Chapter One: The Man Left Behind

“I couldn’t reach it. If I jumped, I would foul.” “Then what did you do?” “Made his worst option the only one left.” Chen handed him a contract. “Ten days. We play Haiyue tonight. Earn your minutes.” No one welcomed him in the locker room. Zhou draped a towel over his head. “Just stay out of the way.” That evening, the Haiyue Center blazed with light. The crowd laughed when the announcer reached Lu’s name. On the giant screen, a caption read: Waived yesterday. Temporary signing today. Haiyue led by fifteen in the fourth. When Harbor City’s starting center fouled out, Chen pointed toward the end of the bench. “Lu Zheng.” He removed his warm-up shirt. The mission timer showed eight minutes and forty-seven seconds.