Death Progress Bar

room and staring at Lian Jun’s progress bar.

Gua Two, Gua Five, and the others walked by as they returned from lunch; their shifts ended at noon.
Seeing Shi Jin looking as if he lost his soul, Gua Two was speechless for a moment, then pulled him up, saying, “He’s just having a check-up, but looking at your expression… Come on, let’s go outside and take a walk to improve your mood.
When Jun-shao finishes the examination and comes out, you don’t want to show him this miserable face, do you?”

Shi Jin was reluctant to leave, but he couldn’t resist Gua Two’s strength and was dragged away whether he wanted it or not.

The two left the building and stood in front of a flower bed looking at the sun, blanking out.
In the end, Gua Two, unable to endure, raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, “It’s really hot today.”

Shi Jin looked at him without any expression, pulled his arm out of his hold, and turned around, wanting to go back to the building.

“No, don’t.
Gua Five and Gua Nine are guarding inside—you want to sit there and stare at them? It’s boring.” Gua Two grabbed Shi Jin’s arm again, refusing to let go.
An idea flashed through his mind.
“Let’s go visit the university, why don’t we? The college entrance exam results will be out soon—how about I take you to experience the university atmosphere in advance?”

Shi Jin refused to cooperate.
“I don’t want to.”

Gua Two threw him a glare.
“I don’t care.
My rank is higher than yours, you have to listen to me.”

Shi Jin rolled his eyes and turned to leave but Gua Two grabbed him and dragged him to the side door connecting the clinic and the medical university.

As they walked, Gua Two conjured up the campus map from his pocket.
“Why don’t you consider this university? It’s old and well-established and has cultivated countless outstanding talents.
It has a good atmosphere, a large campus, the food in the cafeteria is delicious, and most importantly, it’s cooperating with Jun-shao! Isn’t it simply the best choice?”

Shi Jin gave him a narrow-eyed glance.

Ignoring it, the other man continued, “It’s much better than being locked in a police academy, where you can’t leave except for a few days.
Don’t you smell it? The air here is fresh and filled with the scent of youthfulness and freedom.”

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“I only smell the formalin,” Shi Jin replied without mercy, scorning Gua Two’s thoughtful consideration.
“You’d better give up—I won’t change my mind, I’m going to attend a police academy.
Besides, whatever I study, medicine is the only thing I’d never choose, not on your life.
I misjudged you, Little Number Two—you betrayed me and actually became a lobbyist for Uncle Long!”

Gua Two’s foul scheme was discovered before he even finished the play.
Losing interest, he put the map back in his pocket and asked, “Are you really determined to go to a police school? All right, so medicine is out, but there are so many other majors and universities—is there really nothing else you like?”

“No,” Shi Jin was adamant.
“Except for the police officer, my other dream is to be a big boss like Jun-shao, but they don’t teach that at university.”

With an expression ‘only an idiot would believe you’, Gua Two said, “Your dreams are really unique.”

“Thank you, it’s because you taught me well, senior,” Shi Jin replied with modesty.

Gua Two choked.
Knowing that his persuasion plan was a bust, he let go of the teenager’s arm and pointed to the nearby campus supermarket.
“This senior wants to eat a popsicle, go buy it, newbie.
Newcomers should remember their responsibilities as the newest.”

Without a word, Shi Jin reached into Gua Two’s pocket, grabbed his wallet, and walked towards the supermarket without a backward glance.

Gua Two stared at his back, then let out an angry curse.

Five minutes later, Shi Jin bumped into Li Jiuzheng at the supermarket freezer and nearly died on the spot.
Some days you were just unlucky—you couldn’t get what you wanted, and what you wanted to avoid more than anything would be waiting for you.

Xiao Si also almost short-circuited—earlier, it comforted its host that it was impossible for there to be so many coincidences in this world, but reality gave it a big slap.

Li Jiuzheng appeared very different than he had the last time they met.
He wore a relaxed, sky-blue short-sleeved shirt and brown casual trousers, had a leather bag slung across his back, with a pair of black-framed glasses straddling the bridge of his nose.
Since at the moment, he lacked the previous murderous aura, he looked for all the world like a harmless college student who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

But Shi Jin wouldn’t forget how dangerous he was.
He silently cursed Gua Two, who’d forced him to come outside, and himself, for jinxing it.

“What-what a coincidence meeting you here,” he took the initiative to speak first, raising his hand in greeting.
Inching his way into a retreat, he said, “Take your time to choose, I’ll go to check out,” then turned around to leave. 

“Wait.” Li Jiuzheng suddenly stretched out his arm, blocking the aisle and preventing the teenager from escaping.
“Why are you here? Second Brother said that you took the college entrance examination this year—do you plan to attend this university?”

Just how loose was Fei Yujing’s tongue?! Shouldn’t lawyers know how to keep their mouths shut? Shi Jin howled inside, wanting to grab Fei Yujing and shake him hard, but nothing showed on his face.
Glancing at his progress bar, he found it didn’t rise, so he calmed down some.
“No, I was just bored and happened to come here on a stroll.
I really need to go, can you back off a little?” he asked, making a tentative attempt to move.

Li Jiuzheng watched him for a few seconds, then turned sideways.

Relieved, Shi Jin passed by without ceremony, never looking at him.

Once he’d finished checking out and left the supermarket, he threw the popsicle at Gua Two and strode in the direction of the clinic.

“What’s with your expression, did you see a ghost?” Gua Two asked, baffled.

“Not a ghost, but almost,” Shi Jin replied.
“Li Jiuzheng is here, I just ran into him.”

Li Jiuzheng?

Gua Two raised an eyebrow and glanced back towards the supermarket, just happening to catch sight of Li Jiuzheng walking out of the door and looking their way.
“What are you afraid of?” he said, opening the popsicle’s packaging and taking a bite.
“So what if you ran into him? It’s not as if he can do anything to you—if he tries, you’ll take out your gun and shoot him.
It would be revenge for the last time, by the way.”

Shi Jin’s steps faltered.
That’s right, the current situation was completely different from the last time he met Li Jiuzheng: not only was he not injured, he also had his gun with him.
If Li Jiuzheng really tried to hurt him, it wouldn’t necessarily be Shi Jin who suffered.

What’s more, Li Jiuzheng indeed owed him some payback.

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Shi Jin was a bit at a loss.

He stopped and turned his head to look at the entrance to the supermarket; seeing Li Jiuzheng still standing there, his hands itched.
Flexing them to get rid of the feeling, he turned back and said, “No, forget it.
Let’s go back, Jun-shao’s check-up should almost be over.”

“As if it would end that fast,” Gua Two muttered, but refrained from commenting further as he followed him back to the clinic.

Lian Jun’s examination didn’t end until evening.
When he finally came out, he looked very bad—his face was nearly white, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and there was a deep furrow between his brows.

Shocked, Shi Jin jumped to his feet and rushed to the wheelchair.
Noticing that Lian Jun’s legs were shaking uncontrollably, his mind produced a bucketload of terrible scenarios on the spot, and his heart pounded with fright.
Worried, he looked at Uncle Long.
“What’s wrong, was there some problem with the examination?”

In contrast to his anxious expression, there was a trace of joy on Uncle Long’s face.
“Nonsense, everything went well.
Jun-shao’s health has been well maintained this year and the results are quite good.
He still needs to improve the condition of his body a little before we can start treatment, so let’s keep it up and try to reach that point as soon as possible.”

Shi Jin was still uneasy.
“But Jun-shao’s legs…”

“I’m fine,” Lian Jun comforted, reaching for his hand.
“This is just because I did some stimulation therapy.
It will get better soon.
Come on, let’s go home, we should be back just in time for dinner.”

Uncle Long couldn’t help but frown.
“It’s because of your useless bravado.
I told you it’s best to do this in parts, but you… All right, all right, I won’t say anything more.
Go back without me, I’ll stay here and wait for the detailed results, then draw up a preliminary treatment plan.”

Lian Jun withdrew his warning gaze.
Squeezing Shi Jin’s hand, he shifted the topic.
“I’m a little thirsty.
Could you please pour me a glass of water?”

Shi Jin wasn’t stupid—Uncle Long’s unfinished words were enough for him to realize that in order to finish the examination as soon as possible, Lian Jun had asked to speed up the check-ups.
His chest a little tight, he answered in a low voice and compliantly poured Lian Jun some water.

After a short rest, they said goodbye to Uncle Long and headed back to the club.

Lian Jun’s physical discomfort really eased off soon, his legs no longer shaking and his complexion much better.
Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief and gently touched his lover’s legs, still a little distressed.

It was like this just because of an examination—after the treatment began, how uncomfortable would Lian Jun be?

“I really am fine,” Lian Jun reassured him again, then motioned to the small refrigerator in the car.
“It will take a while to get back to the club.
Are you hungry? Eat something to tide you over until dinner.”

As if Shi Jin could eat.
He shook his head and asked, “What did Uncle Long mean by saying you ‘still need to improve the condition of your body before we can start treatment’? Is your current physical condition too bad to allow treatment?”

“Well, just a little bit,” Lian Jun replied, nodding.
“My situation is special—the toxin has been in my body for too long and treating it may reactivate it.
My body needs to get better or it won’t be able to endure the whole way through.”

Shi Jin hadn’t expected that getting rid of the toxin would be so troublesome.
“How much better should your body get? Five pounds, ten pounds, or more?”

Gua Two couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud.
“Are you raising a pig? What’s with your belief that being fat is being healthy?”

Shi Jin gave him a death glare—did he really just hear him compare Lian Jun to a pig?!

Amused, Lian Jun said, “Uncle Long has yet to make a specific treatment plan.
Don’t be anxious, didn’t you say we shouldn’t rush this?”

“I’m not anxious,” Shi Jin refuted, but he also knew worrying about it now was useless, so he closed his mouth and didn’t continue the topic.

Translator: Eques
Editor: Con