Chapter 98

A winter afternoon's warm sunlight streamed across a row of vintage-looking, five-story residential blocks. The Tiantan Apartments, home to the members of the National Table Tennis Team, were old buildings dating back to the 1980s with white walls and blue glass windows. From the outside, they looked slightly better than an ordinary residential neighborhood. Perhaps it was because the people constantly coming and going were energetic young folks, making the locals feel as though the buildings themselves had livened up right along with them. Fang Bo was walking back to the apartments humming a tune after lunch at the cafeteria. He climbed the worn-out staircase and headed to his dorm for a midday nap. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw someone slumped over the long-unused desk by the window, holding a pen while staring blankly out at the view.