"Sixth Set of Radio Exercises begins now. 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 a bone? We can't move him carelessly. We should call the hospital!"
Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping shouts. Opening his eyes, he saw familiar yet unfamiliar faces surrounding him, each one more anxious than the last. Then searing pain shot through his elbows and knees.
"Aimin is awake. Make room." A man in his forties visibly relaxed and asked anxiously, "Aimin, are you all right?"
Unless he was dreaming, the man before him should be Zhong Jianyu, his former colleague and big brother. A military cadre transferred to 985 Factory, Zhong knew nothing about technology. Since 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 kindergarten through middle school. After graduating from high school and failing to get into college, she had been assigned to teach English at the Children's Middle School. But she did not hold cadre status or formal employee status. She was a "collective worker," paid one grade less than formal employees...
"Aimin, look at my hand!" Not knowing what Han Aimin was thinking, Zhong Jianyu raised a finger and moved it before Han Aimin's eyes.
The sharp pain in his elbows and knees, the familiar faces before him, and the familiar melody of the Sixth