Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 368 - 18: Glorious Return

"Guanglai, aren’t you going back to Fukuoka with us today?"

Looking at Lin Guanglai, who was passionately packing his luggage in the room, Shetsu Shou, the star and ace pitcher of the SoftBank team, asked this question with a hint of confusion.

The 2013 Classics had ended and Japan only secured third place, failing to achieve the three-peat— in the semifinals of the championship round, they battled for three and a half hours in San Francisco and eventually lost 1-3 to the Puerto Rico team led by Molina, which prevented them from making the final.

After ending the journey of the Classics, Shetsu Shou quickly returned to the team to join the seasonal training camp— being a senior sharing experiences with junior members, he and Lin Guanglai were assigned as roommates during the expedition.

This afternoon, SoftBank had just finished their last preseason game against the Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, and upon coming back, Shetsu Shou saw Lin Guanglai packing, which unsurprisingly puzzled him.

Facing the question from the senior, Lin Guanglai paused his actions, scratched his head, and chuckled.

"Haha, Shetsu-senpai, did you forget that I’m still, in name, a third-year student at Waseda Industries— there’s still three or four days until the new season opener, so I asked Manager Akiyama for leave to go back to Tokyo to attend the graduation ceremony, and also to meet friends from the baseball club."

Hearing this, Shetsu Shou had an epiphany and couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh, "Hearing you say that, I suddenly remembered— hahaha, when I’m with you, you always seem so mature, I subconsciously treat you like an old player; now come to think of it, you’re still just a kid who recently graduated high school!"

Born in 1982, Shetsu Shou is 13 years older than Lin Guanglai and already a father of two, which makes such feelings understandable— thinking about standing on the Koshien mound and pitching over a decade ago, while Lin Guanglai was just a toddler learning to speak, Shetsu Shou couldn’t help but feel emotional.

For Lin Guanglai, he had sincere respect for this senior living with him during this period: there wasn’t an ounce of the so-called arrogance of a star player; rather, whether within the team or in the whole circle of Nippon Professional Baseball, Shetsu Shou was well-known and respected by every player.

In daily practice and matches, whenever Lin Guanglai encountered problems with pitching, if it was within Shetsu Shou’s ability to help, he’d spare no effort to use his experience to help Lin; outside of training, during leisure time, he often treated young players like Lin to meals, which made everyone genuinely respect such a virtuous senior.

To Lin, Shetsu Shou was like water: water takes no constant form, treating everyone around him with utmost gentleness when calm, giving warmth from the heart to everyone; but when standing on the pitcher’s mound, he would transform into a surging wave in the opponent’s eyes, eliminating any batter daring to threaten SoftBank’s home plate with his precise control and dazzling seven-colored breaking ball.

Entering professional baseball from a corporate team at 26, even when picked, it was as the lowest 5th draft, seizing the preseason opportunity in rookie season to become a crucial bullpen pitcher for rebuilding SoftBank, and after his second career year, becoming a billion-yen player; closing the 12th season, he made history as the first player ever to win both the "Best Middle Relief Pitcher" and the "Eiji Sawamura Award"— it’s thinking about such rising and falling experiences between the abyss and the peak that forged a great character like Shetsu Shou’s, Lin thought.

Temporarily bidding farewell to Shetsu-senpai, and his teammates from the SoftBank team, after a five-hour-long Shinkansen journey, Lin Guanglai set foot on Tokyo’s land again after several months— only this time, he was more or less returning home in triumph as a professional player.

Not to mention, on the way home from the station, many people recognized Lin Guanglai, some asking for autographs, others taking photos with him— as a high school super player who brought glory to the Tokyo Region, although many were still insistent about him not staying with Jimoto team, deep down, they still loved him immensely.

The next morning, Waseda Industries campus. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

It was the cherry blossom season, with petals falling scatteredly and gently across Lin Guanglai’s chest— standing among the graduates, he, who was already well-known on this campus, now drew even more eyes owing to being a professional player.

From the podium, the graceful and kind Watanabe Shigeo, the headmaster, was expressing his hopes and expectations for the graduates; after finishing his transcript, he lifted his head that had been down all the while, his gaze also gathering on Lin Guanglai.

With a hint of joy, Watanabe Shigeo spoke:

"I’ve said what needs to be said pretty much, and I believe everyone might be a bit bored— now, let’s welcome one of the representatives of the graduates, Lin Guanglai, to give a speech!"

As the first professional baseball player from the school after many years, upon confirmation of his return for the graduation ceremony, Lin received an invitation from the school to speak as a representative.

Amidst a tide of applause, "The Monster of the Heisei Era," "The Prodigy of Waseda Real," "The Young Hawk of Fukuoka," Takayama’s third year player who helped the school secure three Koshien championships and set a series of daunting records, Lin Guanglai, stepped onto the podium.

After a brief speech, receiving certificates, and congratulations, along with satisfying classmates’ requests for photos and autographs, the graduation ceremony came to an end amid laughter.

Proceeding along a path too familiar to be any more familiar, Lin Guanglai halted at an iron fence, standing quietly watching the juniors training inside— their bats swinging, their interaction with baseballs producing a clear, crisp sound.

After a slight tidying of his appearance, Lin Guanglai promptly strode into the training field.

"Everyone, long time no see! Did you miss me?"

"Oh! Senpai! Long time no see!"

With a call from Izumi Minoru, the new captain of Waseda Jitsugyo’s baseball club, everyone put down what they were doing, gathering towards him; on the sidelines, Coach Izumi watched the interaction without anger over the interrupted practice, just quietly observing the rapport among the players.

In the laughter and reminiscence of old friends meeting again, Lin Guanglai’s three years with Waseda Real came to a complete end.