Death Progress Bar

e hung up and rolled his wheelchair towards Shi Jin.

Shi Jin looked over at the sound.
Seeing Lian Jun coming, he raised his body up and flung himself on the armrest, taking Lian Jun’s hand just as the other man started reaching towards him.

“Have you finished talking?” he asked, wriggling forward to half-crawl into Lian Jun’s lap.

Lian Jun nodded and cast a meaningful glance at Shi Jin’s schoolwork.
Thus, Shi Jin crawled back onto the sofa, picked up his notes, and crawled forward again to hand them to Lian Jun.

Lian Jun read them carefully, then nodded with satisfaction.
“Well done.
I think you can move on to trying to review the simpler documents… Now, should we go eat?”

Shi Jin beamed with happiness at his words and sat up to give his lover a delighted kiss.
“Yeah, let’s go! I asked the kitchen to make seafood soup today!”

Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations.
Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!

At the dinner table, Shi Jin and Lian Jun were completely lovey-dovey, feeding each other and whatnot, while Rong Zhouzhong sat on the side, unable to swallow a bite.

He decided to come for dinner, aiming to take advantage of the relaxing atmosphere of a meal and ease his relationship with Shi Jin.
However, he foolishly forgot one thing—where was Shi Jin, there was usually also Lian Jun.

Rather than dinner, this meal should be called a “downer.”

So when your lover is here, you immediately throw away your older brother, huh, little bastard? Rong Zhouzhong grumbled in his mind.
He didn’t dare to show his dissatisfaction outwardly, though, since he was well aware that the place of the wrongdoing brother in Shi Jin’s heart was much lower than that of the “invalid” underworld organization boss.

But damn if he would reconcile himself to it.

Shi Jin, who just finished ladling soup into Lian Jun’s bowl, suddenly turned to look at Rong Zhouzhong.
“Why aren’t you eating? Is the food not to your liking? You didn’t touch this dish at all, but I thought it was one of your favorites—did I remember it wrong?”

Startled, Rong Zhouzhong glanced at the squirrel fish in front of him.
The glumness in his heart dissipating a little, he reached for it with his chopsticks, replying, “No, I just ate too many snacks in the afternoon and I’m not very hungry now.”

Shi Jin’s expression immediately turned reproachful.
“You ate so many snacks you can’t eat dinner? What are you, a preschooler? You’d better eat less junk food, you know.
I think you’ve gained a few kilos since the last time I saw you.”

Gained—

Jab.

The chopsticks in Rong Zhouzhong’s hand stabbed the fish’s eye.
Looking sideways at Shi Jin, he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “You must remember wrong.
I check my weight myself every day and it definitely hasn’t changed, thank you very much.”

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“Are you sure your scale isn’t broken?” Shi Jin asked with a frown, straight-faced and in an annoyingly sincere tone.
“It’s easy to gain weight after hitting middle age.
People who rely on their face to eat, like you, must be especially careful of this.
You don’t want to have me calling you ugly fatso in the future, do you?”

‘Hitting middle age’… ‘Rely on their face to eat’… ‘Ugly fatso’…

Stabbed three times in a row, Rong Zhouzhong felt a mouthful of blood rising to his throat.
Glaring at Shi Jin’s “honestly concerned” face, he said sullenly, “You will never have a chance to call me an ugly fatso, I assure you.”

“Uh-huh, of course not, absolutely.
I believe you,” Shi Jin replied, looking as if he was agreeing against his better conscience but was trying to be kind.

Rong Zhouzhong closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and decided to stop asking for abuse.
As if venting anger, he gobbled down a large bowl of rice and the whole squirrel fish, then pushed his chair back and left, nursing an injured heart and clutching his overstuffed stomach.
Quietly, he decided never to come here to eat again.

After the door closed, Shi Jin snickered.

Lian Jun gave him a light knock on the head.
“Why do you always try to aggravate him?” he asked in a helpless tone.

“Well, who told him to hit me on the head last time?” Shi Jin conveniently found an excuse for his bad hobby.
Very pleased with himself, he took a sip of the seafood soup and stated contentedly, “Ah, this is what I call living!”

Lian Jun rubbed his head again, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

The next day, Rong Zhouzhong immediately broke his resolution, arriving in the villa right on time for lunch.
When Shi Jin found him sitting at the dinner table, he patted him on the shoulder and ordered matter-of-course, “Go get the tableware and set the table.
When you’re done, bring in the soup.”

Rong Zhouzhong looked up at him, dazed, then obediently stood up, went to the kitchen to get the tableware, and arranged it on the table, though it was obvious he didn’t do this very often.
After that, he went back to the kitchen, put on the oven mitts handed him by the cook auntie, and picked up the hot soup pot.

As he was about to step out of the kitchen, he heard Shi Jin chatting about cooking with the cook auntie, and stopped to listen secretly for a while.
When he finally arrived at the dining room and his gaze fell on the two dishes that had already been put on the table, his expression warmed.

It turns out that Xiao Jin can cook… Amazing.

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

Not long after lunch, the film director came looking for Shi Jin to say that the crew finished shooting all the scenes planned here and were moving on to the next shooting location.
He expressed his gratitude to Shi Jin for letting them borrow the beach and invited the young man to join them for a thank-you meal if he was free.

Surprised, Shi Jin looked towards the beach, where the crew members had already begun packing the equipment and tidy up.
“What about Rong Zhouzhong? Is he leaving, too?”

Heaven only knew what kind of story the director’s brain had made up, but he looked at Shi Jin with a bit of pity and said sympathetically, “He’s not staying with the crew, but I saw him packing, so he should be about to leave as well… Mr.
Shi, I know young people like chasing Xingxing, but there should be moderation in all things.
The only reason he stayed here for so long only because his whereabouts were leaked and he was avoiding paparazzi, nothing else.
You shouldn’t have unrealistic expectations.
I’m sorry… Anyway, don’t take it too hard.
You just became an adult, you’ve still got a whole life ahead of you.”

What the heck is this guy saying?

Refusing to think more about what exactly the director was imagining, Shi Jin chatted with him politely for a moment, then saw him off.

The movie crew left in the evening, and Rong Zhouzhong didn’t come over for dinner that night.
Shi Jin, remembering the director’s words, naturally assumed that his brother was gone, too, and told the kitchen there was no need to prepare an additional portion for Rong Zhouzhong anymore.

As a result, he was really surprised when Rong Zhouzhong showed up at lunch the next day.

“Huh? Didn’t you leave? Have you decided to stay and let me take care of you, after all?” Shi Jin asked before he could think.

Rong Zhouzhong gave him an exasperated eye roll.
“Shut up, as if.
Here, your birthday present,” he said, throwing Shi Jin a bag.
“My next job takes me out of the country.
I probably won’t be back for your birthday.
See you.” He turned and walked to the entrance hall, picked up the suitcase he’d left there, then opened the door and left.

Shi Jin stared blankly for a second before his brain caught up with this sudden turn of events.
Seeing that the door was about to close automatically, he woke up and rushed outside, calling after Rong Zhouzhong, “Hey, are you not going to eat? Let’s have lunch before you leave.”

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At the sound of his voice, Rong Zhouzhong turned to look at him and gestured to the car parked on a street nearby and the assistant waiting next to it.
“Sorry, no time.
I have a plane to catch.” After saying goodbye again, he walked to the car in quick steps, opened the back door, and got in.

Shi Jin watched until the car disappeared, then turned his attention to the bag in his arms.
Inside, there was a box with a very expensive wristwatch.
“This guy… He really should stop wasting money like this,” he muttered with a frown.

As soon as he spoke, the mobile phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
He took it out to check, only to see it was a message about receiving a wire transfer.
The sender was Rong Zhouzhong, and the description said, ‘The rent.’ Seeing the amount, which several times exceeded the market price, Shi Jin was speechless for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

This guy really was an idiot—all he knew was how to throw money on someone.
It used to be like that in the past and it was still like that now.

Five days after the film crew’s departure, the negotiations between Tarantula and Snake Fang finally made progress.
Tarantula took a step back, saying that they can drop the accusation of “malicious competition,” but Snake Fang had to show some sincerity.
After thinking it over, Snake Fang accepted this proposal.
After that, the two organizations started negotiating privately, directly excluding the authorities.

Zhang Zhuoyuan was both relieved and slightly miffed.
He spent more than ten days running around acting as an intermediary (read: drudge), only to end up being thrown away by Tarantula and Snake Fang when they no longer had any use for him.

Anyway, this meant that the chaos in G Province was at last resolved, and Lian Jun and Shi Jin could finally go back home.

“Why don’t we go straight to Crescent Bay Island? It’s winter now in B city, and the cold isn’t good for your body,” Shi Jin said worriedly while packing.

Lian Jun ruthlessly refused: “No.
We won’t go to the island until after your end-of-semester exams.
Make sure to review properly after we’re back—you’re not allowed to fail any course.”

Only then remembering that right now, he was still a student, Shi Jin flinched as if struck by a lightning bolt, and crumpled on the bed with a despondent expression.

Two days later, the charter plane they were riding landed at the airport in B city.

Shi Jin intimately experienced the difference in temperature between the north and the south as soon as he stepped out of the plane, as a blast of cold wind instantly made his nose get runny.
He hurriedly retreated back inside the cabin and zipped up his jacket, then turned around and covered Lian Jun’s legs with an additional blanket.

“Is it so cold out there?” Lian Jun asked.

“Not really, but it’ll take a moment to get used to it again,” Shi Jin replied, though he felt positively freezing.
They only left for a little more than a month, but the weather in B city changed from sweltering to frigid.
This cold was no joke.

After returning to the club and settling in, Lian Jun let Shi Jin contact an “associate” in the Ministry of Public Security and obtain a copy of his file.

According to it, as a police academy freshman who had some experience with fieldwork, Shi Jin had received a special military assignment and went to a small island in G Province to take part in a long-term mission of obstructing the war between underworld organizations.

After reading this file, Shi Jin got a new understanding of Lian Jun’s meticulousness.

“Be sure to completely memorize it,” Lian Jun said.
“In case anyone in school asks, you must be able to answer according to this cover story.”

“Okay, I will,” Shi Jin agreed obediently, then noticed the frown on Lian Jun’s face and his subdued mood.
Guessing that the reason was his forthcoming return to school, he rushed over to give his lover a hug.
“I will come back every weekend call you every day.
Don’t worry too much, okay?”

Lian Jun didn’t reply, only cupped Shi Jin’s face in his hands and kissed him.

“This time, can you go with me to school to send me off?” Shi Jin asked imploringly.

“All right,” Lian Jun agreed immediately.
“Last time, it was the beginning of the school year and there were too many people, but it should be fine now.
Still, the school gate is unfortunately as far as I can accompany you.”

“Doesn’t matter.
How about going for another check-up on the way? It’s been a few months since the last one, and I’d like to know your current physical condition,” Shi Jin made another cautious request.

Lian Jun stroked the young man’s cheek, closing his eyes as he leaned in to give him another kiss.
“Okay,” he agreed softly.