Chapter One: The Last Shot Before the Window Closed

At 11:47 p.m., a single light remained on inside Cape City Football Club. The sea wind rattled the old sign outside. Three things lay before Shen Yan: a bank collection notice, a joint wage-demand letter from the players, and an unsigned transfer agreement. A golden sun—the emblem of Aurum Sports—gleamed at the bottom of the last document. One signature would make seventy-eight million yuan of debt disappear. In return, Cape City FC and the forty-year operating rights to Seaside Stadium would change hands. Tang Mu pushed a calculator toward him. “Six hundred and eighty thousand left in the account. If we don't cover part of the wages by noon tomorrow, the league imposes a registration ban.