"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 and get Teacher Han to the hospital!"
"Who knows if he's broken any bones? Don't move him. 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 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 asked anxiously, "Aimin, are you all right?"
If this wasn't a dream, then the man before him should be Zhong Jianyu, his former colleague and big brother. He was 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 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 nursery school through middle school. After graduating from high school and failing to get 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 one tier lower than 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 Han Aimin's eyes.
The sharp pain in