Chapter Four: The Center Without a Basket

After the game, a box of new shoes arrived in the locker room with no logo. The sender had written only OLD NORTHPORT STANDS. Chen held his pair for a long time, then cleaned his split shoes and placed them on the highest shelf of his locker. Tang Guo brought colder news. “The channel scheduled to show our next game canceled. Three small sponsors withdrew too.” The three differently worded notices had been sent in the same minute. Beneath them was an edited two-second clip of Lu shouting during the qualifier, now climbing the rankings beneath a headline: RETIRED STAR MANIPULATES AMATEUR LEAGUE—WHAT IS THE NORTHPORT MIRACLE REALLY WORTH? Lu switched off the projector. “They finally stopped treating us like a joke.”