On the day they won the championship, Zhang Han and the others all felt as if they were in a dream.
Awards, interviews, and then the return to school for the celebration followed one after another, so quickly that it hardly felt real.
At the school, however, a small incident occurred.
Because the Seido High School Baseball Team won too quickly, the celebration banquet prepared by the cafeteria was not finished by the time they returned. As a result, the players waited in the cafeteria for nearly half an hour before the food was finally served.
"Eat as much as you want. The more you eat, the better!"
The chubby principal wore a radiant smile.
On normal days, Coach Kataoka's attitude toward him was not particularly friendly, but none of that mattered now. As long as Kataoka could lead the team to victory, guide them to Koshien, and let the name of Seido High School Baseball Team once again resound across the country, everything else was insignificant.
"In this way, our school's reputation will spread nationwide again! Hehe…" the dean said in a sharp, excited voice.
Zhang Han usually felt uncomfortable listening to the dean speak. It always reminded him of a certain profession from palace dramas.
But today, it did not sound nearly as irritating.
Indeed, a person's mood affected everything.
Zhang Han was in an excellent mood. Being able to enter Koshien together with Azuma Kiyokuni and the others made him genuinely happy.
Azuma Kiyokuni held a cup and quietly walked over.
"Want a drink?"
"I'm not an adult yet."
"Don't mess around. Have you forgotten that a team was disqualified a few years ago because of drinking trouble?"
Manager Ota's face was already flushed. He hurried over, slightly out of breath.
"Manager, this is just a drink," Azuma said, looking wronged.
"Let me smell it."
Ota still did not trust him.
Zhang Han felt helpless.
Although Azuma Kiyokuni was not yet eighteen, with his appearance, people would probably believe it if someone said he was thirty. Seeing him drink a beverage really did not look strange at all.
Zhang Han took a sip of the yogurt in his hand and continued gnawing on the chicken feet in front of him. His lean build was deceptive. His appetite was not small, and he could not enjoy a meal without meat.
In Tokyo, eating meat was not easy.
To replenish protein, it was mostly various kinds of fish. Even in the Seido High School Baseball Club's dedicated cafeteria, the main dishes were usually fish and rice.
Chicken and pork were rare.
This time, the school had truly gone all out. There was meat everywhere. Zhang Han had even seen steak earlier, but it was immediately snatched away by the gluttonous third-years, leaving him empty-handed.
"Here."
Just as Zhang Han finished gnawing on a chicken foot, two pieces of steak suddenly appeared in front of him.
He turned his head and saw Hidezawa, who looked completely nonchalant.
"Thank you, senpai."
Zhang Han did not stand on ceremony and immediately started eating.
In an atmosphere like this, trying to maintain gentlemanly manners would only feel awkward. It was better to be natural.
"After dinner, want to try hitting my pitches?" Hidezawa asked.
"Didn't the Director say there's another interview? A reporter from Baseball Weekly."
"Yes, but it's not for us. It's for Azuma and Miyuki. We've been removed from the list."
"Why?"
Zhang Han was confused.
Whether it was him or Hidezawa, both of them were core players in these games. Their performances might not have surpassed Miyuki or Azuma Kiyokuni, but they certainly were not inferior. From a publicity standpoint, they might even draw more attention.
Why were they excluded?
"The Director wants me to keep a low profile and wait until Koshien. As for you, I heard from Tanaka that Little Rei is designing a character profile for you. Only after that is finalized will you be allowed to accept interviews."
"Character profile?"
Zhang Han was completely baffled.
"I'm not a celebrity. Why do I need a character profile?"
"It's necessary," Hidezawa replied. "Your identity is special. Information about you will likely be sent back to your country. This doesn't just affect Seido. It also affects Koshien. Even in Tokyo, you need a healthy image to be accepted by ordinary fans."
Zhang Han was speechless.
He did not even know when he had become this important.
Hidezawa looked at Zhang Han's bewildered expression and felt a trace of envy.
As a first-year student, Zhang Han did not yet understand what his achievements represented, nor the significance of him being a foreign exchange student from the mainland for Seido and for Koshien.
Hidezawa and the other third-years were different. Beyond the team, they had to think about their future.
And when thinking about the future, professional baseball was unavoidable.
Koshien and the professional leagues were dream stages, but in essence, they were also massive sports business platforms.
Behind Zhang Han was a huge, undeveloped market.
Last year, two young players from the southern mainland province had been signed by a Major League team in North America. The incident caused heated discussion both on the mainland and in Japan, with many questioning whether those players were truly strong enough.
The answer was simple.
Profit.
Whether Zhang Han could reach the heights Coach Kataoka envisioned was uncertain. Even Kataoka himself likely did not have a clear answer.
But that did not stop them from preparing early.
Preparation was never a bad thing.
Not only Zhang Han, but even his teammates would inevitably need to cooperate.
Fortunately, although Zhang Han was not particularly fond of socializing, his overall popularity was good. No one needed to force themselves to accommodate him.
At least, not like another newcomer who managed to offend nearly everyone and made the seniors want to communicate with him using their fists.
After Hidezawa left, Miyuki appeared behind Zhang Han.
"I really envy your relationship with the seniors."
"Maybe if you didn't badmouth them behind their backs and constantly think about confronting them on the field, they'd like you too," Zhang Han said after wiping his mouth.
Miyuki turned his head away, clearly not wanting to continue that topic.
As a catcher, it was unavoidable for him to give instructions to seniors. From their perspective, being ordered around by a junior would naturally feel uncomfortable.
"Forget that. Did you know we broke a record?" Miyuki said.
"What record? Ending the game in five innings?"
"Plenty of games end early. Even finals have done that before. This one."
Miyuki handed his phone to Zhang Han.
"Fifty-one minutes and forty-eight seconds. The shortest West Tokyo final in history."
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