Chapter One: Beyond Seven Minutes

The first time Shen Yan saw the flash, it lay in Studio Three's rain gutter like a crushed black heart. Inside, forty-seven people were busy losing their tempers around He Xiao. “I said no running pose.” The country's most expensive sprinter sat against a gray backdrop, an ice pack over his right knee. He was the irreplaceable face of *Frontline*'s September cover. Three months after a second Achilles tear, everyone knew he would never run 9.97 again. Everyone except the sponsor. The lead photographer, Cheng Ye, handed Shen Yan the camera and turned to argue with editor-in-chief Qi Man. No one looked at the assistant carrying six figures' worth of equipment.