Death Progress Bar

hat the roommates he only briefly met on the first day of school wouldn’t be familiar enough with him to give no credence to the rampaging rumors.

He opened the door and went inside, his gaze sweeping over the roommates who were sneaking scrutinizing glances at him.
Disinclined to talk to them right then, he made his bed and put away all the other stuff, then took his mobile phone and wallet and left again.
After finding a quiet place, he called Lian Jun—he much preferred spending his time on his lover rather than wasting it on explaining himself to the people who so easily changed their attitude because of baseless rumors.

The call connected almost instantly.
Hearing the familiar voice, Shi Jin roared into the phone’s mic, “Darling! Is the medical examination over!”

Lian Jun was startled into laughter.
His mood instantly lifting, he scolded, {You’re fooling around again.}

Succeeding in making Lian Jun laugh, Shi Jin also laughed, satisfied.

The two started to cook telephone congee.
Lian Jun occasionally had to put down his phone so that he could undergo this check or that.
At these times, Shi Jin kept completely silent, trying hard to make out the conversation between Lian Jun and Uncle Long and figure out Lian Jun’s current physical condition.

Time passed imperceptibly, and finally, it was time to end the call.
Shi Jin suppressed the urge to sigh and maintained a cheerful tone as he said goodbye to Lian Jun.

Lian Jun responded in a low voice.
Abruptly, he added, {Don’t worry about the rumors, just ignore them.
I made some arrangements at school that would help you get rid of them.}

Puzzled, Shi Jin was about to ask him to explain, but in the background, he heard Uncle Long roar at Lian Jun to put down the damn phone and reflexively shuddered in fright.
Not daring to delay Lian Jun any longer, he said goodbye to him again and hung up.

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After dinner, Shi Jin followed Luo Donghao and Liu Yong to the school auditorium to attend the back-to-school roll call that was taken every Sunday evening.
It was the first time for him, so he watched the surroundings to remember the way.
As he did, it was impossible for him not to notice the looks and comments of the cadets passing by.
He didn’t pay any attention to them but once Luo Donghao and Liu Yong noticed them as well, the two’s originally good mood quickly plummeted.

“What are you looking at, huh? They piss me off—only a moron would believe those stupid rumors,” Liu Yong muttered, scowling.

“What do you want to bet that by tomorrow, we’ll be toadies currying favor with Shi Jin, an arrogant ‘rich second generation’ who can do whatever he wants because he has a behind-the-scenes supporter?” Luo Donghao shot back with a blank expression.

Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations.
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Shi Jin came back to himself and asked, brows furrowing, “Arrogant ‘rich second generation’? Behind-the-scenes supporter? The heck you’re talking about?”

“Oh, this is your new ‘legend.’ The news that Instructor Xiang is your older brother is now common knowledge in school, and you haven’t attended classes for over a month; at this point, everyone is guessing which corrupt official’s sons you are.
According to the rumors, you’re here to get an academic degree so it would be easier for you to get promoted when you become an official in the future,” Liu Yong said, curling his lip at the rumormongers.

Shi Jin was speechless.
“My dad was an ordinary businessman and he had already passed away.
It’s my eldest brother who’s now in charge of the company.
My fourth brother—uh, our instructor—is the only one in our family who joined the military.
He got where he is by his hard work, not because he’s a ‘rich second generation’ or whatever.”

Taken aback, Liu Yong looked at him apologetically.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that your dad…”

Shi Jin waved his apology away, gesturing that it was fine.

“Those guys are really going too far,” Luo Donghao said abruptly, wrinkling his face in an expression of disgust.
“They must be either idle and bored or envious and spiteful.
That aside, it may be a good idea to ask the teachers to help you dispel the rumors.
Both us and our classmates tried to explain that it was all bullshit, but no one listened to us.”

A little touched, Shi Jin threw an arm around his shoulders and said with a smile, “Maybe the counselor will speak up for me during the roll call.
Think positive, you know? Don’t get angry over this because it’s not worth it.”

Luo Donghao shook off his hand, scowling.
“The counselor? Yeah, right.
You know, you are really… Everyone is worried to death for you, but you act as if it’s another person’s problem.”

 Shi Jin threw an arm around his shoulders again.
“Well, people need dreams.
Wouldn’t it be great if it actually happened? Okay, okay, don’t get mad.”

Half an hour later, Luo Donghao watched the counselor on the dais loudly praise Shi Jin for his excellent performance during the mission and encourage everyone to follow Shi Jin’s example.

Eyebrows twitching, he looked at Shi Jin, expressionless.

The teenager lowered his head, pretending not to be there. ‘I made some arrangements at school that would help you get rid of the rumors,’ Lian Jun said.
Shi Jin felt both cool and cringe.
Cool because it was obvious this was orchestrated by Lian Jun; it was so sweet of him! As for the cringe—everyone was staring at him with complicated expressions, the intent gazes almost piercing holes through his body.

The counselor still wasn’t done speaking.
He couldn’t say much about the content of the mission because the report was vague on it, so he focused on Shi Jin’s combat skills.
He opened Shi Jin’s student file and projected the mission performance evaluation onto the big screen.
“Look! Excellent perception of danger, excellent mental toughness, marksmanship above standard, close combat skills above standard—overall evaluation, excellent! Remember those ratings—this is the standard you’ll need to meet in the next four years! Remember that Shi Jin also got first place in military training—learn from his example! Don’t think you still have time because the final exam is still far away! If you dare to fail even one subject in the first semester, say goodbye to winter vacation because you’ll go back to the military base for additional training!” he finished, banging his fist on the lectern for emphasis.

The auditorium fell silent as everyone was shocked into silence by the counselor’s momentum.
They hurriedly turned to face the front, not daring to continue staring at Shi Jin.
Shi Jin was also frightened by the threat and made a quiet resolution to study hard every day—he absolutely mustn’t fail!

After the roll call, Luo Donghao and Liu Yong were the first to pounce on Shi Jin, demanding to know why the counselor would help him like that.
Shi Jin fobbed them off and fled to his dorm room, but found no refuge there—the moment he stepped through the door, he was surrounded by his roommates.

It was five against one.
Shi Jin swept a glance over the opponents, his body tensing slightly.

“That, um, I’m sorry about this afternoon,” one of the roommates apologized awkwardly, looking embarrassed and contrite.

The others also apologized to Shi Jin, saying that they didn’t deliberately ignore him at that time.

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Shi Jin blinked, his muscles relaxing.
He waved their apologies away with a smile, replying that it was fine, it was all a misunderstanding, let’s get along from now on.
Using taking a shower as an excuse, he took his pajamas and toiletries and left the room.

The smile on his face disappeared the moment the door closed.
He rubbed his face, not in a very good mood.
He wasn’t a person with no temper; after returning to school this time, he clearly understood that some people were true friends while others could never be anything more than roommates.

On the first night after returning to school, Shi Jin didn’t sleep well.
He felt like the bed was too narrow and that the space beside him was too empty.
However, he quickly adjusted and after two days, was completely used to school life.

Before they knew it, the week was coming to an end, and the rumors and turmoil caused by Shi Jin’s sudden return to school as well as the frenzy caused by the counselor’s explanation finally died down. 

After school on Friday afternoon, Shi Jin again declined Liu Yong and Luo Donghao’s invitation to go out to play on the weekend.
Instead of carrying his textbooks back to the dorm room, he stuffed them into his backpack, and without bothering to change out of his uniform, he dashed in the direction of the school gate.

Liu Yong apparently liked to live dangerously as he grabbed Luo Donghao and rushed there as well.
Then, they watched Shi Jin get in a low-key, black MPV which soon disappeared in the distance.

“When the door opened just now, I saw an unbelievably handsome man in a traditional robe… Was that Shi Jin’s boyfriend?” Liu Yong asked, looking dazed.

Luo Donghao also looked a little dazed, but he quickly got his expression under control.
“Didn’t you see his boyfriend last time?” he asked.

“Back then, I only saw his side face for a split second.
Just now, I saw him from the front… Is he a real person? How can anyone be this good-looking…” Liu Yong pinched himself.
Finding that it hurt, he howled in envy, “Even though I like girls, I still feel an urge to beat Shi Jin up! Why are all the good things happening to that guy alone! By the way, I wonder if his boyfriend has sisters…”

Luo Donghao patted him on the shoulder.
“Wake up, dude.
Judging from Shi Jin’s boyfriend’s appearance and temperament, even if he has sisters, they’re waaaaaay out of your league.”

Shi Jin hugged Lian Jun as soon as he got in the car.
He gave him a kiss, then drew back and asked, “How long have you been waiting? Did you have to put off work?”

Lian Jun didn’t answer.
After taking a close, long look at Shi Jin’s uniform, he suddenly leaned over and pressed the younger man against the door, capturing his lips in a kiss.

Startled, Shi Jin hurriedly glanced towards the front of the car.
Seeing that the partition was raised, he immediately relaxed and put his arms around Lian Jun’s waist, eagerly kissing back.

The two kissed for a while before being willing to part.
Lian Jun sat up straight and began to straighten Shi Jin’s messy clothes.
“I already knew, but you look great in uniform.
The cut of this jacket flatters you very much.”

Shi Jin adjusted his breathing.
He glanced at Lian Jun’s fingers fiddling with the buttons of his uniform, narrowed his eyes, and pulled the other man back down for another kiss.

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A few days before Shi Jin’s birthday, Lu Shan finally contacted them—the alliance between the four organizations had been officially formed.
To prove her sincerity, Lu Shan returned Xi Fan, Snake Fang’s deputy leader who’d been captured by Tarantula after leading an attack on their warehouses, to Snake Fang.
Appreciating her high-mindedness, Meridian Gate and Epoch’s leaders hinted that they’d like for her to become the alliance’s leader.
Snake Fang didn’t voice objections.

Lian Jun frowned upon receiving the news.
“You mustn’t agree,” he said.
“Meridian Gate and Epoch are testing you.
It was Snake Fang that contacted them proposing an alliance, and it was Snake Fang that attacked you.
In short, you’re too conspicuous; from now on, you should keep a low profile and not push yourself forward.
Let Meridian Gate and Epoch take the lead, make them expose their thoughts and plans—drag them out from the safe rear to the frontline.”

Lu Shan’s excitement subsided a little.
Thinking back, she was shocked to find that since getting in touch with her, Meridian Gate and Epoch had indeed never revealed any of their intentions, always going along with her.
{Damn, Meng Qing and Qi Yun are too cunning,} she said with a lingering fear.
{I was so proud of myself I almost let those bastards use me as a dupe to divert attention from them.}

“No, you’re just too tired,” Lian Jun comforted her.
“These past few months have been very hard on you.”

Translator’s Notes:

“I should go see the counselor” – ‘counselor’ [輔導員] here isn’t exactly a school counselor most of you know.
A more appropriate name would be “teacher in charge of the moral education program” or “political instructor.” They’re government officials, and among their duties is also managing students’ affairs.
(Here’s the Baidu page if you’re willing to MTL.) “To cook telephone congee” [煲電話粥] – remember this? It means to have a long telephone chat, to talk on the phone for hours on end.
I added a note about this idiom waaaaay back in chapter 27. “Only a moron would believe those stupid rumors” – 听风就是雨 (idiom) – lit.
to believe in the rain on hearing the wind.
It means to easily believe rumors; to speak or act on hearsay; to be credulous.