That night, Dong Xuebin dreamed of all kinds of legs drifting before his eyes—slender ones, pale and tender ones, plump ones, long ones. There had to be at least twenty or thirty pairs. In the end, all those legs pressed him beneath them, suffocating him until he could not breathe. He suddenly bolted upright in bed. Staring blankly at the not-yet-bright sky, Dong Xuebin realized it had been a dream. After briefly reliving the temptation and terror of those legs, he rubbed his eyes, got out of bed with lingering fear, washed up, packed his things, and headed out early.
The Party School of Xicheng District Committee was near Xinkai Hutong, across from Guanying Garden.
The moment Dong Xuebin entered the Party school compound, he saw banners directing students from various classes to attend the opening ceremony in the auditorium. With an uneasy heart, Dong Xuebin headed west all the way to the auditorium. Looking at the several banners hanging above, he learned that it was not just the Ke Level Cadre Training Class he was attending. There were also the Youth Cadre Refresher Course, the Chu Level Full-Time Position Training Class, the Development and Management Seminar, and so on. Less than half of the enormous auditorium was filled, but anyone he picked at random outranked him.
Dong Xuebin felt somewhat restrained. Once he found his seat, he did not say a word, afraid of making some kind of mistake.
Then came speeches, speeches, and more speeches. The most talkative of them all was Secretary Zhang, the deputy secretary of the district committee and principal of the Party school. He went on about thoroughly studying this leader's important speeches, carefully studying the original texts of that document, deeply grasping the spirit of some directive, achieving integrated understanding, comprehending things fully