On the first day of school, the school beauty in black stockings took me to a hotel.

[Industrial and Commercial Bank of China] RMB 50,000.00 has been deposited into your account ending in 8810, leaving a balance of RMB 51,126.33. [Sponsorship from Su's Real Estate]

"The money has arrived!!!!"

That shout startled the coffee shop owner.

At 5:10 p.m., the common area of ​​the boys' dormitory was already packed with people.

Du Peng stood in the middle, holding up his phone.

"Brothers! Look closely! What is this? 50,000 RMB! Not game coins! Not virtual currency! Real money that can buy spicy snacks, top up your meal card, and be withdrawn!"

The nine team members below—Liu Yu, Zhang Chunli, Li Ning, Wang Hao, Zhao Zhiwei, Li Xuan, Cai Yuan, Qin Haoyu, and Fang Beichen—all looked up.

Wang Hao, a 1.85-meter-tall man from Northeast China: "Brother Peng, this money... is it really for us? Or is it a scam?"

"Why would I lie to you! See that? 'Sponsorship from Su's Real Estate'! It's written in black and white! I just sent a WeChat message to Manager Wang to confirm, and he replied, 'Good to receive, wishing you success in the competition!'"

Li Ning interrupted, "The smiling emoji... is it that 'hehe' smile...?"

"Does it matter? No, it doesn't matter! The important thing is that this money is in our class fund account now! It's ours! Ten people! Fifty thousand! Five thousand per person!"

Zhang Chunli asked naively, "Brother Peng, is this money... really only because of Brother Yu?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone turned to look at Liu Yu.

Liu Yu was leaning against the doorframe: "Don't look at me... I didn't know there would be so many..."

"You don't know? But your sister-in-law knows! Brothers! I have to make this clear today! Who is responsible for this 50,000 yuan, and this future 100,000 yuan bonus? Is it me? Is it our Brother Peng?"

He answered his own question: "No! It's our boss! Liu Yu! Brother Yu! If Brother Yu hadn't found a goddess like Sister-in-law, we'd still be worrying about the 500 yuan for our team uniforms!"

"So! Everyone, bow to our hero, our lucky charm, our god of wealth—Brother Yu!"

After he finished speaking, he was the first to bend down and bow deeply at a ninety-degree angle.

The other eight people paused for a second, then bowed in unison.

"Brother Xie Yu—!"

The voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire floor.

Liu Yu's face turned green: "Get up! Aren't you ashamed?!"

"No! Unless you accept our thanks!"

"I accept it! I accept it! Get up now!"

The nine people then straightened up, their faces beaming with smiles.

Wang Hao, ever the drama queen, wiped his eyes and said, "Brother Yu, to be honest, I bought those basketball shoes in my second year of high school. The soles were almost worn down. I was planning to just use tape to cover them up for this game... Now I can buy new shoes... Thank you, Brother Yu..."

"Alright, alright, stop acting. It's good that the money's here; now we should discuss how to spend it."

Du Peng quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! It's important! Come on, everyone sit down, let's have a formal operational meeting!"

Ten people sat in a row.

Du Peng somehow got hold of a whiteboard, on which several topics were already written:

What style of team uniform should we choose?

What brand of sneakers should I buy?

What do you eat during training?

How will the prize money be distributed?

"First, the team uniforms. I suggest we buy the Shohoku team jerseys from 'Slam Dunk'! Red and white, classic and timeless! Wearing them, you'll look like Rukawa Kaede or Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

Li Xuan was the first to raise his hand: "Agreed! I grew up watching Slam Dunk, and I've always dreamed of wearing Shohoku's number 10 jersey!"

"Number 10 is mine! I play point guard, Miyagi Ryota is my idol!"

"I want number 11! Rukawa Kaede!"

"I want number 14! Mitsui Hisashi! Coach, I want to play basketball!"

Seeing that an argument was about to break out, Du Peng quickly tried to maintain order: "Don't rush, don't rush! You can choose the numbers yourselves, but let's decide on the style first! Xiangbei team uniforms, does everyone agree?"

"Agreed!" all nine people said in unison.

Du Peng drew a checkmark on the whiteboard: "Okay, unanimously approved! Next, the basketball shoes. Manager Wang suggested buying professional basketball shoes, the kind that cost over a thousand yuan a pair. What are everyone's thoughts?"

Li Ning said, "I don't think it's necessary to buy anything too expensive. Shoes costing over a thousand yuan are good, but our skill level is limited. Even if we wear the best shoes, we won't make it to the NBA. Buying a pair of domestically made professional shoes costing five or six hundred yuan is enough. We can save the money and use it elsewhere."

He's the most pragmatic person on the team, and that makes sense.

But Du Peng didn't think so.

"Ning'er, you're not right. We're not short of money, we have 50,000! And Manager Wang clearly stated that this money is for upgrading our equipment! Just think about it, when we go on the field, other teams will be wearing no-name shoes, while we'll all be wearing professional shoes. We'll win in terms of sheer presence!"

"But......"

"No buts! Buy! It has to be the best! Not only the best, but it has to be the same brand! I suggest Nike! Classic, professional, and prestigious!"

Liu Yu interjected at this point: "I think Li Ning is right. It's not that we can't buy good stuff, it's that we need to allocate resources reasonably. Team uniforms, shoes, protective gear, water, medicine, food... all of these cost money. Fifty thousand seems like a lot, but if it's divided among ten people, buying the most expensive items might not be enough."

"Being too flashy isn't good either. We're going there to compete, not to walk the runway."

Du Peng thought about it and agreed: "Then what do you suggest, boss?"

"So, the budget for sneakers will be around 800 yuan per person. We'll buy decent team uniforms, 500 yuan a set. We'll set aside 3,000 yuan for protective gear and medicine. The rest will be used as a subsidy for meals and water during training."

He calculated it clearly: "Eight hundred times ten is eight thousand, five hundred times ten is five thousand, adding up to thirteen thousand. Add three thousand for reserve, and it's sixteen thousand. There's still thirty-four thousand left, more than enough for food and other expenses."

"Besides, if you actually win the championship, each person will get a prize of ten thousand. You could buy any shoes you want then!"

The last sentence struck a chord with Du Peng.

"That makes sense! We should save now, and use the prize money to buy better things after we win the championship! That's called sustainable development!"

Wang Hao quickly asked, "What about the meal allowance? Can we eat after training? Can we eat meat?"

"Absolutely! Starting today, meet at the stir-fry section on the third floor of the cafeteria every evening after training! Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, all-you-can-drink! The cost will be covered by the sponsorship fee!"

"Whoa!!!" A cheer erupted.

The subsequent discussions went much more smoothly. The team uniform style and color scheme were finalized.

For sneakers, buy Li-Ning's "Yu Shuai" series; they offer great value for money.

Buy the most basic protective gear: knee pads and wrist guards.

Prepare Yunnan Baiyao, ice packs, and bandages.

Once everything was finalized, Du Peng wrote a large line at the bottom of the whiteboard:

Goal: Championship! For the 100,000 yuan prize! For the barbecue!

"Come on, brothers! Put your hands up! Shout a slogan!"

Ten hands stacked together.

Du Peng led the way: "Class 103!"

The others shouted in unison, "Victory is certain!!!"