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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Along the way, Li Shuo was thinking of Zhou Jinxing’s last words.

“I suspect that this matter is related to Zhao Jinxin.”

Will Zhao Jinxin really do this? He does seem to be someone who can do this kind of thing, after all, he is Shao Qun’s cousin…

Li Shuo was upset. Even though nothing was confirmed yet, there was a fire in his chest.

It’s not nice to visit the house empty-handed. Li Shuo drove past a store and bought some gifts, all of which were children’s toys and nutrition. Zhou Jinxing said that his family has three children. Of course, one was a new-born.

Carrying a bunch of things to Zhou Jin’s house, he rang the doorbell. The door slowly opened by someone but Li Shuo couldn’t see anyone. He was taken aback for a moment and looked down to find a little girl of about five or six years old with crochet braids. The girl was looking up at him. Her face was flushed pink and she has a fair skin. Her eyes were black and bright and she is very cute.

Li Shuo knelt down and smiled at her: “Hello, I am…”

The little girl turned around shyly and ran away.

Li Shuo looked at the half-open door, not knowing whether to enter or retreat.

“Li Shuo, is that you?” Zhou Jinxing’s voice came from inside the house.

“It’s me.”

“Pardon me. Please come in. I can’t walk away for a bit right now.”

Li Shuo opened the door. In the spacious living room, there were children’s toys scattered all over the floor. Zhou Jinxing held a crying baby boy with a flushed face in his arms. He was patting his back and coaxing him.

The little girl who just opened the door and another boy of the same age hide to the side looking at Li Shuo.

Li Shuo stood in the middle of the living room and smiled awkwardly. The appearance of Zhou Jinxing’s as a father at home was so different from his usual self that it left him loss as to what to do or say.

Zhou Jinxing seemed very natural. He smiled and said, “Sit down, my son had just cried. Now if I put him down, he will cry again.”

“Oh, sure.” Li Shuo put the gifts in his hands on the ground, “a little gift from me.”

“Thank you, you are so thoughtful.” Zhou Jinxing said to the little girl, “Lingling, pour a cup of tea for Uncle Li.”

Lingling got up and went to the kitchen.

Li Shuo looked around, thinking that the floor is messy enough: “Where is the babysitter?”

“The babysitter asked for a few days off.” Zhou Jinxing said helplessly, “I left home for two days and it already became like this when I came back. Lingling and her father would not clean up at all.” Although he was complaining, the words sounded sweet.

Li Shuo smiled and said, “Most people with children are like this.”

“I wanted to ask you to talk outside, but Lingling’s father has to go out to do something, so I can’t go away.” Zhou Jinxing rocked the baby who fell asleep on his arm, “And it’s very urgent. It’s better for us to meet and talk about it.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. We do have to talk in person.”

As they were talking, Lingling brought a cup of tea and put it in front of Li Shuo.

Li Shuo couldn’t help reaching out and touching her soft hair, and said softly, “Thank you.”

Lingling smiled shyly, then turned and ran away.

Zhou Jinxing pushed the documents on the coffee table to Li Shuo: “Look at this. Both Mr. Cui and I only learned about it yesterday. We conducted a temporary investigation and haven’t confirmed it up yet, but the land exchange rights certificates in the hands of the other party is a real one. If they have to ask for this piece of land and get the money, it is reasonable and due to be compliant.”

Li Shuo picked up the document and flipped through it and frowned, “This company hasn’t appeared before and only appear this late. We have invested so much money in this land and the relationship has been cleared up. The approval documents for road construction are about to be issued. It must be someone’s ill-intention to come to grab land with us at this time.”

“Yes, if the land is really snatched by him, our earlier efforts will be in vain while this company can just sit back and enjoy them. Moreover, we may not be able to find any other land that meets the development conditions.” Zhou Jinxing caresses his son’s back softly but there was a cold smile on his face, “No matter who is behind it, it’s quite poisonous.”

Li Shuo said solemnly: “You think Zhao Jinxin do this?”

“There are clues, but I am not sure yet.” Zhou Jinxing looked at Li Shuo, “I suggest you ask him. If he did it, he must be waiting for you to find him.”

Li Shuo narrowed his eyes: “Have you been in contact with the people from this company?”

“The people from my company went to contact them. This company almost went bankrupt during the real estate bubble that year. It was barely maintained over the years. It is impossible to come up with such a large value-added difference at once, and the company has already changed personnel. According to the rumors, people say that the company wants to sell the land exchange rights certificates and interests, and it should be under negotiation now.”

Li Shuo was silent.

If Zhao Jinxin really gets the land exchange rights certificates and interests of this piece of land, then it will not be Zhao Jinxin begging them to buy shares, but they would be the ones begging Zhao Jinxin to buy his shares. With Ennan’s financial resources, they can just completely kick them all away. One family swallows the land and develops its’ own project. Even if Ennan doesn’t do anything to develop the land, they can just put the ground as it is to go bask in the sun, and it won’t hurt to just sit and wait for the appreciation.

Zhou Jinxing is right, this trick is really poisonous.

I planned to build a resort for half a year, and the application was completed, the materials and the personnel were in place. As a result, the land was gone. Without mentioning the loss of financial and material resources, this trick is too suffocating.

Li Shuo sighed: “I will talk to Zhao Jinxin.”

“You should.” Zhou Jinxing nodded, “Don’t worry too much. After all, we have signed a contract of intent with the government. This land is in dispute. They can’t take it away for a while. The worst result is we will have to accept Ennan’s shares. If Zhao Jinxin wants to swallow it alone and we have to peel off his skin, this is not good for anyone.”

“Yes, but I still don’t want him to come in.” Li Shuo’s face was a little gloomy.

“These things are man-made.” Zhou Jinxing comforted, “Let’s find a way together.”

As they were talking, the living room door was pushed open, and someone had come back home.

Li Shuo turned his head and saw a slender man hummed and stepped into the door. He kept a short hair, with deep facial features, straight eyebrows, and an unmodified manly breath. It was very cold outside but he only wore a thin jacket and ripped jeans. The lines of the chest and abdominal muscles under the simple black T-shirt were faintly visible and the whole person looked very energetic.

He looked up, saw Li Shuo stunned, then grinned, and greeted him openly, “Hi.”

Li Shuo smiled: “Hello.”

“Why do you go out like this?” Zhou Jinxing frowned.

“What’s wrong? Am I naked?”

“Today is only 12 degrees.”

“I’m not afraid of the cold.” He reached out to Lingling and said with a smile, “Good girl, Daddy is back.”

Lingling jumped into his arms.

Zhou Jinxing said helplessly: “Li Shuo, this is Lingling’s father, you can call him Xiaowei. Ding Ge, this is my business partner, Li Shuo.”

“Hello, hello, oh so handsome. Hey, have you eaten?” Ding Xiaowei squeezed Lingling’s face and asked Li Shuo carelessly.

“Not yet.”

“Then stay for a meal. His cooking is delicious.” Ding Xiaowei pointed to Zhou Jinxing.

“He has tried it.” Zhou Jinxing said with a smile, “We lived together in Sanya.”

“Oh.” Ding Xiaowei put Lingling down, then reached out to hug the little boy who was playing with Lingling, “Xiao Yiyi, give uncle a hug…”

The little boy gave him a cold look, then turned and ran away.

Zhou Jinxing raised his eyebrows and added: “I lived in Sanya with Li Shuo for almost a month.”

“I know, you went to the small island alone, leaving us really frantic.” Ding Xiaowei sat down on the sofa and took a bite of the apple. “It’s getting colder and colder these days. Let’s go to Sanya together during the New Year.”

Zhou Jinxing smiled and said, “I went there all by myself, so you can rest assured.”

“I’m not worried. You are such a big person, why should I worry about you?” Ding Xiaowei seemed to have completely missed the meaning of Zhou Jinxing’s words, and he came over to tease the little baby in Zhou Jinxing’s arms.

Zhou Jinxing moved the child away, “He had just fallen asleep, you go wash the vegetables, I will cook in a while.”

“Okay.” Ding Xiaowei smiled and said to Li Shuo, “Then you guys talk, don’t be polite.”

Ding Xiaowei left, and Zhou Jinxing curled his lips, spitting at Li Shuo: “Such a straight guy.”

Li Shuo laughed aloud.

Zhou Jinxing’s culinary skills are indeed great. Li Shuo has experienced several times in Sanya. He can make home-cooked dishes with artistic sense and at the same time, it was delicious. This is an incredible talent.

While eating, Zhou Jinxing introduced the three children in the family. Lingling was Ding Xiaowei’s child. The baby was Zhou Jinxing’s. Meanwhile, although Yiyi was only five years old, he was actually Zhou Jinxing’s uncle who was also raised by him.

Lingling was ill when she was a child. She couldn’t speak back then but she is very smart and sensible. Now, she has almost no obstacles in communicating with her family.

Li Shuo looked at the laughter among the family members and his heart was full of warmth and envy. Zhou Jinxing seemed to have the family life he imagined he would have. He had a lover who knew each other well, had three children, and among the children, he has a daughter. This kind of atmosphere was even better than he had imagined, so that he yearned for it even more.

Will he have it too? When? With whom?

The face of Zhao Jinxin appeared in Li Shuo’s mind and he felt an unspeakable desolation.

Ding Xiaowei has an outgoing and hospitable character. When Li Shuo left Zhou Jinxing’s house, it was already past nine o’clock.

He drove home, took a shower, and once his brain relaxed, he called Zhao Jinxin.

As soon as the call was connected, Zhao Jinxin’s soft voice came from the receiver: “Uncle Li, you haven’t slept yet?”

Li Shuo looked at the mural on the opposite of his wall blankly: “Thank you for the gifts for my father. You won’t have to spend so much next time.”

“What are you being polite with me for?” Zhao Jinxin said with a low smile, “Your father will be my father-in-law from now on.”

“Don’t make such silly jokes. I have something to ask you.” Li Shuo said straightforwardly, “Are you causing trouble to the Sanya project?”

Zhao Jinxin paused and said lazily: “Zhou Jinxing refused to open up investment rights, so I will let him come beg me to buy shares.”

Li Shuo said coldly: “What on earth are you trying to do?”

“Do you not know what I pictured?”

“What do you think you can change by forcibly participating in my project? You will only make me hate you even more by doing this.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. But then, Zhao Jinxin’s voice was still full of confidence: “Uncle Li, I participated in the project to allow you to get more profits and greater rights to speak. You don’t have to cooperate with someone whom you have only known for less than two months. Why not just cooperate with me? I can take the whole project down and listen only to you.” He said softly, “Just treat it as my proposal to you.”

“I can’t be that special.” Li Shuo said sarcastically.

“Well, that’s my dowry.” Zhao Jinxin said with a smile, “It’s all yours anyway, okay.”

“Zhao Jinxin!” Li Shuo growled, “Have you not figured out the situation yet? What the hell do you think you are doing? You are ridiculous!”

“…I know.” Zhao Jinxin whispered, “Then what should I do, you tell me.”

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Next update: 2021/11/08

*Translator’s Note: Believe it or not… Yiyi is actually Zhou Jinxing’s ‘uncle’ (on the surface). His grandfather’s youngest child. His grandfather is a player after all. Heh. Such a capable old man! (I know this from reading the other story. I was also confused at first. Life is hard… And I can’t break the plot of the other story here as well but let’s just say Yiyi’s origin is actually more complicated than that T.T)