Chapter Three: The Last-Place Club's Secret Adviser

The English call predicted the first pitch low. Reality followed ten seconds later. Then came a foul, a grounder, a flyout. The power was stable, but whenever Cheng changed an action, the ringing worsened. He wrote four rules in his notebook: bilingual, on-site, ten seconds, changes have a price. After three innings, the Tides trailed 2–0. Whales hitters ignored Du's sliders and jumped on fastballs. Gao changed signs three times without effect. Before the fourth, the future announced, “Han Yue drives the first pitch into left! Nangang adds another run!” Cheng hurried to the dugout. “Don't throw the outside slider.” The pitching coach glared. “Since when does a translator call pitches?” “They stole our signs.” “Lin hasn't found it. You have?”