29 Meet

Chen Xin sat across from Narumiya Mei, eating Fried Dumplings while watching Narumiya Mei's little face puff up in anger. Inashiro's pitcher was way too cute when he was asleep!

The catcher was amusing too—he looked so big and intimidating, yet he couldn't spit out a single snarky remark. A catcher like that should be sent back to the furnace and remade.

Chen Xin was about to offer some candy to comfort Narumiya Mei, who had been puffed up by his teasing. He hadn't done it on purpose. Who told Narumiya Mei and Harada Masaru to come charging at him the moment they entered the cafeteria? And their words had carried hostility right from the start. It was just strange.

Narumiya Mei slapped away the candy Chen Xin offered him. Give him a smack, then offer him candy—did Chen Xin think he was a child?! It was downright insulting! So angry, so angry, so angry! He wanted to face Seido right now and thoroughly settle things with this hateful, arrogant first-year on the field!

Just as Narumiya Mei was still unwilling to let it go and was preparing to continue with his sarcastic jabs in an attempt to win back a round, Harada suddenly tugged at him discreetly.

The tacit understanding between pitcher and catcher made Narumiya Mei instantly understand Harada's meaning. Following Harada's gaze, he looked at Su Qing, who was walking toward them.

When Chen Xin noticed that Narumiya Mei had stopped arguing with him and was looking elsewhere, he turned to look as well.

After only one glance, Chen Xin turned his head back. So Inashiro had sent someone else over. Wow, wow, wow, were they planning a relay battle? He liked that. Let's see who had more trash talk!

But shortly afterward, Chen Xin realized something was wrong. Why did that face look so familiar? He had never met anyone from Inashiro, had he?

Just as Chen Xin was about to turn back for another look and see whether he had been mistaken, Su Qing had already sat down beside Narumiya Mei, diagonally across from Chen Xin.

In an instant, Chen Xin's face filled with horror, and he was unable to speak. Miyuki, beside him, noticed something was wrong and quickly asked:

"What's wrong with you? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

!!!!!

He really had seen a ghost!!!

In his previous life, Chen Xin and Su Qing had been good friends. How could he possibly fail to recognize him? Though this Su Qing was younger and shorter, he was undeniably Su Qing!

But the Su Qing Chen Xin knew had died. He had been dead for nearly ten years!

They had been good friends off the field, and kindred rivals on it. Either Su Qing struck him out, or Chen Xin hit a Home Run off him. Alright, that didn't sound like friendship at all, but they truly were friends. As two of the few players of Chinese descent in the Major League, they had naturally stuck together for warmth.

After Su Qing retired due to injury in his previous life, Chen Xin had felt some regret, but he had also been happy for his old friend. Su Qing was no longer suited to keep playing. His body no longer allowed it. Rather than staying on the field and destroying himself, it was better to retire early and go home to enjoy a peaceful life.

But he had never expected that bad news would arrive right after Su Qing retired.

When Chen Xin received the news, he had not dared believe it was real until he actually saw Su Qing's body.

They had once joked about who would attend whose funeral. Both had stubbornly claimed that they would live longer than the other.

But when Chen Xin really appeared at Su Qing's funeral, the pain in his heart was unbearable.

"Y-you-you-you-you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'?"

Su Qing snapped irritably. It had not taken him long to accept the fact that Chen Xin had also transmigrated back then, so why did Chen Xin now look like he had seen a ghost?

Chen Xin had been so frightened that he blurted out Chinese, and after hearing Chen Xin speak Chinese, Su Qing instinctively replied in Chinese as well. As a result, Narumiya Mei, Harada, and Miyuki, who sat nearby, were completely baffled. They could only infer a few things from Chen Xin and Su Qing's expressions.

After his accusation, Chen Xin cupped his face in both hands. It was not because he was too frightened to hold himself together, but because he wanted to force back the tears that were about to spill from his eyes. Even now, thinking of Su Qing's accidental death still made Chen Xin deeply sad.

After calming himself down, Chen Xin stood up and walked over to Su Qing, startling him badly.

"What are you doing?"

Su Qing wore a deeply resistant expression. He knew exactly how much Chen Xin liked fooling around, and he was afraid Chen Xin had come up with some ridiculous stunt he wanted to try on him.

"Stand up."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Harada, beside them, also realized that something was off and stood up. At once, a large group of Seido players rose from their seats as well.

Chen Xin ignored Su Qing's feelings and grabbed him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Everyone was instantly stunned, except Su Qing.

"Bastard! Let go of me!"

He knew nothing good would come of this! Damn it!

There were so many people watching! And most of them were strangers! If this got out, he would absolutely suffer social death! If Chen Xin wanted to embarrass himself to death, he should not drag Su Qing down with him!

Damn it! Why was he still weaker than this piece of trash even after doubling his strength training in this life? Aaaaaah!

Su Qing pushed at Chen Xin with all his might, but he simply could not break free. At that moment, he suddenly understood how Harada felt.

Their actions were already embarrassing enough, and with Su Qing's unwilling, frantic expression, it became even more mortifying.

After watching for a while, some people had begun pressing their lips together to keep from laughing. Miyuki and Narumiya Mei, standing beside the two of them, were among them.

In the end, Su Qing finally broke free. At a glance, he spotted Narumiya Mei, who was holding back laughter and was about to lose it. He could not control other people, but could he not control this one?

"What are you laughing at? Don't laugh!"

To ease the awkwardness, Su Qing started fighting with Narumiya Mei, and thus began the second round of social death. It would have been fine if this were Inashiro's cafeteria, since everyone there was used to it, but this was Seido's cafeteria.

The instant Su Qing and Narumiya Mei began wrestling, Seido's club members could no longer hold back. Laughter immediately flooded the entire cafeteria.

Su Qing gave up struggling in despair, his eyes vacant. The thing he had least wanted to see had still happened.

"Chen! Xin! Look at the fucking mess you made!"

Chen Xin looked utterly innocent. Could he not be excited to see a living Su Qing again? If this had not been a cafeteria, a public place, it might not have ended with just a relatively restrained hug.

In the end, it was Chris, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, who stopped the socially mortifying scene from continuing.

After that, Chen Xin, Miyuki, Chris, Su Qing, Narumiya Mei, and Harada sat in a row, staring at one another across from each other.

Actually, that wasn't quite right. Only Miyuki, Chris, Narumiya Mei, and Harada were staring awkwardly at each other. Chen Xin and Su Qing were having a lively conversation.

If Su Qing hadn't been an important protected figure for Inashiro, Harada would probably have gotten up and left long ago. He had no intention of sitting face-to-face with that irritating Miyuki. He hated catchers like Miyuki, whose heads were full of lewd ideas! Especially since Mei had something going on with this guy. In the end, Chris stepped in to ease the awkwardness.

"They're speaking Chinese, right? I heard a few Chinese words that sounded familiar."

"Probably."

The one who spoke was Narumiya Mei, an academic slacker. Although he couldn't understand it, he knew Su Qing was from China...