"The Sixth Set of Radio Exercises begins now. Stretching exercise, ready—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 and get Teacher Han to the hospital!"
"Who knows whether he broke 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 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's awake. Make room." A man in his forties breathed a sigh of relief and anxiously asked, "Aimin, are you all right?"
Unless he was dreaming, the man before him should have been his former colleague and big brother, Zhong Jianyu. He was a military cadre who had transferred to 985 Factory after leaving the army. Since he knew nothing about technical work and the factory had no shortage of political cadres, he had been assigned to teach politics at the Children's Middle School.
The young woman behind Zhong Jianyu, dressed in a Floral Plaid Spring and Autumn Shirt, was surnamed Liu—Liu Pingping. She was both a 985 Factory descendant and third sister's classmate from kindergarten through middle school. After graduating high school, she had failed to get into college, so the factory assigned her to teach English at the Children's Middle School. However, she was neither a cadre nor a formal employee, but a "collective worker" whose salary and benefits were one grade 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 stabbing pain in his elbows and