Chapter 123: Surprise

Although Huangqian Yangyi had guessed a few things, he shook his head. "I'm not sure. You'll know once you go see the senior, but I thought the Director's expression didn't look too good just now."

"The Director is in a bad mood?!!"

Tanba's face turned deathly pale, and he couldn't help but feel worried inside.

"Go quickly, or the Director will get angry," Huangqian Yangyi said, suppressing a laugh.

Tanba nodded and then left the Seishin Dormitory. Watching his back, there was a sense of tragic heroism, like a warrior setting off on a journey from which he would never return.

At the Director's office, Tanba pushed the door open cautiously. The first thing he did upon seeing the Director was to observe his expression. Hmm, expressionless! Director Kataoka had always been a poker face, and Tanba was already used to it, but at this moment, he felt very uneasy.

"Tanba, come in."

Seeing Tanba standing at the door without moving, Director Kataoka called out in confusion.

"Good day, Director." Tanba walked to the desk.

Director Kataoka put down the pen in his hand, picked up the teacup on the desk, took a sip, and said, "How is your training lately?"

"It's going quite well," Tanba replied with his hands behind his back.

"Hmm, adjust your state. Practice the vertical Curveball with Tanaka Wataru over these next two days," Director Kataoka said.

Upon hearing this, Tanba was stunned for a good while. Practicing the vertical Curveball with Tanaka Wataru—did this mean he was going to be sent onto the field?

"Get prepared. Never mind the next game; as long as the team makes it to Koshien, we will definitely need your strength then. Tanba, can I trust you?" Director Kataoka looked at Tanba earnestly and said.

"Yes!" Tanba suddenly shouted.

Koshien! The Director actually trusted him this much, wanting him to pitch at Koshien.

When he left the office, the excitement in Tanba's heart had still not subsided. His mind was filled with what the Director had just said to him, until he saw Huangqian Yangyi leaning on the second floor waving at him, and he suddenly snapped back to reality.

That bastard saying the Director was in a bad mood earlier was just scaring him on purpose! What a hateful, stuck-up bastard!

"Yo, Tanba-san," Huangqian Yangyi raised his hand and called out with a smile.

Tanba looked up at the second floor, glared fiercely, then walked into his dormitory and slammed the door shut with a bang.

On the second floor, Huangqian Yangyi wore a triumphant, mischievous grin.

"Yangyi, what are you laughing at?" The dormitory door next to him opened, and Miyuki, who had come out for some air, saw Huangqian Yangyi giggling outside.

"Nothing, my sow just had piglets," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "You keep pigs at home?"

Huangqian Yangyi smiled and didn't answer. He took out his phone and started scrolling. Ever since the game ended today, he had been waiting for news from his sister, but by the evening, there was no response from his phone at all.

How strange!

As the saying goes, when things are abnormal, there must be a demon. Huangqian Yangyi didn't call to ask; he had a premonition that something good would happen soon.

Two days later in the afternoon, Huangqian Yangyi was on the field discussing various pitch types with Kawakami. He didn't notice at all that on the path outside the field, two young and beautiful girls were walking toward the field. A lively and cute girl with a chestnut-colored jellyfish haircut was walking happily in front, looking around as if searching for something. The girl following behind her had long, flowing hair, wearing a long dress and a hat.

"Sister, walk faster," Kumiko turned her head and pouted, acting spoiled toward her sister.

The high heels on Mamiko's feet went *tap-tap-tap*, completely unable to keep up with her sister's speed.

"Why walk so fast? Yangyi isn't going to run away," Mamiko said helplessly.

Kumiko stopped and hummed, saying, "Nee-chan, you're in Tokyo and can come here anytime. It's hard for me to come here once, and I haven't seen Brother for a long time."

Listening to Kumiko's slightly aggrieved tone, Mamiko sighed. She just couldn't understand it; the bond between her younger brother and sister was too close, to the point where they seemed to wish they could be glued together at all times.

"Let's go, let's go. We're almost there, look how anxious you are."

The two sisters walked hand-in-hand to the outside of the field, peering into the field through the safety net.

"So many people," Kumiko exclaimed as she watched the training of the Seido High School Baseball Club players on the field.

At this moment on the field, all the players except for the First String were training desperately, the sounds of various shouts and bats hitting baseballs interweaving together.

"So scary," Kumiko suddenly said. Just watching these people train made her feel it was terrifying; it was too hard.

"Yeah, I really don't know how that kid stands it," Mamiko said.

"Brother is over there!"

Kumiko pointed to the corner of the field and shouted.

On the field, Huangqian Yangyi was holding a baseball and constantly gesturing with his movements. The grip he was using was actually the grip for a Forkball.

After discussing pitch types with Kawakami for a while, Huangqian Yangyi had the idea of learning a new pitch. Among the pitches he currently mastered, the Two-seam Fastball and the Slider Kai were both horizontal-breaking pitches. If he could master a vertical-breaking pitch, it would truly be like adding wings to a tiger. Then, combined with his Changeup, it would definitely become a nightmare for any Batter.

"Huangqian-san, I don't think you need to be in such a hurry right now. You haven't even fully mastered your Slider yet, have you?" Kawakami said.

"Hmm, I know. I just have the idea for now; the actual practice will have to wait until after this summer's tournament ends," Huangqian Yangyi said after stopping his movements.

Not to mention that there was no time to practice new pitches now, even if there were, Miyuki and the Director wouldn't allow it.

Seeing that Huangqian Yangyi had a plan, Kawakami didn't say anything more. "Then, Huangqian-san, if there's nothing else, I'm going to train."

"Mm-hmm, go ahead."

Seeing Kawakami leave, Huangqian Yangyi lowered his head, looked at the baseball in his hand, and walked toward the outside of the field. Tomorrow was the day of the finals, and everyone on the First String had been strictly forbidden from training too much, for fear that they would waste their energy and cause their performance in the game to suffer.

"Huangqian."

"Hmm? Rei-chan, what's wrong?"

Huangqian Yangyi stopped in front of the Bullpen. Takashima Rei walked out from inside, smiled, and said, "Come with me, a guest is looking for you."

"A guest?" Huangqian Yangyi frowned in confusion. Could it be a reporter?

"Come with me," Takashima Rei smiled and didn't explain immediately.

Thinking of the message from Mamiko that she had received on her phone just now, Takashima Rei was also quite curious about what the sister of Huangqian Yangyi—a well-known sister-con—actually looked like.

The two walked out of the field one after the other. Just as Huangqian Yangyi was about to press Takashima Rei on who the guest was, a familiar figure came running toward him.

"Nii-chan~"

The girl brought a gust of breeze as she threw herself into Huangqian Yangyi's arms.

Huangqian Yangyi subconsciously reached out to support the girl's bottom, and it wasn't until the girl's natural scent reached his nose that he reacted, his eyes filled with surprise.