"Have you packed everything? Didn't forget anything?"

"Yep, all packed."

"Remember to call home when you reach Hyogo—I saw the weather forecast, it's going to be a heatwave, so make sure to take precautions against heatstroke during training and matches, and drink plenty of water..."

After the finals with Nihon Univ. 3rd Junior & Senior High School ended, just one week remained until the start of the Summer League—Izuimi Minoru specifically gave the whole team a day off, allowing them to go home for a day to rest well before heading to Koshien.

For Lin Guanglai, whose life is occupied by training and matches year-round, days spent with family are always precious: even in the face of his mother's somewhat nagging concern and advice, he showed no trace of impatience on his face, just occasionally nodding to show that he heard it.

The concern-filled words were soon nearly exhausted, and seeing her son prepare to leave again after merely a day at home, his mother's hand caressed Lin Guanglai's cheek, a touch of reluctance in her eyes.

In contrast, Lin Guanglai's father seemed rather more boisterous; he heavily patted his son's back and loudly said:

"Son, you better perform well at Koshien this time—if you make it to the final match, rest assured, our whole family will definitely be there in the stands to support you!"

To this, Lin Guanglai chuckled, confidently promising his father, "Dad, you better start clearing your schedule for vacation soon—this Summer League championship, I'm definitely taking it home!"

-----------------

On August 1, 2011, the well-rested Waseda Jitsugyo players assembled and took the Shinkansen toward Hyogo together.

Compared to those schools that, due to tight budgets, could only take early buses to Hyogo, the Shinkansen was far superior in speed and comfort, sparing the players the hardship of travel with less than a week to go before the games began—it's something that only a school like Waseda, with its many famous alumni and well-funded baseball team, could afford; otherwise, just the transportation cost to Koshien could overwhelm the school administration.

While the team members headed to Koshien to prepare for the field and draw lots, the Student Committee in charge of managing all affairs for the team embarked on their coordination efforts at Waseda Industries' campus:

The wind ensemble was the centerpiece of this support effort, tasked not only with classic support songs like "Lupin III" and "Red," but also with preparing personal tunes for every member of the team, starter or substitute, to showcase the school's spirit at Koshien.

The production of banners and support items needed to be expedited, ensuring completion before Waseda's first Summer League game, making it possible to cover the Alps Stand with Waseda's unique chestnut-red support items.

The same scenes were unfolding across Japan—it's said that "Koshien is a festival," and this festival belongs not only to the players going to the games but also to all the school's students, graduated alumni, and everyone who deeply loves the sport of baseball.

98% of the teams will be defeated here, becoming the stepping stones on the path to glory for the ultimate winner, but the memories will remain with them, even if they don't play baseball in the future, they will never forget.

A few hours later, the Shinkansen train arrived on time at its destination.

With arrangements in place, the Waseda players went to a hotel arranged by the school, making sure everyone could settle in.

The hotel the team stayed at this time was not the same one Lin Guanglai and his team stayed at last year.

Standing outside the hotel, players just had to look up slightly to see the hotel's name:

"Shuiming Manor."

The hotel was rendered in a traditional Japanese style, not particularly large in scale, but the spotless surroundings suggested the owner was a meticulous person.

Seeing the arrival of the baseball boys, the hotel's main door quickly opened, and out came an old woman with gray hair—from Sasaki Shinichi's words, they learned she was Bai Shi Masako, the proprietress of Shuiming Manor.

In Japan, the managers of such Japanese-style inns are commonly referred to as proprietresses.

"Izumi, long time no see." Seeing Izumi Minoru supervising at the front of the team leading the players, Proprietress Bai Shi bowed slightly in salute.

"Proprietress Bai Shi, long time no see—please accept my condolences for your son." Izumi Minoru also took off his hat, seriously expressing his condolences to Proprietress Bai Shi.

Proprietress Bai Shi only nodded and did not answer.

Although players were curious about the mystery, they could sense the heavy atmosphere and wisely chose not to speak.

It wasn't until they settled into the hotel that, through Sasaki Shinichi's narration, this batch of Waseda players learned about the past and present of Shuiming Manor and Proprietress Bai Shi.

Never mind Shuiming Manor's size, but in the high school baseball world, it's considered a "legendary" inn:

Since Showa 28 (1953), it first started accepting Takayama players, and over nearly 60 years, Proprietress Bai Shi had served seven champion teams of the Spring and Summer Koshien—Teikyo Junior & Senior High School alone accounted for three, and when Waseda Industries won their first Summer League in 2006, they also resided here.

But earlier this year, Proprietress Bai Shi suffered the biggest blow of her 70-plus years of life:

A fanatical lover of high school baseball and a die-hard fan of Teikyo Junior & Senior High School, her eldest son, who had taken over Shuiming Manor from her, suddenly passed away from advanced gastric cancer—this painful experience of seeing her child die before her, left Proprietress Bai Shi feeling powerless to carry on; though she still wanted to persevere, ultimately, she completely lost the motivation to continue running the inn.

This meant that this year's Summer League would be the last service of Shuiming Manor, this legendary inn—after this summer, this place that witnessed countless legendary stories of Takayama players would officially shut down.

Typically understood tradition holds that teams choosing to stay at Shuiming Manor are surely targeting a Koshien victory, demonstrating neither lack of strength nor confidence—

Last year's Waseda Jitsugyo, returning to the Summer League after a five-year hiatus, lacked such determination and did not choose to stay at Shuiming Manor;

But this year, after deciding to pursue a Spring-Summer victory streak, the team contacted Proprietress Bai Shi naturally, as a gesture demonstrating their resolve to win.

Even the first meal here has a significant meaning:

A large plate of delicious eats featuring steak and pork cutlets placed in front of them: this was the "Victory V Set" specially prepared by Proprietress Bai Shi on the night before the 2006 finals—should the players make it to the finals this Summer League, their dinner the evening before will be identical to today's.

As Proprietress Bai Shi stated in an interview, the Waseda players shared the same sentiment:

"We will give our all for the last summer."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.