Chapter Two: Every Fortune Has a Price

There was no sender. When he deleted the message, it returned. His screenshot showed only a blank screen. At morning practice, every eye followed him. Teammates lined up to congratulate him; some joked that he owed them dinner, while others barely concealed their resentment. Zhou Yan moved him to the starting unit. Reporters packed the sideline, and video of his final shot had passed three hundred million views. Whenever a camera faced him, tiny costs flashed at the edge of his vision: INTERVIEW [2 hours], SPONSOR PHOTO [41 minutes], PROMOTED TREND [9 days]. Fame charged a fee, too. Gao Yuan sat beside a treatment table with ECG leads on his chest.