Teacher Ma's studio could be called organized chaos. It was in an elegant spot in the suburbs of a top-tier city, and inside the office stood just one astonishingly large desk.
Books covered the desk and the space beneath it. An all-in-one computer looked utterly out of place among them.
The computer screen displayed scanned classical texts.
They were enlarged for easy reading by elderly eyes.
Directly in front of the desk.
There, before the screen, sat Teacher Ma.
Beside him were custom-built bookshelves covering the walls.
Every shelf was filled with books.
The place was practically a library.
Even the fire hydrant by the door was buried in books. It was downright terrifying.
This room—yes, this very room—was the sort that would make a fire inspector shake his head.
Teacher Ma sat amid those piles of books, holding a large-screen phone and shouting to his old friend.
His old friend was making tea nearby.
The glass was half water and half tea leaves. Hearing his friend call, Old Xu spat the tea leaves in his mouth back into the glass and stood up.
"What are you shouting for? Think you're the only one with a loud voice?"
Despite saying that, Old Xu shouted only once.
At his friend's summons, he walked over and leaned toward the phone screen.
"Hmm..."
Seeing the mark, Old Xu fell silent too. He scratched his hair with his little finger, straightened up, pounded his lower back, then pulled a book from the shelf beside him.
He opened it and leafed through it quickly without a word.
Teacher Ma did not rush him.
Old Xu spread the book open. Only after finding the information he wanted did he set it before Teacher Ma and point at the picture. "Hey, this drawing is pretty accurate. It