Yirui Studio

"Su, beautiful work!"

Mike Brown couldn't help but give Su Yi a thumbs up.

Su Yi truly hadn't let him down.

Su Yi squeezed out a professional smile and nodded at Mike Brown, acknowledging him.

Then Mike Brown continued, "Su, I'll give you an hour to rest. After that, we'll run a 5-on-5 scrimmage so I can really see your three-point shooting in live action."

Su Yi: ￣□￣｜｜

Is this guy treating me like a workhorse?

Good thing I never treated myself like a human during training either!

Su Yi nodded silently, then quickly went off to rest.

During the break, quite a few teammates came over to "haze" him.

"Rookie, tie my shoelaces."

Su Yi: "..."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Tie shoelaces, fine—but why did they have to go all out, especially Donyell Marshall?

After tying Donyell Marshall's laces, Su Yi immediately bounced three meters away, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Donyell Marshall.

Donyell Marshall looked at Su Yi with confusion and asked, "Rookie, what are you doing?"

"My butt itches. Just shifting around."

Su Yi told a harmless lie.

Donyell Marshall bought it, stood up, and went back to training.

Meanwhile, Su Yi quietly watched his teammates on the court during the break, running simulations in his head—what if he were a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

How would he play? What would he do?

After running through it once, Su Yi realized he wouldn't have to exert much effort at all. He'd just stand in the corner and wait for the ball.

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers ran a pick-and-roll, drive-and-kick offense.

It was a simple, easy-to-execute strategy: let LeBron James handle the ball, fully exploiting his lack of finesse but overwhelming physical advantage to drive to the basket.

This tactic worked wonders in the regular season, helping the team post a solid 50-32 record.

But in the playoffs, it fell apart.

Opposing teams would usually leave a strong interior defender to guard LeBron James one-on-one, making his drives difficult.

At the same time, the more assists the guy racked up, the more turnovers he committed.

Last postseason, he averaged 7.1 assists and 5 turnovers per game.

No wonder he's the future turnover king!

After running through the simulation once, Su Yi immediately understood how he should play. He just didn't know whether Mike Brown would put him in the starting lineup or the second unit.

But Su Yi guessed it would be the second unit.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the 5-on-5 scrimmage began.

To Su Yi's complete surprise, he was assigned to the starting lineup.

"BEEP."

With the whistle, the game officially kicked off.

For the first few possessions, Su Yi, as the rookie, didn't even touch the ball. He just ran back and forth with the team.

Finally, during a fast break, he got his chance.

Eric Snow pushed the ball up the court quickly, with Su Yi trailing on the left side.

Eric Snow drove all the way to the free-throw line, drawing most of the second unit's attention, then flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Su Yi, who was wide open on the left-wing three-point line.

Su Yi caught the ball, adjusted, jumped, hung in the air, kicked his legs, and released!

The motion was fluid, smooth, and decisive.

The ball arced gracefully through the air.

Swish.

It nestled perfectly into the net's embrace.

Three points.

Su Yi seized his only opportunity and converted.

This earned him a second look from his teammates.

Especially Coach Mike Brown on the sidelines, who nodded with great satisfaction.

For the rest of the game, Su Yi didn't get many chances—just four opportunities in total.

Su Yi sank all four of his shots, going 4-for-4 with a perfect 100% hit rate, racking up 12 points.

Clap, clap, clap!

"Everyone performed excellently. Take a short break. Su, come with me for a moment."

When the 5-on-5 scrimmage ended, Mike Brown couldn't help but give his players a warm round of applause.

He had already gotten what he wanted from this practice game.

Then he called Su Yi over.

Su Yi hurried over to Mike Brown without a moment's delay.

Mike Brown didn't speak right away. Instead, he looked Su Yi up and down before saying, "Su, I'm very satisfied with you. I hope you keep it up, understand?"

"I understand, Coach Mike!"

Su Yi nodded.

Until the regular season started and he got playing time, a coach's words couldn't be trusted—he just had to listen and let it slide.

Coaches and bosses were the same—great at painting pies!

Next, Su Yi continued training, and in between, he couldn't avoid being "bullied" by his teammates—tying shoelaces, running errands, and so on.

And just like that, Su Yi's first day of training camp came to an end.

Afterward, Su Yi returned to the locker room to wash up and change clothes, then said goodbye to his teammates one by one.

Su Yi didn't expect them to respond.

"Rookie, remember to buy donuts and Happy Water tomorrow."

"Rookie, see you tomorrow!"

"Rookie..."

But his teammates all responded to him in turn.

Su Yi was gradually blending into the team.

"Yi, first day of training—how did it feel?"

When Su Yi walked out of the training facility, Xu Rui was waiting for him in his Lexus.

Su Yi plopped down into the passenger seat.

"Not bad. I'm fitting into the team."

Su Yi's answer put Xu Rui at ease.

Then Xu Rui reached into the back seat and handed Su Yi the dinner Saicang Halin had made. "I figured you'd be hungry, so I had Saicang make it."

"No one knows me like Xu Rui."

Su Yi smiled, took it, and wolfed it down—he really was hungry.

"Hahaha!"

Hearing Su Yi's praise, Xu Rui laughed as he stepped on the gas, speeding away from the training facility and racing toward home.

In the car, Xu Rui took the chance to update Su Yi. "Yi, your game is all set. It'll be released on Steam on October 15th, priced at 15 bucks!"

"Nice, A Rui. You handle things—I trust you. I'll just kick back at home and wait for the money to roll in."

Su Yi remembered correctly—in his past life, Plants vs. Zombies had been rejected by multiple game platforms. Sure enough, having connections in this world made all the difference.

Xu Rui's family wasn't super wealthy, but they were worth at least eight figures.

"Haha, Yi, are you going to make more games after this?"

Xu Rui couldn't help asking.

Ever since Su Yi came up with Plants vs. Zombies, a blueprint for a business empire had been forming in Xu Rui's mind.

"Yeah, I've got plenty more game concepts. But I don't have that much time—the new season's about to start."

Su Yi was being honest. He couldn't lose sight of his original goal—basketball was the priority!

"That's simple. We'll set up a studio, hire some programmers. You give the orders, and they do the work."

Xu Rui said.

"Sounds good."

Actually, Su Yi had been thinking the same thing. He really didn't have the time to code everything himself.

Since he didn't have the time, he'd spend money to buy someone else's time and have them work for him.

"But A Rui, when it comes to management, you should learn more from your uncle and aunt."

Su Yi reminded him. After all, the business world was a battlefield.

"Yi, I know."

Xu Rui nodded in reply.

And so, Yirui Studio was officially established.

Su Yi held 70% of the shares, while Xu Rui held 30%.