"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 get Teacher Han to the hospital!"
"Who knows whether he broke a bone? We can't move him carelessly. Better call the hospital!"
Han Aimin was jolted awake by the overlapping shouts. 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 of around forty let out a breath of relief and anxiously asked, "Aimin, are you all right?"
Unless he was dreaming, this man before him should be Zhong Jianyu, his former colleague and big brother. Zhong had transferred from the military to 985 Factory. Since he knew nothing about technology and the factory had no shortage of political cadres, they had assigned him 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—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 had assigned her to the Children's Middle School as an English teacher. But she did not have cadre status, nor was she a formal employee. She was 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 his fingers and moved them before Han Aimin's eyes.
The sharp pain in