"Miss, did things go smoothly?"
The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties.
"Yes, they did."
Takashima Rei brushed a strand of hair from her ear.
"Did he really agree? I heard before that his dream was to play in Koshien, and he had already received an exceptional admission offer from Ichidai Third High School."
The driver felt very surprised. To be honest, the benefits offered by Ichidai Third were already top-tier. Even for Seidou, it would be difficult to offer better treatment. It wasn't that they lacked money, but Seidou recruited too many excellent players. There were regulations regarding rewards and treatment. Even if Takashima Rei was the daughter of the school's Director, she couldn't endlessly increase the benefits.
With similar benefits, why would Zhang Han give up Ichidai Third and choose Seidou?
Takashima Rei, however, was confident.
"The benefits are similar, but the way they are given is very different. The reason other schools waive Zhang Han's selection fee is partly for his talent, and partly to provide assistance. It's like the financial aid students from years ago. It's a welfare measure the school provides based on the student's actual situation. Furthermore, if my guess isn't wrong, there's also a promotional purpose involved since Zhang Han is a foreign student."
The driver listened and nodded silently.
"But we are different. What we give is a reward, which is essentially a scholarship. He can use the scholarship to pay for his tuition and selection fees himself. If it were you, would you prefer to be a student requiring charity, or an excellent student using a scholarship to pay for tuition?"
The driver opened his mouth, and finally could only praise with admiration.
"As expected of the Miss!"
Truly impressive. The Takashima family could become a prominent family in the Tokyo area because there truly was a system behind it. Even the women of the family possessed such intellect.
At Zhang Han's home.
The family of three stared blankly at the huge check in front of them, speechless for a long time.
5 million!
That was 5 million yen. Converted to money on the mainland, it was over 300,000. In Zhang Han's hometown, that small county, it was enough to buy a second-hand house.
"Brother, if I did anything wrong before, you must be forgiving. After all, you are my most respected brother, and I am your dearest sister..."
Lan Yu was the first to snap back, grabbing Zhang Han's clothes and shaking them back and forth.
Zhang Han stared at his gentle and amiable sister for a full half-minute. Then he reached out and touched Lan Yu's forehead, saying with a puzzled expression.
"No fever!"
"You're the one who's sick!"
Lan Yu's act instantly broke.
Zhang Han let out a big sigh of relief; this person in front of him was indeed his own sister, not someone impersonating her.
"Your dream is to play baseball, isn't it to make it to Koshien? Although Seidou High School offers better benefits, they are not as famous as Ichidai San. Why don't you still consider going to Ichidai San? At worst, we can return this money..."
Lan He looked at the huge check with reluctance. Honestly, she had never seen so much money before. But for her precious son's dream, she would not compromise with money.
Lan He, deep down, was romantic. If she were materialistic, the family of three wouldn't be living in such a suburb.
"You don't have to worry about that. Although Seidou hasn't made it to Koshien in recent years, their strength is still good. Their failure to make it is largely due to bad luck, not a lack of opportunity. After all, they are one of the West Tokyo powerhouses. Furthermore, many well-known professional players graduated from Seidou. If you want to achieve something in baseball, joining Seidou is also a good choice."
"In that case, then go!"
Lan He snatched the check into her hand.
"Seidou High School is a prestigious school. Attending there not only requires paying a selection fee of over a hundred thousand, but their tuition and textbook fees are also very high. If I'm not mistaken, the check in your hand is just enough to cover those expenses."
As a baseball player, several of Zhang Han's seniors had attended Seidou. Zhang Han had heard about the situation there. Excluding players specially recruited by the Baseball Club, ordinary students attending Seidou faced very high tuition and accommodation fees.
So, even though Takashima Rei gave him a 5 million check, the treatment she offered was not much better than Ichidai Third, which waived the selection fee.
Of course, there was still a difference.
Firstly, this 5 million being directly given to him indicated that the Seidou High School Baseball Team highly regarded his potential. If he attended there, he should receive attention from the Director and coaching team.
On the other hand, the personal feeling would be much better.
Ichidai San, Yakushi, Inashiro. The reason these schools waived his selection fee was because Ono Binchi had proactively applied on his behalf. It was equivalent to applying for a poverty subsidy. It inevitably felt a bit embarrassing.
As for Seidou, they directly gave a bonus. It was equivalent to a reward given by the school in his hometown for doing exceptionally well in the entrance exam.
For example, Zhang Han's friends back home called him, saying that this year Binhai produced a city-level top scorer for the junior high entrance exam. Binhai First High School directly awarded him 300,000. The purpose was to use him as a signboard.
From these two aspects, Seidou High School's approach, or rather Takashima Rei's approach, undoubtedly made him feel much more comfortable.
However, Seidou had not made it to Koshien for consecutive years. If he attended there, his path to Koshien would undoubtedly be much more difficult.
On the other hand, Ono Binchi and he had already contacted Ichidai Third High School. Changing his mind now inevitably felt a bit awkward.
After struggling for a few minutes, seeing the check on the table, Zhang Han gave a helpless bitter smile.
He was being a bit overly sensitive. Hadn't he made this decision long ago? If he hadn't made a decision, why would he have agreed to let Takashima Rei leave the check?
"Director, I need to see you now."
Evasion was not a solution; when facing something, one could only confront it. Zhang Han called Ono Binchi, preparing to tell him his decision.
Ono, on the other end of the phone, also sounded very anxious.
"You brat, hurry over, I need to see you."