CHAPTER 357: CHAPTER 8: GRAND DEBUT

[I never thought that you’d end up choosing to stay in Japan after always saying you wanted to go to the United States.]

Lin Guanglai’s fingers danced over the phone screen, typing out these words before sending them to Ohtani Shohei.

Just yesterday, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters released an official announcement. The announcement was quite brief, essentially informing the fans that they had successfully negotiated with player Ohtani Shohei, and that the signing ceremony would take place soon.

Lin Guanglai wasn’t sure what stories occurred during this time; but at least for him, he was rather hopeful that Ohtani Shohei would stay in Japan. Having such a rival would also push him to continuously improve.

"Ding~" The message had just been sent when his phone rang again. Lin Guanglai picked it up and couldn’t help but laugh.

[Ohtani Shohei: What’s wrong? Are you scared? Afraid that if I stay in Japan, your bold words about winning Rookie of the Year will just go up in smoke?]

[Lin Guanglai: Shohei, I never realized you loved telling jokes so much—don’t worry, since we’re both in Pacific League teams, there’s plenty of opportunities to face off in the new season. I’ll definitely give you a good boot in the backside.]

[Ohtani Shohei: (Smirk.jpg) I should be the one saying that. After all, our Ham Team was the Pacific League champion last season—don’t worry, Guanglai, in the new season, whether it’s Rookie of the Year or Japan’s Number One, I’ll be taking those honors in your stead.]

"Guanglai—are you ready? We’re about to go!"

Just as Lin Guanglai was thinking of how to reply to Ohtani Shohei, his mother’s voice called out from outside the door; with that, Lin Guanglai didn’t dawdle, quickly tucking his phone into his pocket, grabbing his luggage, opening and closing the door, heading downstairs to load his luggage into the car—all a seamless, fluid sequence of actions.

For Lin Guanglai, today was a big day, so much so that both his parents and his sister Lin Xinglai had specially taken time off work or school just to witness this significant milestone in Lin Guanglai’s baseball career.

The Lin family’s destination was Fukuoka, over a thousand kilometers away from Tokyo: there, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks had prepared a grand signing ceremony for Lin Guanglai, not only inviting many journalists and media but also setting the signing venue at their home Yahoo Dome—a treatment no rookie player had enjoyed since the team was founded; Lin Guanglai was the first.

However, unlike past trips, this time, even though all four family members would go, only three would return to Tokyo—after the signing ceremony, Lin Guanglai would stay in Fukuoka and officially start professional training.

For Lin Guanglai, who aimed to secure a place in the starting lineup in his rookie year, this winter was his best opportunity to improve himself and adapt to the intensity and rhythm of professional training and games; as long as he performed well in the spring training the following year, squeezing into the starting nine wouldn’t be a problem.

Looking at his youngest son, who was a head taller than himself, Lin Mother’s eyes showed a hint of reluctance to part, sighing repeatedly: she knew all too well the dark sides of the world of professional baseball. In a mother’s eyes, Lin Guanglai was still not even eighteen, now going out early to face the adult world’s trials was something that made her feel a little sad;

In contrast, Lin Father was much more carefree: "Guanglai, rest assured, when you join SoftBank, train hard and learn from the senior team members—Dad will definitely come to watch your games in person, hahaha—"

His somewhat careless demeanor earned a side-eye from Lin Mother who was still in a bittersweet mood.

From Tokyo to Fukuoka, taking the Shinkansen would take about five hours, and as the train moved forward, the scenery outside the window became increasingly unfamiliar to Lin Guanglai.

Although he had traveled far before several times, nothing like today had ever happened—with the next year or two, or even five or ten years, Lin Guanglai would live in this unfamiliar land of Fukuoka.

Upon arrival in Fukuoka, under the SoftBank officials’ reception, the Lin family headed to their hotel for a rest.

Soon, the time for the signing ceremony came.

Standing in the player tunnel of Yahoo Dome, Lin Guanglai looked around, evidently very interested in this magnificent building.

"What’s wrong? Interested in Yahoo Dome?" Asked Akiyama Koji, standing beside Lin Guanglai, observing his look around.

"Ah... yes, Supervisor, this is my first time at Yahoo Dome—compared to Shengong Stadium and Koshien, it does feel a bit different."

"Haha, of course it does." Akiyama Koji laughed, "In terms of stadium standards, except for the Giant Team’s Tokyo Dome, there shouldn’t be any that can compare with our Softbank team in all of Japan—our home team’s locker room hasn’t opened yet, wait till a few months later when the new season starts, then you’ll know how luxurious it is."

Just after finishing the sentence, Akiyama Koji checked his watch and, confirming the time, looked up and said: "It’s about time, Guanglai, let’s go—our super genius, it’s time to shine a bit!"

Accompanied by Supervisor Akiyama Koji and his family, Lin Guanglai entered the interior of Yahoo Dome in Fukuoka—as he stepped out of the player tunnel, a vast wave of flashes went off, the blinding light made him squint slightly.

"I’d like to welcome all the journalist friends to Yahoo Dome, as the supervisor of the SoftBank team’s main squad, I’m honored to represent the club here to sign the best player from Takayama over the past three years—player Lin Guanglai, welcome to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. In the many years to come, we hope to strive together towards the goal of victory!"

"Regarding the contract, our SoftBank team is never stingy; all the待遇 provided to player Lin Guanglai are at the top level as dictated by professional baseball: a signing bonus of 100 million yen, a performance bonus of 50 million yen, and an annual salary of 15 million yen—we believe that with the strength Lin Guanglai has shown over the past three years, this contract is just a starting point for him."

"As for the jersey number, after discussions, the club has decided to assign the legendary number ’21’ to him—this number, used by legendary players such as Kodama Komei and Wada Yu, is our expectation of him."

"For his rookie season, player Lin Guanglai will be registered directly with the main squad; the club internally believes he has this capability; our coaching team will do our utmost to help achieve the dream of being a Dual Swordsmanship ace and cleanup hitter!!!"

As Lin Guanglai took the pen from Akiyama Koji’s hand, he took a deep breath, signed his name on the contract, and stamped it seal, everything now truly settled at this moment.

Lin Guanglai has officially joined the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks!