"The Sixth Set of Radio Exercises now begins. Stretching exercise, ready, begin! 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 broke any bones? We can't move him carelessly. Better call the hospital first!"
Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping cries. Opening his eyes, he saw familiar yet unfamiliar faces gathered around him, each looking more anxious than the last. Then a searing pain shot through his elbows and knees.
"Aimin is awake. Make room." A man in his forties visibly relaxed and urgently asked, "Aimin, are you all right?"
If this wasn't a dream, then the man before him had to be his former colleague and big brother, Zhong Jianyu. He was a military cadre transferred to 985 Factory after leaving the service. Since he knew nothing about technology and the factory had no shortage of political cadres, he had been assigned to the Children's Middle School as a politics teacher.
Behind Zhong Jianyu stood a young woman in a Floral Plaid Spring and Autumn Shirt. Her surname was Liu—Liu Pingping. She was both a 985 Factory descendant and third sister's classmate from nursery school through middle school. After graduating high school without getting into university, she had been assigned to the Children's Middle School as an English teacher. But she was neither a cadre nor a formal employee. She was a "collective worker," whose salary and benefits were one tier below those of formal employees...
"Aimin, look at my hand!" Zhong Jianyu had no idea what Han Aimin was thinking. He raised a finger and moved it before Han Aimin's eyes.
The sharp pain in his elbows