Death Progress Bar

Shares

Shi Jin went out in a hurry, forgetting that he had neither combed his hair nor washed his face. With an ungainly gait because of his muscle injury, the mess on his head, and slightly disheveled pajamas, he made quite the picture of a psychiatric ward patient.

This sudden rush surprised Gua Five, who stood outside the door, and it took him a second to react. He wanted to stop Shi Jin, but before he managed to, the teenager had already collided with a tall man in a suit coming around the corner and halted by himself.

A man?

They were in a private hospital, and Annihilation held the whole floor. How could there be an outsider here?

Gua Five frowned and hurried their way. After seeing the face of the man, he was a bit taken aback. He stepped forward, un.o.btrusively placing Shi Jin behind him, and inquired, “Mr. Shi, why are you here?” Though what he actually wanted to ask was how the other party got to this floor.

It was the long-unseen Shi Weichong who had inadvertently became Shi Jin’s roadblock. He seemed to have been traveling for a long time: his face was haggard, his hair a bit untidy, and his clothes were a little wrinkled.

Shi Weichong barely spared Gua Five a glance and looked back at Shi Jin. Seeing his complexion was rosy and his hair mussed—he’d obviously just woke up—the older man’s expression softened. “I heard from Yujing that you were injured, Xiao Jin. I was worried, so I decided to visit.”

Shi Jin: “Uh…”

Shi Weichong seemed to have been broken—he acted to a completely different script than before. Suddenly meeting him again, Shi Jin stared blankly. Frankly, he wasn’t quite sure how to react.

Act like he used to as if they were loving brothers? After knowing about The Deal, that was obviously impossible. His ident.i.ty as the original ‘Shi Jin’ would never allow him to do that.

Then the opposite, give Shi Weichong the cold shoulder? However, Shi Jin wasn’t the original ‘Shi Jin’ after all—he himself neither loved nor hated the man. Since Shi Weichong’s att.i.tude right now was quite genial, he didn’t want to push him away. He still had to deal with his progress bar. Antagonizing his brothers would be akin to shooting himself in the foot.

As such, there was only one way he could treat Shi Weichong.

“Thank you for coming to see me.” Shi Jin quickly took control of his expression and gave his brother a polite smile. “It’s a bit inappropriate to stand here and talk. Would you like to come into my ward and sit? Though, since I just woke up, it might be a little untidy…”

The light in Shi Weichong’s eyes dimmed as soon as Shi Jin said “Thank you.” His lips pursed, then he nodded. “Yes, I’d like to. I hope I’m not disturbing your recuperation.”

You’re actually going to come in?

Shi Jin wanted to slap himself. He stuffed the tablet into Gua Five’s hands, pointed to the ward behind him, and said to Shi Weichong, “Then please go ahead. You may need to wait for a while, I haven’t washed yet.”

At his alienated, slightly guarded manner, Shi Weichong’s shoulders sagged a little. He replied, “It’s fine, I can wait.”

The three men went back to the ward together. Shi Jin let Shi Weichong sit on the couch in the corner, poured him a gla.s.s of water, then went to the bathroom, leaving Gua Five with him.

After a quick morning toilette, Shi Jin sat opposite his brother, replacing Gua Five. He inquired, still politely, “Would you like to have breakfast together? The food here is quite good.”

Shi Weichong nodded yet again. “Yes, thank you.”

Don’t mention it, Big Brother, you’re oh-so-welcome.

By this time, Shi Jin was certain Shi Weichong had something he wanted to say and would not leave until he did, so he turned to Gua Five and asked him to help him get two breakfasts.

Gua Five nodded. He eyed Shi Weichong, then got up and walked to the door, but instead of going out, he made two phone calls. After hanging up, he didn’t come back but stayed there, apparently waiting for someone to deliver the food.

While Shi Jin and Gua Five conversed, Shi Weichong glanced around the ward. He waited for Gua Five to leave then said to Shi Jin, who very obviously was less than enthusiastic to see him, “Don’t be nervous, I really came just to see how you were doing.”

Shi Jin replied, “Okay.”

“Are you better?” Shi Weichong continued.

“Much better.” Shi Jin responded politely.

“How did you get hurt?”

“A little accident.”

“How were you since that time?”

“Not bad.”

“You lost some weight.”

“You too.”

“……”

“……”

As this dry conversation ground to a standstill, the atmosphere became oppressive and awkward.

Shi Weichong set down the water gla.s.s. Abruptly, his tone became solemn: “Xiao Jin, I know I don’t have the position to say this anymore, but I…”

“Breakfast has arrived,” Gua Two interrupted, approaching them with a tray.

Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He helped Gua Five set the table and invited his brother to eat.

Shi Weichong still wanted to speak. However, as his gaze fell upon Shi Jin’s patient pajamas, he temporarily shut up and picked up his chopsticks.

After a similarly stuffy and awkward breakfast, the brothers faced each other again.

Shi Weichong tried to say something again, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the phone in his pocket rang. The ringtone was clearly set to a single person, because his expression became complex the moment he heard it, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

Shi Jin’s interest stirred, and his mind immediately produced all kinds of speculations. This reaction—did Shi Weichong finally fall in love? Is this his girlfriend or boyfriend calling?

Probably noticing his curiosity, as Shi Weichong took out his phone, he explained, “It’s my mother.”

Oh, it’s just his mother.

Shi Jin automatically recalled all information he’d read about Shi Weichong’s mother, Xu Jie, and lost interest. Soon, however, boredom left him—in fact, boredom became the last thing he felt.

“Mom.” Shi Weichong answered the phone. The person on the other end probably inquired about his whereabouts, because he went on to say he wasn’t in the company, no, not at home either, he’s visiting Shi Jin in a hospital on the other side of the ocean.

Shi Jin and Xiao Si instantly noticed that after Shi Weichong said this, Shi Jin’s progress bar rose, albeit only a little.

“Is it really up by 1 point? I didn’t see wrong?” Shi Jin asked for confirmation in his mind.

Xiao Si affirmed,

For a second, Shi Jin’s sharp gaze focused on Shi Weichong’s phone. Then he looked away as if nothing had happened, bowed his head, and began to peel a mandarin orange, at the same time asking Xiao Si to enhance his hearing.

The buff worked quickly. Soon, Shi Jin heard a female alto in the receiver: {What are you talking about? Visiting Shi Jin? Weichong, have you completely ignored everything I have said to you?}

Shi Weichong glanced at Shi Jin, who was “engrossed” in peeling the mandarins, and lowered his voice. “Mom, I know what I’m doing.”

That seemed like the wrong thing to say because Xu Jie’s tone instantly became severe: {Oh, do you? I don’t think so! Shi Jin left, and did it of his own free will, so why are you bothering with him? I heard you want to give a portion of shares to him? Don’t you remember it was because of him that we had to live a lie? Are you going to be as foolish as your father?}

“Mom!” Shi Weichong’s expression became a little ugly. Finding his voice got too loud, he hurriedly suppressed his emotions and said as gently as he could, “Mom, it has nothing to do with Xiao Jin—everything was clearly Dad’s fault. Please don’t say such things again. Don’t worry about the shares, I know what I am doing.”

Xu Jie’s voice grew sharper and shriller, gaining a trace of ferocity: {It has nothing to do with him? Are you really saying this? Because of Shi Jin, your father treated both of us like nothing more than chess pieces. Because of Shi Jin, you ran off to Chengdu on New Year’s Eve, leaving me to spend the whole Spring Festival alone. And now, because you want to give Shi Jin the shares, you gave up your control of Ruixing, completely ignoring the company’s current situation. If you keep getting involved with him, I’m afraid that you will throw your own mother away one day too!}

Shi Weichong, obviously having a headache, tried to placate her: “Mom, please calm down and—”

{Calm down? Keep getting in contact with him, and you’ll know what I’m talking about!} Xu Jie interrupted him then hung up.

Shi Weichong lowered the phone. Looking weary, he pressed a finger to his forehead between his eyebrows.

Shi Jin silently canceled the enhanced hearing buff and took a look at his progress bar, which went up to 500 the moment Xu Jie ended the call. He ate a mandarin orange segment, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth instead of fruity sweetness—this could be called a disaster out of the blue. He never imagined Shi Weichong would be able to make his lethal factors increase just by a visit and one phone conversation with a person on the other side of the ocean. Thank you, Big Brother, your “brotherly love” is really touching.

“Xiao Jin.” Shi Weichong shook off his previous mood and called Shi Jin, who looked absent-minded.

Shi Jin swallowed the mandarin orange, looked up at him, and asked knowingly, “Your mother got mad because you came to see me?”

Shi Weichong shook his head and told a baldfaced lie: “No, she was a bit angry because of something else.”

Shi Jin immediately asked, “Something else?”

Shi Weichong seemed to have no strength to continue talking nonsense. He picked up the briefcase next to his foot, took a doc.u.ment from it, pushed it in front of Shi Jin and said, “This. You divided your Ruixing shares into five parts and pa.s.sed them to all to us, leaving nothing to yourself. I didn’t stop you then because I had selfish motives, however, now I feel it wasn’t right. After considering the matter, I decided to return to you the part you should’ve taken.”

Shi Jin did not touch the doc.u.ment. “You mean the one-sixth? But what I should’ve got was the whole Ruixing, wasn’t it? Originally, Dad left it all to me.”

Shi Weichong apparently didn’t expect him to say that. For a moment, he was dumbfounded, then looked at him, wrinkling his eyebrows.

“All the shares I gave away should be under your name now,” Shi Jin said in a tone of certainty, watching him calmly.

Shi Weichong saw that his expression was rather cold, and his frown smoothed. He nodded. “Yes… Please don’t be angry, Xiao Jin.”

“I’m not angry, Big Brother. You gave up a lot of profit to get all the shares out of our brothers’ hands,” Shi Jin continued, his tone still confident.

There was nothing to hide. Shi Weichong nodded again. “At the time, Ruixing was in turmoil. To stabilize the situation, they transferred all their shares to me to help me compete with Xu Tianhua.”

“Oh, you’re really close,” Shi Jin said, deliberately indifferent. He pinched the mandarin in his hand, separating it into two parts, and went on, “In other words, right now, you either want to give me a portion of the benefits you’ve gained from other things or you’re you going to return the one-fifth of the shares you got from me in the beginning?”

Shi Weichong was silent. Obviously, Shi Jin guessed right.

“Boring. I don’t need the shares, and I don’t want to get dragged in any trouble because of whatever benefits you plan to give me. Suffering because of it once was enough, I don’t need a second time.” Shi Jin refused without a sliver of hesitation and pushed the doc.u.ment back.

Shi Weichong’s lips tightened. “No, you need it, Xiao Jin. With this stock, you will be free to do whatever you want, instead of staying with Lian Jun and risking your life.”

Shi Jin replied bluntly, “All I want to do is stay with Lian Jun. I don’t mind risking my life for him—I wouldn’t mind even if I died for him. That is what I want.”

Lian Jun, who had rushed back after a phone call from Gua Five, barely opened the door a crack when he heard Shi Jin’s words. His hand trembled, and he lowered it silently, continuing to listen from the corridor.

In the room, Shi Weichong’s brows furrowed. Feeling that Shi Jin’s answer sounded a bit off, he began, “What do you mean by that? You don’t…”

“I like Lian Jun,” Shi Jin interrupted him.

Shi Weichong couldn’t help but sit up straight. “Didn’t you say that what you feel for Lian Jun is simply admiration?”

This question reminded Shi Jin of the embarra.s.sment during the first dinner with Chen Qing. Feeling a little uncomfortable, he let out a cough and replied, “Well, isn’t admiration the first step toward love?”

Shi Weichong’s face darkened. “Then what about Lian Jun? A one-sided love leads to nothing but tragedy!”

“He also likes me,” Shi Jin answered, wedging in the knife. “We’re already together, and we’re going to marry once I reach the requisite age.” Of course, the latter was nonsense—he only added it to shock his brother.

Outside the door, Lian Jun’s tense body relaxed, and his forehead smoothed out. He looked behind and signaled to Gua Nine, who came back with him, to call Uncle Long.

Gua Nine nodded, turned around, and left.

Shi Weichong was indeed shocked—he never imagined that during the few short months he hadn’t seen him, his barely-adult younger brother not only hooked up with an older man of a dangerous background but even planned to marry him. He took a deep breath to get a hold on his emotions and said through clenched teeth, “I don’t agree—you’re too young. Choosing a life partner is too important a matter to decide on someone haphazardly. You need to slow down and think things through.”

“I already did. Don’t try to stop me from pursuing happiness just because you’re over thirty and still single—I don’t want to become an old bachelor, like you.” Shi Jin twisted the knife.

Pulsating veins popped out on Shi Weichong’s forehead. Suppressing his temper, he said, “Xiao Jin, you’re still thinking like a child.”

If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.

Shi Jin continued to separate the mandarin into segments, a.s.suming an ‘I don’t want to continue this conversation any longer’ att.i.tude. “Anyway, I neither want the shares nor will I leave Lian Jun. You’re not in charge of me, you have no right to interfere in my life, and I hate that you’re trying to meddle.”

“You have no right” from the left and “I hate it” from the right—hit by these two punches, Shi Weichong felt he couldn’t breathe. He looked at Shi Jin, who bowed his head and radiated the unwillingness to talk, and stood up. “Where’s Lian Jun? I want to talk to him,” he said, expression heavy.

Shi Jin, delighted to hear these words, was about to politely send off his guest when behind him, the door to the ward opened. Lian Jun appeared in the doorway and said to Shi Weichong, “It’s time for Xiao Jin’s treatment. Please come with me, Mr. Shi.”

Pleasantly surprised, Shi Jin turned around. “You’re back already? Have you eaten?”

Lian Jun looked at him and said, voice warm, “I have. I’m going to talk to your eldest brother; I’ll come to accompany you soon.” After that, he faced Shi Weichong again, his expression instantly becoming frosty.

Shi Weichong saw their interaction, and his heart sank. He lifted his briefcase and strode towards Lian Jun, deliberately blocking the line of sight between him and Shi Jin.

Lian Jun noticed this small action, and his fingers tapped on the wheelchair armrest. After giving some instructions to Uncle Long, he turned around and led Shi Weichong away.

Shi Jin wanted to go eavesdrop, but this thought was dispelled by Uncle Long, who quickly closed the door. The doctor then looked him up and down, an ambiguous expression in his eyes.

“Wh-what?” Watched like that, Shi Jin got gooseb.u.mps.

The look on Uncle Long’s face was meaningful. “I heard you proposed to Jun-shao through the door?” He asked in a rare gentle voice.

Shi Jin choked. He hastily shook his head and opened his mouth to protest that no, he didn’t. However, as he recalled his conversation with Shi Weichong and thought of Lian Jun appearing at just the right moment, he closed them without saying anything.

Uncle Long shook his head and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be shy, young man, being shameless isn’t a bad thing. I think you’re doing just fine.”

This added insult to injury. Shi Jin groaned weakly, wanting to die.

Uncle Long, however, wasn’t going to let him go. Expression serious, he grabbed his shoulders, looked into his eyes, and said in a profound voice: “Actually, I’ve been worried. Jun-shao being who he is, I couldn’t talk to him about some things. Now, you seem to have found a bit of courage, so I’m going to tell you. Shi Jin, when a man and a man do intimate things, you need to pay attention to details, like certain supplies, or positions in which you can avoid injury… things like that. Do you want to know more?”

If we’re talking about shamelessness, there was clearly an insurmountable gap between ordinary people and doctors.

As Shi Jin listened to Uncle Long’s more and more outrageous words, his mind couldn’t help but produce some very improper pictures. Driven beyond the limits of forbearance, he covered the man’s mouth and said, pained, “Uncle Long, begin the ma.s.sage. You can use more strength, I can bear it!” Just, please, shut up.

Annoyed, Uncle Long pulled down his hand. Watching the teenager turn his head and avoid his eyes, like a prisoner hoping to escape the death sentence, he snorted coldly and gave his shoulder joint a merciless pinch.

Shi Jin cried out in pain and almost died on the spot.

By the time Lian Jun returned to the ward, Shi Jin was done with today’s torture and once again lying weakly on the bed.

Lian Jun, distressed but helpless, covered him with the blanket and touched his forehead.

Shi Jin looked at him sideways and asked, “What about Shi Weichong?”

“I asked Fei Yujing to take him away,” Lian Jun answered. He didn’t move his hand away but carefully traced the contours of the younger man’s face. “Shi Jin, when you’re old enough, we’ll go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs and get the marriage certificate.”

Shi Jin instantly realized that his conversation with Shi Weichong had indeed been heard by Lian Jun, and his mysterious brain circuitry once again made him destroy the mood: “Don’t you know saying this is a Death Flag? Aren’t you afraid that we will break up before I reach the legal age?”

Lian Jun frowned and pinched his mouth, a warning in his eyes.

Shi Jin hurriedly raised his hand, asking for pardon, and wriggled closer to him.

So Lian Jun released Shi Jin’s mouth, letting him sit up and hang bonelessly on him like a particularly lazy sloth.

They hugged silently for a while. After some time, Shi Jin said, “While he was with me, Shi Weichong answered a call from his mother. I heard a little—his mother seems angry with me because he was going to give me shares.”

“I’ll send someone to watch Shi Weichong’s mother. If you don’t want the shares, no one can force you to accept them,” Lian Jun soothed, patting him on the back.

Originally, Shi Jin simply wanted to tell him about this. He didn’t expect to get a reaction. Feeling strange but good, he continued, “I think Fei Yujing is trying to get me into trouble. He must’ve gotten some new information, or why would he suddenly inform Shi Weichong about my injury? This timing is suspicious.”

Lian Jun recalled reports from his subordinates. Frowning, he said, “I’ll let Old Ghost warn him to stop concerning himself with you.”

Shi Jin felt more and more amazed. Remembering his morning discovery, he loosened his hold on Lian Jun and sat up straight. Asking Gua Five to bring him his tablet, he told Lian Jun his speculation.

After hearing him out, Lian Jun thought for a moment. “This is quite possible. I’ll send someone to check it—we should get results soon.”

Shi Jin stared at him, eyes sparkling with worship.

“What is it?” Watched in such a way, Lian Jun’s heart itched. He couldn’t help reaching out to touch him.

Shi Jin shook his head and leaned on him. He caressed the other man’s face and touched his back, happiness bubbling in his heart—Lian Jun was so good to him, indulged him so much, and nearly fulfilled any wish he could have before he even had to ask. How could there be such a good man in this world? Such a kind, gentle, thoughtful darling, who wouldn’t fall in love with him?

Teased by his puppy-like touches and nudges, Lian Jun stroked his back again, raised his face, and kissed him, closing his eyes.

Shi Weichong was “taken away” from the hospital by Fei Yujing, and Lian Jun deprived him of the opportunity to meet Shi Jin again by banning him from being let inside. Obviously, their conversation hadn’t been pleasant.

“Yujing, thank you for telling me Xiao Jin was hurt,” Shi Weichong said with some weariness in his voice, stopping outside the hospital gate and looking in the direction of the inpatient department.

Fei Yujing wore a pair of gla.s.ses today, which made him look even more unapproachable. Seeing Shi Weichong like this, he said straightforwardly, “Big Brother, I don’t understand why you felt it necessary to come over, even getting yourself this travel-worn, and asked me to get you to the inpatient department to meet Shi Jin. I thought our involvement with Shi Jin had ended the day the shares came into our hands.”

Shi Weichong approached the car called to pick him up, saying, “I used to think so… But Yujing, Xiao Jin asked me a certain on-point question—what exactly did he do wrong? He was only born, which wasn’t of his will, and enjoyed the fatherly love every child deserves to enjoy, nothing more. The root cause of everything wasn’t him.”

“Perhaps, but he was the trigger. Big Brother, you’ve become weak. The moment you chose interests, you should’ve given up on all the unnecessary things. You did quite well before.” Fei Yujing’s answer was cold and callous.

Looking at him, Shi Weichong suddenly remembered his past self-obsessed desire to trample Shi Xingrui under his feet. Knowing words would be useless, he opened the car door, hesitated, then finally said, “Spend more time with Xiao Jin, and you’ll see what we’ve missed all these years.”

Translator’s Notes:

1. “Lian Jun was so good to him, indulged him so much, and nearly fulfilled any wish he could have before he even had to ask” [百依百顺] – boy, have I ever had trouble with translating this idiom (or rather, with incorporating it into the paragraph – I hope I managed…). Click the link to check the meaning in Baidu Translate; the closest English equivalent would perhaps be (though it would depend on the context), “to have sb eating out of your hand.”