Meanwhile, Shi Weichong continued, "I've been investigating Lian Jun these past few days and discovered that not only is his family history questionable, but he also has many enemies. It's dangerous for you to be by his side."

Shi Jin immediately became alert and asked, "Someone wants to harm Young Master Jun? Who?"

Shi Weichong's words were cut off by his own frustration. 

He loosened his tie and took a sip of tea from the table, taking a moment to digest his frustration. Suddenly, he changed the subject and said, "Xiao Jin, do you think it was just a coincidence that us brothers could find you this time?"

Shi Jin was taken aback and instinctively asked, "Wasn't it?"

"Of course not, Old Third suspected it was you when he saw that dancing video, but you've changed so much that he was afraid of mistaking you for someone else. So he went to Old Fourth. You know, because of his profession, Old Fourth is much better at recognizing people than the average person."

Shi Jin was stunned, then broke out in a cold sweat. How could he forget that soldiers don't rely solely on appearances to recognize people? 

He was able to recognize Number One, who had removed his disguise, at a glance. So it was natural for him to recognize his slimmer self through the video, especially since some of the videos were shot in super high definition, making his features crystal clear!

Xiao Si also stuttered, saying, "B-but your progress bar didn't increase during that time, did it? D-did he really recognize you that early?"

This was exactly what Shi Jin wanted to figure out now! 

Upon seeing the shock on my face, Shi Weichong let out a sigh and continued, "After roughly confirming that the person in the video might be you, Old Fourth and I followed this lead and discovered that you had been to the mall where we reunited a few days ago. 

"Shortly after, Old Third received a message from the authorities saying that you were an undercover agent and not to expose your video. We felt something was off, afraid that we had mistaken the person or that it really was you in the video. So, while Old Fourth checked the official message, we took turns keeping watch at the mall where you had been seen. 

"It was your birthday on the day we found you, and I thought you might go back to the mall to buy something or celebrate there. So I asked Old Third and Fourth out there togetehr, and luckily, we really did find you." 

Shi Jin was completely dumbfounded. His mind was frantically reviewing the changes in his progress bar during that period of time. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. He asked in his mind, "Xiao Si, why do I feel like something's not quite right?"

Xiao Si was also at a loss and asked, "What's not right?"

"It's the increase in the progress bar...I can't quite put my finger on it." Shi Jin frowned and glanced at Shi Weichong, who was sitting across from him with a completely brotherly demeanor. If he set aside his inherent bias towards the plot and just looked at him now, he actually felt that Shi Weichong looked quite sincere.

But the progress bar couldn't lie. Up until now, the value of the progress bar had been stuck at 900, not moving at all. If Shi Weichong really loved his younger brother as much as he appeared to, there was no reason why the progress bar wouldn't decrease at all. 

"Big brother," Shi Jin's palms were sweating, feeling like he had been tricked by the plot, and also feeling like Shi Weichong was digging a hole for him. He asked, "Why do you want me to go home so badly? Aren't you afraid that if I go back and secretly team up with Dad's confidants, I'll cause trouble for you?"

Shi Weichong looked at him as if he were a fool and replied, "Xiao Jin, don't watch those melodramatic TV dramas too much, they'll lower your IQ."

Shi Jin: "......"

Shi Weichong continued with a serious tone, "Xiao Jin, I'm telling you all this because I want you to know that it's not safe to stay by Lian Jun's side. He's not really good to you. You're still so young, but he's making you get close to scum like Xu Huai, and using those...methods. If I hadn't found you this time, what would he have sent you to do next? Would he have sent you to risk your life?" 

Shi Jin felt a sense of despair and thought to himself, "What should I do? I feel like he's convincing me. Is he really a bad older brother?"

"But your progress bar hasn't decreased at all, it's still at 900..." Xiao Si's tone was uncertain.

"Xiao Jin," Shi Weichong continued to speak on the other end, his tone becoming more and more sincere, "Come home with me. At your age, you should be going to school, not getting involved with the underworld. I know Dad's death has had a big impact on you, and you have a lot of questions in your heart. Maybe you even hold resentment towards me, and I understand that. But I really don't want to watch you jump into the fire pit. Come home with me, okay?"

If it weren't for the progress bar blocking his way, Shi Jin would have been moved by Shi Weichong's brotherly love. Unfortunately, things weren't that simple. 

"Big brother, I'm sorry." He looked conflicted but spoke with conviction. "Young Master Jun is not a criminal. I feel safe around him. Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it." If this concern was genuine.

The conversation once again hit a dead end.

Shi Weichong looked at Shi Jin and fell into complete silence, as if he didn't know what to say to him anymore.

Shi Jin felt uneasy under his gaze and suddenly realized that he might have been too much. He stood up, forced a smile, and said, "I have training later... I'll take my leave." 

Without looking back, he left the meeting room and rushed back to his room, turning on the bathroom faucet and plunging his head into the cold water.

With a splash, the cold water poured down on him in the winter, even though there was heating in the room. Shi Jin shivered from the cold, but it forced him to calm down. 

"Xiao Si, there must be loopholes in the plot. We need to be more thorough and consider other possibilities," said Shi Jin as he turned off the faucet and looked at his reflection in the mirror, which made him look like a fool due to the cold. He wiped his face with a towel and left the bathroom.

Xiao Si had already started to doubt itself due to the excessive love from Shi Weichong's older brother. Upon hearing this, it quickly asked, "What other possibilities?" 

"The possibility that five brothers of the Shi family don't actually want to kill their younger brother as the original plot suggested." Shi Jin sat on the sofa, with a towel on his head and tissue in hand to wipe away his runny nose. "From what I know about Shi Weichong, I don't think he would personally guard me outside the club for days and talk so much nonsense if he really wanted to kill me. I even think that my previous actions of giving up my inheritance and self-harm may have softened him, and he was genuinely concerned for me just now."

Xiao Si hesitated, "I-is it like that?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I just hope that we don't limit ourselves to the original plot and overlook the real danger." Shi Jin threw away the tissue and thought quietly for a moment before saying, "Xiao Si, get another copy of the original book's plot. There are some things I need to confirm."

...... 

It took Shi Jin three days to analyze the plot of the original book word by word, even though it wasn't very long. In the end, he frustratingly confirmed one thing - there was no clear and direct evidence in the original plot to prove that the original original owner was killed by his five brothers. Even the original owner himself didn't have any real evidence.

The process of the original original owner's death was very long and painful. After Shi Xingrui died, the original original owner was kidnapped not long after. Although he was later rescued, he was disfigured and lost two fingers. 

Afterwards, the original owner had his company taken away by his five brothers and was "confined" to the private hospital of his fifth brother, Li Jiuzheng, and couldn't go anywhere. 

By this point, the original owner had already convinced himself that he had been harmed by his five brothers. The reason was that his brothers didn't love him as much as before, they took his inheritance, and they spoke to him with cold words and sarcasm. His brothers were all hypocritical liars!

Shi Jin: "..." 

Although the five brothers of the Shi family are indeed hypocritical liars, are you sure that your method of identifying the culprit is not too hasty and subjective, young man? 

After six months of being confined, the original owner's injuries had healed enough for him to be taken back by Shi Weichong from Li Jiuzheng. Shi Weichong sent him back to school, but due to his disfigured appearance, the original owner faced severe discrimination. He felt that Shi Weichong had sent him back to school to humiliate him!

The flames of hatred burned fiercely in the original owner's heart, and he couldn't help but team up with Shi Xingrui's trusted confidant to trip up Shi Weichong, who had taken over Ruihang. However, halfway through the plan, he mysteriously got into a car accident and was critically injured.

This critical condition lasted for a year, during which the original owner struggled in pain on his hospital bed. He couldn't eat or speak normally, and could only listen to doctors and nurses discussing his pitiful and miserable state. 

In the end, filled with hatred towards his brothers, his organs failed and he died. The book was written from the perspective of the original owner, making it easy for readers to immerse themselves in the original owner's role. Without realizing it, they follow the original owner's thoughts and emotions. 

The first time Shi Jin read it, he was almost suffocated by the plot and hated the five brothers to the point of his teeth itching. But now, upon rereading it, if he set aside those subjective emotions and only look at the plot, there were too many unclear parts.

Whether it was the kidnapping or the car accident that directly led to the original owner's death, there was no evidence to suggest that the five brothers were responsible, even though they are the prime suspects with the strongest motive.

"We've been tricked by the plot," sighed Shi Jin, coming to a conclusion.

Xiao Si, who had provided the original plot, quietly faded into the background. 

"Perhaps none of the five brothers in the Shi family liked the original owner, and they all wished for the original owner to disappear, but they may not have actually taken action. It's like how in our lives, we occasionally have thoughts of wanting a scumbag to die, but we wouldn't actually go and kill someone." Shi Jin said. 

He glanced at the white paper with his analysis before soaking it in water and rubbing it until it was destroyed. He then picked up his old cucumber pillow and said, "Let's go and verify this conclusion."

Xiao Si immediately snapped out of his thoughts and asked, "Jin Jin, how do you plan to verify it?"

"We'll go find Rong Zhou, who has the worst temper, and test his attitude!" Shi Jin's expression was serious, and he was full of confidence.

Xiao Si: "......"

......

An hour later, Shi Jin, who didn't have a driver's license, was personally driven by Number Two to the entrance of a villa area in B City. 

"Are you sure he's at home?" Number Two asked, cigarette in hand.

Shi Jin nodded. "Yes, I went to his fan site to gather information."

Number Two nearly dropped his cigarette in shock. "The fan site even knows if their idol is at home or not?"

"Normal fans wouldn't know, but there's a type of fan that stars hate the most - stalker fans," Shi Jin replied, unbuckling his seatbelt and waving to Number Two. "You can go back now, drive safely."

Number Two was still worried and asked, "Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?"

Shi Jin readily agreed, "Actually, it would be better if you came with me. I'm scared."

Number Two: "..."