The Road Back

"Preparations for war, preparations for famine, all for the people. Good people and good horses go to the Third Front!"

"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 take Teacher Han to the hospital!"

"Who knows whether he's broken any bones? We can't move him carelessly. We should call the hospital!"

Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping cries. Opening his eyes, he found one familiar yet unfamiliar face after another gathered around him, each looking more anxious than the last. Then a searing pain shot through his elbows and knees.

"Aimin's awake. Make room." A man around forty sighed in relief and asked urgently, "Aimin, are you all right?"

If this wasn't a dream, then the man before him had to be Zhong Jianyu, his former colleague and big brother. He was a military cadre who had been 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, and her name was Liu Pingping. She was both a 985 Factory descendant and third sister's classmate from daycare through middle school. After graduating from high school without getting into college, she had been assigned by the factory to teach English at the Children's Middle School. But she was neither a cadre nor a formal employee; she was a "collective worker," whose salary and benefits were a tier below those of formal employees...

"Aimin,