Plants vs. Zombies?

"BEEP! BEEP!"

As the final whistle sounded, Spain defeated Greece 70-47, a 23-point victory, claiming the 2006 FIBA World Championship!

"ROOOOOAR!"

Spanish fans in the arena erupted in wild celebration.

Meanwhile, across the ocean in the USA, at Su Yi's home:

Xu Rui was screaming with excitement too.

They had spent 1.36 million USD on Spain to win at 1-to-13 odds.

Now that Spain had taken the title, they were rolling in profit.

"Yi, we're millionaires."

Xu Rui grabbed Su Yi's arm, trembling with excitement.

In contrast, Su Yi was far more composed—after all, he had the cheat-script in hand, so this was no surprise.

Still, watching Xu Rui's ecstatic reaction, Su Yi couldn't resist teasing him: "A Rui, you're wrong. It's not 'we'—it's 'I' who's a millionaire."

The moment Su Yi finished speaking, Xu Rui's excitement screeched to a halt. The emotional transition from joy to flatness to disappointment was plain to see.

That "acting" put countless young idols to shame.

After two and a half seconds, Xu Rui said dejectedly, "Hasty move. I should've bet alongside you back then."

With that, Xu Rui turned to Su Yi and said, "Yi, next time there's a golden opportunity like this, loop me in."

Su Yi kept his face expressionless, staring at Xu Rui. Then, a second later, he couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter, grinning from ear to ear.

Still laughing, he said, "Just messing with you. We split the winnings fifty-fifty. Without your stake, I wouldn't have made that much either."

Having a few million snatched back and then returned made Xu Rui's eyes light up. He threw an arm around Su Yi's neck and said, "Good brother."

"Get lost. Why didn't you call me 'good brother' just now? Hypocrite." Su Yi laughed and cursed.

Xu Rui quickly shot back, "Hey, I was still in the middle of my emotional slump just then! Cut me some slack, okay? Brother Yi! Yi-bro~"

What the hell?

What was that?

Gross!

Su Yi shoved Xu Rui away and quickly walked out.

The next day, the two spent another two and a half hours collecting their prize. When Xu Rui saw the amount in his account, he couldn't stop grinning.

Even after they got home, Xu Rui's mouth still wouldn't close.

Su Yi couldn't help but speak up: "Alright, A Rui. It's just a few million. There'll be plenty more chances like this down the road."

"Really?"

Xu Rui's eyes gleamed as he looked at Su Yi. The thrill of making quick money had him hooked.

Su Yi didn't answer Xu Rui. Instead, he changed the subject to the real business ahead:

"We've got less than two months until the new season starts.

And I've already received notice from the team—I'm to report for training camp on September 28th.

A Rui, now that we've got money, let's head to Cleveland first and buy a relatively safe house with a basketball court.

Then, A Rui, help me put together a personal coaching team. And hurry up and get your agent certification sorted!"

Hearing Su Yi's words, Xu Rui quickly snapped back to reality. They really did have a mountain of things to do.

That afternoon, the two flew to Cleveland. As soon as they landed, Xu Rui contacted the real estate agent they'd arranged to meet.

Su Yi laid out his requirements and an approximate budget to the agent.

After hearing Su Yi's demands, the agent quickly recommended Cleveland's Hunting Valley.

Located in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, it was a historic and picturesque affluent neighborhood.

At the same time, Hunting Valley was the wealthiest community in Ohio, with an average annual household income of 500,000 USD!

As soon as Su Yi heard that, he told the agent to take him to see it right away.

When they arrived at Hunting Valley and saw the environment—along with the many security personnel patrolling the area—Su Yi immediately fell in love with the place.

Truth be told, Su Yi hadn't wanted to join the Cleveland Cavaliers. Aside from the LeBron James factor, the city had a high rate of violent crime and was one of the most dangerous cities in the USA in terms of public safety.

He had no intention of dying young!

So when house-hunting, he naturally wanted somewhere with solid security.

Soon, led by the real estate agent, they arrived at the first villa.

This villa wasn't too large—483 square meters total—with a private garden. Inside, it had seven bathrooms and six rooms, plus a swimming pool.

"I'll take it!"

After looking around, Su Yi bought it without a second thought.

Men buy things fast, accurate, and ruthless—no browsing back and forth, that's just a waste of time.

Spent 106W!

All the paperwork went through very quickly.

That night, Su Yi and Xu Rui moved straight into the villa.

The next day, Su Yi started training as usual, while Xu Rui was running around in a daze.

He had to find someone to build a basketball court in the garden, then interview maids, then recruit a personal training team for Su Yi, and finally squeeze in time to study.

But no matter how busy, as time passed, Xu Rui tackled each task one by one.

Spending big money to hire people, he had an outdoor court installed in less than three days.

Two maids were hired for the household, specifically to take care of the two of them in terms of food, clothing, and living.

At the same time, the personal training team took shape: head coach Kai Lei Menluo, fitness coach Nilufer Bello, physiotherapist Cutler Garland, nutritionist Mikala Cooley, sparring partners Nikolai Hull and Jami Scott, and chef Saicang Halin.

It was all settled, but when he tallied it up, the annual cost was higher than Su Yi's yearly salary.

The entire personal training team's annual expenses came to 126W USD!

Xu Rui immediately reported this to Su Yi and apologized, "Yi, I'm really sorry, I didn't pay attention to the cost. 126W a year is way too expensive!"

Su Yi waved his hand and said, "A Rui, this isn't your fault. Leave the money-making to me. Go prepare three of the most advanced computers available."

Su Yi had made up his mind in just a few seconds.

He wasn't planning to casually take endorsements. Knowing that his potential could take off in just 1-2 seasons, there was no need to accept deals that didn't match his value.

The brands approaching him now were only after his current popularity.

Plus, their offers were relatively low and the contracts long.

And there were no quick-money opportunities lately—the World Cup and Basketball World Championship were already over.

That left his old trade—programmer!

Su Yi planned to whip up a few small games and sell them.

Short time, quick money, and most importantly, he wanted to have fun.

Now that he was reborn, Su Yi wanted to relax a bit, and there weren't many games he could play.

"Got it, Yi!"

Though he didn't know what Su Yi was up to, Xu Rui obediently followed orders.

In Xu Rui's eyes now, Su Yi was a super power player—just hold on tight!

Soon, Xu Rui had the three computers set up.

So Su Yi's daily routine changed from then on: training was cut from the original 14 hours down to 10. Kai Lei Menluo was very relieved by this, as he thought Su Yi training 14 hours a day was treating his body like it wasn't human.

And the 4 hours saved, Su Yi used to write code.

That's how Su Yi finished just in time for the 28th, the day before the team's training camp.

"A Rui, come here."

Once Su Yi was done, he immediately called Xu Rui over to try out the little game he'd just made.

"What's up?"

Hearing Su Yi's call, Xu Rui walked over and asked.

"Play this game."

"What game? Plants vs. Zombies?"