Chapter One: The Same Day, Twice

The driver glanced back. "Most of it is condemned. I heard a team there is dissolving tonight." "I know." Tomorrow, a debt-ridden second-division club would defeat the defending cup champions 3–2. Eighteen-year-old substitute Lu Ye would score twice and assist once. Three months later, his transfer valuation would reach sixty million. But the club would not survive three months. Creditors would seal its grounds the next morning and scatter its players. Lu Ye would wander abroad, taking five years to become Asia's most valuable striker. It was an opportunity everyone had missed—except the man who had already lived through tomorrow. His banker called to confirm that a loan against his private securities would clear before midnight.