"A Rui, look, he's spreading his arms again. What's he spreading them for?"
"A Rui, look, he's passing the buck again. There are only a few seconds left on the shot clock, and he passes the damn ball!"
"A Rui..."
The TV was showing the Dream Team vs. Greece in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championship.
Su Yi and Xu Rui were watching the game together at home, reading and taking turns roasting LeBron James.
Su Yi had been doing this ever since the World Championship began.
He was determined to turn the fair-skinned Xu Rui into a LeBron Hater.
Come on, A Rui. LeBron Haters welcome!
Xu Rui had only been a basketball fan for a little over a year. As he watched the game on TV and listened to Su Yi drone on, he gradually found himself agreeing with Su Yi more and more.
If Xu Rui remembered correctly, LeBron James had averaged 31.4 points per game last season. So how had he scored them?
His offensive game was incredibly one-dimensional.
Xu Rui couldn't make heads or tails of it.
And he especially couldn't understand why LeBron kept handling the ball. Weren't there two point guards on the team?
On top of that, he couldn't create space on offense. Was he supposed to be a good passer?
As if!
He wasn't creating any space for his teammates at all. He was just forcing stupid passes.
No wonder Su Yi didn't like LeBron James.
The guy really was kind of bad.
As time passed, the game tilted further and further in Greece's favor.
"Yi, why does the Dream Team insist on having LeBron handle the ball at the top of the key? It doesn't seem to do much. He can drive, sure, but he can't break through the defense."
Xu Rui had been rooting for the Dream Team, and seeing this was driving him crazy with frustration.
He turned to Su Yi and asked what had been bothering him.
"A Rui, just think about it. If he doesn't handle the ball, what can he do?
"He can't move without the ball, and he can't shoot from outside. So if they put him on the court, all they can do is let him handle the ball."
As he spoke, Su Yi picked up the Happy Water on the table and took a sip, then continued:
"What's even funnier is that he holds the ball for ages every time. Then, when he can't get to the basket himself, he passes it off right before the shot clock runs out.
"And what can the player who catches it do? He has to shoot!
"If it goes in, LeBron gets an assist. If it doesn't, it's not his fault.
"Tell me, is that kind of passing worth anything?"
As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, Xu Rui slapped his thigh. "Holy crap, he's both the hero and the villain!
"No wonder his stats were so good last season. They were padded!"
The two kept talking as they watched the game approach its end.
The score was now 97–91, with Greece ahead by six.
The Dream Team had possession. The ball went to LeBron James, who dribbled quickly across half court.
Anyone would have gone for a three-pointer, hoping to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.
But what did LeBron James do?
He did the exact opposite—he drove!
He went up for a layup with a defender on him.
And missed!
Luckily, he grabbed the rebound and put it back in, cutting the lead to four with 27 seconds left.
The Dream Team then pressed the entire court and forced Greece into a five-second inbound violation.
Possession changed hands. The Dream Team had the ball.
They inbounded, and the ball went to Carmelo Anthony.
Carmelo Anthony immediately went for a three. He knew perfectly well that a three-pointer was their only chance. A two would just mean a slow death.
"Clang!"
The shot missed.
Paul fouled a Greek player while fighting for the rebound, sending him to the free-throw line.
Greece made both free throws, pushing the lead back to six.
Twenty-four seconds remained.
"A Rui, bet you this guy goes for two again."
As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, the ball went to LeBron James.
LeBron took the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt, drove inside, leaped high, and threw down a two-handed dunk.
"Dominant," sure—but it was useless!
"Holy crap, Yi, that was exactly what you said he'd do."
Xu Rui hadn't expected Su Yi to predict LeBron James's move so accurately.
"Hahahaha, A Rui, there's something even funnier. Just wait and see his shooting percentage and how many points he scored in the fourth quarter."
Su Yi laughed as he roasted him.
"Oh?"
Xu Rui didn't even watch the rest of the game. He pulled out his phone and looked up the stats.
While Xu Rui searched, the game ended. Greece beat the Dream Team 101–95, sending home the team led by the Platinum Generation stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony.
"Holy crap! Holy crap!"
When Xu Rui saw LeBron James's stats, he couldn't help shouting.
"Hahaha, funny, right?"
Su Yi burst out laughing.
"He scored 17 points in the whole game and seven in the fourth quarter. And those seven included the layup and dunk after he drove to the basket twice in the final 40 seconds."
Xu Rui studied the stats and couldn't help analyzing them.
Su Yi added:
"And he scored four in the final stretch, shooting two-for-three. Looks pretty efficient, right? Nice PER, too.
"Just looking at the stats, you'd think LeBron James was incredible. He gave it everything he had.
"But once you watch the game, your impression flips completely. What was this guy doing?
"Why not shoot a three? Why go for two?
"It did absolutely nothing for the team. He just wasted time they could've used to catch up."
As Su Yi spoke, Xu Rui nodded along. He agreed with him completely.
LeBron James definitely had to take the blame for the Dream Team's loss!
But the very next thing Su Yi said left Xu Rui stunned.
"A Rui, bet you tomorrow's headlines will mostly say things like: 'James Fearlessly Takes Charge in the Clutch!'
"'James Scores Four in the Final Minute, but His Missed Three Can't Save the Team!'
"'James Gave It His All, but His Opponents Were Just Too Accurate.'"
As soon as Su Yi finished, Xu Rui stared at him in disbelief, as if to say, "Really?"
Su Yi understood his expression, of course. He smiled and said, "Check the reports tomorrow and see for yourself."
The next day, Xu Rui hurried out to buy a stack of sports newspapers. The coverage turned out to be pretty much exactly as Su Yi had predicted.
Holy crap! Holy crap!
Xu Rui rushed toward Su Yi's house with the newspapers, eager to tell him about it.
But when he got there, he saw Su Yi dressed in bizarre clothes, wearing makeup, sporting a different hairstyle, and wearing sunglasses.
If Xu Rui hadn't grown up with Su Yi, he wouldn't have recognized him at first glance.
"Yi, what are you doing?" Xu Rui asked, bewildered.
"I'm going to collect my winnings. I bet everything I had on Greece at 21-to-1 odds. I made over 1.3 million! From now on, call me Su Million!"
After showing off, Su Yi left the house to collect his winnings.
Xu Rui was left standing there, completely dumbfounded.
A few seconds later, Xu Rui snapped out of it and hurried after him. "Yi, wait for me! I'm coming too."
Two and a half hours later, Su Yi and Xu Rui returned home, their faces alight with excitement.
Su Yi had just collected his winnings. Because the amount was so large, the betting shop staff had given him a check, which the winner had to deposit at a bank.
Su Yi and Xu Rui had just come back from the bank.
A total of 1.362 million.
Su Yi had officially become Su Million.
"Yi, why didn't you put all the money I lent you into this bet?" Xu Rui asked, confused.
"You can't have your cake and eat it too!
"If I'd bet on this, I would've had to wait until now to bet on Spain winning. But after the Dream Team got knocked out, the odds on Spain winning dropped straight to 2.3-to-1!
"Come on, don't dwell on it. We made money either way.
"After the final, I'm going to call you Xu Ten Million!"
At Su Yi's words, Xu Rui's eyes widened and his face filled with excitement. He could practically see piles of money pouring into his pockets.
If it really worked out, Xu Rui would take the money straight to his parents and show off.
After all, this was the first time he'd ever "earned" so much money.
If Su Yi had known what Xu Rui was thinking, he wouldn't have thought much of it.
After all, as a reincarnated programmer, he had countless ways to make money.
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