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)

֍֍֍

Zhou Jinxing was also a straightforward person. After verbal negotiation, he didn’t even ask Li Shuo to sign the guarantee contract. Li Shuo offered it by himself, but he also refused. His original words were “I believe in you.”

Li Shuo was very touched. He is a man who values love and justice. If others treat him well, he will repay them double.

In fact, he chose to transfer his share out of a few considerations. Firstly, he wanted to draw a clear line with Zhao Jinxin. Secondly, he wanted to compensate Zhou Jinxing. And thirdly, after several months of work, he found that he was still more suitable to do his previous business. Instead of engaging in entertainment and running projects, he wants to reinvest in a firm after all of the proper preparations. It does not need to be large in scale. It is enough to have some work to focus on to maintain his life. He will hand over the firm to others to manage so that he can only follow up on important cases and spend more time with his family and enjoy life.

The next day, his parents returned from their hometown with a bunch of specialty products. Since he was a child, Li Shuo liked to eat lotus root noodles from an old shop by the West Lake. It was made by hand and sold for only three or four catties a day. He bought fresh ones on the same day and cooked them with some rock sugar. It was smooth and sweet.

As soon as he got home, his mother cooked him a bowl, and Li Shuo praised it as he ate it. The taste has not changed in more than two decades.

“Is it delicious? It still tastes the same as when your mother and I had it when we were young.” Mr. Li carried a few bags and put them by the door, “Li Shuo, these are special products for Jinxin. Take the time to send it to him.”

Li Shuo said “Oh”.

“When shall we go to Sanya?” Mrs. Li asked happily. “I bought a lot of clothes.”

“We can go anytime you want.” Li Shuo said with a smile, “You two rest first. How about we go the day after tomorrow?”

“Okay.”

Mrs. Li went to pack her luggage. Li Shuo invited his dad to the study and told him about his desire to transfer his shares. Of course, he made up another reasonable reason for this.

Mr. Li pondered for a moment: “Well, what you say makes sense. If you really feel that it involves too much energy, then forget it. Jinxin is now competing with Zhou Jinxing, and it’s right not to be mixed in.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to mix in it at all. I find that I still like my old business better and I do it the best.”

Mr. Li patted him on the shoulder: “You want to re-open your business, of course we will support you. But this time, you must be very careful. I can understand why you did that back then, but it must be wrong for a reason. If it is fruitful, it can be regarded as a lesson for you.”

Li Shuo was surprised: “Dad, did you found out about what happened?”

“I think you were so worried during that time, how could it be possible that you don’t care about anything? I looked for someone to find out what is going on, but I know you definitely want to solve it by yourself. In this line of work, it is indeed very easy to be tempted. And it’s the easiest to get caught up in a quagmire. The mistakes you make when you are young should be used as a wake-up call and should be hung on your head at all times. I believe you will not make them again in the future.”

Li Shuo nodded vigorously: “Dad, I won’t. Thank you for not assuming anything and understanding me.”

Mr. Li smiled: “It’s not like I don’t know you. You’ve been strong since you were a child, and now you don’t have to let work take up so much of your time.”

“Yes, I will spend more time with you in the future.”

The father and son smiled at each other.

Li Shuo has booked air tickets and hotels for him and his parents. He wants to take them for a nice vacation in Sanya.

Before leaving, he received a call from the front desk of the office, saying that someone had come to the office to look for him.

“Who is it?” Li Shuo asked casually.

“He is called… Xu Darui.”

Li Shuo froze.

“……Who?”

“Xu Darui.”

Li Shuo’s eyebrows are twisted together: “Describe his appearance.”

“He is in his early fifties, a northerner, very tall and strong, with a bald head.”

Li Shuo took a heavy breath: “Tell him that I am no longer working in the office, and don’t give him my contact information.”

“Oh, sure.” The front desk was obviously curious, but he didn’t dare to ask for more.

After he hung up the phone, Li Shuo felt that the frequency of his heartbeat was a little abnormal.

Xu Darui was the boss of Great Real Estate. He…is out of prison? He wonders.

Li Shuo remembers that he was sentenced to nine years at the time. If he performed well in prison, it would be normal to come out three years earlier.

What does he wants looking for him? No matter what it was, Li Shuo didn’t want to see him again, and didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.

However, the appearance of this person made Li Shuo faintly uneasy. Perhaps because in just the same year, Shao Qun had used the old Penghui real estate case to implicate him, almost ruining his ten-year career that made him thought about it. And him, using Xu Darui’s nephew-Penghui’s legal person to retaliate against Shao Qun. Finally, Xu Darui himself had appeared. He only hoped that the price he paid would make him and Penghui no longer involved in this case, but the series of happenings went against his wishes.

It’s useless to think about it. Li Shuo doesn’t want to think about it for the time being. He didn’t cause any trouble so why should he be worried about it? Just let it be.

He picked up his luggage and went downstairs. Xiao Chen came to pick up a family of three and drove them to the airport.

When they arrived at the airport, Li Shuo pulled Xiao Chen to one side: “Xiao Chen, you go back to the office now, and ask the little girl at the front desk to learn more about the person who came to find me today.”

“Oh, okay, what’s the matter?”

“It’s an old acquaintance, but I don’t want to see him. I’m worried that he has hidden purposes. If he leaves contact information or something, you can check it along the way, but don’t contact him.”

“I know Mr. Li, leave it to me, you have fun.”

Li Shuo patted him on the shoulder.

In the afternoon, they flew to Sanya. Li Shuo booked the resort where he had stayed before, where he grew his own vegetables which he liked very much.

He called the travel agency and booked a driver and he would take them out for sightseeing tomorrow. Then he took his mother to buy a bunch of ingredients in the small supermarket in the resort, and planned to go back to eat barbecue. You can buy authentic black pork there. Zhou Jinxing made barbecue for him before and it was very delicious.

When he returned to the villa, his father was swatting the mosquitoes with electric mosquitoes’ repellant. His movements were very large and his expression of anger showed his frustration, which made both mother and son amused.

A family of three prepared barbecue while chatting, the atmosphere was very warm.

At this time, the doorbell rang.

Li Shuo thought it was the waiter who came over to give him a pair of scissors, so he rushed to open the door with his apron still on.

As soon as the door opened, three members of the Zhao family appeared in front of Li Shuo without warning, and Li Shuo’s eyes went black.

“Surprise.” Zhao Jinxin’s face bloomed with the most hearty and beautiful smile.

“You…” Li Shuo smiled dryly.

“Haha, Li Shuo.” Zhao Rongtian laughed loudly, “The company’s business is just finished. Jinxin told us that you all are here so we decided to come for a vacation together.”

“Son, did you get the scissors?” Madam Li walked over curiously. When she saw them, she smiled in surprise, “Oh, why are you guys here? Husband, come here.”

Li Shuo was squeezed aside and can only watch Zhao Jinxin enter the room.

Zhao Jinxin blinked at Li Shuo, quietly whispering in his ear: “I miss you so much.”

Li Shuo pretended not to hear and went to entertain the Zhao family.

“Uncle and Auntie, are you making barbecue? What a coincidence, the first time we ate at Qiandao Lake together was also barbecue.”

“Yes, Xiao Shuo said the black pork here is very delicious. Have you tried yet?”

“No, I just got off the plane.”

“That’s right, we bought a lot of food, you guys take a rest, and let’s eat together later.”

Zhao Jinxin smiled and leaned to Mrs. Li’s side: “I will help aunt to do it together.”

“No, you go and rest.” Madam Li looked at Zhao Jinxin with a smile, the more she looked at him, the more she liked it.

Zhao Jinxin said sweetly: “I want to give my aunt a hand and see with my own eyes how my aunt marinates the meat to become so delicious.”

Mrs. Li laughed so hard that she couldn’t close her mouth.

Li Shuo was burning with anger but he still had to entertain everyone with a smile on his face.

Zhao Jinxin is everywhere, everywhere! He thought angrily.

Mr. Li called and asked the hotel to bring more wine, but he was strictly restricted by his wife and children to drink only one bottle of beer. Despite that, he was also very happy.

They eat, drink, and chat by the private pool, and the two families get along well.

Li Shuo has been busy going in and out, hardly giving Zhao Jinxin a chance to approach him, but he was still blocked by Zhao Jinxin when he went to the toilet. As soon as he opened the toilet door, Zhao Jinxin pushed him back and closed the door smoothly.

Li Shuo frowned and said, “If there is anything to say, let’s talk outside.”

“If Uncle Li should go out again,…” Zhao Jinxin seemed to be in a good mood, narrowed his eyes and smiled, “my little lamb, running so fast.”

Li Shuo’s face became more and more ugly: “Just say whatever you want to say.”

“The land exchange rights and interest certificate is officially in my hands.” Zhao Jinxin sounded a little proud, “Zhou Jinxing still wanted to pry my corner. After finding it was useless, his attitude softened.”

“Are you here to just talk about this?” Li Shuo said coldly, “That’s the matter between you and him, it has nothing to do with me.” As he said that, he wanted to push Zhao Jinxin away.

Zhao Jinxin approached him within two steps and stretched out his long arms, trapping Li Shuo between himself and the washstand. He looked at Li Shuo condescendingly, and the tip of his nose almost touched Li Shuo’s face: “How can it not be about you? It doesn’t matter, I told you, this project is for you.”

“I. Don’t. Want. It.” Li Shuo sneered, “I am not short of money, do you expect to use money to impress me?”

“I don’t expect using money can impress you, I just want to compensate you one by one for what I owed you. This hotel project is the compensation for the business you had lost.”

Li Shuo sneered and said, “Do you really want to compensate me?”

Zhao Jinxin nodded seriously.

“Then what to use to compensate me, I’m the one who should decide that.”

Zhao Jinxin looked at him unblinkingly: “You decide then.”

“I want Shao Qun to personally apologize to me.” Li Shuo looked at him directly.

Zhao Jinxin looked embarrassed and his eyes flickered.

“Can’t do it? Other compensation is meaningless to me. You should save the effort.” Li Shuo pushed him away. “Don’t worry, I’m just casually saying about it. The grievance between Shao Qun and I is ours. In between, you also saved my father at the beginning and I have vowed not to implicate you because of Shao Qun. One thing to another, can’t you clearly see? Li Shuo doesn’t need any compensation from you.” Li Shuo thought about it and made a “tsk” again, “What other nonsense will I have to tell you?”

Li Shuo is about to walk out of the bathroom.

Zhao Jinxin suddenly hugged him from behind. Li Shuo was shocked. Just as he was about to resist, Zhao Jinxin gently bit his neck and whispered: “Uncle Li, you are really going to torture people. Let me hold you for a while. Just a little bit… let me charge up.”

Li Shuo was silent for only two seconds before breaking free from Zhao Jinxin’s embrace and walked out of the bathroom.

Two pairs of old wives danced to music while holding wine glasses by the swimming pool. Li Shuo looked through the glass window, and the corners of his lips gradually raised and smiled.

They eat and play, and this family party lasts until ten o’clock.

Zhao Rongtian and his wife are going back to rest, but Zhao Jinxin said: “Mom, I just went back to fetch you your shawl and found that you didn’t close the window. Now the house is full of mosquitoes.”

“Oh, did I forget to close the window?”

“Yes, there are trees and wetlands here. It is especially filled with mosquitoes. Now they already invaded the house.” Zhao Jinxin smiled to Li Shuo, “Brother Li, there are exactly four rooms here, let us rest here, otherwise today I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

Li Shuo opened his mouth and said nothing. Zhao Jinxin came so suddenly that he could not find a reason for rejection.

Mr. Li said: “Okay, you can all just sleep here. Let me tell you to refund the place you rented. It’s four or five thousand for a night, right? Why waste money?”

“That’s right, there are just enough rooms here, and renting another one is too wasteful.” Zhao Rongtian nodded and said, “Jinxin, you go get the refund tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Li Shuo dared not speak.

When sleeping at night, Li Shuo directly locked his door.

He washed and prepared to go to bed but his phone rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number. During this time, because of the project, he had contacted many people, so he didn’t think much about it and he just answered the phone: “Hello.”

“…Li Shuo?”

Li Shuo was startled, the voice on the other end of the phone was so familiar…

“Brother Li, is that you?”

Li Shuo felt his scalp tingling, he secretly let out a sigh, and said calmly: “It’s me.”

“I’m your brother Xu. Xu Darui. Do you remember me?”

“I remember.” Li Shuo leaned against the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the dark seascape outside with a heavy expression.

Xu Darui was silent for a moment: “I went to your office today, only to know that you have quit. I know it is because of my nephew…”

“Brother Xu, let’s forget the past.” Li Shuo’s voice was unwavering.

“…Li Shuo, I feel very sorry for you.”

“I said, the past is in the past, Brother Xu. Congratulations on your free life now. Just live a good life in the future.”

“Hey, how to live a good life? I have nothing now.” Xu Darui’s voice was full of sadness.

This voice is indeed sounded like an old deceased person. It has long since lost the ambitions of the year. After many years, Li Shuo’s impression of this person is not the look of dejection in the court, but of the big boss with loud voice, high tone, and full of devotion.

The owner of this voice now is just that of a middle-aged man who has just been released from prison with empty hands.

Li Shuo felt extremely uncomfortable, but he really didn’t want to have anything to do with this person. He whispered: “Brother Xu, it’s never too late to start. You still have your family. For them, you have to cheer up. ”

Xu Darui trembled and said, “Family? Haha, I’m dead, I’m unwanted. And my daughter won’t even see me.”

Li Shuo feels like there’s a knot in his throat.

“Brother, I call you today…” Xu Darui said quickly, “I don’t have anywhere to look anymore, just tell me, can you lend me some money?”

Li Shuo had guessed it a long time ago, and he was silent for a while: “Brother Xu, I can borrow money from you and you don’t need to pay it back. We were close before. Although everything was wrong later on…I…” He gritted his teeth. “I hope you can guarantee that you will never contact me again after this.”

Xu Darui was silent again. After a long while, he smiled bitterly, grimly and coldly: “Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Li Shuo gently covered his eyes with his hands, feeling uncomfortable in his heart, and he muttered: “How much do you need?”

“…Two hundred thousand.”

֍֍֍

Next update: 2021/11/29

*Translator’s Note: Xu Darui is the antagonist in this story. I was ignorant of his existence at first. I was just annoyed with this kind of character. But thanks to his appearance and him being the antagonist, it directly avoided Zhao Jinxin from becoming an antagonist instead. Muahahaha. You will know why towards the end of the story.