Chen Ke was scratching his head at the stairwell when a familiar male voice came through.
"Chen Ke? Is nobody home?"
Chen Ke looked up and saw that the door of the house opposite was actually open. A middle-aged man, dressed in black suit pants and a faded blue shirt, with an old-fashioned side-parted hairstyle, and wearing black-framed glasses was standing at the doorway, waving at him.
Chen Ke was taken aback—he'd never expected to encounter him here.
"Teacher... Teacher Zhou..." Chen Ke took a sharp breath in. An indescribable chill ran down his spine, and his head buzzed as though he'd been electrocuted, frozen in place.
Teacher Zhou had been Chen Ke's junior high class advisor, teaching Chinese. A kind middle-aged man in his forties, lean and tall. Chen Ke still remembered his silhouette, back to the students, with one hand holding a book and the other clutching a piece of chalk while writing on the blackboard.
