The last deafening explosion was still stuck in my eardrums, and in front of me were the glass fragments flying when the crystal lamp in the conference room exploded, like countless miniature suns exploding in front of my eyes. He remembered that he was banging the table and arguing about the budget with the people in the Propaganda Department, and spattered on the table stamp with "Director-Level Position" printed on it - that was the proof that he had worked for fifteen years and climbed from a handyman intern to the director of the editing and directing department of the city TV station. It was the iron rice bowl that he had earned through countless all-night changes to plans and drinking with the leaders in this system where people were crowded together.
