"The Sixth Set of Radio Exercises now begins. Stretching exercise, ready, go! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; two, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..."
"Aimin, Aimin, wake up!"
"Teacher Han! Teacher Han!"
"Stop shouting! Hurry and get Teacher Han to the hospital!"
"Who knows if he's broken any bones? We can't move him around. We should call the hospital!"
Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping shouts. Opening his eyes, he saw familiar yet unfamiliar faces gathered around him, each more anxious than the last. Then a searing pain shot through his elbows and knees.
"Aimin's awake. Make some room." A man in his forties breathed a sigh of relief and asked urgently, "Aimin, are you all right?"
Unless this was a dream, the man before him had to be Zhong Jianyu, his former colleague and Big Brother. Zhong had transferred to 985 Factory after leaving the military. Since he knew nothing about technology and the factory had no shortage of political cadres, he had been assigned to teach politics at the Children's Middle School.
Behind Zhong Jianyu stood a young woman in a Floral Plaid Spring and Autumn Shirt. Her surname was Liu, and her name was Liu Pingping. She was both a 985 Factory descendant and third sister's classmate from kindergarten through middle school. After graduating from high school and failing to get into university, she had been assigned by the factory to teach English at the Children's Middle School. However, she had neither cadre status nor formal employee status. She was a "collective worker," with salary and benefits one tier below those of formal employees...
"Aimin, look at my hand!" Not knowing what Han Aimin was thinking, Zhong Jianyu raised his fingers and moved them in front of his eyes.
The stabbing