The bell rings for the ten-minute class break, and the silent room instantly erupts into a wall of noise. Boys slide across aisles to discuss video games, while girls gather in tight circles to share snacks and gossip.
Three rows ahead, Mengqi is surrounded by a small audience. Mengqi is the kind of girl who keeps a lip tint hidden in her pencil case and spends every free moment updating her social media profiles. Over the past four days, her Xiaohongshu account has blown up, all thanks to a series of heavily filtered, poetic posts mourning the tragic loss of her dear classmate, Xiaoyu.
Expressing genuine sadness was never Mengqi's style. Xiaoyu drifts over, watching Mengqi pull out her phone to record a video. She expects a private message of condolence, but instead, Mengqi tilts the camera, rolls her eyes dramatically, and laughs.
"Honestly, guys," Mengqi says directly into the microphone, her voice full of mockery. "Xiaoyu is way more useful to me dead than she ever was alive. When she was here, she just sat in the corner like a shadow. At least now her tragedy got me five hundred new followers in less than a week. I hope she stays wherever she is."
She giggles at the camera, tapping her screen to open WeChat. She intends to send this exact trash-talking video to a private, five-person gossip group chat titled The Elite Circle.
Before she can hit the final send button, a classmate calls out from the back row. "Mengqi, the teacher wants your literature homework right now."
"Coming," Mengqi calls back, annoyed. She drops the phone face-up on her lap, turning around to pull a notebook from her backpack.
Xiaoyu stands over her, anger flaring hot through her cold, weightless form. She looks down at the glowing screen resting on Mengqi's skirt.
This girl had never spoken a kind word to her in life. Now, she was using her death as social currency while mocking her memory.
Xiaoyu extends her hand, focusing every ounce of her will into her fingertips. She taps the top left corner of the WeChat interface, backing out of the private gossip chat selection. With a swift, precise stroke, her ghostly finger scrolls down the active chat list and selects the group with the highest member count: Grade 11 Class 3 Official Group.
It is the main chat containing all fifty-five students, the homeroom teacher, and the grade supervisor.
Xiaoyu taps the video file and hits the green send button.
Mengqi turns back around, completely oblivious. She grabs her phone, thinks she just messaged her close friends, and presses the power button to lock the screen. She slips it deep into the dark depths of her schoolbag just as the warning bell rings for the next period.
Because phones are strictly prohibited during lecture hours, Mengqi doesn't look at her device for the next forty-five minutes. She doesn't see the wave of notifications flooding her phone. She doesn't see the absolute, freezing silence that falls over the classroom as classmate after classmate sneaks a look at their screen under their desks.
By the time the final bell rings and school lets out for the day, the entire class has already watched the video. They have all heard her laugh, and they have all heard her say that Xiaoyu was more useful dead than alive.
When Mengqi pulls her phone out at the school gates, her face turns a horrific shade of ash. It is total, irreversible social suicide. There is no coming back from this, and the two-minute recall window has long since expired.
课间十分钟的铃声响起，沉默的教室瞬间爆发成一片噪音。男生们滑过过道讨论电子游戏，女生们挤成一圈分享零食和八卦。
前面三排，孟琪被一小群听众围着。孟琪是那种会在铅笔盒里藏一支唇膏、利用每一个空闲时间更新社交媒体资料的女孩。过去四天里，她的小红书账号爆火，多亏了一系列精心滤镜处理过的诗意帖子，哀悼她亲爱的同学小语的悲惨离世。
表达真诚的悲伤从来不是孟琪的风格。小语飘过去，看着孟琪拿出手机录制视频。她期待的是一条私人的慰问信息，然而孟琪把镜头一歪，夸张地翻了个白眼，然后笑了起来。
"说真的，姐妹们，"孟琪直接对着麦克风说，声音里满是嘲讽。"小语死了比活着对我有用多了。她在的时候，就坐在角落里像个影子。至少现在她的悲剧让我一周不到就涨了五百个新粉丝。希望她待在她在的地方别走。"
她对着镜头咯咯笑着，点击屏幕打开微信。她打算把这段垃圾话视频发给一个叫"精英圈"的私人五人八卦群。
就在她要按下最终发送键的那一刻，后排有个同学喊道："孟琪，老师要你现在交文学作业。"
"来了，"孟琪不耐烦地回应。她把手机正面朝上丢在腿上，转身从书包里抽笔记本。
小语站在她上方，愤怒在她冰冷、轻盈的身体里炽热地燃烧。她低头看着放在孟琪裙子上的发光屏幕。
这个女孩在世时从未对她说过一句好话。现在，她正在用她的死亡换取社交资本，同时嘲讽着她的记忆。
小语伸出手，将每一丝意志都集中在指尖。她点击微信界面的左上角，退出私人八卦群的选择。用一个快速、精准的动作，她的幽灵手指在聊天列表中下滑，选中了成员最多的群：高一三班官方群。
那是包含全部五十五名学生、班主任和年级组长的主群。
小语点击视频文件，按下绿色的发送键。
孟琪转过身来，完全没有察觉。她抓起手机，以为自己刚发给了好朋友，按下电源键锁屏。她在下节课预备铃响起时把手机塞进书包深处的黑暗里。
因为上课期间手机是严格禁止的，孟琪在接下来的四十五分钟里没有看手机。她看不到通知浪潮涌进她的手机。她看不到教室里一个接一个的同学偷偷低头看屏幕时，班上那种绝对的、冰冷的沉默。
等到放学铃响、大家走出校门时，全班都已经看过了那个视频。他们都听到了她的笑声，也都听到了她说小语死了比活着更有用。
当孟琪在校门口掏出手机时，她的脸色变成了一种可怕的灰白。这是彻底的、不可逆转的社交自杀。没有回头路可言，而两分钟的撤回窗口早已过期。