The Buddha Who Scared Himself

"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 broke any bones? We can't move him carelessly. We should call the hospital!"

Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping shouts. When he opened his eyes, he saw familiar yet unfamiliar faces gathered around him, each looking more anxious than the last. Then searing pain shot through his elbows and knees.

"Aimin is awake. Make room." A man in his forties breathed a sigh of 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 had been a military cadre transferred to 985 Factory. 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 the third sister's classmate from kindergarten through middle school. After graduating from high school and failing to get into college, 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," with salary and benefits one grade 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 before Han Aimin's eyes.

The sharp pain