Death Progress Bar

er, Xiao Jin.
It’s me who should apologize to you.”

Shi Jin frowned and called out, “Big brother.”

“I don’t deserve to be your big brother.” Shi Weichong looked down, a weary expression on his face.
“You probably don’t know… Though Shi Xingrui abandoned our mothers, he gave them a large sum of money, used as funds to raise us and compensate them.”

Shocked, Shi Jin subconsciously sat up straight.

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“It wasn’t just money—all of our mothers and families have benefited from Shi Xingrui’s resources to some degree.
He invested in us like he invested in the business, and he wasn’t at all stingy… But that changed after you were born.
When we discovered that Shi Xingrui had a tendency to tip all the resources to you, our mothers held a meeting in secret.
At the behest of our respective mothers, we have learned to ‘cherish’ our youngest brother.
Since then, Shi Xingrui began to allocate resources to our mothers based on how close you were to us… It was a deal, a deal based on tacit understanding.
I, Yujing, and Zhouzhong knew, Aoting and Jiuzheng didn’t.”

Shi Jin stared at him in bewilderment.
He never expected the secret behind everyone’s behavior was something like this.

Shi Weichong looked into his eyes intently as if to see a reflection of his own despicable and hypocritical self in them.
His tone became somewhat difficult.
“At first, we were children and simply did what our mothers told us to.
When we grew older, everyone had their own ideas and pursuits, and they wanted to change this sick situation, but I stopped them.”

Shi Jin asked, “Why?”

“Because, in order to retaliate against Shi Xingrui, I needed to be on good terms with him… In my selfishness, my self-interest, I tied everyone up to my revenge.
We treated you as a tool for approaching Shi Xingrui, and continued to play ‘good brothers.’”

As he spoke, Shi Weichong’s expression grew gloomy.
He said, with a hint of self-derision, “We all could’ve been free a long time ago.
The older Shi Xingrui got, the less ambitious he was.
He practically stopped concerning himself with anything besides you, even his company.
We grew up and acquired enough strength to stand on our own, not needing to fear or rely on Shi Xingrui’s power any longer.
We could’ve easily broken away from living under his shadow, but I forced them to continue this play.
There was no way this would end well.
I bear most of the blame for Jiuzheng getting out of control.
I’m overjoyed Shi Xingrui died before I made my move, otherwise, everyone would’ve been dragged into an even worse nightmare.”

Shi Jin’s heart missed a beat.
“What were you going to do if Shi Xingrui hadn’t died?” He asked.

Shi Weichong looked him in the eye and enunciated: “Take away everything he had, trample him down into the dust, and destroy what he cherished most, so that he would live in pain for the rest of his life.”

‘What he cherished most’… Wasn’t that the original ‘Shi Jin?’

Shi Jin leaned back on the bed, staring at his brother in a daze.
This was the first time he had a moment of such a clear realization—in front of him sat a murderer.
Even if only a potential one, just planning murder./Even if it was still just premeditation of murder.

The man upon whom ‘Shi Jin’ looked as his big brother had in fact never regarded ‘him’ as a younger brother.
Shi Jin had thought Shi Weichong used to simply dislike his youngest sibling, but apparently, it was nothing more than his wishful thinking.

“It’s true that Shi Qingrui did not treat you well and abandoned your mothers, so I can understand you want to take revenge on him, but the original… But what did I do wrong?” He asked, no longer acting, but genuinely sympathizing with ‘Shi Jin,’ feeling that all this was just too unfair to ‘him.’

The only thing the original ‘Shi Jin’ did was to be born, and it wasn’t of his own will.
The worst crime ‘he’ committed in his short life was to contact Shi Xingrui’s old subordinates in order to make trouble for Shi Weichong.

‘He’ was not yet twenty years old when ‘he’ died.
For the first seventeen years ‘he’ lived under the strict supervision of his father and didn’t do anything bad.
The year of adulthood, ‘he’ lost his father, his face, his freedom, and made a cruel discovery his happy life until now was just a carefully crafted illusion.
Barely an adult, ‘he’ lost even his life.

Though ‘he’ might’ve been spoiled, ignorant, and inconsiderate of his older brothers, and had some other faults, but was this truly something that required him to pay the price of his life? While ‘he’ wasn’t outstanding, ‘he’ wasn’t an awful younger brother either.

Faced with Shi Jin’s question, Shi Weichong fell silent again.
Then he reached out to touch his cheek, and answered, “You didn’t do anything wrong, it was me who was wrong.
I don’t deserve to be your big brother.”

Shi Jin avoided his hand—according to what he said, everything had been too self-serving and calculated, enough to completely subvert his understanding of the situation.
He’d assumed the original ‘Shi Jin’s’ identity, and could not accept Shi Weichong’s concern right now.

Shi Weichong’s eyes dimmed, his hand slowly clenched and returned to his side.
He got up and said, “Take a rest… I’ll have a talk with Jiuzheng, he won’t bother you again.
If you choose not to recognize me as your brother any longer, I’ll respect your decision… I’m sorry, Xiao Jin.” He stopped in place for a moment, but didn’t get any response from Shi Jin, so he picked up the coat on the chair, turned and left.

After he left, Shi Jin looked at the door in a complex mood.
It took him a while to recover, then he angrily kicked the chair and wrapped himself in the quilt, covering his face.

Xiao Si called out, anxiously,

“I’m all right.” Shi Jin answered, his voice muffled.
“In the end, I’m nothing more than an outsider who barged in and blunders around.
This is a family dispute; in my position, I don’t have any right to judge… Xiao Si, perhaps too many things changed due to my intrusion.
Was I too concerned about the progress bar?”
[声音闷闷的 – Stuffy or muffled? I think both fit here…]

Xiao Si objected.
Seeing him this downcast, it couldn’t help but blame itself.

Shi Jin shook his head in silence and closed his eyes.
He recalled everything he had experienced since he transmigrated, and let out a deep sigh.

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Before long, Gua Two pushed the door and came in, replacing Shi Weichong as Shi Jin’s watcher.

Shi Jin chatted with him for a moment, and found out they were in Chengdu Military Hospital.
The others had not come to see him until now because they were taking care of Lian Jun, who had also fallen ill.

Shi Jin’s brows knitted, and he sat up, intending to get out of bed.
“How is he?” He asked anxiously.
“I’ll go and see him.”

“Don’t, Jun-shao is already asleep.
It’s just a cold and not enough rest.
A drip and some sleep, and he’ll be fine.” Gua Two pushed him down, giving him a light slap on the forehead.
“Just obediently stay in bed and heal.
The year only began, don’t you think we’ve had enough excitement already? Get better quickly or Jun-shao will be beside himself with worry.”

Shi Jin lay down on the bed, filled with deep remorse for his mistakes.
His face scrunched up.
“I’m sorry, I won’t be so impulsive in the future.”

Gua Two saw his look, and didn’t have the heart to scold him again.
He consoled him instead: “Actually, it’s fine, don’t think too much.
If not for you, some of us must’ve gotten injured.
Although Gua One parked the car so it’d block most of the snipers’ shots, there were enemies on the street.
As long as they opened fire, we would never be able to avoid all of the bullets.”

“You don’t have to comfort me.” Shi Jin let out a sigh.
He stared at the depressingly white ceiling and asked out of blue, “Gua Two, am I allowing my emotions to affect my judgement?”

Helpless, Gua Two pulled the quilt to cover the teenager’s face.
“I said, stop thinking too much, you’re all good… Get well soon.
Then, we’ll go and dig crabs on the island.”

Shi Jin thought he was being ridiculed.
He pouted, flipped him off under the quilt, and closed his eyes.

After that day, Shi Jin never saw Shi Weichong.

According to Gua One, Shi Weichong was still in the hospital, and every day, he would go to the doctor responsible for Shi Jin to ask about his physical condition; Li Jiuzheng stayed here too.
However, they never came to visit him again.

Shi Jin thought about all the twists and turns of the plot, looked at the progress bar that had dropped to 500, and didn’t try to find them.

The next day, Lian Jun felt a bit better, so he came to the ward to accompany Shi Jin.
His complexion was fine, but his face looked almost gaunt again.
Shi Jin was heartbroken; all his effort to put flesh on Lian Jun’s body was for naught..

Afraid that the long stay in the hospital would adversely affect Lian Jun’s health, Shi Jin actively cooperated with the treatment.
Within a week, he was back on his feet, jumping around, and clamoring to be discharged.

Lian Jun forced him to stay in the hospital for seven days, allowing him to be discharged only after making sure there were no problems.
Then, he was worried that Shi Jin’s freshly healed wound wouldn’t stand the flight, so he gave up returning by fast and convenient plane, got an RV, and prepared to drive back to B City.

On the morning of departure, Shi Jin bought a pile of dumplings, spring rolls, and other festive food, and sent it all to Li Jiuzheng’s private hospital.
This was keeping his earlier promise.

In the afternoon, they boarded the RV at the hospital entrance.
Idle, Shi Jin looked out of the window.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Shi Weichong and Li Jiuzheng standing side by side in front of the fruit shop across the street, looking this way.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.
Finally, he waved at them, mouthed ‘Goodbye,’ then drew the curtain.

Really, he should’ve remembered he was not the original ‘Shi Jin’—why should he make a fuss about whether these brothers were putting on an act? He struggled along in this world, and all he asked for was to live well and eliminate the progress bars.
Now that he determined the five brothers were unlikely to be the murderers of the original ‘Shi Jin,’ he didn’t need to care what their real feelings were.
Though his hard-won survival factors were gone, they weren’t much anyway, and he had his golden thigh standing beside him.

With this in mind, his sight moved to Lian Jun, who sat opposite him, reading.
He reached out and pressed the book down while taking out a tablet.
“Jun-shao, let’s play a round.
If I win, help me check something, okay?”

Lian Jun glanced at the hand stopping him from reading, his gaze pausing on the needle marks on its back.
He lowered the book and looked at Shi Jin.
“And if you lose?”

Shi Jin grinned, a little wickedly.
“Then I’ll give you a massage every day.
I’m telling you, I’m a master masseur, ordinary people can’t enjoy my skills!”

The real “master masseur,” Xiao Si:

Lian Jun eyes Shi Jin.
Then, to the teenager’s surprise, he really put the book down and said, “Fine.”

Smug, Shi Jin took out a second tablet, courteously opened the mahjong app, and stuffed it into his hands.