Death Progress Bar

his physical condition and said, contrite,

“It’s all right.” Thanks to the buffs, Shi Jin gradually adapted, but he needed to concentrate on finding the information he wanted and had no attention to spare for chatting with his system.

Xiao Si copied four pieces of information in total: three from Brother Wolf and one from Pockmarked Yuan.
Each of them contained a great amount of data—if Shi Jin had to read it in reality, it would take him at least a week.
Fortunately, he had Xiao Si to help him sift through it.
About an hour later, something that had the high probability of being the customer list appeared before his eyes.

Instead of names, the list contained letters and numbers; letters in front, numbers in the back, densely packed and unintelligible.
At first glance, it looked like lines of random computer code.

Xiao Si said,

“Can you unscramble it?” Shi Jin asked.

Shi Jin was relieved.
“That’s fine, take your time,” he said, then racked his brain too, trying to get any clues from the dates of transactions.

He wasn’t any good at data analysis, however, and soon, the mass of numbers dancing in his head lulled him to sleep.

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When Shi Jin woke up the next morning, his head felt heavy and was throbbing with pain.
He touched his forehead and found that unexpectedly, he had a fever, and it was quite high.

Xiao Si said remorsefully,

Shi Jin struggled to get up, but it only made him dizzier, so he had no choice but to give up.
He reached for his phone to send Lian Jun a text message asking for leave, inquiring, “Did you manage to unscramble the data?”

Xiao Si’s tone turned solemn.

Shi Jin’s headache became worse.
“So all of this was useless, and we didn’t get any clues in the end?”

Shi Jin noticed the system’s tone was a little wrong, so he hurried to ask, “Who is it?”

replied Xiao Si, adding,

Stunned, Shi Jin kept quiet for a while before confirming, “Are you sure?”

Xiao Si affirmed.
Seeing Shi Jin’s expression wasn’t good, it tried to mollify him:

“No need to prove it.” Shi Jin laid back on the bed and sighed, “Most likely, the person who made a deal with Werewolf is him.
Do you remember the abnormal increase in my progress bar after I refused to accept the inheritance? At that time, I couldn’t figure it out.
Now, I think it wasn’t because I rejected the inheritance but because I did not sign ‘that’ document.”

Xiao Si realized what he meant right away.

“Yes, but this is just my suspicion.” Shi Jin felt all kinds of thoughts rush through his mind in a confused mess, making him dazed.
“In the book, the original ‘Shi Jin’ was abducted shortly after signing it, then ‘he’ was locked up and tortured for a long time.
When ‘he’ was rescued, Shi Weichong had already taken over Ruixing.
Unfortunately, we have no way to know what happened to Ruixing during that time and what roles Shi Weichong and Xu Chuan played in it—we can only speculate.”

Xiao Si asked hesitantly,

After a moment of deliberation, Shi Jin shook his head.
“I don’t think so.
Shi Weichong did not intend to kill me, and after he came to the hospital to meet me, my bar immediately dropped a few points.
My conjecture is, Shi Weichong’s timely appearance scared Xu Chuan and the person behind him because no further attempts to make me sign ‘that document’ were made, and there was no direct attack either.”

Xiao Si wasn’t completely convinced.

“If it’s him, it would just mean I’m a blind moron who can’t read people if my life depended on it.
But I still don’t think Shi Weichong colluded with Xu Chuan; at least, I’m certain he didn’t know the content of the will in advance.
The novel said the five brothers did not know Shi Xingrui had given all his property to the original ‘Shi Jin’ until after the reading.
While the plot does have many loopholes, the facts that are clearly stated shouldn’t be wrong.”

Shi Jin pulled the quilt to cover his face and continued, “Also, think carefully about the fluctuations of progress bar after I entered the hospital.
When I met Shi Weichong, at first my progress bar dropped to 997, but it rose again after I tried to sound him out.
Now, the reason is crystal clear—Shi Weichong was getting annoyed because of my probing.
If I continued to speak, he probably would get angry, leave, and stop bothering about me.
Xu Chuan would then be able to take advantage of the situation and fool me into signing the documents… Fortunately, I shut up in time and made Shi Weichong stay in the hospital.
Thanks to that, Xu Chuan was forced to divide the inheritance into five parts leaving nothing for me, which saved my life.
If they were in collusion, not only my progress bar wouldn’t fluctuate so much but there would be no need for Shi Weichong to accompany me—he would just make me sign the document at the very beginning.”

Xiao Si sunk in thought.

Explaining his reasoning out loud helped Shi Jin put his thoughts in order.
As he remembered the time he spent with Shi Weichong and the way they were getting along, a certain realization appeared in his mind.
He abruptly pulled down the quilt covering his face and said, “It’s useless thinking about it anymore.
There is a simple, surefire way to confirm whether Shi Weichong and Xu Chuan colluded.”

Xiao Si returned to itself and asked eagerly,

“Asking him directly.”

Xiao Si was shocked.

“Yes, asking him.
Shi Weichong is now a loving, doting brother—why shouldn’t I just ask him? Even if he is pretending, I have my ‘golden thigh,’ so I won’t die.” Cheered up by this thought, Shi Jin wanted to jump out of the bed but when he sat up, the world started to spin before his eyes.
Dizzy, he fell back on the bed yet again and said weakly, “Xiao Si, I’m dying.
Help me send a text message to Gua Two, ask him to bring the doctor.”

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Xiao Si:

The doctor arrived a few minutes later, accompanied by Gua Two and Lian Jun.

When Gua Two saw Shi Jin woozy from fever, he joked it was retribution for losing too much weight while heartlessly smirking at his discomfort.

Shi Jin managed to roll his eyes at him and moved his line of sight to Lian Jun.

They looked at each other for a moment, then Lian Jun signaled the doctor to come forward.

After the doctor took Shi Jin’s temperature, his eyebrows rose.
He patted the teenager’s forehead, saying, “You can nearly fry eggs on his head, yet he still managed to send a text message for help and not make a single typing error.
This is what I call a robust young man!”

Patted like that, Shi Jin felt his soul was about to leave the body.
He forced out, “Don’t do that, Uncle Long, my head hurts.
Can you give me two injections? I don’t feel too well.”

Uncle Long took pity on him and took his hand away.
He found a right ampoule and skillfully drew the medicine from it, saying, “I like the patients who are so obedient.
Two injections, right? Don’t worry, uncle will be careful.” He looked pointedly at Lian Jun sitting next to him.

Lian Jun paid him no mind.
He moved his wheelchair to the other side of the bed, then reached to touch Shi Jin’s head.

His hand was icy.
At first, Shi Jin shivered at the temperature, but then it felt comfortable so he turned a little, pushing his burning forehead into the cold palm.

Lian Jun froze.
After hesitating for a moment, he put his hand back on Shi Jin’s head, touching it gently.
“How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad, but I’m dizzy,” answered Shi Jin, pushing his head into Lian Jun’s palm again.

Gua Two’s jaw dropped.
He looked as if he had just seen a miracle.

Lian Jun’s fingers moved slightly, touching the hair on Shi Jin’s temples.
“It’s long,” he said suddenly.

“Is it? I didn’t notice…” Shi Jin closed his eyes, beginning to feel drowsy.
He knew he wouldn’t be clear-headed for long, so he opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at Lian Jun.
“Jun-shao, you shouldn’t stay with me.
You have to be careful not to get sick too.”

Hearing his slightly muddled voice, Lian Jun touched his hair again.
“Sleep,” he replied.

Shi Jin could stay awake no longer.

Uncle Long’s eyes stopped on Lian Jun’s hand which was still touching Shi Jin’s head.
He took out a cooling patch, moved Lian Jun’s hand away, and put it on the teenager’s forehead.
“Jun-shao, Shi Jin’s right, you have to go out soon.
His fever shouldn’t be contagious, but your body is too weak.
If by any chance you catch his illness, you won’t be able to withstand it.”

Lian Jun glanced at him, then looked at Shi Jin, whose expression eased up slightly after applying the cooling patch.
In the end, he said nothing.
Taking back his hand, he moved the wheelchair next to Gua Two and commanded, “You’re staying here.
Call me if anything happens.”

Gua Two nodded, saw him off, and walked to the bed.
Watching Shi Jin’s face, which looked more silly after he fell asleep, he couldn’t help but flick his forehead and whisper, “You little fellow… You aren’t trying to turn your wishful thinking into reality, are you?”

Uncle Long, who was applying a tourniquet to Shi Jin’s arm, gave him a look and snorted quietly.
He wiped the patch of skin with rubbing alcohol, then firmly inserted the needle into the vein.

 

Translator’s Notes:
“Lian Jun poured out the first tea and began the second brewing” – When the host brews tea, the first tea should be poured away without drinking, as it contains impurities.
Making the guests drink the first tea means humiliating them (according to this site; the wording is a little awkward, but it’s a short read and it explains some things you might’ve wondered about when reading Chinese novels).
“He understood how arse-lickers, brown-nosers, and schmoozers felt when they were seen through” – it was impossible to translate this literally.
It’s said that when the Mongolians during the Yuan Dynasty met and the other side’s horse was good, they had a habit of slapping the horse’s butt as a praise.
As time passed, people came to slap the horses’ butts even though they weren’t good just to please the horse owner, thus the term 拍马屁 (“slapping the horse’s butt”) came to mean a too obvious flattery.
(Source: this site and Baidu Knows.)
“Shi Jin wanted to jump out of the bed” – 鲤鱼打挺, lit.
“carp jumping out of the water.” Shi Jin wanted to get up like Jackie Chan.
Curious? Look here.