Chapter 81: All Substitutes

“Brothers, to hell with a friendly match! Where’s the friendship in any of this… There’s only money!”
“So, let us fight for the sake of money!”
“Let’s crush them, so hard they forget the way home!” Zhu Di chimed in.
Geng Haoshi shouted with manic excitement… Meanwhile, Yu Manman, standing to the side, was mortified: Damn! Don’t say things like that in front of the opposing coach!
The coach of the Wanlong University team looked visibly displeased after hearing Geng Haoshi’s words. After all, guests from afar deserve respect, so Yu Manman quickly shifted the topic: “Let’s do our warm-ups separately; the game starts promptly at three.”
Thus, players from both sides began their pre-match warm-ups on their respective halves of the court.
“Brother Zhu Di, why do they only have seven players?” Geng Haoshi stood next to Zhu Di, speaking as he tossed the ball away.
“No idea.” Zhu Di’s focus was entirely on warming up; you could see how badly he wanted to win. After all, being mocked in your own home court—anyone with a bit of pride wouldn’t let that slide!
...“Hey, do you really only have seven players?” Geng Haoshi strode across to the other side and called out loudly.
Zhu Di turned and shot Geng Haoshi a grim look: Damn! Why’s this kid trying to get friendly with the enemy?
The seven players from the other team exchanged glances, then burst into laughter. The player in the white number one jersey looked at Geng Haoshi with contempt: “Are you stupid? A team usually has at least ten players. How could there be only seven?”
Calling me stupid?! Geng Haoshi suppressed his anger and pressed on: “Then why are there just seven of you here?”
The contempt on the face of White Number One deepened, and he snapped, “It’s because we heard we’d be playing last year’s bottom-ranked school, so five of the starters didn’t bother to come. Instead, they sent us seven substitutes for the formality.”
Damn! That’s brutal! No need for foul language to insult us! This cannot be tolerated! Zhu Di rolled up his sleeves, ready to give White Number One a few punches—just to see how well Tony’s boxing lessons worked.
Zhu Di, full of fury, strode toward White Number One… Geng Haoshi turned to his teammates and said loudly, “Young people these days have no respect! Brothers, since they’re so full of themselves, let’s show them the price of their arrogance!”

Geng Haoshi turned back, put his left hand in front of him, and, imitating a gentleman, bowed deeply to White Number One. Rising, he smiled and said, “Since none of your starters showed up, we’ll just take the 120,000 yuan prize money, nice and easy.”
Hearing this, the previously listless captain Meng Lang clenched his fists and shouted, “Exactly! Let’s give these blind fools a real lesson!”
Yu Manman, sitting at the coach’s bench, watched Meng Lang: Rare to see this guy act so dominantly… Ahem, the opposing coach’s face looks even worse now.
...
Soon, three o’clock arrived, and the “friendly” match between Tiansheng University of Technology and Wanlong University of Transportation officially began.
At the tip-off, Wanlong University secured possession first.
“They’re just tall, nothing more!” Geng Haoshi lounged at the sidelines, legs crossed.
In yesterday’s second shooting accuracy assessment, Geng Haoshi ranked third on the team with a 41.2% success rate, just behind Zhou Xiaoshan (43.6%) and Xu Gaofeng (43.1%). He’d hoped that would earn him a starter spot… but today, he was still benched.
“Ah.” Geng Haoshi sighed gloomily: Goddess Mimi isn’t here, so playing or not doesn’t really matter.
Yang Mimi and Lin Ling had both taken the train home on February 10th, leaving Li Shishi as the only basketball club manager yet to leave.
Now, Li Shishi was clinging to Geng Haoshi’s arm, her head resting gently on his shoulder, humming some unknown cheerful tune.
Ever since Li Shishi discovered that Yang Mimi wasn’t Geng Haoshi’s sister, and Lin Ling wasn’t his elder sibling, she’d shamelessly latched onto him (PS: not that she’d been much better before).
After five minutes of play, Wanlong University led 13–9, thanks to their height advantage and reliable shooting both inside and out.
Yu Manman lounged casually on the coach’s bench, seemingly unconcerned about the current deficit.
As the game continued, Tiansheng University began to display the fruits of five months of training—faster movement, quicker passing, and better shooting accuracy.

At the end of the first quarter, Tiansheng University overtook Wanlong University, leading 21–20.
Yu Manman looked at captain Meng Lang: “What do you think of their level?”
Meng Lang sensed that Yu Manman didn’t sound like she was about to scold him (PS: he’s been scolded enough), so he spoke boldly: “They shoot pretty well, but they’re not fast enough. As long as we press and disrupt them, their shots lose accuracy. So, I’d say their level is average.”
“Definitely average.” The other players agreed.
“Average?” Yu Manman had no intention of contradicting them. She simply remembered when she first coached Meng Lang’s team, back when they hadn’t yet outgrown the stigma of chronic last place, and believed no team could be worse than theirs… But now, at last, they could confidently declare other teams merely average.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, the Wanlong University coach was furious: “What are you doing?! You let the last-place team overtake you! Aren’t you ashamed?!”
“Beep—” The whistle sounded for the start of the second quarter.
Watching his players take the court, the Wanlong University coach slapped his thigh in regret: Ah, what a miscalculation! He’d assumed they were just a bottom-ranked team, which is why he agreed to let his starters stay home. Who could have guessed… Now things are uncertain!
The Wanlong University coach glanced at the piles of cash stacked on the table at the sidelines—120,000 yuan in prize money! He clenched his teeth, folded his hands in prayer: Please, let us win!
Most college coaches aren’t like Yu Manman, whose international expertise commands a high salary. Aside from their fixed pay, their only chance to earn extra is by winning matches and earning bonuses.
For this “friendly” against Tiansheng University, if Wanlong University wins, their coach will receive 10% of the prize—12,000 yuan as a coach’s bonus. For someone whose monthly salary is barely over three thousand, that’s a significant sum. With the New Year approaching, a little extra income would make the holiday much brighter.
Unfortunately, they’d underestimated their opponent, thinking their substitutes would easily clinch victory, never realizing what trials and transformations the other team had undergone in these five months…