Afternoon, campus.
To say that the most popular subject with the fewest courses in the senior high school curriculum is probably physical education. Physical education teachers also know that there is no physical education subject in the college entrance examination. This subject exists to give students a chance to relax. Unless a physical education teacher is crazy or is lovelorn, physical education class is basically a break time.
The students lived up to their expectations and greedily enjoyed a moment of freedom like prisoners. The sound of joy spread throughout the playground, except for one inconspicuous corner, which seemed to be isolated from the world and filled with an atmosphere of silence and uneasiness. Since the teacher announced the free activities, Lang Zhijia and a group of friends have been sitting here. They quietly discussed what happened this morning, with deep worries in their expressions.
"When do you think Zhifei will get better?" Lang Zhijia sighed.
"Getting better? Is he really... sick?" Cheng Peng scratched his head and said in a slightly softer voice.
Zheng Xiaojun's facial features were twisted together in confusion, and he held back a sentence for a long time: "What if he continues to be so sick? Xiaofeng, please speak up!"
Wu Xiaofeng held his chin and remained silent. Only when Zheng Xiaojun called him did he come back to his senses and murmured: "Who do you think this Zhang Yi is?"
"Why do you ask this question?" Lang Zhijia frowned, reached out to touch the other person's forehead, and asked carefully: "Is it possible that you also..."
"What are you thinking about!" Wu Xiaofeng moved the hand from his forehead angrily and said cautiously: "Don't you think it's a little strange? Why does Zhifei keep mentioning the name Zhang Yi, and what about exploring dangerous buildings?"
Wu Xiaofeng sighed: "I didn't expect his hallucinations to be so rich!"
Lang Zhijia shook his head and said, "I always feel that things are not that simple."
Looking at the confused expressions of others, Wu Xiaofeng said: "Assuming that Zhifei really has hallucinations, there should be a reason. We can call it the cause of hallucinations. If you want to help Zhifei, it is very important to find this cause. The essential."
Lang Zhijia murmured thoughtfully: "Inducement? Zhang Yi? Dangerous building? Could it be..."
While speaking, Wu Xiaofeng suddenly looked into the distance, his expression dull for a while. Lang Zhijia followed his gaze and found that Ren Zhifei had appeared on the playground at some point and was running towards them. Ren Zhifei ran nearby and slowly stopped. The four of them sat on the ground and looked at him quietly. Amidst the baptism of gazes, Ren Zhifei sat down bravely, and the atmosphere became increasingly solemn.
The bell rang for the end of get out of class, and the five of them sat awkwardly without anyone moving first. Ren Zhifei bit his lip, thinking about how to speak. However, Lang Zhijia stood up first, patted the dirt on his body, and looked into the distance as usual.
A hand stretched out in front of his eyes, and Ren Zhifei looked a little dazed. Lang Zhijia said impatiently: "Why are you still sitting there? Don't go to class."
Hearing these words, Ren Zhifei was deeply moved. Although there were no complicated words, the other party's actions told Ren Zhifei that they were still friends, just like before. Everyone was relieved and stood up one after another. Their faces returned to their previous playful expressions, and they walked back to the classroom arm in arm with Ren Zhifei.
The photo was placed on the desk, and five heads gathered around it.
"Isn't it just a photo of us from before? Is there anything strange about it?" Lang Zhijia said casually.
"It feels a little wrong." Wu Xiaofeng touched his chin and said, "Only when I looked at it today did I realize why the middle of the first row was empty?"
"Maybe we didn't notice our position at the time?" Lang Zhijia tried to explain, but it was undeniable that seeds of doubt had arisen in his heart. Lang Zhijia clearly remembers that when taking pictures, he used the selfie mode on his mobile phone, so everyone can clearly see their position on the screen. Why did no one raise any objection to such a disharmonious and unsightly position, unless... there was another person at the time! Lang Zhijia tried hard to distance himself from such weird and bizarre thoughts and tried to find other possibilities. This inner struggle made him silent.
"Why didn't I notice that the composition was so strange at the time? It feels like there was someone in the middle, but it was removed by the photo editing software." Cheng Peng scratched his head and asked this question.
"Impossible, I remember there were only five of us at that time." Zheng Xiaojun said carelessly.
Seeing that the photo had successfully aroused everyone's doubts, Ren Zhifei lost no time in guiding him: "It's not just the photo, but the empty seats in the classroom and the blank spaces on the class list. Don't you think it's weird?"
Before returning to school, Ren Zhifei had been thinking about his next actions, but he always felt at a loss and had no clue. After thinking about it, Ren Zhifei suddenly had an idea and decided to awaken his friends' memories of Zhang Yi. If it succeeds, maybe we can get clues about Zhang Yi's disappearance, or... we can know what happened in that dangerous building expedition.
Sure enough, Wu Xiaofeng was the first to put forward his discovery: "Indeed, these things can be understood if they exist alone, and it makes sense if only one sentence is wrong. But if you connect these in series... it seems like... "
Wu Xiaofeng couldn't speak any more, but everyone knew his conclusion clearly.
It was as if a certain person in the past had been wiped out of existence and everyone's memory of him.
"Is this true? If that Zhang Yi really exists... Impossible! Everything is just a coincidence!" Lang Zhijia shook his head violently to stop the terrible thoughts in his mind.
Ren Zhifei knew that they had been shaken, and was about to work harder, maybe he could restore their memory of Zhang Yi, or at the very least, gain their approval.
"Ren Zhifei! Teacher Li asked you to go to the office!" Shen Tong suddenly appeared, interrupting the discussion of several people.
Ren Zhifei had no choice but to leave first.
Seeing that the task was completed, Shen Tong was about to return to his seat, but saw Lang Zhijia and others blocking the front, and said unhappily: "Get out of the way! Class is about to begin!"
Lang Zhijia looked at Shen Tong and suddenly asked quietly: "Do you know Zhang Yi?"
Shen Tong rolled his eyes, sat back on his seat, and lectured everyone in an old-fashioned way: "You guys must be careful, don't get infected by Ren Zhifei!"
"What's the infection?" Wu Xiaofeng asked, dissatisfaction in his tone.
"I'm afraid you won't accept it. I heard this from Teacher Li's office." Shen Tong tilted his head and sneered, "Do you know about induction psychosis?"
"Mental illness?" Cheng Peng shouted out in surprise.
Zheng Xiaojun corrected: "It's not mental illness, it's induced mental illness... What do you mean?"
Seeing the ignorance shown by several people, Shen Tong couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth. Driven by her sense of superiority, she learned and sold the knowledge she overheard.
"Induction psychosis is a mental disorder with systemic delusions as prominent symptoms. It usually occurs in two or more people who are closely related. Once one party becomes ill, the other party will be nervous and become susceptible to the disease. The sick person hints, thus creating a spiritual resonance, and eventually the disease will occur.”
Except for Wu Xiaofeng who was thoughtful, everyone else looked at a loss.
Shen Tong concluded impatiently, "It's just a contagious mental illness!"
"You mean, we will be infected by Ren Zhifei?" Lang Zhijia took a breath.
Shen Tong had already picked up the book. He didn't know if he was too focused on the review, but he just ignored these people.
Wu Xiaofeng frowned and said: "This is just a speculation! After all, Teacher Li is not a psychiatrist, maybe it's just hearsay."
Lang Zhijia felt a little relieved. After all, compared to the inference that Zhang Yi (assuming he really existed) was wiped out, Ren Zhifei's mental abnormality was more credible. And judging from the current situation, everyone is more willing to believe in the second explanation.
"So, does Zhifei want to turn us all into psychopaths?" Cheng Peng asked carefully.
Zheng Xiaojun said dissatisfied: "What nonsense are you talking about? He didn't mean it."
Invisibly, everyone had already acquiesced to the fact that Ren Zhifei had mental problems. Although this conclusion is quite bizarre, it is much more normal than the previous "Zhang Yi disappearance theory". The scary atmosphere between the partners suddenly subsided, and they changed places and continued to whisper, discussing how to help Ren Zhifei return to normal.
At this time, Lang Zhijia returned to his thoughts during physical education class and said to everyone: "Have you noticed that besides the name 'Zhang Yi', there is another word that Zhifei mentions the most."
"Dangerous building!" Wu Xiaofeng said immediately.
Cheng Peng and Zheng Xiaojun looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
Lang Zhijia felt that his thoughts had become clearer than ever before. He carefully scanned the crowd and said slowly: "My inference is this..."