Chapter One: The Deleted Name

On the morning Northport Athletic announced its squad for the new season, Lin Mo's name vanished from the dressing-room door. There was no farewell, no conversation with the manager, not even a message asking him to clear his locker. At nine, he entered the training ground and found a new label on locker thirty-seven. An eighteen-year-old midfielder newly arrived from South America sat in his place while an interpreter explained the club rules. Lin stood there for two seconds, then took the only thing left inside: a pair of shin guards. Football was very good at disguising cruelty as efficiency. Technical director Albert Duran slid a termination agreement across his glass desk, pinning down the last page as if it might escape.