Darkstone Code-Chapter 1009 - 1007: Everyone Is Changing
People will have different awakenings at different stages of life.
We might as well call this transformation in personality and even life as awakening.
A few years ago, Serra never considered which cosmetics would be better suited for her skin, nor did she consider what clothes would make her look less outdated.
She revolved around the family every day, starting from getting up at a bit past six in the morning to make breakfast for her husband and Lynch.
This took up a lot of her time because back then Nell did heavy manual labor, and if his breakfast was too light, it would leave him without the energy to work.
He might get a demerit for "slacking off," which would mean no extra bonus at the end of the month, and more importantly, he might injure himself.
So Nell’s breakfast was always minced beef, the kind with half fat and half lean, and after it was chopped, she would fry whole wheat bread with it to make the bread a bit softer.
Then she’d use the leftover beef to fry eggs for Lynch, and only then would she prepare her own breakfast, some fried whole wheat bread without any additives.
She was neither a laborer nor needed to use her brains, so she didn’t need to eat that well.
After Nell went to work and Lynch went to school, she would start cleaning the house and then go grocery shopping.
Because there was no refrigerator at the time, their groceries had to be bought daily, otherwise they would spoil.
By the time she came back from outside, it was around ten o’clock. She would then make herself a simple lunch, and in the afternoon start doing the laundry, possibly taking a nap or watching some TV, and then start preparing dinner, which was more abundant and took more time to prepare.
By the time Nell got home at seven-thirty, she had to have dinner ready for him, otherwise, he could sometimes throw a tantrum.
At eight, Nell would watch TV, Lynch would read books, and she would clean up everything and start preparing lunches for Nell and Lynch for the next day.
School lunches required payment, not particularly expensive, but to this poor family, home-cooked was clearly cheaper.
The factory had lunch as well, but it wasn’t enough for Nell; he needed meat, not vegetables, so he also brought half a lunchbox of minced meat and fried eggs to work.
When she finished all this work, Nell had probably finished watching TV, and she’d quietly lie in bed, get up again after a dozen or so minutes to take a hot shower.
Under the spray of water, she was always confused about her life, her past, present, and future.
She didn’t know what the future held because the dense fog hid it from her view.
She could only live one day at a time.
Sometimes she would comfort herself that a lifetime would pass quickly. Look at Lynch; he’s about to become a young man, while she’s about to enter middle age, old age, and soon will be lying in a grave.
A numb, pale existence.
The only thing that brought some brightness to her life was the stores she passed when shopping for groceries.
Standing in front of the window displays, she gazed at the mannequins inside, full of envy and jealousy; they were just wooden mannequins, yet wore beautiful clothes.
She was a living, breathing person, yet life and reality had beaten her down.
At eighteen, she thought the future was colorful and full of hope.
At thirty-eight, she saw no future.
It wasn’t until recently that her life began to change.
Now Serra was obsessed with skincare and fitness, Lynch had heard about it, and Serra devoted almost all her time to skincare and fitness.
If conditions allowed, she would spend a long time at the gym every day, and she had a terrifying level of self-discipline.
She seldom ate beef or mutton, now she only ate fish, a lot of vegetables, and those odd things nutritionists talked about.
Her disciplined life was like that of an ascetic, devoid of joy.
She didn’t go to entertainment venues. She didn’t stay up late, only drank one glass of red wine a day, and then it was back to fitness; her body was amazing now, looking nowhere near her forties.
She seemed to want to find everything she had lost before, and sometimes Lynch felt that her relationship with Koman wasn’t necessarily love; it was just a new partnership.
She needed a reliable fitness coach to support her, to keep her in check in some ways, nothing more.
She felt her life had never been better!
Looking at the child who brought all these changes, Serra’s eyes were filled with comfort, not numbness.
Maybe what she once viewed as a curse on her life had become her lucky star.
"You need to exercise too, dear, with more professional services. I know you have a habit of exercising, but your simple exercises can’t help you effectively or make you better; they just maintain."
As Lynch listened, he nodded; he wouldn’t refute any idea from a middle-aged woman unless it went against his principles or crossed his line, making it hard for him to even listen.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t do that!
"You’re right, Serra, when you guys open, I’ll come and take a look." He paused and glanced at Koman, who was sitting a bit farther away, "How’s the company’s operation going?"
Koman got a little excited when this topic came up, "Lynch, your suggestion was crucial; because of those bodybuilding champions, we don’t have any real competitors in this industry now!"
Many bodybuilding champions had signed with You’Er Mei, and even within You’Er Mei, many bodybuilders were actively participating in various competitions, creating a positive cycle.
Champions emerged and got signed, and with their help, new champions were born. So, people had only one impression of this rapidly rising gym chain: it was high-end!
Not every gym could showcase a row of bodybuilding champions from various competitions; for those who loved bodybuilding, being in the same gym room with them and using the same equipment was enough to make them feel happy.
With Serra’s socialite aura and her increasingly improved state, this also attracted many people to join.
Don’t underestimate You’Er Mei’s market value, which has just surpassed ten million; in the fitness industry, this was already an impressive existence, even an insurmountable peak in the short term!
Koman had great credit in this; he swore Serra knew nothing about running a business, she was only continually changing her body, nothing more.
Turning You’Er Mei into what it is today owes much to him, which is why he got excited when talking about this topic; the company was like his child—
Serra and he had already discussed privately that they wouldn’t have more children. If Koman wanted, they could adopt one, but Serra wouldn’t have more kids.
She believed childbirth was detrimental to a woman’s health, so she was adamant about not having more children.
Under these circumstances, Koman devoted all his excess energy to the company.
Lynch listened carefully to Koman’s introduction. He also owned shares in You’Er Mei as a precaution.
You never know when Serra might impulsively give You’Er Mei entirely to Koman, so he needed to hold some shares to ensure Koman or anyone else understood that trying to deceive this woman was pointless.
However, he never interfered in the company’s operations, having initially given some advice without engaging further with You’Er Mei.
At this point, he offered some new suggestions, "I have a few small ideas you might want to consider if you have time."
Koman immediately became serious, "Of course, tell me, I’ll keep it in mind."
"Create your own bodybuilding competitions and classify them into different categories like classical beauty, modern beauty, weight categories, content, and so on, to separate them."
"This way, more champions will be created, and before they become actual champions, sign them."
"Thus, the cost of organizing one competition will lead to many champions, reducing our subsequent maintenance costs."
"Secondly, do more publicity so that whenever people think of fitness or gyms, their minds automatically associate them with You’Er Mei."
"We only truly have dominion in this industry when You’Er Mei becomes the ’one and only.’"
"Lastly, the company’s operations could use some adjustments; I’ll have someone prepare a plan for you later."
You’Er Mei had grown close to its limit; even if Koman continued to perform exceptionally and made no errors, it wouldn’t make much difference.
Every company hits a limit during growth, and breaking through this limit leads to greater development.
In other words, You’Er Mei’s limit was before and after going public.
Lynch didn’t plan to invest too much in this small business. Going public required significant funding, so he had to find ways elsewhere to resolve this and make You’Er Mei rapidly expand again.
By then, they could either continue themselves or transfer ownership to capital interests; these options were available.
Lynch finished his conversation with Koman and began discussing recent happenings in the Federation with Serra. After chatting for over ten minutes, Serra felt it was enough and bid Lynch goodbye.
He watched as they left in a luxury car and lingered in his room for a good while with a smile.
Everything had changed, and everyone became indistinguishable from their past selves, but you couldn’t claim these changes were bad; in fact, they were improvements.
They no longer had to cut spending at the end of the month from not being able to pay bills, nor would hot water unexpectedly turn off, leaving the family to shower in cold water.
Money brought a better life and took away parts of their past, meanwhile gifting them brand new selves.
