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 cleaned up the wine bottles, wiped the floor, and then went to take a bath.

After taking a shower, he found Zhao Jinxin lying on the floor…

Li Shuo walked over, looked at Zhao Jinxin helplessly, hesitated for a moment, picked him up, and walked him towards the guest room.

Zhao Jinxin is really not light, especially since he is completely unconscious, Li Shuo sweats when he finally manages to put him on the bed. He covered Zhao Jinxin with a quilt and wanted to close the door, but the strong smell of alcohol was almost integrated with Zhao Jinxin. He didn’t want his room to be full of this smell, so he opened the window a little bit and the door was also left open. The heating in the room is adequate, so it shouldn’t be cold since he is covered with a quilt.

Li Shuo went to bed.

He was lying on the bed tossing and turning. His mind was full of all kinds of things that had happened recently. None of them could set his mind at ease. They upset him.

He doesn’t know how long it took when he is finally tired and falls into a half-dream and half-awake state. Suddenly, a short roar penetrated into his eardrum, and the quiet cry in the night caused his entire cerebral cortex to explode. And he is suddenly completely awake.

He gasped, his heart beating wildly, thinking that he had a nightmare, but soon, he heard more of the horrified cry, just…

Li Shuo took off his quilt and jumped out of the bed. Without even putting on his shoes, he ran barefoot to the guest room.

In the guest room, Zhao Jinxin was curled up on the bed covering his head. He was making a hoarse roar. The head of the bed bumped against the wall. It was really scary to see this scene in the middle of the night.

“Jinxin!” Li Shuo rushed over, trying to suppress him, “What’s wrong with you?! What’s wrong with you Zhao Jinxin!”

Zhao Jinxin’s appearance was too abnormal. It looks as if he was afraid of something. Watching him curled up into a ball, Li Shuo couldn’t help but feel distressed.

Zhao Jinxin was like grabbing a life-saving straw. He suddenly stood up and hugged Li Shuo hard. He was so strong that he was about to break Li Shuo’s ribs. At the same time, his whole body was shaking horribly.

“You…” Li Shuo was almost out of breath being held by him.

Zhao Jinxin shouted loudly: “It’s so dark, where’s the light? The light… it’s so dark… so dark…”

Li Shuo was startled. He then stroked Zhao Jinxin’s back: “There will be light soon. I will turn on the lights.” He tried to pull Zhao Jinxin’s hand away, but Zhao Jinxin was so tightly bound, he didn’t let go. He couldn’t help it, so he hooked open the bedside table drawer using his feet, where there were emergency lights in it.

Li Shuo wanted to lean in to get it, but Zhao Jinxin hugged him tightly, shaking in his ear and said, “Don’t go, don’t go.”

“Be good… I’m not going. I just want to take the lamp.” Li Shuo moved to the bedside table little by little. When a person bigger than himself was stuck on his body, the action was hard and kinda funny. He moved his arm for a long time. It was just enough to get the emergency light, he turned on the emergency light and put it on the bed: “Okay, look, there is light. It’s okay.”

Zhao Jinxin’s rapid breathing gradually began to slow down.

Li Shuo stroked his back and softened his voice: “It’s okay, there is light. It’s not dark anymore. Don’t be afraid.”

Zhao Jinxin was silent for a full minute before whispering: “…Uncle Li.”

“I’m here.” Li Shuo’s tone was very light, enough to intimidate him.

“Uncle Li, it’s so dark.”

“It’s not dark anymore. Shall I turn on the headlights?”

“No, don’t go.” Zhao Jinxin buried his face between Li Shuo’s neck and rubbed hard on it, “Don’t go, don’t go.”

Li Shuo sighed: “Okay, I won’t go…” He suddenly realized that something was wrong… Zhao Jinxin’s body is so hot!

Li Shuo reached out and touched Zhao Jinxin’s neck. He was really feverish!

Is it because he opened the window? He wondered.

Li Shuo felt regretful. He rubbed Zhao Jinxin’s hair: “Jinxin, you seem to have a fever. May I take your temperature?”

“No.” Zhao Jinxin said with a trembling voice to Li Shuo’s ear, “Uncle Li, I am afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Be good, don’t be afraid.” Li Shuo said softly, “I’m not leaving, I will only get a thermometer, okay?”

“No.” Zhao Jinxin hugged Li Shuo with a strong force, without any intention of letting go.

Li Shuo obviously felt that Zhao Jinxin was not very sober. He had never seen Zhao Jinxin like this before. He was so scared that he was afraid to even decide.

Within a few minutes, Zhao Jinxin stopped moving and making a sound. Li Shuo heard an even breathing in his ear.

Li Shuo breathed a sigh of relief, gently pulled Zhao Jinxin’s hand away, and then gently laid the person flat on the bed.

By the light of the emergency light, he saw Zhao Jinxin’s face covered with sweat and pale lips. He was obviously really frightened. He didn’t expect that Zhao Jinxin would be so afraid of the dark. Zhao Jinxin said that he has improved a lot since he grew up. When he entered the house, Zhao Jinxin was drinking alone without turning on the light. Why suddenly is it like that?… Is it because of a fever?

Li Shuo regretted that he opened the window. Although the heating in the room was sufficient, there were indeed gusts of cold wind blowing in. After all, it was the cold wind of the first month.

He tiptoed out and returned with the thermometer.

Zhao Jinxin burned to nearly 39°, no wonder it was so hot.

He got a wet towel to cover Zhao Jinxin’s forehead and then called a doctor who was able to make a visit at night.

After the doctor came over, he gave Zhao Jinxin an injection, prescribed some medicine, and then left.

Li Shuo was afraid that Zhao Jinxin would be scared again, and that he would be awakened if he turned on the lights, so he took three emergency lights he had at home and placed them in the room, so that even when the room was dark, it was still a little visible.

Even so, he didn’t dare to go to sleep. He hesitated for a moment before he lay down beside Zhao Jinxin.

Looking at Zhao Jinxin’s frowning eyebrows in his sleep, Li Shuo couldn’t help but smoothe it gently with his fingers. He murmured, “Poor little thing…”.

In the middle of the night, Li Shuo got up after a while and changed Zhao Jinxin’s cold towel, until finally he couldn’t stop his sleepiness and he fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Li Shuo woke up first, Zhao Jinxin was still asleep, he probed Zhao Jinxin’s forehead, and it seemed to be still quite hot. He took his temperature again and it dropped to 38°.

He got up, changed another towel, and went to the kitchen to cook. While cooking, he called Xiao Chen and asked Xiao Chen to come to his house immediately.

He makes breakfast, and Xiao Chen got there too.

Li Shuo pointed to the guest room: “I’m going out now. If the person inside wakes up in a while, you just say that you are the one taking care of him and that I left early.”

“Huh?” Xiao Chen looked dull.

Li Shuo patted Xiao Chen on the shoulder: “Just do it. When he wakes up, let him eat, and then tell him to take medicine. The medicine is on the coffee table.”

“……okay.”

“You will stay here to take care of him today. When he gets better, you will send him home. If he is gone, you call to tell me.”

“But, Mr. Li, who is inside?”

Li Shuo glanced at the bedroom and said lightly: “Zhao Jinxin.”

Xiao Chen made an expression of revelation.

Li Shuo took a few changed clothes and went to the hotel. This kind of evasive behavior also felt shameful, but he really didn’t want to and didn’t know how to face Zhao Jinxin now. What’s more, he is not in the mood to deal with it at the moment, and Xu Darui’s affairs have made him feel devastated already.

When he arrived at the hotel, he called Brother Xiang and asked about the progress. Brother Xiang asked him not to rush and that he was dealing with it.

He hung up the phone and fell on the hotel bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze. Obviously it was tiring not to sleep all night, but there was no sleepiness right now. For the first time, he didn’t know what to do.

In just one year, he seems to have lost a lot of things. Feelings, careers, and reputations crumbled one by one in front of him. Now not only has the career not been settled, the feelings are messed up, but they are also entangled by blackmail. It was as if all the bad luck that he had not experienced in the past 30 years had come all at once for him to experience them all over.

Li Shuo really doesn’t know whether Shao Qun should be blamed or whether he should blame himself for the passing of years.

He is too lazy to blame anyone, he just wants to solve the problem, and then… and then probably just leave here, go home, and return to his home away from disputes to find only warmth and love from his parents.

It’s just that he has never felt that time is so long. He can’t sleep and he has nothing to do. He has all kinds of information in his mind. He doesn’t even know if he thinks about loan sharks or about Zhao Jinxin, which makes him more uncomfortable. He can’t get rid of the thought.

He raised his watch and checked the time.

It’s already afternoon. If Zhao Jinxin wakes up, will he still be afraid? Have he eaten? Has he taken any medicine? Has the fever gone? Maybe he hasn’t gone home yet since Xiao Chen hasn’t called him yet.

What are you doing now?… Li Shuo scolded himself.

Li Shuo closed his eyes and beat his head. He wanted to dig out all the things that made him uncomfortable from his mind but he couldn’t do it.

Suddenly, the phone rang, Li Shuo quickly took the phone, but the name of the caller ID was Chang Wenyou.

Li Shuo sighed and picked up the phone: “Hey, Xiao Chang.”

“Mr. Li, are you busy? The voice on the phone sounded very warm and nice.

“Oh Nope.”

“Then, will you come out to play?” Chang Wenyou laughed, “The weather is good today.”

“I…” Li Shuo stared at the ceiling blankly. He wanted to refuse but suddenly felt that he is very suitable for exercise at this time. Exercise can vent a lot of unnecessary emotions so he changed his mind, “Okay, where? “

Chang Wenyou’s voice sounded very happy: “I will send you the address. Mr. Li, can’t wait for your tutoring.”

Li Shuo smiled faintly: “Don’t dare to be.”

Li Shuo got up from the bed, shook his head, and went out.

When he arrived at the tennis court, he temporarily bought sports equipment and put it on.

The two met in the lounge. When they met, they realized that they were wearing exactly the same clothes. They looked at each other and smiled.

“I bought this here too.” Chang Wenyou pointed to the store, and smiled shyly: “What a coincidence.”

“It seems that we have good eyes.” Li Shuo stretched his arm, “I haven’t played in a while, I hope I won’t look like a joke.”

“Well, you played really well at the time.”

“At that time. That was already twelve years ago.” Li Shuo sighed, “Time flies so fast, you were still a child at that time.”

“Yes, and you were my idol when I was a kid.” Chang Wenyou lightly pats Li Shuo’s tennis racket with his own tennis racket. His eyes were bright and clear. “Come on, my wish back then was to play with you. The field goal can finally be realized now.”

Li Shuo cheered up: “Come on.”

The two walked towards the court.

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Next update: 2022/03/21 (on knoxt), 2022/03/23 (on wattpad)

*Translator’s note: Li Shuo is really clueless how his intention to go exercise can cause someone to be madly jealous. *sigh*… Only 12 more chapters and a few extra chapters to go before this story ends, guys. Bear with me… -K