Underworld Player

It was almost autumn, but the temperature remained as high as ever, and walking home under the glaring sun was enough to make Bai Zhi sweat buckets.

Once he got inside, he took a much-needed shower, then sat at his desk with the chemical reagents he had ”liberated ” from the school labs.
He was about to use the chemicals to recreate his explosive formula—albeit with some improvements—but before he could begin, he heard a knocking sound at the door.

Hmm? Is the landlord here for the rent? So soon?

He frowned slightly, then lowered the vial in his hand.
Then, carefully tiptoeing to the door, Bai Zhi looked through the peephole.

What he saw sent an involuntary ripple of astonishment through him.

Standing outside his door was a tall, thin, middle-aged man in a white shirt and black-rimmed glasses.
His hair was perfectly coiffed, his expression alert but still.
He carried himself with a certain air of unruffled elegance.

Bai Zhi recognized him—it was his chemistry teacher, and form teacher, Mr.
Chen.

What had shocked him was not so much the fact that his teacher was looking for him, but…
Mr.
Chen had been his teacher from before he transmigrated! He was the one who, as a result of Bai Zhi ’s experiments in the chemistry lab, had unfortunately ended up in the ICU and had to be hospitalized for two weeks after.
Somehow still able to forgive Bai Zhi for his blunder, Mr.
Chen had even joked that the next time he heard news of Bai Zhi, it would be either through the papers or the television.

Seeing that very person standing outside his door led Bai Zhi to wonder…
Had Mr.
Chen transmigrated too?

He reeled at this new information, momentarily unable to react.

The figure outside was the spitting image of what Bai Zhi remembered of Mr.
Chen.
The same stillness, the same elegance, even the same tacky glasses…
Ugh…

Bai Zhi stroked his chin and thought about it for a moment.
Realizing that he needed to be prepared for things to get hairy, he quietly made his way back to the desk, where he grabbed the towel draped on the chair and placed it over his head instead.
As he made his way toward the door, he toweled his hair as if he had just come out of the shower.

”Who ’s there? Who could it be…
Oh my gosh, Mr.
Chen? ”

Bai Zhi opened the door and allowed his features to transform from irritation to surprise, then from surprise quickly into gladness.

”Mr.
Chen, are you here to deliver my allowance for the month? Thank you so much for coming all this way. ”

”Naturally, why else would I be here? ”

The teacher ’s expression did not show any sign of surprise, and he even struck up some friendly banter with Bai Zhi.

”Hey now, I ’ve come all this way, as you know.
Surely you wouldn ’t turn me away without so much as a sip of tea? ”

”Of course not! ” Bai Zhi stepped aside with a self-deprecating chuckle.
”Come in, Mr.
Chen, I ’ll make some right away, and as soon as I have the money, I ’ll go down, get us some snacks to go with the tea and we ’ll have a nice chat. ”

”Ah you cheeky brat, no need to splurge on snacks and such, I ’m not here to mooch off you. ”

With that humorous little jab back at Bai Zhi, the teacher glided past him and into the apartment.

Bai Zhi followed closely beh