Death Progress Bar

Decide

After resuming his physical training, Shi Jin could no longer stick to Lian Jun all day long—he had to spare several hours every day to be “abused” by Gua One and Gua Two.

It was probably true that moving the body benefited the mind, because after Shi Jin began exercising again, his unsettled emotions slowly returned to normal. While the progress bar and the plot still troubled him, they no longer affected him so deeply.

With that, the worry in Lian Jun’s heart subsided at last.

The day of the dinner seemed to arrive in the blink of an eye. At 5 p.m., Shi Jin said goodbye to Lian Jun and headed out, accompanied by Gua One and Gua Two.

“The restaurant has been checked and the security detail is in place,” Gua One reported, putting his phone away. He saw that Shi Jin looked absent-minded and didn’t seem to have heard him, so he called out to him again.

Shi Jin returned to his senses and confirmed that he understood.

“What’s the matter with you?” Gua Two asked with some concern, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. He had listened in on Shi Jin and Xu Chuan’s conversation and knew how uncomfortable today’s meeting would be for the young man, so he was a little worried.

“It’s nothing, I’m just worried that Jun-shao won’t eat much at dinner,” Shi Jin replied honestly. He added, distressed, “Uncle Long changed Jun-shao’s diet again. Jun-shao isn’t happy, and his old problem of being a picky eater has resurfaced.”

Gua Two: “……”

An hour later, the car stopped in front of an elegant restaurant.

Lian Jun helped Shi Jin arrange the venue: this restaurant was one of Annihilation’s properties, and had been cleared in advance to ensure safety. The person in charge was already waiting in front of the door; after everyone got out of the car, he stepped forward and said to Shi Jin, “Shi-shao, one guest is already present—Mr. Shi Weichong, the president of Ruixing, arrived five minutes ago.”

Being addressed like that, Shi Jin stared blankly for a moment, then nodded with some discomfort. Thanking the man, he went inside with Gua One and Gua Two.

When they rounded the corner, Shi Jin cast a quick glance back to make sure that the person in charge couldn’t see them, then turned to Gua Two. “Why did he call me like that? Isn’t my code name Gua Four?” he asked. Even when they didn’t use his code name, the lower-ranked members would generally address him as “Mr. Shi”. What was this “Shi-shao” about?

Being called like that felt weird.

Gua Two raised an eyebrow and gave him a funny look. “Of course, it’s because everyone knows about your relationship with Jun-shao now, so out of respect, they changed the way they address you. It’s not a big deal, just get used to it.”

Shi Jin was confused. “Everyone knows? How?” His and Lian Jun’s relationship had never been specially announced to the outside world or within the organization. While they weren’t exactly hiding it, it should only be known to the small circle of Lian Jun’s close followers, like the Guas and Uncle Long.

“Did you forget your date? Both the mall and the amusement park are Annihilation’s businesses, and you and Jun-shao were so obvious that only a fool wouldn’t notice. So, how do you think they know?” Gua Two said, looking at him as if he was an idiot.

Shi Jin didn’t expect the truth to be something like that. Recalling that his date with Lian Jun indeed couldn’t be called low-profile, he let out an embarrassed cough and looked away, pretending that this conversation had never happened.

The private room they had booked for the dinner was at the end of the corridor. When Shi Jin opened the door, he saw Shi Weichong sitting in the outer room, drinking tea. He was wearing a very elegant suit, as if he came straight here from some important event.

“Hey, what’s up? You’re pretty early,” Shi Jin greeted his brother casually, sitting down across the table.

Shi Weichong put down his teacup as soon as he saw him come in. “I finished work earlier than expected, so I just came over. How come you suddenly invited us for dinner, Xiao Jin? Are we celebrating something?”

His attitude was gentle, and he took the initiative to start up a conversation—his intention to ease the relationship between him and Shi Jin was obvious.

As Shi Jin looked at the warm expression on his brother’s face, and thought of what Xu Jie had done, his mood turned somewhat complicated. However, he was not going to take out his anger on the innocent. “Well, kind of—my admissions notice arrived, I’m going to enter the school at the beginning of the next month,” he replied. “Last time at Third Brother’s birthday party I acted very rude, so I wanted to invite you out again before the holidays ended.”

“So that’s what it was. It seems that we’ll soon have a policeman in the family, very good,” Shi Weichong said, looking genuinely happy, both for Shi Jin and because of Shi Jin’s choice. A career in law enforcement was obviously more reassuring than being a gangster.

Seeing his brother like this, Shi Jin’s chest hurt a little bit. What he was doing right now could be called using Shi Weichong as bait to lure out Xu Jie; the more sincerely Shi Weichong treated him, the more upset he felt.

< JinJin… > Xiao Si called out, concerned.

Shi Jin came back to himself. “I’m fine,” he said to the system in his mind. He poured Shi Weichong another cup of tea and started chatting about other topics.

Shi Weichong hadn’t thought that after last time, he would have a chance to sit and chat with Shi Jin so peacefully. As such, when Shi Jin took the initiative to talk with him, he could not suppress the joy and relief from showing on his face, and cooperatively chatted along.

Not long after, Xiang Aoting arrived. It was obvious that he’d rushed there because he was still wearing a training suit. Fearing that his dirty appearance would affect everybody’s appetite, he went to the bathroom with a change of clothes to clean himself up.

When he came out, it was almost the time they’d set for the dinner, so Shi Jin ushered the two men to the inner room and ordered food; on the way in, he called Li Jiuzheng, who had not yet arrived, and asked where he was. As it happened, Li Jiuzheng’s car just stopped in front of the restaurant’s entrance, so they only exchanged a few words before hanging up.

Five minutes later, Li Jiuzheng entered the private room as well. Since everyone was there, Shi Jin was about to ring the bell to let the kitchen start serving food when the door suddenly opened again.

“Why did you have to book this restaurant? It’s so far from the airport. I got stuck in a traffic jam for so long I thought I’d die from frustration,” Rong Zhouzhong complained as he strode in, wearing a hat and mask. He sat down beside Shi Jin and nudged him, ordering, “Give me a glass of water, I’m thirsty.”

Surprised, Shi Jin asked, “Why are you here?”

“I happened to have some free time, so I just came over. What, am I not allowed to?” Rong Zhouzhong asked, expression fierce. He looked somewhat haggard, and didn’t seem to have slept for who knows how long; the dark circles under his eyes were so heavy they resembled smokey eye makeup, his stylish clothes were wrinkled, and he carried a strong scent of cologne.

Shi Jin’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

Noticing this, Rong Zhouzhong’s eyebrows twitched. He gripped his shoulder angrily, shaking him hard. “How dare you look at me like that! This is because of the ad I was shooting, I don’t usually spray myself like a mobile poison dispenser. Does it smell bad? I’m asking how bad it smells!”

It was clear that the lack of sleep had made Rong Zhouzhong more bad-tempered and childish.

A bit dizzy from being shaken, Shi Jin quickly reached out to grab his brother’s arm to stop him. “No, no, it doesn’t smell bad, it’s mouth-watering! Perfect right before dinner.”

This made Rong Zhouzhong even more angry, and he pinched Shi Jin’s cheeks and pulled hard. “‘Mouth-watering’?” he growled menacingly. “You actually said that this smell is mouth-watering? This is a perfume from the ‘Desire’ series, exactly what kind of appetite do you have?”

Desperate, Shi Jin grabbed a dessert on the table and stuffed it directly into his brother’s mouth.

The world became quiet. Rong Zhou bit down on the soft pastry, his gaze fixed on Shi Jin, and then his beautiful peach-blossom eyes curved into a vicious grimace and he lunged forward.

“Fourth Brother!” Shi Jin cried out for help, scrambling to hide.

Xiang Aoting grabbed Rong Zhouzhong’s shoulders and pulled him back. “Third Brother, you’re scaring Xiao Jin,” he said helplessly.

Rong Zhouzhong’s face went through a visible struggle, but in the end, he managed to calm down. Shaking off Xiang Aoting’s hand, he finished the pastry in two or three bites, then straightened his clothes. “I’m scaring him? This little bastard’s skin is thicker than a pangolin’s, as if he would be scared… Whatever, I’m hungry—let’s eat!”

Saved, Shi Jin sat up straight, his gaze shifting between Shi Weizhong and Li Jiuzheng, the areas around whom could be considered ‘safe zones’ in a pinch. He rose decisively, sat next to Li Jiuzheng, and pressed the call bell to let the waiter bring the food.

All the brothers watched his actions. Shi Weichong lowered his head and turned his cup, Rong Zhouzhong gave a cold snort, Xiang Aoting acted as a peacemaker, and Li Jiuzheng helped Shi Jin move the tableware.

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As the dishes were served one after another, everyone began to chat while eating, and the atmosphere was actually pretty good.

Shi Jin dragged everyone to talk about random topics, secretly keeping an eye on Shi Weichong. As expected, about halfway through the dinner, the man began to cast frequent glances at his phone.

“Something happening at work?” Shi Jin asked, though he knew that wasn’t it.

Shi Weichong looked up at him, then hurriedly turned the phone off and shook his head. “No, just a friend. Sorry, what were you saying just now?”

“We were talking about where I should work once I graduate; whether I should choose to become an officer in B city or somewhere else,” Shi Jin replied. Judging that the time was almost right, he moved on to the next item on his agenda. “Well, that’s not urgent—it takes four years to graduate from a police academy, it won’t be too late to start thinking about it later. Actually, I asked you out today because there’s something I want to talk with you about.”

At that, Rong Zhouzhong, who was yawning in boredom listening to the school matters, and Li Jiuzheng, who was absorbed in eating, looked at Shi Jin with a knowing expression in their eyes. Sure enough—Shi Jin would not invite them to meet because of such a small thing like “his admission notice arriving”.

Shi Weichong and Xiang Aoting froze for a moment. Remembering how the birthday party broke up, they frowned and eyed Shi Jin with caution, wanting to speak but hesitating to do so.

“This isn’t about what happened at the last dinner,” Shi Jin interrupted them, correctly reading their expressions. He pulled out a tablet from his backpack and made a video call to Fei Yujing, continuing, “I want to talk about something else, something related to all of us.”

His brothers were puzzled—something related to all of them? Could it be the Ruixing Corporation?

It took Fei Yujing a while to answer the call. He looked tired, apparently having just finished a day’s work. At the sight of the people sitting at the table on the other side of the video, his eyebrows knitted. {Are you calling me specially just to watch you eat?}

“You can watch us eat if you want to, but before that, I have something to say. I called you so that you can listen as well,” Shi Jin answered, propping the tablet up. He glanced around; with all eyes focused on him, he spoke, emphasizing each word as they left his mouth: “At the end of June, I went to M Province and met with Xu Chuan.”

Shi Weichong and Fei Yujing’s expressions immediately turned serious. Frowning, Xiang Aoting asked, “Why would you go to see him, Xiao Jin?”

“I’ll explain later. First, listen to this recording.” Shi Jin took out his phone and played the audio file he’d prepared in advance.

【But Shi Xingrui was more rational than I thought. Instead of rushing to find the woman, he investigated her first. When he was ready, he ‘met her by chance’ and made her a deal: he wanted to have a child with her, and that child had to be a son.】

Xu Chuan’s voice filled the room. The word “deal” was so jarring that everyone’s expression changed. Xiang Aoting sprang to his feet unconsciously.

The woman Xu Chuan mentioned should obviously refer to the mother of one of them—but which one? Who… was the product of this deal?

Shi Jin paused the recording and glanced at Li Jiuzheng, who had a blank expression on his face. “What happened between our father and your mother wasn’t a deal—she was simply deceived by him.”

“I, I don’t…” Li Jiuzheng’s rigid body slowly relaxed. The corners of his mouth moved, then he abruptly lowered his head, raising his hands to hide his face. He didn’t want his current expression to be seen.

Hearing Shi Jin indirectly confirm their guess about the “deal”, the other brothers’ faces became even more ugly.

Fei Yuijing’s voice came from the tablet’s speakers, asking about the key point: {Who is the woman Xu Chuan mentioned?}

Shi Jin looked towards the screen. “It’s your mother, but she’s not the only one who agreed to this deal.”

He was pretty much straightforwardly telling the others that except for Li Jiuzheng, everyone was a child “bought” by Shi Xingrui. This was directly negating their biggest reason for hating Shi Jin in the past—if Shi Xingrui hadn’t thought of them as sons in the first place and their mothers went into things with their eyes wide open, how could he “abandon” them? The truth was that they had never been in any position to resent Shi Jin.

To explain in a more direct and brutal way: how to treat the bought “goods” was the buyer’s freedom, the “goods” did not have the right to express an opinion.

The room was deathly quiet. Finally, Rong Zhouzhong, who had apparently digested this revelation the fastest, said, “So what about this ‘deal’, Shi Jin? That old bastard is dead, and though it wasn’t easy, we’re finally able to sit at one table as friends. If you want to settle accounts with us or want us to apologize, we will. The past is the past, why bother digging up old drama? It’s nothing more than trouble.”

Shi Jin didn’t reply, just played the next file.

【I want to know who really ordered you to hire Werewolf. Don’t tell me it was Xu Tianhua, I don’t believe it.】

【Not Xu Tianhua.】

The recording was very short and came to an end in only a few seconds, but everyone fell quiet again.

“That’s why I went to talk to Xu Chuan—I suspected that it wasn’t Xu Tianhua who wanted to harm me,” Shi Jin said, putting down his phone, then glanced around at his brothers. “And he confirmed it, it wasn’t Xu Tianhua. So, it’s not that I wanted to dig up the past but that I had to; I needed to find the real culprit in order to protect my life.”

This immediately drew Xiang Aoting’s attention. “If it’s not Xu Tianhua, then who?” he asked, eyebrows knitted. “Ruixing’s other shareholders? Father’s old enemies?”

Rong Zhouzhong’s expression changed a little. He let out a cold snort and said, “Fourth, with you being this daft, does the military really think it’s a good idea to send you on missions? The little bastard invited us out for dinner and specifically told us about this—isn’t it clear who he really suspects? Shi Jin, let me repeat myself: while neither my mother nor I are good people, and I can believe she agreed to give birth to a child in exchange for resources, why would we do such a self-destructive thing as try to harm you? You can find me to settle accounts for other things, but you can’t doubt that I’ve ever wanted to kill you. If you dare to make an unjust accusation against me, I’ll post all of your ugliest photos on my Weibo and announce you’re debuting! You and that Lian Jun will be annoyed to death!”

Worthy of the name of “Demon King Rong Zhouzhong”, this was truly a terrible threat.

Shi Jin just looked at him in silence, almost unable to keep his serious expression from cracking.

“It’s not me either,” Li Jiuzheng joined in, giving Shi Jin a sideways glance. Perhaps because his mood hadn’t stabilized yet, his eyes were strangely gentle. “My mother is dead so she won’t harm you, and I’m not going to do anything stupid. And you look like my mother, I love you—”

The hairs on Shi Jin’s neck stood on end. He grabbed his chair and moved to the side, interjecting with a wan smile, “Let-let’s leave it at that, we’re blood brothers…”

“—r eyes,” Li Jiuzheng finished the sentence, smiling beatifically.

Shi Jin: “……”

Though your smile is very beautiful, the way you speak is terrifying, you know?

“…Actually, I think your eyes look better,” Shi Jin replied, quickly turning around to avoid Li Jiuzheng’s gaze. He felt that choosing to sit next to him was a huge mistake. He glanced around the table and didn’t mince his words: “In fact, Xu Chuan has told me who really wanted to harm me, but considering that he’s lied before, I’m not going to just believe what he says. Since he might just want to provoke our relationship, I specifically called you all out to talk with you.”

Xiang Aoting frowned as he looked at Shi Weichong, whose expression couldn’t be seen because his head was lowered, and asked, “What are you planning to do, Xiao Jin?”

“I’m going to give you all a chance to know the whole truth,” Shi Jin said, looking around at his brothers again. He pointed at his phone. “The recordings I played to you were just excerpts—I have the full version, and can send it to you if you want to hear it all. In addition, besides recording, I have the results of investigations into our father and family. I can send them to you as well, but you’d better be prepared—the information won’t be pleasant. Also, I am taking a risk by telling you this. Once you’ve read through everything, I hope you can tell me what position you have chosen. If you say nothing, I will default to the brotherly relationship between us being terminated, and I’ll see you later on the other side of the playing field.”

His words were to the point and left them no leeway. Everyone’s expressions turned solemn. All the people present here were smart and naturally understood what was going on: Shi Jin was forcing them to take sides. At the same time, he was also giving the person who was really connected with the mastermind a chance to choose their position.

“Of course, you can also decide not to know the truth and sit this out—that’s your right, and I won’t treat you as guilty just because you’re related to the culprit. Having said this, I also won’t recognize a person who stays around the murderer as my brother, and from that point on, we’ll simply be strangers that have nothing to do with each other,” Shi Jin explained his stance, then raised three fingers. “Three days. I will give you three days to think about whether you want to know the truth. If you choose to know, I’ll send you the data and give you another three days to let me know what position you’ve chosen after reading it. I’ll decide my next move after that.”

Three choices: to receive the information and choose Shi Jin’s side; to receive the information and choose to oppose Shi Jin; not to receive the information and not choose a side, but become strangers with Shi Jin.

Shi Jin put everything on the table, and put the initiative to decide what everyone’s future relationship with him would be in their hands. It was both extremely magnanimous and extremely cruel.

For those who believed in themselves and their mothers, the choice wasn’t difficult—after all, they wouldn’t be involved and could just sit back and watch the show. However, for the one related to the person behind the scenes, it was extremely difficult.

To receive the information and face a dilemma, or not receive it and stand aside burying his head in the sand, waiting for the outcome of a conflict which may end in both sides losing.

Fei Yujing was the first to break the silence. {Shi Jin, send me all the information you have.}

“Me too,” Rong Zhouzhong followed. Frowning, he added crankily, “You really are nothing but trouble.”

“Send it to me as well,” Li Jiuzheng said.

Xiang Aoting hesitated, glanced at Shi Weichong, and hesitated again. Finally, he stated he’d contact Shi Jin in private later.

Shi Weichong didn’t say anything. His head was lowered and his hands were hidden in his pockets; it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Shi Jin acknowledged everyone’s words, then said, “I will send you everything when I get back to the club. Let’s finish dinner first, the food is getting cold.”

Who’d still have an appetite after that? everyone thought, surprisingly unanimous. Actually, they had all guessed who Shi Jin really wanted to force to take a stand today—his attitude last time they got together was obvious enough.

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The dinner began in a lively way but ended quietly.

Rong Zhouzhong, who was in the middle of a job, was the first to leave. Li Jiuzheng was the second; before leaving, he packed a box with the pastries that Shi Jin had shut up Rong Zhouzhong with. Xiang Aoting and Shi Weichong stayed until the end, and they walked out of the restaurant together with Shi Jin.

“You go first, Aoting. Take care of yourself when you’re on missions, don’t get hurt,” Shi Weichong said, trying to display at least a semblance of cheerfulness.

Xiang Aoting looked back and forth between him and Shi Jin, hesitated, then said, “We’re all brothers. No matter what, that won’t change.” He knew the other two had something to say to each other, so after these words, he went to his car, got in, and left.

Only Shi Weichong and Shi Jin remained at the entrance. Gripping the phone in his pocket, Shi Weichong looked sideways at Shi Jin and spoke for the first time since Shi Jin had played Xu Chuan’s recording, his voice faltering a little, “Xu Chuan said that the person who wanted to harm you wasn’t Xu Tianhua. Perhaps, was that, was it…”

“Big Brother,” Shi Jin interrupted him, looking at him earnestly. “I believe that even though you ‘used’ me in the past, you still truly thought of me as your younger brother… Think things through. I’ll wait for your call.” He stepped forward and hugged him, then pulled back and got in the car, forcing himself not to look back as it drove away.