Qin Xuan said, "You're crying."
He repeated those same two words.
Li Xin met his gaze blankly. Then, as if something had occurred to him, the cup in his hand crashed to the floor with a sharp sound.
The cup shattered, but no one paid it any attention. Li Xin sprang to his feet, turned, and ran.
Without hesitation, Sheng An dropped her chopsticks and followed.
They had nearly finished eating anyway, and the others all followed, a bad feeling rising in their hearts.
Only Old Qin and Qin Xuan remained.
Qin Xuan pressed his lips together, looking distressed.
Old Qin said nothing. He merely picked him up in silence and rubbed his head.
He murmured, "What's the point of knowing so much? You can't change anything..."
Meanwhile, in a small room in the shelter.
When Li Xin hurried to his family, Li Huai was lying quietly on the floor, covered with a white cloth. Song Linlin sat beside him, while Father Song and Mother Song wiped away their tears.
Song Linwei seemed to have only just arrived. His cheeks were still flushed with fever, and he braced himself against the wall to stay upright.
Li Xin looked bewildered. "Where's my dad? What happened to him?"
Song Linlin raised her head, her voice hoarse and sluggish. "Your dad is gone."
There was still blood on her hands. Her expression was dazed and numb, but her eyes were red, and she seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
Bewildered, Li Xin instinctively touched his face. When he lowered his hand, it was wet.
He looked at his hand, then at Li Huai lying there, as though he still couldn't comprehend what had happened.
When Sheng An and the others arrived, they found Li Xin's face covered in tears.
He