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)

֍֍֍

After Li Shuo returned home, he called Brother Xiang angrily, saying that he is in trouble and will go to the office to talk to him tomorrow.

After Li Shuo calmed down, he reviewed his experiences during this period of time. He didn’t expect Xu Darui to repay virtue with resentment in this way, crushing the last bit of friendship between the two of them.

He has nothing to worry about.

After dealing with this matter, he will return to the United States. Maybe he is really not suitable to stay here. The career is gone, the relationship is gone, and the all that was left are just bad things.

His phone suddenly vibrated. Li Shuo picked it up and found that Chang Wenyou sent him a message.

He clicked to see the message. It was a photo. Specifically, it was an old photo retaken with a mobile phone, and it was a group photo. There were two rows of people standing side by side in the screen, one row of youths, and the other row of teenagers.

Li Shuo was startled, and vaguely felt that the photo looked familiar. He swiped the screen with his finger to zoom in on the photo and he saw himself in a row of heads!

That was a photo of him participating in the National Tennis League in college, and standing in front of them seems to be the participants of youth tennis summer camp from China at that time…

Chang Wenyou sent another text message: ‘Mr. Li, the world is so small. I felt that you looked familiar today. I went home and looked through the album for a long time. The person above should be you, right?’

Li Shuo replied: ‘It is me. The kid on the far right was you?’

At the far right of the photo, there was a fair-skinned and handsome boy with a clean smile like Chang Wenyou.

The other party quickly replied: ‘It’s me. We all wanted to stand beside you to take pictures, because you were the most handsome, kindest, and the best player, but you were snatched away by our class flower:)’

The summer camp was jointly organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. It was specially arranged for a few days to see them training and competition. Li Shuo remembered that there was a beautiful little girl who had been pestering him to teach her, but he had no impression of other people.

Yeah, the world is so small.

Chang Wenyou called and said with a smile: “Does President Li still play tennis now?”

“I’m too busy at work, I just play sometimes, how about you?”

“I still play. I will play every month. I didn’t dare to talk to you back then, but can I ask President Li to guide me now?”

Li Shuo smiled and said: “I dare not be a coach, you are all grown up, maybe you are better than me.”

“It’s a far cry. At that time, we all admired you. Almost all the players who entered the finals were foreigners. You are the only Chinese…”

The two chatted about the match that year. It was the period when Li Shuo played his best. There were indeed some remarkable achievements. He was reminded of the memories from his youth, and his mood got better a lot for a while.

He was very grateful for this late-night call. Reminiscing about his youthful spirit is a thing he is never tired of. At least it’s the only thing worthy of his sincere smile these days.

Li Shuo went to his old company the next morning.

After a while, some new faces have been added to the office. Li Shuo is very pleased to see how busy these young people are in the morning. It seems that since he is not involved in the operation, it was like there was no effect at all.

As soon as he entered the office, Brother Xiang locked the door: “Brother, what’s the matter? I feel like it’s a very serious thing after hearing what you said on the phone.”

Li Shuo sighed and talked about Xu Darui’s affairs. He asked Brother Xiang for help, so he definitely couldn’t hide it. Brother Xiang was good at mixing the good and the bad. He must listen to Brother Xiang’s opinion on how to solve this problem.

After listening to him, Brother Xiang scolded Xu Darui first. He also knew Xu Darui. The two were from the same villagers. He was like Li Shuo. He didn’t expect Xu Darui to become like this.

Li Shuo rubbed his forehead: “Brother Xiang, I haven’t encountered such a thing before. Should I call the police? I want to hear your opinion.” He couldn’t do anything wrong, even if he wanted revenge. Shao Qun also had to pass the law, but he hesitated in the face of this group of loan sharks who were squeezing the law. He knew that he couldn’t take the group of people to the police based on the current situation.

Brother Xiang shook his head: “You call the police and can get Xu Darui in jail. But this group of loan sharks can will still trouble you if they can go looking for you.”

“I think so too.” Li Shuo said knowingly, “how can I handle this?”

“It’s not suitable for you to deal with this kind of thing. Just leave it to me.”

“Brother Xiang, what are you going to do?”

“You prepare the remaining 1.3 million, don’t ask about the others.” Brother Xiang shook his head and said: “If you want my opinion, I’ll tell you that you shouldn’t care about that bastard since the beginning, Then you won’t need to spend money for useless things.”

Li Shuo smiled bitterly and said, “It’s time to accumulate virtue and do good.”

“However, the recording was in Xu Darui’s hands. It will always be a ticking time bomb. The recording was not a big threat. However, it was quite troublesome if he holds any physical evidence. I will take this opportunity to destroy the recording to avoid future troubles.”

“Okay, but…” Li Shuo said, “What are you going to do with Xu Darui?”

“As for the loan shark, Xu Darui will handle it himself.”

Li Shuo frowned and said, “They said they would sell Xu Darui’s organs.”

Brother Xiang shrugged: “Who told him to owe money?”

“I am willing to spend more money to make them let Xu Darui go.”

Brother Xiang got angry: “What is going on in your head?”

“Xu Darui is at this stage. I have a responsibility. I can send him to jail and watch him get a lesson, but I can’t watch him die.” Li Shuo said helplessly, “I guess let’s just treat him as a good deed. Every year, my family spends millions of dollars on charity. Not everyone is helping. Xu Darui is unrighteous but I can’t be unkind to him.”

Brother Xiang Ning is furious: “I have given you my opinion.”

Li Shuo smiled faintly: “Brother Xiang, our family believes in Buddhism and is compassionate, eh?”

Brother Xiang sighed and gave him a thumbs up.

On the way home, Li Shuo received an invitation from Chang Wenyou for lunch. Chang Wenyou was frank and enthusiastic, which made people become quite fond of him. However, Li Shuo is now a mess inside and out so he doesn’t want to deal with anyone. He finds an excuse to reject the invitation.

He suddenly felt panicked and didn’t want to go home. He wanted to find a place with more people to get a little bit of peace.

He went to the restaurant to have a meal, then went to see an art exhibition, and while wandering around, he bought a jade bracelet for his mother.

It was already dark when he got home.

As soon as Li Shuo opened the door, a strong smell of wine rushed into his face. In the dark living room, a figure was faintly visible. He was shocked and quickly retreated, his heart almost beating out of his chest.

He stroked the door lock with his fingers and found that there is no trace of damage. That means a key was used to open the door, but who has his house key…?

Li Shuo took a deep breath, opened the door widely, hurried to the switch at the entrance, and turned on the light directly.

There was a grumble of dissatisfaction in the room, although it was vague, it was clearly Zhao Jinxin’s voice.

Li Shuo was so angry that his brain hurts. He has been very nervous because of what happened last night, and Zhao Jinxin went into the house had scared the shit out of him.

He slammed the door with a string force. Without taking off his shoes, he strode in and saw a drunkard half slanted on his sofa. The wine bottles were spilled on the coffee table and on the floor. Those were a few bottles of good wine in his collection. They are all ruined.

Zhao Jinxin rubbed his eyes, sat up from the back of the sofa and looked at Li Shuo with blurred vision for a long time. He then showcased a dreamy smile.

Li Shuo asked angrily: “What the hell are you trying to do? Why do you have the keys to my house?”

“…The key? The key…I deserve to own it.” Zhao Jinxin chuckled, “Uncle Li, let’s drink?”

“Stop wasting my wine, call someone to pick you up, or I will call you a taxi.”

Zhao Jinxin shook his head: “Don’t wanna go. You don’t think about driving me…away.” He obviously drank a lot. His eyes looked a little lost.

Li Shuo wanted to pull Zhao Jinxin up from the sofa, but Zhao Jinxin made a counter-attack by immediately entangling him, holding him in his arms and not letting go: “Uncle Li. Mine. My Uncle Li. You’re mine.”

“Zhao Jinxin!” Li Shuo forcefully broke free from Zhao Jinxin’s arms. Fortunately, people who were drunk didn’t have much energy. In normal times, he would definitely not be able to fight off this kid’s brute force.

“I want to… lock you up.” Zhao Jinxin grabbed Li Shuo’s clothes, his eyelids were about to close, “But my brother said… He said if it’s you… use a gentler approach… not forceful. What should I do? What do you think? Tell me what you think I should do?”

Li Shuo completely pulled off the person who was sticking to him like an octopus, and threw him back on the sofa.

Zhao Jinxin looked really weak, so he collapsed on the sofa, looking at Li Shuo with red eyes, and whispered coquettishly: “Uncle Li, don’t be angry. Let me sing for you…”

Li Shuo looked at Zhao Jinxin’s pitiful appearance, his heart is sorrowful, and he froze in place for a while, at a loss of what to do.

“I like you. I like you so much…” Zhao Jinxin said softly, “I want to lock you up, don’t hate me… You don’t want me…”

Li Shuo wiped his face, took out his cell phone, and dialed Shao Qun’s number.

Zhao Jinxin struggled to move but he fell back to the sofa feebly, and could only stare at Li Shuo unblinkingly with longing eyes.

The helplessness in his eyes penetrated Li Shuo’s heart.

As soon as the call was connected, before Li Shuo had time to speak, Shao Qun quickly said: “Did Jinxin run to find you?”

“Yes. He’s still drunk. Come over and take him away.”

“You made my brother like this. You fucking take responsibility for me now. You guys have a good talk.”

“I have a good talk for a fart with a drunkard!” Li Shuo said angrily, “Moreover, we have nothing to talk about. Either you will take him home or I will throw him outside the door.”

“Then throw him away.” Shao Qun sneered, “It’s such a cold day. If something bad happened, you’re responsible. Maybe that’s exactly what he wants.”

“You……”

Shao Qunhan said: “Li Shuo, no one has ever been able to live well after offending me over and over again. The matter between the two of us is temporarily turned over. My brother’s matter, you can handle it yourself.”

Li Shuo also sneered: “Your ego is big, huh? You can be regarded as losing your wife and your army, so don’t pretend to be magnanimous in front of me.”

Shao Qun did not speak, but his breathing on the phone was heavy, and he was obviously angry.

“Shao Qun, listen carefully. The matter between me and Zhao Jinxin is only between the two of us. You know better than anyone how he treated me and it is not your turn to decide what I will do to him. If you really feel sorry for your brother, you should teach him to treat people sincerely and have a kind character instead of using, deceiving, or playing with people’s feelings. These are your brothers’ own game and the result is not as good as he expected. I am not responsible for this.”

Shao Qun gritted his teeth and said: “You make a price, how much the firm has lost, I will pay you three times the price.”

Li Shuo smiled coldly and said mockingly: “You can’t buy me.” After speaking, he hung up the phone.

Looking at Zhao Jinxin who had fallen asleep on the sofa, Li Shuo felt a headache. He turned to enter the bedroom, took a blanket, and put it on Zhao Jinxin.

The messy hair, drunk-crimson face and wet eyelashes make this beautiful sleeping face full of childish looks.

Zhao Jinxin is indeed like a child who has not yet grown up. He is lovable, proud, selfish, good and also bad.

He just doesn’t want to be the sacrifice for the price that Zhao Jinxin needs to pay for him to grow up.

֍֍֍

Next update: 2022/03/14 (on knoxt), 2022/03/16 (on wattpad)

*Translator’s Note: Chinese lesson from me. Lol. Class Flower (Banhua 班花) = the most popular/beautiful girl in the class. The male version would be Class Grass (Bancao 班草). If they’re the most popular, most beautiful/handsome in school that the ‘ban 班’ word at the front will be switched to ‘xiao 校’ so it will be ‘xiaoban’ (school flower) or ‘xiaocao’ (school grass) instead. [not the same as ‘xiao 小’ for small. Different characters, different tone]. And as for the proverb “賠了夫人又折兵” (losing your wife and the army). It means ‘losing on both sides of a deal’. I have to ask my Chinese teacher for the meaning lol. -K