Death Progress Bar

t expose your true nature or you’re going to be hated’! You have a death wish?!

Angry, Rong Zhouzhong threw him out of the room and slammed the door.

About an hour later, Rong Zhouzhong knocked on the door of the villa exactly at the appointed time, carrying a bulging shopping bag.

“What’s this?” Shi Jin asked as he took it.

“Food.
My personal assistant is afraid that my stomach couldn’t adapt to the local dishes, so he bought me a lot of food.
It’s so much that I can’t finish it all by myself,” Rong Zhouzhong replied, hiding his expression by bending down to change out of his shoes.

Shi Jin glanced in the bag, at the food packets with labels printed in unfamiliar writing.
“Why are they all snacks?” he asked, frowning.
“Your assistant is too inexperienced.
He should’ve bought you some ready-made meals or something.
Snacks can’t replace proper food, you know.”

Rong Zhouzhong’s movements became stiff.
“Uh… He’s new, he’s still learning.”

“Why don’t you come to eat with me as long as you’re filming here? It’s not like it’s far,” Shi Jin invited casually.
He turned around to put the bag with snacks on the table, missing the sight of Rong Zhouzhong stumbling as he nearly tripped over the threshold.

After a natural and ordinary welcome, Shi Jin led Rong Zhouzhong to the dining room.
Lian Jun was already there.
Seeing Rong Zhouzhong come in, he took the initiative to greet him.

Rong Zhouzhong instantly switched to combat mode.
He returned the greeting with a polite nod, then, in the most elegant and graceful way he could manage, took the seat Shi Jin indicated.

Shi Jin: “……”

Dinner was excellent, but the atmosphere at the table was strange.
To be exact, it was strange because of Rong Zhouzhong.
He was like a different person: all his actions were elegant, his conversation sparkled with charm and wit, without a trace of his usual testiness.
Coupling this with his exceptional good looks, his whole person seemed to shine.
It was as if… he competed with Lian Jun, trying to outdo him in every way.

Shi Jin felt his stomach beginning to ache.

He was perfectly clear what kind of character his third brother had, both through the ‘original Shi Jin’s’ memory and his own interactions with him.
The person who usually was bad-tempered, petty, had a venomous mouth, and never forgot a grudge, suddenly became polite, restrained, amiable, and considerate—the contrast was just too big.
Adding to this his gentle and scholarly appearance today… This guy wouldn’t really be possessed or something, right? Because this felt kind of like watching a horror movie.

After the horror-movie-like diner finally ended, Shi Jin was tasked with seeing Rong Zhouzhong off.

Rong Zhouzhong lived on the cruise ship with the rest of the film crew.
Shi Jin led him to the living room’s balcony, and from there to the veranda and the wooden walkway.
“Next time, you don’t have to go through the gateway on the beach, you can come directly through here,” he said as they walked.
“I’ve asked Gua Six to notify the security guards, so they won’t stop you.”

Rong Zhouzhong let out a quiet “mhm” to indicate agreement, then thanked Shi Jin politely.
His attitude was humble and earnest.

Shi Jin couldn’t take it anymore, so he stopped and turned to look at him, a serious expression on his face.

Rong Zhouzhong didn’t react in time and almost ran into him.
He quickly stepped back and steadied himself, then asked, “What’s wrong?”

“That’s what I want to ask.” Shi Jin’s gaze swept him up and down like a searchlight.
Suddenly, he reached out and took off the older man’s glasses, moving closer to stare at his face.

Rong Zhouzhong instinctively leaned back.
“What are you doing?”

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“Provoking you,” Shi Jin replied.
“Let’s have a fight.
If you win, I’ll give this back to you,” he continued, waving the glasses in his hand.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful not to hit you in the face this time.”

Veins popped out on Rong Zhouzhong’s forehead, a crack appearing in the mask he’d worn all evening.
“I don’t want to fight with you.”

“But I want to,” Shi Jin said, throwing a punch at him at the same time.
Pupils shrinking, Rong Zhouzhong hurriedly sidestepped to avoid it.

The first hit didn’t connect, so Shi Jin immediately followed with the second.

Rong Zhouzhong didn’t want to fight with Shi Jin—rather, what he wanted was to get close to him and make up for the past.
He no longer intended to do things that would annoy or hurt his younger brother, as he had before.
However, Shi Jin seriously tried to beat him up and kept goading him with provocative expression and remarks.
He even called him a vase, which was like a red rag to Rong Zhouzhong.

“Stop trying to annoy me,” he warned, holding back his temper, doing his best to stop his gentle mask from breaking.

But Shi Jin stubbornly continued to attack him.
“Vase,” he repeated.

“I said, stop trying to piss me off!” Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and reached out, trying to grab Shi Jin’s fist to stop him.
His mask shattering into dust, he said in his usual irritable tone, “Shi Jin, I don’t want to hit you!”

Shi Jin avoided his hand and punched him in the abdomen.
“What’s your game this time? Are you trying to make me fall for your ‘good brother’ pretense so you can get benefits from me? After all, Ruixing is now back in my hands.”

Rong Zhouzhong’s eyes opened wide with disbelief, the pain in his body and the pain of his sincere heart being stamped on amplifying each other.
His lips pressed into a tight line, and his expression sank.
“Take those words back, Shi Jin,” he forced out through clenched teeth.

“Take them back? Why should I?” Shi Jin twisted his arm and pushed him face-down on the ground.
Looking down at him, he said, “Rong Zhouzhong, that ‘polite and friendly’ character just now was acted out very well.
Your movie emperor title is well deserved.
Well, after more than ten years of acting practice, it would be weird if your skills weren’t up to par.
Speaking of which, I never had an opportunity to ask you—have I done well as your practice dummy? I should’ve been quite easy to use.”

Rong Zhouzhong’s attempts to get free came to an abrupt halt.
His hair became disheveled in the struggle and fell down his forehead and over his eyes.
The hazy moonlight and the walkway’s dim lights were only enough to make out the lower half of his face with tightly clenched lips.

“Shi Jin, is this really what you believe?” he said in a rare serious, dispirited tone.

Shi Jin reached out and brushed the hair out of his forehead.
Looking into the eyes full of emotions his brother was too late to conceal, he asked, “Are you scared?”

Flustered, Rong Zhouzhong closed his eyes and turned his head away.
Pressing down on the wound in his heart, he gritted his teeth and said, “Scared of what, of you? Kill me if you can, I dare you!”

“At that time, I felt exactly like you’re feeling right now.” Shi Jin released him and continued, “Rong Zhouzhong, do you remember how many nasty, ugly things you’ve said to me? Stop playing a nice, caring brother, it’s just too fake.”

Rong Zhouzhong’s body stiffened.
He closed his eyes again, a sour, painful feeling rising in his heart, making him choke.
“You…” he began, his voice barely a whisper.

“If you really want to repair our relationship, don’t approach me wearing a fake mask.
It makes me remember things I’d rather not.” Shi Jin withdrew his pressuring aura and plopped down cross-legged beside his brother.

Rong Zhouzhong turned his head away so as not to look at him.
After a long silence, he said, “Today, I wasn’t pretending, I… I just didn’t want you to lose face! You asshole that doesn’t understand anything!”

“Why are you calling me names? As if you weren’t an asshole.” Frowning, Shi Jin stretched out his leg to kick him lightly.

Rong Zhouzhong grabbed his ankle.
“Yeah, I really am an asshole,” he said, looking up at him.
“If you’re angry, continue beating me up, I deserve it.
Just don’t hit me in the face, I have a scene tomorrow.”

Without hesitation, Shi Jin kicked him again, then stepped on his back with one foot like a villain, rocking him back and forth as if playing with a ball.
“That’s right, Rong Zhouzhong, you’re a complete and utter asshole,” he drawled.

When had Rong Zhouzhong ever been subjected to such “torment”? His forehead was full of bulging veins, but it was indeed him who was in the wrong first, so he closed his eyes and endured, letting his younger brother vent.

“Your heart is smaller than the tip of a needle.
I can’t believe that you’ve really been holding a grudge for something I said when I was nine years old.”

This did happen.
Before the whole truth about Shi Xingrui’s family came out, Rong Zhouzhong really held a grudge against Shi Jin for agreeing with Shi Xingrui’s ‘Your brothers are your servants’ words.
Aggrieved but unable to refute, he could only keep silent and listen to the scolding.

“And you’re childish enough to actually give me cucumber pillow in revenge.
What are you, a preschooler?” Shi Jin ridiculed.

Rong Zhouzhong turned his head to glare at him.
“Are we really doing this? Who’s the preschooler here?”

“Quiet! When the creditor speaks, the debtor shouldn’t interrupt!” Shi Jin stomped on his butt.
Showing no mercy, he continued, “You’re not only childish but also oversensitive, bad-tempered, conceited, don’t think before you speak… There’s no good place at all!”

Suffering both physical and mental humiliation, Rong Zhouzhong felt like he was suffocating.
“Little bastard, don’t push it,” he said through clenched teeth.

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Shi Jin retracted his leg, then grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.
Looking him straight in the eye, he asked, “What if I push it? Are you going to kill me? Go on then, here’s the gun.” He took out his gun and thrust it into his brother’s hand.

Fuck!

Rong Zhouzhong was so angry that he wanted to curse out loud.

Are you serious? Haven’t we been through this once already?!

He threw the gun away and grabbed Shi Jin by the collar, glaring at him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but as he looked into Shi Jin’s emotionless eyes, his heart trembled and he swallowed back the words on his tongue.
Annoyed, he let go of Shi Jin and turned to lean on the walkway’s railing, growling, “If you want to beat me, then beat me, if you want to scold me, then do, just don’t show that half-dead look! Fuck! Shi Xingrui, you old sleazebag, what did you do to raise this kind of troublesome bastard!”

Shi Jin smacked him on the back of the head.
“You’re the troublesome bastard!”

“You fucking…” Rong Zhouzhong turned his head to insult him back, but seeing Shi Jin’s face, the words died in his throat.
He punched the top of the railing several times in anger, then closed his eyes and collapsed on the walkway without strength like a dead body.

The world suddenly became quiet.
Shi Jin didn’t hit Rong Zhouzhong or scold him again.

He’s probably gathering his strength, Rong Zhouzhong thought, suppressing his temper.
Body tense, he waited for the next “torture.”

One minute, two minutes… More than ten minutes passed, but the “torture” did not come.
Instead, the surroundings became quieter and quieter, as if he was completely alone.

Shi Jin wouldn’t have just left him here, right?

A frown appeared on Rong Zhouzhong’s face.
He couldn’t help but open his eyes and turn to look at the place where Shi Jin was sitting before.

Click.

The sound of a shutter came from a mobile phone hanging right in front of him.

After pressing the camera button, Shi Jin retracted the phone that almost touched Rong Zhouzhong’s face.
He admired the photo he took, humming with satisfaction, and gave his brother a bright smile as if his previous antagonistic attitude was a lie.
With his other hand, he took a bag of dried fruit snacks out of his pants’ pocket.
“Hehe.”

Rong Zhouzhong looked dazed.

Hehe?

“Your impression of a salted fish just now was simply perfect, Third Brother,” Shi Jin said, munching on a piece of dried fruit.
“Considerately,” he took out another piece and stuffed it into Rong Zhouzhong’s mouth.
“Thank you for your hard work, Third Brother, it was good after-dinner entertainment.
Good night, Third Brother, sleep well.
See you later.” Then he got up, patted the dust off his ass, and headed back to the villa.

A foolish expression on his face, Rong Zhouzhong chewed the dried fruit as he watched Shi Jin walk away.
Thinking back on Shi Jin’s various actions this evening, he realized that he’d been played by the other party.
He was so angry that he jumped to his feet in one move and rushed after Shi Jin, shouting, “Little bastard, how dare you to fool me! Don’t run! Delete the photo! Delete it right now!”

He’s finally back to normal.

Shi Jin ate a piece of dried fruit with satisfaction, turning to wave at Rong Zhouzhong who was chasing after him.
He stepped into the bedroom, closed the French window behind him, then pulled the curtains closed right in front of Rong Zhouzhong.

Fuck!

Rong Zhouzhong’s expression distorted; he was so angry that he almost died on the spot.
He stomped around on the veranda for more than ten minutes before reluctantly leaving.

In the bedroom, Lian Jun put down a document and looked at Shi Jin who was peeking at Rong Zhouzhong through the gap in the curtains while eating dried fruit.
“Is it fun?” he asked.

Shi Jin nodded.
“Yeah, it’s fun.” Out of all of his brothers, Rong Zhouzhong was the most fun.

Author’s P.S.:

Rong Zhouzhong, pushed face-down on the walkway, aggrieved [crossed out]: “I wasn’t pretending, I… I was just afraid that you’ll hate me [spoken too quietly to be understood].
You asshole that doesn’t understand anything!”

Translator’s Notes:

“Shi Jin stuffed another takoyaki into his mouth” – not a mistake.
Apparently, it’s very popular in Taiwanese cuisine due to the historical influence of Japanese culture (and the island is close to Formosa/Taiwan). “He even called him a vase, which was like a red rag to Rong Zhouzhong” – 花瓶, a person who is pretty but otherwise useless, particularly a young and attractive but untalented actress. “Your impression of a salted fish just now was simply perfect” – 鹹魚 – slang for a dead body.
“Being a man without a dream, what is the difference between you and a salted fish?” was one of the lines in a 2001 Hong Kong sports comedy film “Shaolin Soccer.” Since then, “salted fish” also became a metaphor for someone who doesn’t want to do anything, doesn’t want to move, and doesn’t have dreams.