“Play against Team India?” Yin Shixiong broke into a grin. “Great, I’ll cheer you on!”
“Let’s go together.” Gu Nianzhi slung the baseball bat on her shoulder and opened the front door. Yin Shixiong quickly found his baseball cap and left for the field with her. They were staying in the States for six months and he had originally planned to buy a second hand SUV. However, they were mainly on the Harvard campus and didn’t have a need to drive. Instead, they rode mountain bikes for transportation and exercise. Gu Nianzhi and Yin Shixiong rode their bikes to the west baseball field. There was already a large crowd there.
The Huaxia Imperial Students Union womens’ baseball team wore uniforms with red tops and white bottoms. The members of Team India were wearing white and blue tops and orange bottoms with green embroidery, displaying the colors of India’s national flag. Gu Nianxi also donned the Huaxia uniform; her long hair was tied back in a ponytail that swayed from the back of the baseball cap. She appeared as fresh as the first dew drops of a summer morning. A few male law students recognized her and whistled. One of them was Allan, who had asked if she had a boyfriend on her first day of class.
“Nini! Nini! Nini!” He called Gu Nianzhi’s English name as he waved madly and told everyone, “See that cutie? She’s mine!”
Yin Shixiong was beaming as he found a seat and watched Gu Nianzhi nimbly run around. He was proud and joyous, as though his own daughter was playing out on the field.
“Nianzhi, you’re here! Did you see that we’re already behind, 1-5?” Zhao Quan had sweat on his forehead as he ran over. “Do you really know how to play?”
Gu Nianzhi had seen the scoreboard and confirmed that they were indeed being defeated by Team India.
Xin Xinggao was in Team India’s uniform and was chatting happily with an Indian man. Zhao Quan followed Gu Nianzhi’s gaze to them and said quietly, “That’s her boyfriend.”
“Hmph!” Gu Nianzhi snorted disdainfully. “Let her reek of curry for the rest of her life!”
Zhao Quan chuckled. “Ignore her,” he looked around before saying, “but don’t underestimate her; she’s very good at baseball. She scored 3 points out of the 5 for Team India.”
Gu Nianzhi waved her baseball bat. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it!” The referee blew his whistle as they spoke and the three bases were occupied by the Team Huaxia players. It was Gu Nianzhi’s turn.
“Go Nianzhi!”
“Go Nianzhi!”
“Nini! You’re the best!”
Gu Nianzhi waved at the crowd before readying the bat in her hand. The opponent pitcher was a huge woman, nearly twice Gu Nianzhi’s size. She observed Gu Nianzhi’s tall and slim figure, then suddenly lifted her leg and flung the baseball right at Gu Nianzhi’s chest! This ball had been thrown at a tricky angle; If it had been a male pitcher, this would’ve been nothing unusual. But for a female pitcher, it was almost considered foul play. Most pitchers avoided throwing so nastily under normal circumstances.
Gu Nianzhi was in low spirits and wanted to vent anyway. As the batter in the face of such a difficult and foul throw, she didn’t avoid it, but instead dashed towards it headfirst and raised her arms to viciously hit it with her bat!
Bang! The ball was hit at a low angle and was sent back, disappearing into the sky with a whoosh. Gu Nianzhi threw down the bat and sped towards the first, second, and third bases, then made the home base before the opponent found the baseball.
“Home run!”
“Home run!”
“She’s got a home run!”
The Huaxia Imperial Students Union cried out excitedly. As soon as Gu Nianzhi had entered the field, they’d gotten a home run and had earned four points to tie with Team India at 5-5.
“Nianzhi, you’re incredible! I’m so glad I called you.” Zhao Quan handed her a bottle of water and a small towel to dry off with.
Gu Nianzhi took them from him and giggled before taking a sip. “It’s their turn now; we can’t let our guards down.”
Team India would be batting and Zhao Quan’s girlfriend was pitching for the the Huaxia Imperial Students Union. Team India sent Xin Xinggao up and the field went quiet. She had just earned 3 points for Team India, but Team Huaxia had caught up in a tie. Gu Nianzhi sipped more water as she silently stood on the side. The referee blew the whistle and game resumed. This time, Xin Xinggao used all her strength—not to earn points, but for revenge. She waved the bat and hit the three throws right back at the pitcher, smacking the Team Huaxia pitcher right in the face. The last ball landed square on Zhao Quan’s girlfriend’s face and she immediately got a bloody nose.
“Xin Xinggao! Stop it!” Zhao Quan stood up furiously. The Huaxia Imperial Students Union clamored in the crowd to express their rage. However, the referee sided with Team India and completed ignored Xin Xinggao’s behaviour.
“You dare to come at me?! Hit me if you have the balls!” Xin Xinggao raised her bat to point at her skull as she goaded Team Huaxia.
“Since you offered, I’m going to take you up on it!” Gu Nianzhi immediately rose and ran alone towards her, bat pointing at Xin Xinggao. “I’ll beat you, traitor!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Gu Nianzhi viciously slammed the bat once to shatter Xin Xinggao’s dominant right hand, then a second time to whack her hard on the back of her head. Xin Xinggao didn’t expect someone from Team Huaxia would actually dare fight her. She cradled her broken right hand and screamed before she was hit on the head again. The pain was so great that she could only roll her eyes before she collapsed limply.
“Someone’s hurt!”
“Someone’s bleeding!”
Team India witnessed this and rushed over with their bats pointing at Gu Nianzhi. Although Gu Nianzhi had good reflexes and her own bat, she couldn’t defend herself from that many people. A bat hit on her the face and immediately left it red and swollen.
“Let’s go! We’ll show them!” Team Huaxia shook themselves from the shock and ran up with their bats raised at Team India. They surrounded Gu Nianzhi to protect her from getting hit again.
Yin Shixiong’s jaw dropped as he watched the two women’s teams fight and only rushed over when he glimpsed Gu Nianzhi’s swollen face–he then covered her head and rescued her from the crowd.
The sirens blared. Someone had called the police and Harvard’s campus police ran over carrying tasers and their batons at the ready. The two brawling teams were separated and the players were taken to the cruisers. Gu Nianzhi was no exception and was taken from Yin Shixiong to the cruiser.
Yin Shixiong was sweating nervously, then suddenly thought of He Zhichu and called him right away. “Professor He, Nianzhi was taken away by the campus police!”