The thunderstorm outside suddenly stopped, and the classroom was bright. Jiang Wei, who was on duty, and the burning candle were no longer on the podium.
The weather was fine, and the sun shone brightly through the open windows.
The classroom was noisy, the class had just ended. Chen Yang heard Zhong Qi wailing that the next PE class was taken over by the teacher again. It was said that the combination of work and rest is the capital of revolution. Sitting for a long time will cause osteoporosis and hemorrhoids. PE classes are really necessary!
Chen Yang had a bad feeling. He stood up and turned around to count the number of people. The number of people in the team was wrong. Two teammates were missing, both girls.
When someone dies, time will jump. Then those students will still live an ordinary and fulfilling high school life, with an innocent and bright future to look forward to.
Chen Yang quickly walked across the classroom to Wu Lingling's seat in the back row and asked her if she noticed the death of the two teammates.
Wu Lingling sat on the chair with a dull look in her eyes, without any reaction.
"Wu Lingling!" Chen Yang knocked on the table hard.
“Ah…” Wu Lingling opened her mouth and looked up at Chen Yang, her eyes were bloodshot and her eyes were confused.
Chen Yang repeated the question and pointed diagonally behind her, where the table and chairs were empty.
Wu Lingling turned her head in that direction. The empty desk seemed to be soaked in invisible blood, which was dripping down. She pulled the wig with greater force and directly pulled it off, revealing a miserable hairline.
"There was a power outage... We lit candles. The classroom was dim and scary. I didn't look around. I kept staring at the book. I didn't pay attention to what other people were doing..." The wig in Wu Lingling's hand fell to the ground. She was a little incoherent and her mental state was fragile.
"You did a good job. It's right to keep your eyes on the book and not look around." Chen Yang bent down, picked up the wig, dusted off the dust, and put it back on the girl with clumsy movements. He was about to find other teammates nearby to inquire about the situation when his school uniform was grabbed.
"Mr. Chen, do you think I can go back?" Wu Lingling asked carefully with tears in her eyes. She was in so much pain that she could not bear it any longer. There was always a voice in her heart saying that if she really couldn't go back, it was not completely unacceptable, as she had her best friend by her side.
"The ending is unknown. You must have a firm belief before the ending comes. If you want to go back, you can go back." Chen Yang looked at the faint light in her eyes that was about to go out at any time and said, "Don't give up."
Wu Lingling seemed to understand, Mr. Chen was a gentle yet strong person.
Chen Yang's heart was heavy. He had seen many teammates whose will to live was shaken. That was a sign before death came.
Chen Yangqu pointed at Wu Lingling's textbook twice, and when she looked over, he said seriously: "Sister, don't give up on yourself."
This is Chen Yang's biggest feeling since the mission, and it is also what he most wants to say to his teammates. The road is difficult, but you can't stop. People must have hope.
Chen Yang wiped his face. The light of his hope had illuminated the road ahead of him. He would not die as long as the light was extinguished.
"Mr. Chen!" Yang Xue came over with four other girls in the team. All five of them had pale faces.
Chen Yang gathered his thoughts and tilted his head. He was only familiar with Yang Xue, and he was not familiar with the other four girls. He only knew that they were in the same dormitory and had bound their ID numbers collectively to enter here.
The four girls were thoughtful but cautious. They had a strong sense of community and used their English names when introducing themselves. Chen Yang had no impression of them and could only remember them by their hairstyles: long hair, ponytail, short hair, pigtail.
"She said she knew the cause of death of Liu Xiaorong and Xiao Zhao." Yang Xue pointed at the girl with pigtails and told her.
"Come over here and talk." Chen Yang walked towards the blackboard at the back and waved his hand.
Pigtailed Girl walked over accompanied by her three roommates. She pulled the shiny panda head pendant around her neck, took several deep breaths, and her voice was still trembling when she spoke.
"Not long after the class started, Xiao Zhao disturbed Liu Xiaorong, and later on, his hair got burned by the candle and affected the other students at the same table," said the girl, who was holding the rhinestones on the pendant tightly with her pigtails, and shivering. Her three roommates tried to comfort her one after another.
Yang Xue, who was standing by, showed envy in her eyes. It was so nice to have friends to accompany her. But she turned around and shook her head, not wanting her friends to come in.
Death is difficult to face, and parting with a friend is even more difficult... Yang Xue glanced at Wu Lingling who was curled up in her seat. She didn't want to experience such a tragic thing.
Pigtails said slowly, "After class, Li Li and his deskmate didn't leave their seats. They were eating snacks and chatting. I didn't hear clearly and didn't dare to go over."
The three roommates nodded to Chen Yang, indicating that what their youngest child said was true.
Chen Yang let Pigtails continue.
"I know Xiao Zhao wants to... I want to inform everyone, but my legs are weak." The pigtailed girl's teeth chattered, "After a while, maybe two or three minutes, maybe even less, Xiao Zhao turned his back, with his head... his head tilted back, as if a pair of hands had forced it like that."
When the three roommates heard it the second time, they were still so scared that their backs felt cold and their necks felt aching reflexively.
"Then, then, then Liu Xiaorong... then she..." Pigtails said "then" several times, and Chen Yang encouraged her to continue with his eyes.
"I don't know why she fainted from fright, and she fainted on the chair," Pigtails repeated three or five "then"s like a tape recorder, trembling, "I saw a pair of pale hands grab her feet, and then time jumped..."
"The candle is gone, the day has dawned, and the person is gone too." Pigtails sobbed in fear.
"Why did Liu Xiaorong..." Yang Xue's mind raced and she came up with a guess, "Did she step on someone?"
"It's my deskmate Li Li." The girl with pigtails nodded twitchingly. She accidentally saw Xiao Zhao breaking the taboo of death. She was panicked and couldn't help wanting to see what the other party would do next, so she focused her attention on her table and thus captured the subsequent developments.
This is what Pigtails does when watching horror movies. Even though she is scared to death, she will still sit in front of the computer, cover her face with her hands, leaving only her eyes exposed, and persist until the end of the movie to watch the ending.
Chen Yang's school uniform was caught again, and this time it was Yang Xue who caught him. The girl's classical academic face was full of helplessness, and her eyes were filled with tears of fear: "Mr. Chen, I... I also stepped on my deskmate."
"Wait for me." Chen Yang took just one step and then stopped. He turned back helplessly and said to the girl who was holding onto his school uniform, "Let go first."
Yang Xue didn't care about embarrassment and reserve anymore. She let go of his hand and followed Chen Yang closely.
Chen Yang went to the corridor to find Li Li, his deskmate, a very thin and dark boy. Chen Yang recalled the report card in Jiang Wei's homework pile. The boy's ranking was in the middle and lower reaches. He gave people the feeling that he was the kind of student in the class who was usually very hardworking but his grades could not improve.
The teacher didn't have the heart to say anything harsh.
"Hey, skinny guy, the class representative is looking at you!" Li Li patted his desk mate on the back, and the biscuit crumbs in his mouth sprayed everywhere.
"Fuck, you're using the Vajra Palm." The deskmate coughed and turned to look at Chen Yang, "What's the matter? I handed in my homework."
"Let me ask you a question," Chen Yang said, "How would you feel if someone stepped on your foot during class?"
"Ah? What kind of question is that..." The boy unwrapped the snow cake Li Li gave him, "It depends on what I'm doing. If I'm playing, it doesn't matter, but if I'm doing homework and someone steps on my foot, it's annoying." He took a bite of the snow cake, his voice unclear, "The idea of being planned is very... You know what a top student is."
Chen Yang glanced at Yang Xue and whispered, "As long as the person who was stepped on doesn't show any harassing reactions or thoughts, then it's fine."
Yang Xue suddenly came alive. Her deskmate was drawing at the time and was not doing homework.
Chen Yang went back to the classroom to find Wen Qing and Bai Tang. He thought about it and walked to the girl with pigtails who had witnessed the accident of his two teammates: "Where are you sitting?"
Pigtails was talking to her roommates and she pointed to her seat in confusion.
Chen Yang glanced over. The seat was two rows away from Liu Xiaorong. He frowned and asked, "Do you like looking around in class?"
The pigtailed girl lowered her head: "I can't help it. I'm used to it."
"You have to bear it even if you can't help it." The long-haired roommate hit her arm twice in a row, "We've told you so many times!"
"That's right, it happened several times!" The other two roommates said in unison. They were angry and worried.
The girl with pigtails put her hands together and bowed: "I know, I know, ladies, I will definitely change. I swear, I will definitely sit properly in class next time."
Chen Yang shook his head in his heart. This girl with pigtails... her roommates have told her about it several times, but she just can't change. She will be the same again next time.
This high school task is too close to real life. Chen Yang has graduated for a long time, and the habits he had in school have long since disappeared from his world. This is very beneficial to him.
However, it is very dangerous for those who are still students during their school years. Those habits are vividly and tenaciously attached to their consciousness, and it is almost impossible for them to change them in such a short time. They can only try their best to be vigilant and prevent themselves from making habitual little movements.
Chen Yang walked past a few girls towards Wen Qing. He paused and glanced at the girl with the ponytail: "Do you smoke?"
"I just took a few puffs." The girl with ponytail unconsciously acted awkward and nervous when answering the teacher's question.
"Go outside to get rid of the smell and stop smoking." Chen Yang said and left. In the team without Chao Jian, self-protection was the first priority for him. As for the others... he would help if he could, and there was nothing he could do if he couldn't help.
Chen Yang stopped in front of Wen Qing's desk, reached out to hold down the spinning coin, and said solemnly, "Two more are gone."
"Oh no." Wen Qing muttered, expressing his opinion with a catchphrase, "The power outage was too short. I wanted to burn my nails for fun. The smell of burning nails is very fragrant."
Chen Yang: “…”
"It's not short. Fear will be magnified after a power outage. Two young girls have already died in one evening study session. If there is one more session, I don't know how many people will be left in the team." Chen Yang took his hand away. He stood there and stared at the coin that was spinning again. He said casually, "Do you know the identity number of Captain Jin Xiao?"
Wen Qing said aggrievedly: "I don't know, he refused to tell me."
Chen Yang observed Wen Qing without changing his expression. He pursed his lips after making sure that the other party did not put on much of a show. This couldn't be right. These two were old comrades-in-arms and had worked together countless times. Moreover, Captain Jin Xiao even included Wen Qing in his own territory. They had a very close relationship, but he didn't even reveal his identity number
"But..." Wen Qing dragged out the last syllable, "I have a hunch that you will know what you want to know."
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for your good words." He then said, "I'll tell you when I know."
Wen Qing lowered his eyes to look at the coin, his eyes were both amused and bored. He moved his lips and said silently, "I also have a hunch that you wouldn't tell me even if you knew it."
Before the bell rang, the head teacher came into the classroom with a book and a cup of tea. He looked at the listless students and said unhappily, "Did you not have enough for lunch or what?"
"I ate too much and need to digest the food." Zhong Qi said as usual.
The ranking on the transcript emerged in Chen Yang’s mind, and Zhong Qi was in the top ten.
"Alright, alright, stop looking so sullen. Let's continue our physical education class as usual." The head teacher waved his hand compassionately.
The class was silent for a few seconds, and then burst into deafening cheers!
"yeah!"
"Long live the old class!"
"Only this time!" the head teacher yelled at the students who were running out.
Chen Yang took a look at the head teacher and found that he had lost weight, his lenses were thicker than before, his eye bags were big and swollen, he had dark circles, his beer belly was bigger, and he looked like he had a bad schedule and was under a lot of pressure.
“Jiang Wei, you have to pay attention during physical education class. Safety comes first.” The head teacher left after giving the instructions.
Jiang Wei stood up and moved the chair inside. Chen Yang left the classroom with him, wondering if he could sneak through the playground to the head teacher's office.
"Class monitor, what do you think about dating in high school?" Chen Yang tilted his head to stop Bai Tang from following him, and he spoke to Jiang Wei in a low voice.
"Not good." Jiang Wei said.
"Are you worried that it will affect your studies?" Chen Yang said with a smile, "I think if you have someone you like, you should still have a relationship so that you won't have any regrets in your youth."
Jiang Wei said with a positive attitude: "Life is made up of regrets. Youth is incomplete without regrets."
Chen Yang twitched his lips, "Your great principles are contained in a basket, right?"
Jiang Wei said: "No."
Chen Yang thought Jiang Wei had another opinion, but he heard him say, "The basket can't hold it all, so I'll use the warehouse."
"… "
"Brother, you are quite humorous." Chen Yang put his hand on his shoulder.
The corners of Jiang Wei's light-colored mouth, which were always suppressed, slightly raised.
Chen Yang was stunned. Jiang Wei looked like a different person when she smiled. She had a sunshine flavor. When he looked closely, the corners of Jiang Wei's mouth had been pressed down. The arc seemed to be his illusion.