Didn’t you say you were just using me as a substitute?

As soon as Kitahara Tsutomu appeared, a waiter standing at the door came forward to greet him. It was obvious that he was here waiting for Kitahara Tsutomu.

"plz follow me."

"Excuse me."

Follow the waiter inside.

The carpet covers the entire space. Unlike the low-quality carpets in ordinary hotels, the carpet here is like snow. It becomes soft and sinks when you step on it.

The men and women in the hall all have extraordinary temperament, and foreigners can be seen from time to time.

There is a stage in the center of the hall.

Under the spotlights on the stage, a white woman is playing piano jazz music.

After passing through the open heavy wooden door, the waiter carrying the food tray did not forget to bow to Kitahara Takashi.

The waiter led Kitahara Takashi to a bar seat by the side in front of the glass window, and only then did Kitahara Takashi see Suzuki Ichiro.

"Here he comes."

Ichiro Suzuki had already changed into a gray suit.

Takashi Kitahara recognized at a glance that this was Italy's top suit brand, called Zegna.

The same level of top-of-the-line luxury suits as the Armani endorsed by Gu Yueqian.

Don't ask him how he knew.

His sister Jing gave him a set.

"Ah."

Kitahara Takashi responded casually, and his eyes immediately fell on Suzuki Ichiro.

Next to Suzuki Ichiro, there was a man and a woman sitting.

The woman was in her early thirties. She looked good with makeup on and was wearing a business suit, giving her the impression of an elite white-collar woman.

The man was in his early fifties, with slightly gray hair, a gentle appearance, and glasses that gave him an elegant look.

"Sit down first."

Suzuki Ichiro greeted.

The waiter helped pull out a chair, and Kitahara Takashi sat down without hesitation.

The waiter immediately brought over ice water and a towel, and handed over a leather menu.

"Whatever you want to eat, just order it. It's my treat."

Kitahara Takashi looked at Suzuki Ichiro, who was acting like his salary was paying for everything, and simply closed the menu: "Then give me everything on the menu."

Suzuki Ichiro laughed and scolded: "You are so rude."

Then he said to the waiter, "Just do everything he says."

The salaries of professional baseball players are generally high, not to mention that he is one who has reached the Major League Baseball level.

At the level of Ichiro Suzuki, money is just a number to him.

"I see."

The waiter leaves.

"Let me introduce you, this is Rina Tozawa from the Orix Bison Affairs Department."

Suzuki Ichiro first introduced the lady to Kitahara Takashi, and then introduced the elderly man next to him: "This is the general manager of the Hokkaido-Ham Fighters, Takezoe Manabu."

Kitahara Takashi blew gently on the surface of the tea, and he already knew why Suzuki Ichiro was looking for him.

The Orix Buffaloes are the team that Ichiro Suzuki joined when he was playing professional baseball in Japan.

Shohei Ohtani is from the Hokkaido-Ham Fighters team, and the surname Takezoe is the name of the financial backer behind the team, Nippon-Ham Co., Ltd.

Tozawa Rina smiled and extended her hand: "Hello, Kitahara-kun."

Takezoe Manabu also extended his hand: "Nice to meet you, Kitahara-kun. You're even more handsome than you look on TV!"

Kitahara Takashi looked at the hand that was extended almost at the same time, and then glanced at Suzuki Ichiro.

Ichiro Suzuki obviously had no intention of getting involved. He looked at the team performing the symphony on the stage.

After thinking for a moment, Kitahara Takashi raised his teacup and said with a smile, "I hurt my hand pitching last time. How about we have a clink?"

Tozawa Rina and Takezoe Manabu were stunned for a moment, then they both smiled, naturally put down their hands, raised their teacups and gently clinked them with Kitahara Takashi's.

"What do you two want from me?"

Kitahara Takashi took a sip of tea.

"I'm sorry to bother you this time because I wanted to ask if Kitahara-kun is interested in playing professional baseball in the future."

Rina Tomizawa spoke first.

Taketomi Manabu drank his tea without interrupting.

"I've watched Kitahara-kun's matches. You are the most promising player in the history of this Koshien tournament, bar none."

"We, the Orix Buffaloes, really hope to sign Kitahara-kun."

"If Kitahara-san is interested in joining the professional baseball league, we hope he will give priority to our team. This is the highest number I can get for him in terms of signing bonus, incentive bonus and annual salary."

Rina Tozawa took out a contract and turned directly to the last page and handed it to Kitahara Takashi.

Beiyuan Zun looked down, and even with his great composure, his heart trembled when he saw the amount.

There was no way, she gave too much.

Signing bonus: 1 million yen, incentive bonus: 5 million yen, annual salary: 8 million yen.

Kitahara knew that professional baseball in Japan was very profitable, but no one told him how profitable it was.

As long as you sign this contract, you can achieve financial freedom in an instant, no, you can achieve class freedom.

"Kitahara-kun, our Hokkaido-Ham Fighters team also hopes to sign you. This shows our sincerity."

Takezoe Manabu also spoke at this time.

He did not hand over the contract directly. Instead, when the waiter brought the food, he took out the pen pinned to his chest, borrowed a small piece of sticky notes, wrote something down and handed it over.

Signing bonus: 1 million yen, incentive bonus: 1 million yen, annual salary: 8.9 million yen.

Kitahara Takashi took a look and suddenly understood why Japanese families were so supportive of their children playing baseball.

The numbers that the Hanshin Tigers had previously mentioned to the outside world were originally meant to give face to Yozakura Hitomi.

If you ask them to really pay that much money, they will definitely not be willing to do so.

But Takezoe Manabu and Tozawa Rina came with real sincerity and real money.

"..."

Beiyuan Zun closed his eyes and suppressed the greed in his heart.

When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were clear and bright again. "I'm sorry, you two, but I don't have any plans to play professional baseball for the time being."

Indeed, the contract in front of him is enough to tempt him.

But Kitahara Takashi really has no plans to become a professional player for the time being.

He doesn't mind baseball becoming a hobby, but not a career.

Professional athletes, whether in baseball, football, basketball or rugby, are using their bodies to make money.

Almost every professional player suffers injuries of varying degrees during his or her career.

Kitahara Tsutomu is not afraid of hardship, but if possible, he doesn't want to suffer.

Goujian slept on firewood and tasted gall, and enduring hardship without any effort is humiliating.

The most important thing is that even if Takashi Kitahara becomes a professional baseball player, his ceiling can only reach the level of Shohei Ohtani.

Shohei Otani is very rich, but his goals are so low that he can't marry both Hitomi Yozakura and Nari Kamikawa at the same time.

Kitahara Takashi has great ambitions.

It is so big that even the ceiling of the professional baseball league cannot satisfy his ambition.

"Kitahara-kun, if the amount is not right, we can still negotiate."

Rina Tozawa thought that Takashi Kitahara was dissatisfied with the amount.

The amount she gave at present is not the final figure.

"It's not about money, it's just that I don't have that idea right now."

If Kitahara Takashi married someone like Nakano Ichika or Hoshino Ai.

He will sign this contract.

Because it's enough.

But his target is Yozakura Hitomi and Kamikawa Nari.

That's not enough.

"Kitahara-kun, don't be so quick to refuse. I know that you are the man of the Konoe family and you don't care about this little money."

Takezoe Manabu was not surprised by Kitahara Takashi's choice. He spoke slowly.

When Rina Tozawa heard the words "Konoe family", her pupils shrank.

She didn't expect that Kitahara Takashi was the man of the eldest daughter of the Konoe family.

From this aspect, it is not difficult to see the gap between Takezoe Manabu and Tomisawa Rina.

Manabu Takezoe does the job he loves, while Rina Tomisawa is just a lousy part-time worker.

She has no access to first-hand intelligence resources.

Just like flipping houses.

Some people have first-hand information about where subways will be built and where demolition will occur.

There is no need to listen to the nonsense of the real estate agent like ordinary people and buy a house, only to end up with an unpayable mortgage and a house that is not worth anything.

"But you're just going to make some extra money and only play for a year, aren't you going to consider it?"

Kitahara Tsutomu's eyes widened.

No, there is such a thing?

"Theoretically, it's not possible to play for only one year, but if you get seriously injured and retire after one year, then there's nothing we can do about it."

Taketomi Manabu took a sip and spoke slowly.

"Kitahara-kun, don't be so quick to reject me. This is my business card. Maybe you'll change your mind later."

Taketomi Manabu handed over the business card and left without staying long.

"Kitahara-kun, I'm here too, and I'm always waiting for your reply."

Rina Tomizawa also kept her business card.

This time, Kitahara Tsutomu did not refuse, he put away the business card.

These may all be resources.

Who knows, it might come in handy in the future.

"Thanks, Kitahara boy."

After Rina Tozawa and Manabu Takezoe left, Ichiro Suzuki raised his glass and clinked it with him gently.

"Consider it that I owe you a favor this time."

This time he came to see Kitahara Tsutomu, which was actually a bit taboo.

Contacting players privately through an introduction is already a violation of the rules of Japanese professional baseball.

If possible, Ichiro Suzuki didn't want to be the introducer at all.

But in society, there are some things that are beyond our control.

"Are you free after dinner? Teach me how to pitch."

Kitahara Takashi himself doesn't care much about this kind of thing.