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Chapter 103
Time pa.s.sed imperceptibly; before s.h.i.+ Jin knew it, the military training was coming to an end. Now that he wasn’t tormented by nightmares, his condition improved with each pa.s.sing day, and very quickly his performance surpa.s.sed that of any other cadet. Finally, several instructors recommended him as the main flag-bearer for this year’s cadets’ parade.
“The main flag-bearer!” Liu Yong sighed with envy. “During the parade and the final inspection, the main flag-bearer grabs the most attention. I want to be one too.”
s.h.i.+ Jin put away the special epaulettes, gloves, and other items for the flag-bearer that he was given, and glanced at him sideways. “The flag-bearers train an additional hour every day. Are you sure you want to?”
The envy instantly disappeared from Liu Yong’s mind, and he shook his head in fright. “No, definitely not! We have field training in a few days—I need to save my strength for then. I’ll disgrace our squad if I’m unable to last to the end.”
Luo Donghao sighed with regret. “It’s a pity we aren’t allowed to team up this time or we could go with s.h.i.+ Jin.”
“It’s better that we can’t, I wouldn’t keep up with his speed anyway.” Liu Yong shook his head harder and even moved farther away from s.h.i.+ Jin.
s.h.i.+ Jin glanced at him helplessly. He couldn’t understand where this reverence came from, and he felt that he needed to a.s.sure Liu Yong that he was just a normal person. But just as he opened his mouth, Xiang Aoting, who’d been called away earlier, came back and beckoned him over.
“The instructor calls me, I have to go,” he excused himself, getting up and walking over to Xiang Aoting.
Liu Yong sighed again, and commented, “The instructor really likes s.h.i.+ Jin.”
Luo Donghao lowered his head and counted the ants, pretending that he didn’t hear anything.
The brothers walked some distance away from the crowd. His back to the cadets, Xiang Aoting said in a low voice, “The place for camp and field training has been decided—it’s a mountain near the base. I told Lian Jun where it is; he might come.”
s.h.i.+ Jin looked up at him, his eyes wide with excitement.
Xiang Aoting hurriedly pushed the teenager’s head down a little to stop his expression from being seen. “Restrain yourself a bit, will you…” he said somewhat helplessly. “There’d be a race during field training—you’ll need to rush to the top of the mountain, find a small flag there, and take it back to the starting point. The first person to come down will get extra points. If you want to get first place in the military training, you can’t let it pa.s.s.”
“So, Lian Jun…” s.h.i.+ Jin began expectantly.
“He’ll stay in the forest ranger’s cabin for a while. The cabin is on the hillside, some distance away from the main road uphill. It will take some time to get there and back, so you must take care not to delay too long,” Xiang Aoting cautioned. A bit at a loss to see s.h.i.+ Jin so excited, he patted his head and said, “The university military training happens just once. I hope you can learn to enjoy it and have a good time.”
Surprised, s.h.i.+ Jin looked at him. Under his brother’s warm, patient gaze, his excitement calmed down a little. Abruptly, he hugged Xiang Aoting hard, saying earnestly, “I have a good time already. Thank you, Fourth Brother.”
Secretly lending him a mobile phone and arranging a meeting with Lian Jun during the training—Xiang Aoting did it despite violating his own principles, just to make s.h.i.+ Jin happy. Devoted affection like this was too rare; how could he not cherish it?
The hug dazed Xiang Aoting for a moment. After he returned to his senses, he gently hugged s.h.i.+ Jin back. “We’re brothers, why are you being so polite?”
Their hug was brief and didn’t last long, but Luo Donghao’s eagle eye still caught it. He gasped in shock, reflexively letting out a yelp which attracted the attention of all the nearby teammates.
“What’s the matter?” Liu Yong looked at him worriedly and raised his hand to touch his forehead. “You screamed like a stuck pig—did a ghost possess you or something?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Luo Donghao saw that s.h.i.+ Jin and Xiang Aoting separated, and let out a sigh of relief, his heart weary. “What ghost? The h.e.l.l they taught you in school? I was just clearing my throat, it was a little itchy.” he said, pus.h.i.+ng away Liu Yong’s hand.
“Tsk.” Miffed, Liu Yong gave him a shove.
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
After the training ended in the evening, Luo Donghao sought out s.h.i.+ Jin. “s.h.i.+ Jin, uh, you and the instructor should pay more attention. The cadet and the instructor… cough, together, it’s not… If you make it too obvious, people will talk.”
s.h.i.+ Jin looked at him in incomprehension. “What was that last part?” he asked, confused. “I couldn’t understand a word of what you said after you coughed. ‘The instructor’ what?”
But as Luo Donghao saw it, s.h.i.+ Jin was still persisting in playing dumb. Anxious, he stopped beating around the bush: “We’re friends, so I specially came to remind you—y-you should try to restrain yourself, you know? When you hugged the instructor in the afternoon, there were so many people around.”
“Ah, so you saw it.” Finally realizing what Luo Donghao had been talking about, s.h.i.+ Jin explained, embarra.s.sed, “Yeah, you’re right. I was just so happy at the time that it slipped my mind that someone might see us. Thank you for reminding me, I’ll be more careful in the future. I need to go for additional training now. See you later!” He picked up the flag-bearer’s equipment and went to find Xiang Aoting.
Luo Donghao watched him leave. He heard the joy and expectation in his words, and his heart filled with despair—This reaction… It seemed that s.h.i.+ Jin was dead set on getting together with the instructor, no matter the consequences.
What a disaster... Luo Donghao prayed for the military training to end as soon as possible. Judging from s.h.i.+ Jin’s state, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to control his young adult’s hormones and would try to do something to the instructor right here in the base…
s.h.i.+ Jin was indeed happy and excited, but this had very little to do with Xiang Aoting and a lot with Lian Jun. After the one-hour additional training ended, his eyes fixed on Xiang Aoting’s pocket—there was a device to contact Lian Jun there!
Xiang Aoting instantly understood the meaning of his gaze. He stifled a sigh and frowned at his younger brother, emphasizing, “I’ll send him a message for you. You’re not allowed to touch the phone.”
s.h.i.+ Jin nodded like a chicken pecking at the rice and held his arm to his chest as if to show that he absolutely wouldn’t touch it.
They sat opposite each other. Xiang Aoting took in s.h.i.+ Jin’s “well-behaved” sitting posture, and an image of a puppy frantically wagging its tail flas.h.i.+ng through his mind all of a sudden. A bit dejected, he pulled out his phone, found Lian Jun’s number, and chose Compose a new message.
“Why don’t you call directly? I won’t touch the phone—you can just put it on speaker and let me listen to you and Lian Jun talk.” Given an inch, s.h.i.+ Jin unabashedly reached for a mile.
What could an active duty soldier and a leader of an underworld organization have to talk about?
Xiang Aoting eyed him, feeling rather unwilling. Still, he exited the message interface and chose Call. Lian Jun answered almost in a few seconds and—ignoring the fact that the call was coming from Xiang Aoting’s number—called out, {s.h.i.+ Jin?}
“Yeah, it’s me!” s.h.i.+ Jin immediately leaned closer to the phone. After a warning glance from Xiang Aoting, he moved away as if nothing happened and lowered his head to straighten the ta.s.sels on the flag-bearer’s epaulettes. “I’m nothing but a voice in the background, ignore me. You guys talk, I’ll just listen,” he said toward the ground.
Lian Jun’s voice immediately turned more reserved. {Is Xiang Aoting there?}
“I am,” Xiang Aoting replied. He looked at s.h.i.+ Jin’s lowered head and said, forcing his heart to harden, “You have two minutes. It’s almost curfew, s.h.i.+ Jin has to go back to the dorm to wash and rest.”
s.h.i.+ Jin’s ears c.o.c.ked, and he raised his head again.
Lian Jun was silent for a moment, then said, {Thank you.}
And so, a strange scene could be seen on the training grounds: an instructor seemed to be talking on the phone but his mouth didn’t move; a cadet next to him seemed to be waiting for the instructor to finish the call, but his mouth kept moving.
Two minutes were too short. s.h.i.+ Jin barely asked about Lian Jun’s meals and rest, and the time was up. He reluctantly said goodnight to Lian Jun, sighing sadly as he watched Xiang Aoting hang up.
Once again, the brief moment of happiness he’d stolen for himself had pa.s.sed.
“Do you like him that much?” Xiang Aoting asked abruptly, putting away his mobile phone.
s.h.i.+ Jin looked at him; seeing that his brother asked this question seriously, he answered seriously as well. “Yes, I do. I want to spend my life with him. Fourth Brother, Lian Jun is really good. I hope you can get along well.”
Xiang Aoting didn’t reply. He bent down to help s.h.i.+ Jin gather his things, only speaking once they walked out of the training grounds: “Why him?”
s.h.i.+ Jin walked beside him empty-handed. “There is no reason to like someone. By the time I realized it, I was already in love with him and, fortunately, he loves me too. Fourth Brother, you’re all biased against Lian Jun—he didn’t choose the path he’s on of his own accord but was forced onto it. In his position, he doesn’t have the freedom to act as he’d like, and has no choice in many things. In fact, he’d rather be an ordinary person than a leader of an underworld organization.”
Xiang Aoting lowered his gaze, considering s.h.i.+ Jin’s words.
s.h.i.+ Jin continued, “He’s very good and he treats me well. When I first met him, I was in a sorry state—I was dest.i.tute, fat, useless, and knew nothing. I even poached pheasants in his orchard. Even so, he didn’t scorn me. After learning of my situation, he took me in, gave me food, clothes, work, found someone to teach me, and let me accompany him wherever he went. I didn’t intend to continue to study; I wanted to wait for my life to stabilize and then go to a college for adults or something. But he didn’t agree—he coaxed me to study in various ways, arranged teachers for me, made me take part in the college entrance examination, and helped me enroll in school. When I said that I wanted to go to the police academy, Gua One and the others all disapproved, he was the only one who supported me… Fourth Brother, without him, there would be no me now. It was he who didn’t let me go astray and pushed me on to the right path.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was Lian Jun who picked up the tousled mess that was s.h.i.+ Jin’s life after rebirth, untangled it, and little by little wove it into what it was now, helping him find his own place in this world.
“He’s very important to me,” s.h.i.+ Jin stressed, his tone firm. “I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
“Xiao Jin.” Suddenly, Xiang Aoting stopped walking and asked, “Are you happy now?”
s.h.i.+ Jin glanced at him and replied, his eyes narrowing in a smile, “If you lend me your phone so I can make a video call to Lian Jun, I’d be even happier.”
“Even happier”—so you are already happy?
“That’s good.” Xiang Aoting raised a hand and touched s.h.i.+ Jin’s hair, with an expression of resigned acceptance. “I’ll trust your judgment… but a video call is impossible. Now go back, wash, and sleep.”
The smile on s.h.i.+ Jin’s face vanished in a flash. Expressionless, he s.n.a.t.c.hed his belongings from Xiang Aoting’s hand, said goodnight to him, and walked away.
Xiang Aoting stood in place, watching him leave. Dest.i.tute, fat, useless, knew nothing… After a long time, he let out a heavy sigh. Just what kind of older brothers they all had been…
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
After the date of the camp and field training was announced, s.h.i.+ Jin’s squadmates discovered that the “monster” showed an almost fanatical enthusiasm for it, pestering the instructor with questions every day.
“Is he a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t? Why the heck is he looking forward to this torture?” Liu Yong forced out.
Luo Donghao glanced at s.h.i.+ Jin talking with Xiang Aoting about the field training, “brazenly monopolizing” him, and said in a heavy tone, “You don’t understand—the field training isn’t important, preparing for the field training is.”
“What are you talking about?” Liu Yong looked at him, frowning, then touched his forehead with concern. “You really got possessed by a ghost. Don’t worry, I’ll drive it out. I heard that spitting can…”
Luo Donghao slapped his hand away and pressed him to the ground, stopping his nonsense.
Soon, the day of the field training came. s.h.i.+ Jin was the first one to get up and rush to the training grounds. Fully equipped in the military gear the cadets were issued, he impatiently waited for the half an hour a.s.sembly to end, then eagerly walked towards the field training site with the rest of his squad. That’s right, walked—this time, there was no bus to ride; the cadets had to cover the whole distance on foot!
“Welcome to h.e.l.l,” Liu Yong uttered, empty-eyed.
s.h.i.+ Jin, on the other hand, was radiating with vigor. “The mountain is not far from the base,” he said, excited. “Come on, move your legs! Let’s go have some fun!”
Fun… Liu Yong choked. He turned his head away from s.h.i.+ Jin, afraid he’d burst a blood vessel if he continued looking at him.
The march to the mountain was in itself an exercise cadets had to complete as part of their training, and it was also accompanied by other exercises. Because of this, it took them three hours to reach their destination, despite the fact that the mountain was a relatively short distance away. Everyone dropped down on the ground at the a.s.sembly place indicated by the instructor and ate some dry rations to fill their stomachs; after a short rest, there came the highlight of the field training: the mountain race!
“There are three roads up the mountain, you can choose which one you want to take. The departure time is 1:00 p.m. Those who haven’t got back here with the flag before 3:00 p.m. will have their credits deduced and will have to recover them by additional training,” Xiang Aoting explained the rules, then pa.s.sed every cadet a copy of the route map. “It’s half past noon now; you have half an hour to prepare. If you encounter an accident, you must immediately send out a signal to contact the instructor nearby, don’t try to be brave and tough it out. During the compet.i.tion, you’re not allowed to form a team or help someone else get a flag—you must complete the task independently, understood?”
“Yes, sir!” the cadets shouted. After receiving the map, they quickly unfolded it and took a look.
The three routes had different difficulty levels. Route 1, the closest to the a.s.sembly site, was the easiest, but also the most circuitous and as such the slowest. Route 2 was an old road, used when the mountain had had residents and now abandoned; it didn’t detour, but it wasn’t in a good condition either. Route 3 was just a barely discernible path; it led straight to the top of the mountain, but it was difficult to traverse and even a little dangerous.
Well aware of his limitations, Liu Yong decided to take Route 1. “Which one are you taking?” he asked Luo Donghao.
“Number 2. I have good stamina but poor agility, Route 3 is too steep a climb for me.” Luo Donghao was sensible as well. He looked at s.h.i.+ Jin, wanting to ask him about his choice, only to find that s.h.i.+ Jin had already put his gear back on and got to his feet, apparently leaving.
Taken aback, he called out, “Wait, where are you going?”
Not stopping, s.h.i.+ Jin looked back over his shoulder and pointed to the left side of the hill. “To Route 3’s starting point,” he called back. “I’m taking that one, it seems to have the best views.” By the time he finished speaking, he was already more than ten meters away, and disappeared from sight a moment later.
Liu Yong gaped after him, dumbstruck. “‘The best views’? What on earth does he think he’s here for?”
“For training, what else? It can’t possibly be for dating, can it?” Luo Donghao also was a little speechless. He glanced at Xiang Aoting, who was watching s.h.i.+ Jin leave, and heaved a sigh.
s.h.i.+ Jin dashed out of the starting point the second the gunfire announcing the start of the race sounded. He rushed up the mountain path, half-running and half-climbing, and soon disappeared into the woods.
His movements shocked the cadets who also chose this route. One of them couldn’t help but try s.h.i.+ Jin’s hill-climbing method and ended up tumbling down miserably. Getting up, he growled angrily, “Don’t let me find the person who spread those rumors, or I’ll kill him! ‘Spoiled young master,’ my a.s.s!”
The others silently echoed his words. They carefully went up the path, not daring to rush like s.h.i.+ Jin.
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
s.h.i.+ Jin ran as fast as he could, rus.h.i.+ng to the top of the mountain with all his might. Without stopping, he grabbed a little flag attached to a tree, then sprinted in the direction of the ranger’s cabin. Faster, faster—the faster you run now, the longer you can stay with Lian Jun.
Finally! His hair had become damp with sweat, when—at long last—the cabin appeared in the view. His eyes lit up. Hurriedly stuffing the little flag in the backpack on his back, he rushed to the door and pushed it open, shouting happily, “Lian Jun!”
Lian Jun, who was skimming through doc.u.ments on his tablet, barely heard someone running outside when the door not far in front of him was thrown open. Before his eyes could adjust to the change in light intensity, a sweaty body plunged toward him.
Bam.
“Ah!”
s.h.i.+ Jin didn’t get the angle right; as a result, he banged his head on Lian Jun’s wheelchair and cried out in pain.
Lian Jun hurriedly threw the tablet aside and reached out to touch s.h.i.+ Jin’s head, frowning in concern. “Where did you hit yourself? Does it bleed? Let me see.”
s.h.i.+ Jin looked up at him and instantly forgot the pain. He pulled Lian Jun into his arms and hugged him hard, rubbing him almost like kneading dough. “You really came! The road uphill is in awful condition, how did you get up here? When did you come? Have you eaten lunch properly? And nap? Did you take a nap after lunch?”
Lian Jun felt as if he was caught by an overexcited bear. Amus.e.m.e.nt, heartache, and tenderness mingling in his chest, he returned the hug, gently stroking s.h.i.+ Jin’s back. “I took another, repaired, road. Gua One and Gua Two accompanied me. I had lunch but I haven’t taken a nap, I’ll take one later,” he replied, looking over at Gua One, who kept guard in the corner.
Words were unnecessary—Gua One quietly got up and walked out the door. He exchanged silent glances with Gua Two, who was watching outside, and took a position where they could guard the cabin from both sides.
Inside, s.h.i.+ Jin listened to Lian Jun, replying ‘uh-huh’, ‘uh-huh’. Feeling that the wheelchair was really getting in the way, he pulled Lian Jun out of it and made him sit on the narrow bed that the mountain ranger could use to rest, and then hugged him again.
“Let me take a look at your head first,” Lian Jun said, hugging him with one arm and pulling away a little. At the sight of a b.u.mp on s.h.i.+ Jin’s forehead, he frowned. “Does it hurt?” he asked, touching it lightly.
s.h.i.+ Jin shook his head, watching him with s.h.i.+ning eyes. Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed him.
He had just been exerting himself; he was covered in sweat, his short hair was messy, and blades of gra.s.s clung to his body here and there. His skin was darker than before and his muscles firmer. He wore an olive-green t-s.h.i.+rt, camouflage pants, and a pair of army boots.
This was s.h.i.+ Jin that Lian Jun had never seen before, ruggedly handsome and oozing testosterone.
Distracted, Lian Jun let s.h.i.+ Jin seize the initiative, and was pushed down on the bunk as they kissed.
He was surrounded by s.h.i.+ Jin’s smell and felt his rapid heartbeat, hugged so tight it was almost painful. He opened his eyes and watched s.h.i.+ Jin kiss him eagerly, and the place in his heart that felt empty for much too long finally filled up again. He caressed the back of s.h.i.+ Jin’s head and closed his eyes, yielding.
Their breathing gradually became heavy. Just as Lian Jun was about to retake the initiative, s.h.i.+ Jin suddenly pulled away and got off the bunk. He took out a bottle of water from his backpack, twisted off the cap, and poured it down on his head, panting.
“What are you doing?” Lian Jun sat up, tidying up his somewhat disorderly robes, and moved to approach s.h.i.+ Jin.
“No, don’t get close to me for now,” s.h.i.+ Jin hurriedly raised a hand to stop him. He wiped the water off his face, feeling a little glum. “I can’t stay here for too long. I want to spend this precious time talking with you rather than wasting it. Just sit there and don’t move while I calm down, okay?”
Lian Jun’s eyes swept over half-crouching, half-squatting s.h.i.+ Jin, from a certain hidden part of his body to the water bottle in his hand. His heart stirred a little; however, he didn’t show it on his face, only said considerately, “All right, I won’t come over. But sit down properly, you won’t rest if you keep crouching.”
s.h.i.+ Jin simply plopped down on the floor. He looked up at Lian Jun sitting on the bed, clothes messy and lips red and slightly swollen, and groaned. He raised the water bottle to give himself another cold shower, then pressed the bottleneck on his forehead, hard.
A jolt of sharp pain ran through his body, slightly suppressing the other physical impulses.
Lian Jun got up and rushed over, then pulled s.h.i.+ Jin’s hand away. “Don’t do stupid things,” he said with a frown.
s.h.i.+ Jin captured his hand. “Who made you look so good?” he complained, looking up at him. “I’m at an age when my hormones are raging—if I don’t distract myself somehow, I’m afraid I might eat you up now.”
As the saying had it, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’. Add this to the fact that the body he had now was young and excitable, and things could easily get out of hand if they weren’t careful.
Nothing could ever be as rea.s.suring as your lover’s straightforward desire for you. s.h.i.+ Jin’s frank words dispelled all the worries and anxieties that were surging up occasionally in Lian Jun’s heart during the younger man’s absence. Stroking s.h.i.+ Jin’s thoroughly drenched hair, he teased, “How come I never knew you’re this unprincipled?”
“Isn’t it all your fault?” s.h.i.+ Jin didn’t avoid his hand, only looked up at him and warned unconvincingly, “Stop teasing me, I’m very dangerous right now.”
“I’m also very dangerous right now.” Lian Jun bent down and kissed his forehead, murmuring, “s.h.i.+ Jin, I think the way you miss me is exactly the same as the way I miss you.”
As the warm breath caressed his face, s.h.i.+ Jin clenched his eyes shut. He pulled Lian Jun down and bit his lip, growling, “I told you not to tease me!”
Lian Jun smiled and took him into his arms, regardless of whether the water on s.h.i.+ Jin’s body would wet his clothes. “s.h.i.+ Jin, I regret a little that I let you choose a police academy.” This separation was so hard to bear.
Pursing his lips, s.h.i.+ Jin hugged him, burying his face in his chest.
