.

The manager merely smiled without answering.

Sometimes silence speaks louder than words. Even without a definitive reply, such an ambiguous attitude was sufficient to clarify the issue. Silence is frequently another expression of agreement. Therefore, Qin Ruonan did not tactlessly press further. Song Chengliang was already dead, while Ji Lu was still alive and well, continuing to work at this slimming center. Regardless of whether he and Song Chengliang had experienced fierce competition in the past, a deceased gold medalist could no longer bring substantial financial profits to the slimming center. Without the gold medalist, the silver medalist became equivalent to the gold medalist. Ji Lu was now the undisputed cash cow here. As the manager, considering the interests of the slimming center, no one in their right mind would offend the living for the sake of the dead.

When asked whether Song Chengliang had ever conflicted with anyone—whether staff members or clients—during his time working here, the manager immediately denied it, stating that absolutely no such thing had ever happened. His reply came so swiftly that it lacked even a moment for thought.

An Changpu asked the manager if he could take a look at Song Chengliang's client list. The manager hesitated, mumbling incoherently for a long time about commercial secrets and client privacy before apparently fearing he might obstruct the investigation. Ultimately, he agreed, stood up, and left for a moment. When he returned, he was holding several thick plastic file boxes in his arms. From the lobby outside the consultation room, the distant sounds of a commotion drifted in.

The manager frowned, placed the file boxes on the glass coffee table, and said, "You two, go ahead and look. Please excuse me for a moment!"

With that, he hurried off to check on the situation over there.

An Changpu and Qin Ruonan opened the file boxes and briefly flipped through the client information inside. The slimming center maintained meticulous records; every form contained the client's personal information and photograph. An Changpu skimmed through two boxes of files and discovered that Song Chengliang's clients were almost exclusively young women, most of whom possessed rather pretty and attractive facial features.

After flipping through one file box, Qin Ruonan discovered that the second box she opened did not contain Song Chengliang's client records, but Ji Lu's instead. Perhaps when the manager went to retrieve the boxes earlier, he had run into the commotion in the lobby and mistakenly grabbed the wrong one in his haste.

Compared to Song Chengliang's clientele, Ji Lu's age span appeared somewhat wider, ranging from middle-aged individuals in their fifties to youths in their early twenties, with a much more mixed range of appearances.

Suddenly, a familiar face caught Qin Ruonan's eye—Tao Yinyin. As it turned out, she was also one of Ji Lu's clients.

Qin Ruonan's thumb paused in her flipping motion. Assuming she had discovered some suspicious clue, An Changpu leaned in eagerly. The moment he saw Tao Yinyin's photograph, he let out a snort of laughter.

"She's a member here too? You girls really are willing to invest in yourselves for the sake of beauty!" he chuckled at Qin Ruonan.

"That requires having the raw capital to begin with; otherwise, fertilizing a saline-alkali wasteland is just a waste," Qin Ruonan placed Tao Yinyin's information sheet back, sighed quietly, and closed Ji Lu's file box. "The situation over on Ji Lu's side is quite a bit different. Song Chengliang has nearly three boxfuls of clients under his name, whereas Ji Lu has only one box, and the serial numbers haven't even reached the end."

"If even the runner-up trails behind by this much, it's hard to imagine the plight of the other three," An Changpu had not expected the gap between Song Chengliang and Ji Lu to be so vast. Meanwhile, Qin Ruonan's slightly self-deprecating remark also caused him to frown. Before he could say anything, the slimming center manager returned after handling the small outside interlude. Seeing that An Changpu and Qin Ruonan had neatly arranged the file boxes on the table, he immediately took them away and stored them, seemingly oblivious from start to finish that he had mistakenly handed over a box of Ji Lu's client records.

"Song Chengliang really has plenty of clients! And their standards are quite high across the board. It seems his popularity with women during his time working here was exceptional," An Changpu remarked.

The manager smiled. "A place like a slimming center only ever has two outcomes: either you have zero popularity, or you're extremely popular with women, because our clients are all women. Actually, the number of people who wanted to request Song Chengliang specifically was far greater than the ones in those files. Because there simply wasn't enough energy and time, the ones you looked at just now were all selected by him from the pool of clients who requested him."

"He chose his own clients?" Qin Ruonan asked in surprise.

"Yes. High popularity and high demand come with the privilege of being a bit selective," the manager sighed. "None of us expected him to suddenly meet with such a tragedy. For the past few days, we've been constantly explaining the situation to clients who came looking for him and arranging alternative nutritional consultants for them. At first, those clients simply refused to believe Song Chengliang could have been murdered; once they realized it was true, they were all quite devastated. Some are willing to accept the adjustment and be taken over by other nutritionists, while others flat out say that if it's not Song Chengliang, they won't come anymore, or they demand to change their membership package types. We're running around with our heads spinning right now. As you heard outside just a moment ago, that was one of Song Chengliang's former clients throwing a fit because she was unhappy we reassigned her to Ji Lu..."

With that, the manager sighed again, rubbed his temples, and wore a deeply distressed expression.

"Is Ji Lu available right now? Can you arrange for us to speak with him?" Qin Ruonan asked.

The manager froze for a moment, not daring to give a direct answer. "Um, let me consult with Ji Lu himself first!"