Evening self-study.
Ellie was writing a problem when suddenly everything went black.
Had it not been for the cheers and screams from the entire building, she would have thought she had suddenly gone blind.
"I heard it, ahhh."
"Damn, no homework tonight."
"Damn it, this is hilarious, look at the guy with the glowing face."
"..."
The people with glowing faces quickly put away their contraband, fearing they would be caught by the teachers.
In the darkness, Ellie felt someone gently nudge her.
Wondering, she heard William's voice: "Scared? Little prude."
Ellie said, "No," but the tremble in her voice betrayed her; she was a bit scared.
No matter how calm she appeared, she had bad memories associated with darkness.
It was a very cold winter.
She was only five years old at the time.
Edward and Jennifer were both at home then.
The two had a particularly fierce argument that day, and Ellie was very scared, crying loudly on the ground.
As a result, Edward, annoyed by her crying, locked her in the utility room.
When the two finished arguing and remembered they had a daughter, Ellie had already been locked in the utility room for two or three hours.
The utility room was very dark and cold inside.
Ellie stopped crying, her grievance replaced by an inexplicable sense of fear.
Since then, she has had a fear of very dark places.
A flame suddenly appeared in front of Ellie, and she was stunned by the flickering flame.
The firelight reflected on the young man's profile; William's voice was somewhat low as he looked at Ellie and said, "I don't have anything else, only this."
Ellie felt warmed and whispered, "Thank you."
Someone in the class found their desk lamp and turned it on, and the classroom went from pitch black to having some light.
Mr. Johnson came in from outside with his phone, using the flashlight to illuminate the room as he spoke: "There's a malfunction in the school's electrical circuit. I've already called the repairman, but I don't know when they will arrive."
"Mr. Johnson, can we go back to the dormitory?"
Mr. Johnson replied, "Not yet. The school just announced that students are not allowed to leave."
Daniel knew without thinking that no one else but Mr. Anderson could have issued such a notice.
"Mr. Johnson, it's so dark we can't study, and we can't go back to the dormitory or home. What should we do?"
Mr. Johnson, holding his phone, thought for a moment, then said, "How about we play a game?"
"What game?"
Mr. Johnson picked up an empty mineral water bottle from the podium and said, "I played this game in a university team-building activity. Whoever it lands on has to come up and perform. Want to play?"
"We definitely have to play!"
"It's all about excitement and heart-racing."
Mr. Johnson said, "I'll start now. I'll turn off the flashlight, and those with desk lamps also turn them off. I'll give this water bottle to the first student, and when I say stop, I'll turn on the flashlight. Whoever has the water bottle in their hand has to perform."
After speaking, he handed the water bottle to a boy sitting in the front row.
"Pass it quickly, pass it quickly."
"Here, take it, I don't want it."
The water bottle went through several people's hands. With Mr. Johnson's command of stop, it ended up in a girl's hand.
Mr. Johnson turned on the flashlight and said, "Come on up, perform anything you like, a joke, a song, anything will do."
The girl went to the podium and said, "I'll sing a song for everyone."
The girl's voice was very sweet, and she sang a rather youthful song. As soon as she stepped down from the stage, the class applauded.
The water bottle landed in Lucas's hand for the second time. As soon as he stood on the podium, people below started shouting.
"Spare us, the crime doesn't deserve death."
"I've heard enough of your singing in the dormitory."
"Brothers, when I count one-two-three, covering our ears is the greatest respect for Lucas."
"Can you just go away?" Lucas looked at a few boys in his dormitory and said, "Who said I was going to sing? I'll tell a joke. Once upon a time, there was a matchstick that felt very itchy, and it kept scratching and scratching. What do you think happened?"
"It scratched itself on fire."
"Such a cold joke, in the middle of summer, I'm freezing to death."
"Forget it, will you guys die if you don't tear me down?" Lucas finished and said, "My performance is over."
Mr. Johnson said, "Continue."
With Mr. Johnson's command of stop, the bottle landed in Daniel's hand.
Daniel said, "Teacher, can I bring a partner up with me?"
"Sure, whoever you want."
Daniel pulled Hao Ming onto the stage and said, "Let's sing a song by Zhang Xueyou, 'The Actor.'"
Mr. Johnson said, "Let me find the accompaniment." He turned up the volume on his phone and played the accompaniment.
"Make it simple, the way of speaking make it simple."
As soon as Daniel started singing, the atmosphere team below began to cheer.
It must be said that although Daniel doesn't usually look serious, he sings very well.
After the two finished singing, Daniel and Hao Ming bowed together.
Mr. Johnson said, "Where's the bottle? Continue, continue."
Daniel threw the bottle in his hand to the person next to him. With a command of stop, the bottle landed in Ellie's hand.
Ellie hadn't reacted when the bottle was taken from her hand.
Mr. Johnson's phone light shone over, and William stood up, saying, "It's here with me."
Ellie watched him go up to the stage, stunned.
"William, sing! Sing!"
Daniel was shouting enthusiastically alone below.
Ellie gazed at the young man on the podium.
William smiled and said, "Then I'll sing."
William sang a love song, the young man's voice was deep, and his singing was very pleasant to the ear.
Ellie exchanged a glance with him and surprisingly felt her heart beating fiercely.
When William stepped down from the stage, Daniel almost clapped his hands raw. If it had been someone else, the crowd would definitely have urged for another song, but because it was William, no one dared to tease.
William sat down next to Ellie.
Ellie said, "Just now... it was in my hand, why did you go up for me?"
William stared at her and said, "Your voice was trembling just now, and you said you weren't scared." After speaking, William folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.
Ellie's voice was very soft, gentle, and she whispered, "Thank you."
William turned his head to look at her and said, "Little prude really likes to be stubborn with words." After speaking, he stared at Ellie for a while and said, "And now?"
Ellie, hearing his "and now," was stunned before she realized he was asking if she was scared. She shook her head and said, "I'm not scared now."
William said, "At least you're not being stubborn this time."