"A Rui, you don't have to drive me. I can take a car there myself."
The next morning, Su Yi headed to the team's training facility again. Xu Rui still insisted on giving him a ride.
"Of course I'm taking you. I'm going to be the future agent of a superstar!"
Su Yi couldn't talk Xu Rui out of it, so he got into his car.
On the way, Su Yi spotted a donut shop and asked Xu Rui to pull over.
"Yi, since when do you like donuts?"
Xu Rui asked, looking at the shop.
"They're for my teammates."
Su Yi replied as he got out of the car.
"Oh, oh! Social graces!"
Xu Rui quickly parked, pulled out the key, unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door, and hurried after Su Yi, who was a few meters ahead.
"What social graces? It's just the NBA's tradition of veteran players picking on rookies."
Su Yi couldn't help complaining.
"Huh?"
Xu Rui's mind briefly stalled.
Su Yi quickly waved his hand, afraid Xu Rui might misunderstand, and explained, "It's an NBA tradition. When they say they're picking on you, it's just a prank, like stuffing your car full of popcorn or making you go buy food.
"I got off easy. They just made me buy food, and sometimes help them mail their shoelaces."
After hearing Su Yi's explanation, Xu Rui still couldn't make sense of this tradition.
"So who pays for the food? You or them?"
Xu Rui asked curiously.
"I do. I got stuck with a stingy team leader. What can you do?"
Su Yi replied helplessly.
"Huh? You have to pay for it too? That's ridiculous. No wonder you don't like him, Yi. I don't like him either. It's bad enough that he plays poorly on the court, but he's a lousy person off it too.
"Yi, I think I'm going to become a LeBron Hater too."
Xu Rui stood up for his best friend, instantly turning against LeBron.
"Good. Welcome to the LeBron Hater ranks."
Su Yi hadn't expected to turn Xu Rui against him so quickly.
Su Yi, you're really good at this (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
"Exactly. And that's not the only way he's stingy.
"When he goes out to eat with friends, he usually insists on splitting the bill. He won't pay twenty dollars for a data plan, so he only goes online where there's Wi-Fi.
"He never pays for memberships or subscriptions. He listens to free music and never buys paid apps.
"Fine, I can let all that slide and call him frugal!
"But what's even worse is when an opponent fouled him on the court and a teammate stood up for him. The teammate got a technical, was fined, and then suspended.
"That teammate took a huge hit. So, A Rui, what would you do in that situation?"
Su Yi posed the question to Xu Rui.
"Obviously, I'd treat my teammate to a meal and pay his fine," Xu Rui answered without hesitation.
"But do you know what he actually did?"
Xu Rui shook his head, curious to hear what kind of outrageous stunt LeBron James had pulled.
"As the team leader, he told the media he'd pay his teammate's fine. But what happened? It was all for show. In the end, he never paid."
As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, Xu Rui shook his head and said, looking utterly speechless,
"That's possible? What a hypocrite! Damn!
"Someone at that level would make me sick!"
"So I'm going to work hard and leave the Cavaliers when my rookie contract ends, then join another team. Just thinking about being on the same team as someone like that makes my skin crawl!"
Xu Rui wholeheartedly supported Su Yi.
After buying more than ten donuts and ten bottles of Happy Water, Su Yi got into Xu Rui's car. A little over twenty minutes later, they arrived at their destination—the training facility.
"Thanks, A Rui."
Su Yi grabbed his things and quickly got out, heading for the training facility.
Xu Rui didn't leave right away. He watched Su Yi walk farther and farther away until he disappeared from sight, then drove off.
When Su Yi arrived at the training facility, he saw that quite a few teammates were already there.
They noticed him, too.
Big Z teased him, "Su, you're later than yesterday!"
"Zha Junas, I stopped to buy donuts and Happy Water."
As he spoke, Su Yi handed Big Z a donut and a bottle of Happy Water.
"Thanks."
Big Z accepted them and thanked him.
Su Yi thought to himself, Big Z really is a good guy.
Why wasn't Big Z the team's star player?
Sigh!
Su Yi continued handing them out one by one. Even after yesterday's performance, some teammates still paid him little attention.
But Su Yi didn't care. As far as he was concerned, buying and handing out donuts was just a job.
I'll do my job. The rest isn't my concern.
As time passed, the remaining players arrived one after another, including LeBron James.
Whenever someone arrived, Su Yi went over with a donut and a bottle of Happy Water.
LeBron James was no exception.
When LeBron saw Su Yi approaching with a donut and Happy Water, he patted Su Yue on the shoulder and said, "Hey, rookie. Nice work. Keep it up tomorrow."
As soon as he finished speaking, LeBron took the donut and Happy Water and started eating.
Keep it up? My ass!
Su Yi couldn't help complaining to himself.
But despite his grumbling, he kept a professional smile on his face.
"Right, tomorrow's Tuesday, rookie. Bring me three extra tacos."
LeBron suddenly spoke up.
His words snapped Su Yi back to reality.
"Of course, boss," Su Yi replied respectfully.
"Go train."
LeBron was quite pleased with the rookie's attitude.
(LeBron James: Pay close attention and learn, Ricky!)
(Ricky Davis: I was the team leader back then!)
(LeBron James: (ノ｀Д)ノ)
"Yes, boss."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Yi took the opportunity to move away from LeBron and start training.
As the saying goes, life goes on, and so does training.
The team's second day of practice wasn't as easy as the first. Everyone was putting in extra work.
Su Yi, however, had no trouble keeping up with the team's training plan.
Mike Brown was impressed. He hadn't expected Su Yi to handle the team's workload so easily.
After that, Su Yi settled into a busy daily routine.
He also got along very well with his teammates.
Before long, October 10 arrived, and the NBA preseason got underway.
The Cleveland Cavaliers opened their preseason at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Su Yi had thought Mike Brown would give him a chance, but in the first preseason game, he only got four minutes—the final four minutes.
Even so, Su Yi made the most of his time on the court, sinking both of his three-point attempts and scoring six points.
The next day, Mike Brown gave him significantly more playing time, putting him on the court in both the second and fourth quarters.
Su Yi didn't waste this rare opportunity. In just over nine minutes, he went four-for-three from the field, made one of two three-pointers, and scored seven points, with two rebounds and one assist.
Two days later, Mike Brown gave him more playing time again—more than in the second game.
Su Yi wondered if Mike Brown was treating him like a character in a video game, testing his limits.
Well, if he wants to test me, so be it.
In the third game, Su Yi played thirteen minutes and scored ten points, with three rebounds and one assist.
Su Yi played in each of the next three preseason games, getting fifteen, eighteen, and twenty-one minutes, respectively.
He was gradually getting used to the NBA's pace.
In the final preseason game, Su Yi went seven-for-thirteen from the field, hit three of his seven three-point attempts, and scored a preseason-high seventeen points.
With the preseason over, the NBA's new season—the 2006–07 season—would officially tip off on October 31.
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