"Both sides are back on the field!"

"Sansong is down by two, a man on second, no outs!"

"Goda leads by two, but the ace pitcher suffers from heatstroke at the critical moment, can the relief pitcher hold his ground?"

"Goda, Sansong, who will make it to Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture!"

"Who will reign supreme over the twenty districts of East Tokyo!"

The commentator roars, under the 32°C heat, the audience howls, beating their inflatable sticks frantically.

Dubian Che softly claps for the slogans of both teams just now.

He had always noticed the efforts of the Goda baseball club.

From Monday to Friday, every morning's run; Saturdays and Sundays, as long as one went, they could be seen training hard on the field.

He didn't know to what extent Sansong had gone, but to be able to fight all the way to the regional finals, they surely hadn't suffered any less.

"Zhengji," Mrs. Kiyono smiles, "want to bet?"

"On what?" Mrs. Jiutiao asks with interest.

"Hmmm—loser mimics a dog's bark?"

"Which team are you betting on?"

"Sansong. I like comebacks," Mrs. Kiyono smiles.

"If you cheat, you'll give me your sapphire necklace."

"Deal!"

The two ladies raise their hands, soft as a young girl's, and high-five each other, making a crisp sound.

They are enjoying the fun.

"Oh my! Sansong got another hit, there are runners on first and third now, and they are close to scoring." Mrs. Kiyono pretends to be surprised, "Zhengji, want to switch? You can bet on Sansong too."

"Thank you, but I prefer Goda." Mrs. Jiutiao winks at Dubian Che, passing over her own daughter.

Dubian Che opens his fan and fans Jiutiao Meijie.

Jiutiao Meijie first glances at him, then at the fan: "This is a fan passed down by the Jiutiao Family."

"Even the finest fan, if not used to fan Meijie, is just ornamental."

"It was meant to be an ornament."

"You two!" Jiutiao Zhenji protests, "How can you call a legacy from our ancestors an ornament?"

"Sansong scored!" Dubian Che points to the field.

Mrs. Jiutiao looks over. Just now, the player from Sansong who had been desperately running the bases rushes past home plate, his face animated as he high-fives his teammates in the dugout.

"Scored four," Mrs. Kiyono's voice is contented, as the scoreboard in the distance jumps from 3 to 4 for Sansong's total points.

"What is the Goda relief pitcher doing?" Mrs. Jiutiao complains.

Not just her, the Goda supporters, Goda students, many are starting to feel dissatisfied.

"What's the situation now?" Dubian Che asks in a low voice to Jiutiao Mei.

"This relief pitcher has a bad mentality," Jiutiao Mei replies.

"Can you be more specific?"

Jiutiao Mei turns around to look at him. Dubian Che looks at her intently with an ignorant expression.

Rolling her eyes, Jiutiao Mei patiently explains:

"A baseball inning consists of a top and bottom half, where each team must get three outs to switch sides, do you understand that much?"

"Uh-huh," Dubian Che continues to fan her.

"In other words, as long as Sansong doesn't get three outs, they can keep scoring. The Goda relief pitcher has a bad mentality, can't handle the pressure in critical moments, and almost every pitch is getting hit."

"But if the basemen catch the ball ahead of time, even if it's hit, they won't score, right?"

"That's correct," Jiutiao Mei smiles, "unless the pitcher loses control entirely, keeps throwing bad pitches, and walks batters."

"Walks? What does that mean?" Dubian Che asks.

Jiutiao Mei turns her head towards the field and says, "That's what."

Dubian Che looks over.

"Ball four!" the umpire yells.

In that instant, a roar sweeps over the whole stadium.

Amidst the agitated faces of the nine Goda players, the silent cheerleaders, the Sansong batter walks from home to first, first moves to second, second to third, and third crosses home plate.

Scoreboard, Sansong: 5!

"Ah!"

"Sansong! Sansong! Sansong!"

The field erupts into frenzy, the score is tied.

"So far, Sansong still has no outs!" the male commentator bellows.

"And the bases are loaded! Someone's bound to score!" the female commentator excitedly chimes in.

"The Goda relief pitcher must regain composure!"

"That's right! This is about the ticket to Koshien, all the efforts since childhood! Come on!"

The big screen shows the entire Goda faculty and students confused, angry, waving inflatable baseball bats and shouting vigorously at the field.

On the field, Goda's first baseman Kunii Shuichi wipes sweat with his sleeve. Beside him, the elated Sansong batter is ready to sprint, full of hope and drive.

"Ball four!" the umpire calls again.

"Lead change, someone's about to bark like a dog," Mrs. Kiyono's voice carries a hint of laughter.

In Dubian Che's view, the Sansong teammate beside Kunii Shuichi punches the air jubilantly and jogs toward second.

Scoreboard, Sansong: 6

Goda: 5

"Another four balls, another walk?" Dubian Che asks.

"Told you, this relief pitcher can't handle the pressure," Jiutiao Meijie laughs.

The two are close. Dubian Che can feel the warmth of her breath on his face.

Dubian Che can't help but sigh.

A few strands of Jiutiao Meijie's black hair flutter in front of her forehead.

"What's wrong?" she asks with a smile, "Upset Goda might lose?"

"After all, I'm a Goda student. If the starting pitcher hadn't had heatstroke..."

"The world always belongs to the winners; no one considers the reasons for the loser's defeat."

"Don't rush," Mrs. Jiutiao says with a grim expression, "even if the score is overtaken, Goda can still come back in the bottom half."

"Only got five runs by the eighth inning, hoping to come back in the last one?" Mrs. Kiyono laughs.

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