Chapter Two: Victory Has Been Paid For

Xu’s silence lasted one second—so brief it felt rehearsed. “Coincidence.” “Then why did you say it was still here?” Wind rattled the roller door. Xu sat and broke apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. “Lin Jianxia, did you come here to prove that mistake three years ago wasn’t your fault?” Jianxia’s fingers tightened. In the last minute of Donglan’s semifinal, her back pass had been intercepted for the winning goal. The clip had played online millions of times. Someone mailed her razor blades. Someone posted her mother’s medical records. The club told her to rest and never invited her back. “That has nothing to do with this program.” “It does. A machine that promises the correct answer in advance is especially dangerous to you.”