Chapter Three: The Cheapest Point

Gu's vision darkened. He gripped the dugout and forced himself to stop looking. Data found the crack; people still had to close it. In first-half stoppage time, Crown bypassed the trap with a long ball. Luo read the flight a fraction late. Nil-one. The visitors celebrated as if normal service had finally resumed. At halftime, silence filled the room. A-He sat in a corner, paling at the arrows on the tactics board. Gu erased every line and wrote three words. Lighthouse. Tide line. Come home. “Their left back has a yellow card. You go on at sixty minutes. Don't understand the whole pitch. Find the place he cannot see.” “What if I lose the ball?” “Luo will close the gate.” The captain looked up. “You run. That's all.”