The girl sobbed into the phone so hard she could barely catch her breath.
Yue Xiaofei held the phone, unable to say a word.
He didn't know how to comfort a younger sister who had just lost her entire world.
He could only listen and let each cry of "Liar" stab into his heart like a knife.
The sixth call.
A young mother answered.
Yue Xiaofei had barely said, "I served alongside your husband,"
when a baby's loud wails came through the phone.
"Waa... waa..."
The young mother seemed to be scrambling to soothe the child.
"There, there, baby. Don't cry. Mommy's here..."
Then Yue Xiaofei told her the terrible news.
The other end of the line went silent.
The baby kept crying, but the young mother could no longer speak.
Yue Xiaofei could almost picture her holding the infant, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, her face stricken with despair.
Her world had fallen apart.
And the child, born only three months ago, did not even know that his father was gone forever.
One call after another.
One grieving voice after another.
In the office, the members of the Reverse Scale team had long since reached their breaking point.
Han Duoduo had run out to cry more times than she could count. When she returned, her eyes were swollen like walnuts.
Wild Chicken crouched in a corner, clutching his head without a word, as still as a statue.
Even Jin Dapao, tough as iron, had red-rimmed eyes. His fists were clenched so tightly that veins bulged across the backs of his hands.
But Yue Xiaofei skipped no calls and brushed off no families.
It was his responsibility.
He had to tell every family himself that their loved one was a hero.
That they had died bravely to protect