Death Progress Bar

y tugged him towards the fork in the path.

Shi Jin refused to give up.
“Then why don’t I at least carry you to the cable car, your legs…”

“I’m fine, I’ve had enough rest and it’s not far,” Lian Jun hurried to interrupt him.

Acknowledging his refusal, Shi Jin let himself be led to the side path, sighing with regret.

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

The cable car station was indeed close by—they only needed to walk for a few minutes, and there was already a staff member waiting for them when they arrived.
They bent down to get into a very spacious cable car… and a table filled with food appeared in front of Shi Jin.

He was stunned once more.

“Naturally, a proposal should be accompanied by a sumptuous meal,” Lian Jun said, ushering him into a seat and buckling his seat belt.
He sat opposite him, buckled himself in as well, and motioned to the staff member outside to start the cable car.

Immediately, the cable car began to glide steadily along the ropeway, and soon rose over the mountain and hung in the mid-air.
Outside, the stunning vista of the mountains, the sky, and the distant city came into view, the scenery enough to relax anybody in an instant.

Shi Jin stared without even realizing it, mesmerized.

In order to maintain stability, the cable car moved at a snail’s pace.
It took a long time to reach the place with the most spectacular view, where it came to a gentle stop.

Lian Jun leaned forward and touched Shi Jin.
“Are you scared?” he asked softly.

Shi Jin returned to himself and shook his head, looking away from the scenery outside.
“No!” Eating while they were hanging between the green mountains and white clouds was a really exciting experience.
He loved it!

“Then next time we come here, let’s go stargazing like this.” Lian Jun arranged the tableware for him, then poured him some wine and himself fruit juice.
Raising his glass, he said, “Next time, I’ll drink with you.”

Shi Jin looked at his lover’s tender smile full of affection, and his heart flooded with warmth.
He picked up his glass with a smile and clinked it against Lian Jun’s.
“Okay.”

It was past noon before they reached the lower station of the cable car.
After they got off, Shi Jin, who had drunk a little, asked to borrow an electric sightseeing car from the resort staff.
Then he let Lian Jun sit next to him and took him for a drive around the resort.

“You’re drunk-driving,” Lian Jun accused him, mock-serious.

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Shi Jin snorted with disdain.
He put one arm around his lover’s waist and held the steering wheel with only one hand, and said proudly, “So what? With a beauty in my arms, even if I die in the next second, I’ll die without regrets.”

Lian Jun slapped his hand off and gave him a warning look. 

Realizing he’d said the wrong thing, Shi Jin snatched back his hand and slapped his mouth, then gave Lian Jun a fawning smile.
After that, he behaved and kept both of his hands on the steering wheel, happily driving towards their villa.

From the side of the road, Gua Nine caught a glance of a wretched drunk cruising by with a beauty—oops, his boss in his arms.
His eyebrows twitched, then he resolutely pretended he hadn’t seen anything.
Rubbing his eyes which seemed to hurt for some reason, he went down a side path, heading to his own residence.

No one sleeps like a drunk does.
When Shi Jin, who had only laid down to take a nap with Lian Jun, opened his eyes again, he found that it was already dark, and he was half-lying in a car heading back to the club, held in Lian Jun’s arms.

“Why are we going back? We haven’t met up with Aunt Lu yet,” he asked, confused.
He didn’t realize at all that seeing Lu Shan had just been an excuse.

Gua Two, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and looked at him like he was an idiot.

Lian Jun just smiled without replying, touching the ring on Shi Jin’s finger with a contented expression.

Two days later, Lian Jun specially made time to accompany Shi Jin to the orphanage to meet Jian Chenghua.
It was only then that Shi Jin had the belated realisation that the trip to the resort was actually a date Lian Jun had planned out—or, to be more precise, a proposal date.

He was so embarrassed that he wanted to kill his fool self, and madly poked Xiao Si in his mind: “Why didn’t you remind me?! My reaction to the whole date was so dull, wasn’t Lian Jun disappointed?”

Xiao Si stammered out, < Actually, I, I didn’t realize it either… But never mind! Your reaction was perfect, Darling was very happy, he absolutely wasn’t disappointed! Believe me! >

Recalling that the system was abnormally silent throughout the course of Lian Jun’s proposal, Shi Jin immediately became suspicious.
“You knew about Lian Jun’s plan already, didn’t you?” he asked.
“It was weird for you to be so quiet back then.”

Xiao Si’s voice instantly rose: < N-no, I didn’t! I didn’t eavesdrop on the phone call between Darling and Gua Two, and I haven’t deliberately trained myself to hold back my voice because I wanted to watch! I’m-I’m being unjustly accused! >

The lady doth protest too much.
Angry, Shi Jin mercilessly closed Xiao Si in the “small black room” for three minutes.
Ignoring its crying, he looked at Lian Jun sitting beside him.

Lian Jun was dressed more somber and low-key today, in a simple and elegant black robe without any patterns, a white brooch pinned to his chest.
Shi Jin glanced at his own white shirt and black trousers, and his expression turned solemn.

This time, the main purpose of the trip was to visit Jian Jinwen’s grave.
Before they left, he made a call to Jian Chenghua and briefly told him about his family and life experience, without concealing anything.

They picked up Jian Chenghua, who’d been waiting at the gate of the orphanage, and went to their destination together.

After he’d gotten in the car, Jian Chenghua kept looking at Shi Jin with a hesitant expression, letting out the occasional sigh.

Shi Jin smiled at him and said comfortingly, “The past is the past.
I don’t resent my origins—the future is more important.
And I’m doing very well now, and things will become even better in the future, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Since Shi Jin took the initiative to bring the subject up on his own, Jian Chenghua couldn’t hold back any longer.
Sighing, he said, “I just think… No, never mind, it’s good that you look at it like that.
I was worried that you’d have the same personality as Jinwen, too sensitive and considerate.
Yes, people should look forward to the future.
Since you’re doing well, I can rest easy as well.”

Shi Jin nodded and smiled, offering a few more soothing words before he mentioned his studies, immediately drawing the old man’s attention away from the previous topic.

The atmosphere in the car relaxed.
As Jian Chenghua let go of the weight on his mind, he regarded Lian Jun, who had kept silent beside Shi Jin the whole time, and said politely, “I’m sorry for my negligence, may I ask who…”

“My boyfriend,” Shi Jin replied with pride.
Gesturing towards his ring finger, he smiled and added, “Or I should say, fiancé now.”

Lian Jun’s lips curled upon hearing this, and he greeted the old man politely.

Jian Chenghua was stunned.
He looked back and forth between the two of them and said a few words of congratulations in a daze.

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Shi Jin thanked him with a smile, then took Lian Jun’s hand and squeezed it gently.
He was a little excited—this could be considered introducing Lian Jun to his family, right? It felt cool.

Lian Jun turned his head to glance at him, squeezing his hand back.

The interaction between the two was completely natural and almost too sweet.
After recovering from his initial surprise, Jian Chenghua observed them carefully.
When they looked at each other, their expressions would unconsciously soften and turn gentle—it was apparent they were truly fond of each other, and it wasn’t that Shi Jin was being coerced or anything like that.
His poor Jinwen left too early and hadn’t managed to meet the right person, but fortunately, Shi Jin had already found someone to spend his life with, good, good.

The three arrived at the cemetery, each of them preoccupied with their own thoughts.
When they got off and Jian Chenghua saw that Lian Jun needed to use a wheelchair, he was visibly shocked for a moment.
Eyebrows wrinkling, he glanced at Shi Jin with distress.

Lian Jun noticed the change in the old man’s eyes and his hands, which were resting on the wheelchair’s armrests, lowered to fold over his abdomen.

Shi Jin pushed Lian Jun and followed Jian Chenghua to a grave under a tree.

Jian Jinwen’s tomb was very simple—just a small, four-sided structure with a plain gravestone, without even a picture.

“Jinwen said he wanted things to be kept simple after he died.
I didn’t want him to be unhappy in the afterlife because he didn’t like his grave, so I did everything according to his wishes,” Jiang Chenghua explained, crouching down to wipe the tombstone.

Shi Jin hurried to help.
Together with Jian Chenghua, he carefully swept the tomb, repainted the inscription on the tombstone, burned joss paper, and finally, solemnly lit a stick of incense.

Jian Chenghua kept on talking to the tombstone, just as if he was chatting with Jian Jinwen.
He introduced Shi Jin and Lian Jun, and gave a general account of Shi Jin’s life experience; he intentionally avoided talking about the issue with Shi Xingrui, for fear that hearing it would make Jian Jinwen upset.

When the visit was almost finished, Shi Jin, under Jian Chenghua’s hopeful but embarrassed gaze, faced the tombstone and called out “Uncle” to Jian Jinwen.
The old man’s eyes went red at once; he wiped them and stuffed Shi Jin with a red envelope in Jian Jinwen’s stead, saying it was a gift from an uncle to a nephew upon their first meeting.

Shi Jin didn’t refuse but accepted it solemnly, and asked if he could call Jian Chenghua “grandfather”.

Jian Chenghua was taken by surprise and couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.
He hugged Shi Jin and cried as he agreed, babbling in some native dialect that Shi Jin didn’t understand.
Shi Jin consoled the old man carefully, letting out a soft sigh in his heart.

If this could bring some comfort to the old man who had been suffering for a lifetime, he was willing to shoulder the duty of the younger generation.

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

In the end, Shi Jin returned to the club with two red envelopes and an ancestral jade bracelet.

Putting on a serious expression, Shi Jin held up the bracelet and said, “Grandpa told me that this is an heirloom of the Jian family.
Every generation, a son will receive this bracelet from his mother and put it on his wife’s hand upon their marriage.”

Lian Jun raised his head and eyed him, then continued to look through the documents.

Refusing to give up on the mischief-making, Shi Jin leaned over and touched the hand that was turning the pages.

Lian Jun let him do whatever he wanted.

Overjoyed, Shi Jin proceeded to try to put the bracelet on his wrist.
However, after trying for a while, he was shocked to find that the bracelet was too small for Lian Jun to wear, and wilted like a week-old lettuce leaf under the blow of this discovery.

“This bracelet is obviously made to fit a girl.
Although I’m thin, I still have a man’s frame.” Lian Jun took back his hand and patted Shi Jin on the head, saying, “Study more.”

You mean, I’m stupid so I should study more?

Shi Jin gave him an expressionless look, shook his head to throw off his hand, and left with the bracelet.

Lian Jun watched him leave.
As he glanced at the calendar on the desk, his warm expression drew in a little and his lips tightened—tomorrow, Shi Jin was leaving for school.
He wouldn’t be back for at least two months, until the military training finished.

It’s too long.
I don’t want Shi Jin to leave.