Death Progress Bar

n and frail.
His skin and old cotton clothes got filthy when they were escaping, smudged with dirt and bits of exploded pickle.
There were deep scratches on his exposed fingers, made by broken glass when the pickle jar burst.

Xiang Aoting opened the door and stared at Shi Jin for a while.
A breeze blew in, and his younger brother shivered, shrinking away from the night chill.
He returned to himself and got into the car, closing the door quietly, then took off his jacket and covered Shi Jin with it.

Xiang Aoting was tall and muscular.
The teenager looked even smaller under his clothes.

The late hours of the night always made people prone to feeling sentimental.
Shi Jin’s present appearance sent Xiang Aoting’s emotions into turmoil.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Shi Weichong: [Big Brother, we might have made a mistake.]

Shi Weichong did not reply; perhaps he was already asleep.

Due to years of self-discipline, Xiang Aoting quickly recovered from this inexplicable mood swing.
He looked at the message he sent and hesitated for a moment, but did not delete it.
Instead, he took a picture of Shi Jin and sent it too.
He set down the phone and leaned over to help Shi Jin put on his seat belt, then he contacted his team members and announced the mission’s successful completion.
They were ready to return.

Xiao Si’s shriek woke Shi Jin.
Drowsy, he opened his eyes and found that the sky was bright and he was in an unfamiliar hotel room, wearing a set of too-big pajamas that were not his own.
There was nobody else here.

“What’s wrong?” Shi Jin yawned.
He slept so well he half-seriously considered letting Xiao Si give him “electrotherapy massage” again another time.

Xiao Si’s voice was panicked:

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Shi Jin said “Oh.” He arranged the blanket to his satisfaction and closed his eyes.
Two seconds later, he sat straight up and shouted in shock, “What?! Whose progress bar? Say it again!”

Xiao Si was about to cry.

Shi Jin was stunned for a moment.
He stumbled out of bed and searched for his mobile and luggage, but found nothing.
Xiao Si reminded him Xiang Aoting brought him here.
Everything should be in Xiang Aoting’s room, next door.

He rushed over and knocked.

Xiang Aoting opened the door a moment later, holding a towel and rubbing his dripping hair.
He was wearing a bathrobe, and there were water droplets on his exposed skin.
It seemed he had just gotten out of the shower.
At Shi Jin’s flustered appearance, he frowned and asked, “What happened?”

Shi Jin perfunctorily said, “I had a nightmare,” then squeezed past him and looked for his luggage.
Once he found it, he rummaged for his phone, switched it on, and called Lian Jun as soon as it booted up.

The call connected quickly, and Lian Jun asked, {Shi Jin?}

From the tone of his voice, there was nothing wrong.
Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the floor.
“It’s me.
How are things on your side, Jun-shao?”

Lian Jun did not answer but asked instead, {Shi Jin, you aren’t coming back?}

Shi Jin was baffled.
“Uh, say what?”

Lian Jun paused, then elaborated, {The government informed us your assignment was completed early this morning, and all the military personnel have returned to B City.
Shi Jin, why didn’t you go back to the club? Perhaps… you won’t come back anymore?}

“How could that be!” Shi Jin refuted loudly.
Realizing he seemed a little too excited, he lowered his voice and explained, “I fell asleep right after completing my task, I just woke up.
Right now I’m at the hotel, I’ll go back soon.
Are you still in the club, Jun-shao?” Please, please tell me you are!

Lian Jun’s voice returned to normal.
{No.}

“Oh, you aren’t… Wait, you aren’t? Where are you? What are you planning to do? You, you…” Your progress bar is going up like mad, you know?!

Shi Jin’s heart that had returned to its proper place when he heard Lian Jun’s voice, now rose to his throat again.
Feeling uneasy, he kept an eye on the rising progress bar and asked, not waiting for the other side’s response, “Are you in the car? Where are you going?”

Lian Jun had just got into the car.
He was a little surprised by the accuracy of Shi Jin’s guess and his answer was delayed.
After finding a comfortable position to sit, he replied, “I’m going to have lunch with my old friend.
Call Gua One and ask him to pick you up at the hotel.
And… you did well during the mission.
I’m hanging up, I’ll see you at dinner.” With that, he ended the call.

Shi Jin choked, his heart turning cold.
He listened to the busy signal coming from the phone, looked at Lian Jun’s progress bar, which had risen to 750, and without hesitation called the man again.

Like the first time, Lian Jun picked up quickly.
{What’s wrong?}

“Is it possible for you not to meet with your friend?” Shi Jin got straight to the point.

Lian Jun took a moment to answer, and his voice eased up even more.
{Don’t worry, I will pay attention to what I eat.
Go back to the club first, I will return before dinner.}

The progress bar is going up so fast that forget dinner, it will be a miracle if you live through lunch!

Shi Jin was anxious, but he couldn’t directly say there was danger ahead.
The more anxious he was, the less he knew how to persuade Lian Jun; he felt like tearing his hair from agitation.
When Lian Jun indicated he would hang up, his mind blanked for a second, and he shouted, “I won’t allow you to eat with others.
You can only eat with me!”

In the blink of an eye, the air turned stagnant, and there was silence on the other side of the phone.

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Xiang Aoting, who was standing behind Shi Jin, clenched his hand holding the towel so tight that his muscles bulged and his veins popped.
His face turned stony, and his mind went into turmoil.

{Shi Jin.} Lian Jun was the one who broke the silence, but even now he wasn’t angry.
Although his tone seemed harsh, the words were soothing.
{Don’t be willful.
I will go back immediately after the meal.
This old friend once saved me, I have to show him courtesy now and then.}

Damn, so it was this kind of relationship.
With Lian Jun’s nature, he would never be unappreciative of someone who saved his life, so it seemed this meeting was impossible to stop.

Shi Jin pressed his forehead to force himself to calm down.
He stopped himself from looking at the constantly rising progress bar, persuading himself that the situation wasn’t all that dangerous until the progress bar rose to the highest point.
When his heartbeat slowed down, he announced, “Then I’m going to see you right now.
I want to eat with you, I don’t trust you to behave when you’re alone.”

Lian Jun said, {Shi Jin.}

“I want to eat with you,” Shi Jin insisted.
From the outside perspective, his behavior was self-willed and a little spoiled; he even justified himself: “You said I’m supposed to accompany you and eat with you.
Now that I’m back in B City, you have no reason to leave me behind.”

After a moment of silence, Lian Jun surrendered.
He gave him the address and said, {Come to this place, I will make Gua Two pick you up.}

“No! Gua Two should stay with you, I’ll find it by myself,” Shi Jin stopped him hastily and sighed in relief.
He hung up and stood, pulling out a down jacket from his luggage and putting it on.
Not bothering to change out of his pajamas, he turned to leave, ready to find Lian Jun.

Xiang Aoting reached out and grabbed his shoulders.
His expression was tense as if he wanted to speak but was stopping himself.
In the end, he said nothing.

His behavior puzzled Shi Jin and made him a little worried.
He raised his arm to break out of his hold and said, “Please take my luggage to the club, Fourth Brother.
I will leave first, I have to catch up to Jun-shao.”

“I know, I heard your conversation.” Xiang Aoting’s tone was hard.
He kept pressing Shi Jin’s shoulders and wanted to ask something, but Shi Jin’s expression became more and more impatient, and the struggle to shrug off his hands off grew.
Xiang Aoting swallowed his words and let him go.
He bent down and put a pair of shoes on the ground in front of him, saying, “What’s the rush? Go wash and change your clothes first, I’ll check out in the meantime and drive you.
It will be faster than you going by yourself.”

Shi Jin stopped struggling.
He weighted cons and pros, then grabbed the clothes and rushed to the bathroom, shouting, “Wait a moment, Fourth Brother, I’ll be right back! Five minutes, no, two minutes is enough! Jun-shao is waiting for me, I have to hurry.”

Xiang Aoting watched him almost slam into the door in his haste and squashed the urge to pull him back and lecture him.
Telling himself to be patient, he turned around and fetched his mobile phone to call Shi Weichong.

A quarter of an hour later, the brothers got into the car and left the hotel.
Shi Jin called Lian Jun the moment the car door slammed shut.
Watching the progress bar, he kept talking about one thing and another, trying to pry the information about this “old friend” out of Lian Jun.

Lian Jun’s thoughts were inscrutable, but unexpectedly, he chatted with Shi Jin.
What’s more, his attitude was tolerant and almost pampering.

As Xiang Aoting listened, his grip tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
When he could endure no longer, he dialed Rong Zhouzhong’s number.
As soon as the call connected, he asked, “Are you in B City?”

{Yeah, I have a break right now.
Why?} Rong Zhouzhong’s voice was a little unintelligible; he seemed to be eating.

Xiang Aoting glanced at Shi Jin in the passenger’s seat, who kept chattering on the phone with complete disregard of his surroundings and ground his teeth.
He reported the address of the restaurant where Lian Jun and his friend were meeting, then said, “Go there immediately, Big Brother will come too.”

{What’s going on? Are we having dinner together?} Rong Zhouzhong asked in surprise.

“No.” Xiang Aoting’s lips tightened, and his voice was hard as steel.
“We are going to have a talk with Little Sixth’s boss.”

 

Translator’s Notes:
“To serve the people is our duty” – huh, Shi Jin loves his slogans.
“Serve the People” or “Service for the People” [为人民服务] is a political slogan which first appeared in Mao Zedong-era China.
It originates from the title of a speech by Mao Zedong.
(Copied from Wikipedia)
“Chattering on the phone” [煲电话粥] – lit.
to boil telephone congee.
It compares the length of the telephone call to the time needed to cook a pot of congee (which is apparently very long).
This expression is commonly used to describe the long-lasting calls the separated lovers tend to make.
Shi Jin… as smart as you are, you should’ve known your words and actions were going to cause a HUGE misunderstanding.