Winner Takes All

Chapter 57

Title: 谁把谁当真 (Winner Takes All)

Author：水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)

Translator: 月野見事 (TsukinoMigoto)

Protagonists ：黎朔 (LiShuo), 赵锦辛 (ZhaoJinXin)

֍֍֍

Back at the resort, Li Shuo was tired and sleepy. Zhou Jinxing helped him into the room and poured him a glass of water. After resting for a while, he took a bath, washed away all the smell of tobacco and alcohol, and also washed away his muddled head.

After taking a shower, he was too lazy to blow dry his hair. He just wiped it hastily and fell on the bed. He was so exhausted that he could hardly think about anything but he could not forget the kiss between Zhao Jinxin and that Ken guy.

It is just a kiss, it’s just a kiss, is it worth to be thinking about?

It doesn’t seem to have much to do with the value…

Li Shuo gave himself a wry smile, rolled up the quilt to cover himself, closed his eyes, and soon, tiredness hit his nerves and he fell asleep.

In his confusion, something warm lightly covered Li Shuo’s head. Li Shuo’s eyelids trembled, but it was difficult to open them. He groaned and rolled over subconsciously. But the tiny pressure on his head still didn’t disappear that it finally woke him up. He opened his eyes slightly.

A pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes came into his view, those eyes were full of helplessness, and there were some unintelligible emotions in them.

“Why didn’t you dry your hair? You will have a headache tomorrow.” Zhao Jinxin’s fingers shuttled in between Li Shuo’s hair, his tone is that of a gentle reproach between lovers.

Li Shuo frowned, and it took several seconds to distinguish dream to reality. He squeezed his eyes uncomfortably and said dumbly: “You… how did you get in?” He suddenly thought of that as he asked.

Zhao Jinxin held him down and shook the hair dryer in his hand: “I will help you dry your hair before you go to sleep.”

Li Shuo pushed his hand away and emphasized, “How did you get in?”

“Mr. Cui let me in. Why, are you worried that Zhou Jinxing won’t let me in? What kind of position does he have to keep me from entering?” Zhao Jinxin felt that his heart was being squeezed by an invisible force. As soon as he entered the villa, he ran to Li Shuo’s room and was relief to find that Li Shuo and Zhou Jinxing weren’t sleeping together. Only then that he felt the force that was squeezing his heart loosened.

“I won’t discuss what position he has but you surely don’t have a position to enter my room.” Li Shuo tried hard to portray a cold expression but he was too sleepy and he was already deeply tired when he said it.

Zhao Jinxin turned a deaf ear, “I’ll dry your hair for you, I don’t want you to get sick.” Then he turned on the hair dryer.

Li Shuo felt boundless anger at Zhao Jinxin’s hypocritical care. Maybe it was because he had drunk too much or maybe because there were no outsiders here. So, he didn’t feel the need to care about self-cultivation and his face. The anger accumulated in his body exploded in an instant and he turned vicious. He pushed Zhao Jinxin’s hand off of him with a strong force and shouted wildly: “Get out–!”

The hair dryer slammed to the ground and the air is still in an instant.

Zhao Jinxin froze.

There was a moment of suffocating silence in the bedroom.

Li Shuo took off the mask of a ‘gentleman’ of his easily. He grabbed Zhao Jinxin by the collar and pushed him away forcefully. His eyes were scarlet and he gritted his teeth as he said: “We broke up, we broke up, don’t you fucking understand? I don’t want to see you anymore, don’t want to hear your voice anymore, do you fucking understand?! You pretend to care about me, do you still expect me to continue to get naked for you and fuck with you? Can you get out of my life? Can you save my face and don’t mess with me again?!”

Zhao Jinxin looked at Li Shuo blankly. He had never seen Li Shuo like this, so hysterical, so angry and… so sad. It was as if he had suffered a heavy blow and there was a dense pain in his chest that he suddenly couldn’t even make a sound.

Li Shuo pushed Zhao Jinxin off again and pushed him all the way to the door: “Go, go, go! Don’t let me see you again! Go–!”

Zhao Jinxin grabbed his wrist as his feets remain rooted where he is. No matter how much Li Shuo push him, he didn’t take a step back. His nose was sour and his voice trembled uncontrollably: “I’m sorry…”

Li Shuo looked embarrassed, stared at Zhao Jinxin’s eyes without blinking, and said coldly: “I don’t need your apology, I need you to disappear.”

Zhao Jinxin bit his lip lightly, his eye circles were a little red and his voice was slightly small and trembling: “Uncle Li, don’t do this to me…”

Li Shuo’s heart hurts sharply. Zhao Jinxin’s slightly pleading tone was just like how he had been acting coquettishly to him countless of times before. Thus, countless past scenes flew past his mind. He remembered the once beautiful details so clearly. As for the clear details, it only left him with a splitting headache. He endured all the pain he felt at the moment and said in a hushed voice: “How did you treat me and how did I treat you… we are clear about this. I don’t owe you anything.” He took a deep breath and said with all his strength; “Go.”

Zhao Jinxin closed his eyes and took in a laborious breath. When he opened his eyes again, he had already calmed down. He let go of Li Shuo’s hand but gently brushed his fingers against Li Shuo’s hair: “At least listen to my few last words, okay?”

Li Shuo looked at him in silence.

“I don’t want to hurt you at all and I have never liked anyone as much as I like you.” Zhao Jinxin’s eyes were rendered full of sadness, “But I don’t like commitment, I don’t like promises, I can’t imagine what being with someone for a lifetime is like. A lifetime is too long, who knows what will happen in the future so I can’t respond to the kind of feeling you want…”

Li Shuo trembled and said: “Enough, just go.” In fact, he knew it since a long time ago, but to hear it spoken from Zhao Jinxin’s mouth, it feels especially bloody. Zhao Jinxin is too young. At this age, he can’t possibly imagine a lifetime, he understands that. But Zhao Jinxin shouldn’t played around with his feelings. He can’t forgive the deception and humiliation that this person gave him.

“But I think about you every day.” Zhao Jinxin’s eyes gradually became confused and helpless, “Every moment…why, why can’t I forget you?”

Li Shuo closed his eyes, turned his back on Zhao Jinxin, silently indicating his rejection.

“I’m sorry, I won’t bother you again.” Looking at Li Shuo’s back, Zhao Jinxin stepped back further and further. The more he watched, the more he felt his eyes sore and his heart was like it was torn apart. It was something that he had never experienced before. With this unfamiliar feeling, it gave birth to an unspeakable fear for him. It was as if Li Shuo’s back would eat people. He left the bedroom almost as if he was fleeing for his life.

Li Shuo froze in place for a long time before he fell and slumped himself on the bed. All the strength in his body seemed to have been emptied with the sound of Zhao Jinxin’s leaving footsteps.

This is the end, great, this is really the end…

Li Shuo gently covered his eyes.

The next day, Li Shuo didn’t get up. It was not really uncomfortable but he just didn’t want to meet people so he used a hangover as an excuse.

Zhou Jinxing paused outside the door for a moment: “I’m sorry, is it because I didn’t stop Mr. Zhao from coming in yesterday?”

“No.” Li Shuo said in a dumb voice, “I am really uncomfortable, I’m sorry, you can go first.” Zhou Jinxing had no reason to clashed with Zhao Jinxin for him, and it was already very righteous of him to insist on bringing him back yesterday.

“Okay, I’ll let the hotel deliver medicine to you, take a good rest.”

Li Shuo breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his sore temples, facing the empty bedroom, not knowing what to do. He thought about it and called his mother. He wanted to hear a voice that would calm him down.

As soon as she answered the phone, Mrs. Li asked worriedly: “Son, are you sick?”

“No, there were people smoking cigarette during dinner yesterday, and my throat was sore.”

“Oh, let’s not take part in dinners in the future. Our family is not short of money. If you want to work, you can work. If you don’t want to work, just go out and relax.”

“It’s boring not to work.” Li Shuo smiled, “Besides, I have rested long enough, what else should I do? If the hotel project can be negotiated, I will leave a custom suite for our family. You can wear all kinds of beautiful dresses to take pictures by the beach.”

Mrs. Li was very happy: “Well, the weather there is good, I also want to stay for about two months…”

The mother and son were chatting about some work and Li Shuo’s heart gradually calmed down. While he was talking, he enlightened himself from the bottom of his heart. His whole family is healthy and happy. It is a blessing from God. He shouldn’t embarrass himself too much for the sake of feelings. All the grief will pass. Just wait for them to pass and leave everything in the past. Then, it will all be fine.

Li Shuo hid for two more days before he packed up and came out to see people. Although he can’t do it in high spirits, at any rate he won’t be left feeling too embarrassed.

Zhou Jinxing and Mr. Cui have been dealing with various organizations these past few days. In order to get a lower land acquisition price and higher policy support, he is also embarrassed to continue to pretend to be sick so he helps them to find connection, negotiate and advance with the business. It will get busy soon.

The deeper the contact he has with Zhou Jinxing, the more Li Shuo discovered that his knowledge is deeper. On the surface, this gentleman is polite to everyone, but his way to solve problems is somewhat cunning, especially those that are difficult to solve. Although it is very effective and also not breaking the law, but it often makes Li Shuo feel dumbfounded. He always strives to be upright and clear in his life and things. He never thinks that it is naive or innocent of him to be this way but he does not force others to be like him.

President Cui temporarily left for a few days due to family affairs. When only Li Shuo and Zhou Jinxing were left, they often ate, drank and spend time together. They shared a common language and were both gentle and courteous on the surface. Even if there were any differences between them, they never cease to communicate and resolve them calmly. This mature and smart way of being in the world made them appreciate each other and gradually changed from being just partners to being friends.

Zhou Jinxing showed Li Shuo a picture of the so-called ‘wife’ of his and the child. The ‘wife’ in the photo is clearly a man. He has a full-faced facial features and a cool smile. He is not very handsome but he has a casual and carefree look. He is manly from the perspective of a gay man. One can even smell a trace of wild hormones from across the screen.

Li Shuo was quite surprised to learn Zhou Jinxing’s sexuality. After all, Zhou Jinxing was married. Zhou Jinxing didn’t explain much about this and Li Shuo did not casually ask about it. He could only wish happiness for him from the bottom of his heart.

Since that day, a month has passed and Zhao Jinxin has not appeared again. There is no news of him at all. Li Shuo knew that they were really over. But he never felt relaxed for a moment and there’s never a day that he did not think about Zhao Jinxin. However, he knew that one day, he would completely forget about this person.

Like Zhou Jinxing, he hopes that one day, he can find someone who truly belongs to him and get blessings for life.

֍֍֍

Next update: 2021/9/20

*Translator’s Candies:

Here are some visuals for you from weibo. Artist: @_我说柠檬你说酸_

LI SHUO:

ZHAO JINXIN:

WEN XIAOHUI:

LUO YI (Xiaohui’s bf):

LI CHENGXIU:

SHAO QUN:

ZHOU JINXING: