While the others managed to lower their heads to stifle their laughter, the class monitor, who was communicating with the Xun family, nearly lost her composure despite years of experience.
Realizing that Wei Yi's classmates wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, the Xun family proactively ordered delivery from a private restaurant.
After the food arrived, they invited the students to have dinner.
Of course, they couldn't eat in the hallway, so the hospital provided their own conference room for everyone to dine in.
The conference room was spacious, easily accommodating thirty students.
The class monitor and a few class officers were in charge of setting out the food and distributing chopsticks.
The Xun family was generous; they didn't order boxed meals, but rather rice and stir-fried dishes.
During the meal, one classmate remarked, "This is our class's first get-together."
No one knew how to respond to that.
What could they say? Should they thank Wei Yongsheng, who was barely clinging to life in his hospital bed?
Shi Li thought to herself, "Don't worry, there'll be a second time soon."
"We might even all have a meal together tomorrow."
It took a full two minutes for everyone to grasp the implications of Shi Li's words.
This was way too morbid.
"Yun Yun, if Wei Yongsheng kicks the bucket now, do you think his family will provide food tomorrow?" someone asked.
Gao Yun: ....... You're really just after that one meal, aren't you?
Gao Yun promptly screenshot Shi Li's chat and shared it with the group.
Shi Qiuyu and others: You're really something else, aren't you?!
Then people started making reasonable guesses about whether the Wei family would provide meals in the next day or two.
After finishing their meal, the classmates responsibly disposed of their own trash.
During dinner, Wei Yi had come to tell them they could rest in the conference room for the time being.
Except for Bian Qingsui and Qiao Jingjia, who had brought their backpacks and were now spreading their books on the table to study.
Everyone else had only brought their phones.
Waiting was the most excruciating part, especially since most people's phones were out of battery and they hadn't brought chargers.
Out of thirty people, they could only scrape together one charging cable, which Bian Qingsui had in her backpack as a spare.
The other person who had brought a backpack but no charging cable received unanimous side-eye from everyone.
With phones either charging or dead, all they could do was endure.
The classmates were all on edge, wondering when Wei Yongsheng would finally pass away!
Everyone wanted to know when Wei Yongsheng would die, and they couldn't help but glance in Shi Li's direction.
Shi Li was unaware of her classmates' intentions; otherwise, she might have asked, "Do you really think you'd remember exactly when a classmate's father breathed his last?"
This kind of information wasn't something anyone but close family members would know, and besides, she hadn't been present at the scene in her previous life.
They endured in the conference room until eight o'clock when the class monitor, who had been keeping an eye on the situation outside, rushed in to report.
The monitor closed the door behind her and, with an excited expression but lowered voice, said, "Quick, quick! They're wheeling him out covered with a white sheet."
As soon as the monitor finished speaking, everyone stood up.
The monitor gestured for them to sit down. "No matter what, someone's family has suffered a loss. Let's not embarrass ourselves here. We'd be shaming not only our school and class but also our own families. They know exactly whose child each of you is, so don't give anyone reason to gossip behind our backs."
"She's acting like a parent despite just being a classmate," someone thought.
It was obvious who this was directed at.
Seeing her efforts appreciated, the monitor was almost moved to tears.
Thanks to the monitor's prior warning, the more excitable students calmed down a bit.
They assured the monitor, "Don't worry, we won't cause any trouble."
"We won't make a spectacle of ourselves either."
As they left the room in small groups, Wei Yi's mother and the Xun family were no longer visible in the hallway.
They heard from a nurse that when the doctor said the patient couldn't be revived, Wei Yi's mother had fainted on the spot.
A few of them exchanged glances, feeling that under these circumstances, it might not be appropriate to gawk.
After fainting, Wei Yi's mother was urgently admitted to a ward and put on an IV drip.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, she regained consciousness.
Tears streaming down her face, she was about to call for her daughter.
Wei Yi spoke with a somewhat serious tone, "Mom, I have something important to tell you. Please prepare yourself mentally."
Having just lost her husband, she couldn't imagine what else she needed to mentally prepare for.
Her eyelids were swollen and red. "Go ahead," she said.
"Dad had several mistresses outside and even fathered children with them. I only found out about this a couple of days ago."
Wei Yi's mother was so shocked that even her tears paused for a moment.
Her husband's image as a devoted lover had been so perfect that Wei Yi's mother couldn't believe her daughter's words.
She asked, "Are you just saying this to keep me from being too sad?"
Wei Yi pressed her lips together and pulled out the DNA report she had prepared in advance. "Even if you don't believe me, surely you'll believe the scientific institution's test results. The test date is clearly written; it's impossible that I prepared this in advance."
Wei Yi's mother read it very carefully, not missing even a single punctuation mark.
The more she read, the angrier she became. After finishing the last page, she angrily threw the document on the floor.
"That old bastard, he—"
This earth-shattering revelation made her curse involuntarily.
Looking at her daughter standing gracefully by the hospital bed, Wei Yi's mother felt heartbroken.
"Sweetheart, how did you find out? You should have told me first, let me bear this burden with you."
Thinking about how her daughter had discovered her father's infidelity and investigated on her own, she suddenly hated her husband intensely. Why couldn't he control himself?
Why throw away a good life to keep mistresses? Had she wronged him in some way?
She hated him even more for not covering his tracks properly, allowing their daughter to discover the dirty adult world.
After a long while, Wei Yi's mother finally squeezed out between clenched teeth, "Good riddance. That dog got off easy."
She reached out to pull out her IV, but Wei Yi's aunt stopped her. "Alright, you two should rest well today. Leave the rest to me and Little Four."
"Little Four" referred to by Wei Yi's aunt was Xun Xun, who was the fourth child in his family.
The eldest in the Xun family was away on a business trip and couldn't return, the second eldest had died in the line of duty a few years ago, and Wei Yi's mother was the third.
With her family by her side, Wei Yi's mother felt much more at ease.
"Then I'll trouble you, Big Sister-in-law."
"We're family, there's no need to talk about trouble."
Wei Yi let her mother rest and followed her aunt and uncle.
"Yi Yi, is there something you need to tell us?" they asked.
Several things Shi Li had mentioned before had come true, so Wei Yi believed that the confrontation over the inheritance at the funeral would indeed happen.
"As you know, my father had other children outside of our family. I'm worried someone might bring those children to his funeral to claim a share of the inheritance," Wei Yi explained.
Xun Xun nodded slightly, "I understand. I'll take care of it. Your father's estate should only go to you and your mother."
Only then did Wei Yi manage a faint smile. "I'll leave things to Aunt and Uncle for the next couple of days. My classmates are still at the hospital, so I'm going to check on them."
When Wei Yi finally found her classmates, she was stunned by what she saw.
