27 Su Qing

"If you don't buy enough, shipping isn't free. The postage costs more than these tubes of Black Eye Ointment. Come on, take whatever you want. Don't be polite with me."

Upon hearing that, Carlos shamelessly grabbed ten tubes and returned to his seat. The sliding gloves Su Qing had given him last time had been incredibly useful. Even when he dove headfirst into a base with his hands, he barely felt any impact, and their grip was exceptionally strong. The reason he had never liked using his hands to slide before was that his grip wasn't strong enough. The bases were small, and it was easy to accidentally slide right over them. His hands would also go numb from the recoil, which could even affect his batting.

Those inconspicuous sliding gloves, which looked especially like socks, had been so useful. Carlos believed that this thing called Black Eye Ointment would definitely be just as good.

Only after taking ten tubes did Carlos come back to ask Su Qing how it was supposed to be used.

"You apply it to the most prominent part of your cheekbones. Human faces reflect light a little too, you know. Carlos is an outfielder, so he should feel this most deeply when catching fly balls. It's not just the sun that dazzles you—your own skin does too. Once you put this on, it absorbs the light so your skin won't reflect it."

The moment Su Qing explained it, Carlos understood. Every time he caught a fly ball, it was agony. The sun would blind him so badly that he couldn't find the ball. Sometimes, he even scared his teammates half to death.

Now that they had Black Eye Ointment, how could they be without sunglasses? Su Qing opened the cabinet again and pulled out a pile of sports sunglasses in all kinds of styles.

"Come try them on and see which pair suits you. Take whichever ones fit. I've got plenty more."

It wasn't just Carlos. Narumiya Mei, Shirakawa, and Harada each took a pair too. Su Qing truly rolled his eyes at Narumiya Mei's shameless behavior. It was understandable for Shirakawa and Harada to take them, but what was Narumiya Mei, a pitcher who could only bat when he was on the field, joining in for?

Still, Su Qing didn't refuse him. He really did have piles of these sports sunglasses, all of them rewards from check-ins. They would probably last him until he died of old age.

Giving them to his friends and improving their baseball experience was pretty nice too. Products from the system were guaranteed to be premium goods, and naturally, these were no ordinary sunglasses—they came with buffs.

Before long, Narumiya Mei and the others had adjusted them. Wearing their brand-new sunglasses, everyone instantly forgot their anger at being woken up by the incorrigible Su Qing. There was no escaping the irresistible appeal of something good.

Su Qing had originally thought they could go to Seido for the game as soon as they got up. Instead, they were delayed until one in the afternoon and only left after lunch. Before departure, Coach Kunimoto announced the roster for this round-robin series.

Maruse would start as pitcher against Seido, with Yamagami as catcher. The rest were mostly substitutes. For this game, Coach Kunimoto had even specifically brought up some third-years from the Second String Team who were already halfway to leaving the club. Kuwahara had also joined the substitute lineup.

After learning the roster, Su Qing was so disappointed he almost didn't want to go play at all. What was the point of a round-robin series if he couldn't face Seido? Yet Inashiro would field their full starting lineup against Shu Bei. And since that game was being played at Seido, no matter how Su Qing looked at it, it felt like they were burying their heads in the sand.

On one hand, they were sending out nothing but substitutes to avoid letting their rivals from the same district learn their information. On the other hand, they were playing another team at their rivals' home field with the full starting lineup. If that wasn't burying their heads in the sand, then what was?

However, Coach Kunimoto had also made a strict declaration regarding the game against Shu Bei: he would not let Su Qing pitch. Su Qing could only play defense honestly, and he couldn't even go too overboard with his batting. Otherwise, Coach Kunimoto said he would immediately replace him.

Su Qing became utterly depressed upon hearing that. What was the point of playing a game like that? He was joining this game to make someone stare in shock, not to sit in the dugout and watch that person dominate the field!

Su Qing was so angry that he hopped and stomped around, practically becoming Narumiya Mei Number Two.

"What's wrong with Su Su today? Why is he acting so much like Mei?"

"What's wrong with me?!"

The four of them had been gathered in a corner discussing Su Qing, but the moment Shirakawa spoke, he provoked Narumiya Mei. Narumiya Mei angrily jumped to his feet as well.

In an instant, the other three all looked at Narumiya Mei. The meaning in their gazes could not have been more obvious. What was wrong with him? Wasn't he acting exactly like that right now?

The truth was so undeniable that Narumiya Mei had no comeback. He found another corner and went off to sulk by himself.

"Could it have something to do with that guy from Seido, what's-his-name, Chen Xin?"

"His name is Chen Xin."

"Oh, right, Chen Xin. I remember Su Su seemed to ask the captain to investigate him. They both played overseas before—do you think they know each other?"

Carlos nodded solemnly. That made sense.

"I think Su Su must have a grudge against that guy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be hopping around like that. Carlos, don't just nod. Say something."

"That makes sense."

"..."

Afterward, the trio—now reduced to three people—continued their secret discussion for quite a while. Only when the others urged them did they bring the sulking Narumiya Mei and Su Qing onto the bus headed for Seido.

After arriving at Seido, Su Qing hid behind the tall, skinny Carlos and watched closely. But after looking around for quite some time, he didn't see many familiar faces. Su Qing let out a breath and followed the team to their Rest Area.

The first game was Inashiro versus Seido. Su Qing carefully looked over every Seido player on the field, and only relaxed after confirming that a certain person was nowhere to be seen. Since nobody was playing, then it was fine.

The moment Su Qing saw Kawakami on the mound and Miyauchi crouched behind home plate, his memories came rushing back.

"Eugh~"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Su Qing had merely remembered the eye-searing move Miyauchi made in the anime to stir up Kawakami's fighting spirit. Damn, if a catcher ever dared to do that to him, then either the catcher would leave or he would.

Su Qing suddenly felt very fortunate that he hadn't gone to Seido. Seido did have the incredibly appealing Miyuki and Chris, that was true, but they also had Miyauchi. At Inashiro, Harada looked rough and burly, but he respected pitchers greatly when it came to calling pitches. Narumiya Mei's complete lack of restraint was proof enough.

Miyuki really was a good catcher, but Su Qing had his little Tada too. He believed that under his guidance, as long as Tada's talent wasn't too poor, by the time he graduated, his achievements definitely wouldn't lose to Miyuki's.

This kind of raising-and-development feeling was wonderful. Watching Narumiya Mei dominate on the field felt just as satisfying as dominating the field himself.

Very soon, the game reached the second inning. Miyauchi went up to the Pitcher's Mound to calm Kawakami down, and immediately, sounds identical to the one Su Qing had made earlier rose and fell from the Inashiro Rest Area.

Narumiya Mei looked utterly horrified. This was way too terrifying! But before he could blurt out anything incoherent in his panic, Shirakawa and Carlos grabbed him and dragged him away.

Seeing that, Su Qing wanted to go over too, but Carlos stopped him.

"What are you guys doing? You were whispering behind my back this morning too. Were you talking bad about me?"

Just as Su Qing tried every possible way to pry Carlos aside and listen to what Shirakawa and Carlos were saying, Shirakawa had already finished and chased Narumiya Mei away.