Winner Takes All

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)

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Li Shuo took that opportunity to break away from Zhao Jinxin’s restraint with his eyes full of anger and disdain.

How could Zhao Jinxin be so brazen and dare to mention those words to him!

Words that are supposed to be so sincere, how can it be so disdainful?!

Facing Li Shuo’s hostility, Zhao Jinxin’s surging emotions were instantly poured out by an ice water. He felt that his tongue was knotted and he reluctantly smiled: “That’s too hurtful for you to say.”

Li Shuo didn’t even look at him straight in the eye. He just turned and walked towards his car.

“Don’t you believe me?” Zhao Jinxin asked unwillingly.

Li Shuo did not answer.

Zhao Jinxin chased him a few more steps and prevented him from getting into the car.

Li Shuo looked at him coldly.

“It’s true.” Zhao Jinxin pursed his lips: “I wanted to choose a better time and a better place, and I wish to said it better, but… just now, I couldn’t hold myself back.”

Li Shuo smiled mockingly: “First of all, I don’t believe you. Secondly, you don’t understand what ‘love’ is. Lastly, even if it is true, it is your own business. There are too many people in this world who love me. I have no obligation to respond to them all.”

Zhao Jinxin’s eyes darkened and he shook his head: “Of course you can’t respond to them all. You can only respond to me.”

Li Shuo stared at him: “What did you say?”

“Because you like me.” Zhao Jinxin looked at Li Shuo directly and spoke seriously: “I gave myself 43 days to think clearly about one thing and I realized that I like you very, very much. And I can’t be separated from you.”

The muscles on Li Shuo’s face twitched. He quietly put his hands behind him and clenched his fists. He sneered, “No, you gave yourself 43 days to sleep around with all kinds of people and finally found that it was me who’s better so you don’t want to be separated from me.” He doesn’t care if what Zhao Jinxin said is true or fake. Even if it’s true, he has to compare himself to others to discover his value. This is simply a greater insult to him. He can’t believe how much Zhao Jinxin’s shamelessness and difficulty can hit him hard!

“That’s not true.” Zhao Jinxin said confidently, “I was at a loss. I never cared for anyone like this and I was afraid that I was only in a momentary illusion of liking you so I needed time to make sure.” He grabbed Li Shuo’s wrist. “Time has proved that you’re all in my mind, I can’t forget about you for every single minute. I just want you.”

Li Shuo tried hard to withdraw his wrist but it was held tightly by Zhao Jinxin. He stared sharply at Zhao Jinxin, “Zhao Jinxin, did you make a mistake? You think I, Li Shuo, as your plaything? You want to come, you can just come? And If you want to leave, then you can come back anytime after you have left? I have never seen anyone as bold as you.” He sighed, smoothing the anger in his chest, and bellowed, “You can hear me clearly. Me and you will never be anything anymore. Even if you are sincere or fake, no matter what you do, for me, you are already out of the game. Don’t take yourself too seriously. There’s nothing different between you and the boyfriends that I broke up with in the past.” Li Shuo said as he felt a certain part of his body bleed, but he still felt happy, extremely happy.

Zhao Jinxin narrowed his eyes, his heart throbbed uncontrollably, but he smiled confidently on his face, “I don’t believe you. You like me. I will compensate you well, treat you well, and give you my commitment and loyalty…”

“I have liked a lot of people.” Li Shuo smiled cruelly, “I have also received a lot of commitment and loyalty but unfortunately, I broke up with them for various reasons. What is so special about your commitment and loyalty? Besides, you’re not that special anymore.”

Zhao Jinxin’s face became paler and paler. He grasped Li Shuo’s wrist and tightened unconsciously.

Li Shuo frowned deeply: “Let me go.”

Zhao Jinxin blinked and suddenly softened his voice: “Uncle Li, I was wrong, can you give me a chance?”

Li Shuo also grabbed his wrist and said indifferently: “This trick doesn’t work for me anymore, let me go.”

Zhao Jinxin looked at Li Shuo deeply, with a lot of thoughts in his heart, and finally, lightly let go of his grip. He looked at his own hand. The warmth that belonged to Li Shuo didn’t seem to dissipate. He quickly clenched his fist, wanting the warmth to stay for even a few more second.

Li Shuo resisted the tingling in his chest as he turned around, opened the door and got into his car.

“Li Shuo.” Zhao Jinxin said in a deep voice, “You have messed up my whole life. Don’t think about running away like this. I will drive everyone who approaches you away and I will give you the best feelings in the world. You, I will make you take responsibility.”

Li Shuo’s body stiffened. Instead of looking at Zhao Jinxin, he slammed the car door shut.

When he got home, Mr. Li was about to go out with his wife. When he saw Li Shuo, he curiously said: “You’re back so soon? I thought there was traffic jam today.”

“Oh, there’s none.” Li Shuo said absently, “Xiao Chen has arrived?”

“He’s here. Do you want to dine together with us?”

Li Shuo smiled: “How dare I interrupt your date?”

Mrs. Li covered her mouth and smiled: “You’ve been bothering us for so many years, what’s with one more meal? Are you really not going?”

“No. Dad, Mom, you guys go on and have a lot of fun.”

“Okay, you can make something at home. Don’t be hungry.”

The two left while talking and laughing.

Li Shuo felt relieved yet also envious.

Perhaps because of his age, his mentality has changed drastically in recent years. When he was in his twenties, he never considered the future too far, but now he yearns for a family and having his own children in the plan before the age of 40. He hopes to have at least three or four children, and they should be one daughter. A well-behaved, soft, sweet little girl. But he even hoped that his child will have two fathers.

These things are too far away for Zhao Jinxin. He was so obsessed at the time that he wanted to manage this relationship. Obviously, they were so different from what they wanted, and they were destined to be impossible to be together. By now, he was very fortunate that he had gone to the hospital and heard the conversation between the two brothers. Otherwise, he would continue to sink in a vain dream and he would probably fall into the abyss and never be able to climb out again.

Misfortune can form into a fortune.

Even if his heart is riddled with holes, at least he saw the wrong person clearly.

Two days later, Li Shuo personally took his parents to the airport. They wanted to go back to their hometown to visit their relatives, while Li Shuo was going to Sanya to discuss about the project. They agreed to meet back in Sanya a week later.

Before leaving, Mr. Li called Li Shuo aside: “I went to the company to find Lao Zhao and met Jin Xin. He still doesn’t want to give up on that project. Actually, I also feel like it’s a little bit strange. Why is he going this far for a simple project? After I slowly think about it, he must be anxious to make some achievements. He was still young in the first place and did something wrong some time ago. Now his reputation in the company is quite low. When Lao Zhao came back this time, he also came to give his son some rooms for improvement.”

Li Shuo nodded: “It should be so.” He glanced at the clock on the wall, really wishing it would be boarding time soon. He could almost imagine what his dad would say next.

Mr. Li patted his son on the chest with the back of his hand: “Don’t worry about this. The Zhao family is on our own side. With Zhou Jinxing, you can try to communicate again. If Ennan’s funds can go in, it will be very beneficial to us. ”

“Okay, I see.”

As they were talking, a man in a suit walked over and asked politely, “Are you Mr. Li?”

The father and son said in unison: “Yes.”

The man smiled, took out an envelope, and presented it with both hands: “Mr. Li, this is given for you by Mr. Zhao.” He added, “Zhao Jinxin.”

“Jin Xin?” Mr. Li took the envelope with a baffling expression on his face.

Li Shuo snatched the envelope. His actions were a bit reckless and impolite that it made his father looked at him in surprise.

Li Shuo didn’t know if Zhao Jinxin would do anything extraordinary so he unconsciously had his guard up against it. He opened the envelope directly and what he saw was just a long list of gifts.

Mr. Li also leaned over to take a look and both of them were stunned.

“What is this for?” Li Shuo asked.

The person respectfully said: “Mr. Zhao said he was busy today and did not have time to send Mr. and Mrs. Li off. He heard that the two of you are going back to their hometown to visit relatives so he prepared some gifts. After getting off the plane, someone will contact you and help you check the consignment according to this list.”

“Oh, it’s so thoughtful of him.” Mr. Li smiled, “Okay, I’ll call him later.”

Li Shuo’s brows are about to be twisted together. He glanced at the list just now. There are special products, precious tea, high-end gifts, and most importantly, there is a long list of heart health supplements. Zhao Jinxin must have noticed what Zhou Jinxing gave away that day…

“This kid is really interesting.” Mr. Li said with a smile.

Mrs. Li also came over, glanced at the gift list, then looked at Li Shuo, and even snickered secretly: “Yeah, he’s really interested. Such a good boy.”

Li Shuo pretended not to see the smile. He stuffed the gift list into his mother’s hand: “Dad, Mom, you can board the plane, I’ll call Jinxin and thank him later.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

After sending off his parents, Li Shuo took out his mobile phone and turned to find Zhao Jinxin’s number, hesitating to press ‘call’. Even if he fought over and reprimanded himself, it would be useless to follow Zhao Jinxin’s own way.

It is still possible to have less contact, so let’s just have less contact.

Suddenly, the mobile phone rang. Li Shuo was distracted, his heart beat fiercely in fright. He fixed his eyes on the screen but it was not Zhao Jinxin’s phone call. It was Zhou Jinxing’s.

Li Shuo breathed a sigh of relief and answered the phone: “Hello. What’s up?”

“Good afternoon, are uncle and aunt leaving today?”

“Yes, I had just sent them off.”

Zhou Jinxing smiled: “Then I will see them in Sanya and I will treat them well.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Li Shuo, something has happened over the project. Is it convenient for you to meet me now?”

“What’s the matter?” Li Shuo asked as he walked his long legs to the parking lot.

“During the real estate bubble in the 1990s, the local government recovered a large number of undeveloped lands or unfinished projects in order to solve the bank credit crisis, and at the same time issued ‘land exchange rights certificates’ to land owners. Do you know about this?”

“I have heard of it a little bit, but I don’t know too much.”

“Well, this is the first case in China. It is an extraordinary method in an extraordinary period of time. You can learn more about it later. The trouble we are encountering now is related to this thing.”

Li Shuo returned to the car, closed the door, and said calmly: “You tell me.”

“The land exchange rights certificate is equivalent to the government’s IOU to the owner, which is to be repaid. If the land that year is no longer there, the owner can also get financial compensation or other land of equivalent value. Now, the piece of land that we want is one of the lands that was recovered in this way. This piece of land can be bought and sold normally, but the holder of the land exchange rights and interests of this piece of land has the right of refusal as long as it can make up for the land price. And In principle, there is no reason for the government not to sell the land back to the original owner for the difference in appreciation between land prices.”

Li Shuo frowned slightly: “So, now the person who holds the land exchange rights certificates for this piece of land has appeared?”

“Yes, this owner suddenly appeared, saying that if you want this piece of land, you can pay the value-added difference in one lump sum.” Zhou Jinxing said, “I suspect that this matter is related to Zhao Jinxin.”

Li Shuo took a deep breath: “Let’s meet up. Where do you want to meet?”

“Come to my house.” Zhou Jinxing chuckled lightly, “I’m taking care of my kids.”

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Next update: 2021/11/01

*Translator’s Note: IOU=written evidence of a debt of the government towards the owner of this piece of land.