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 looked at Zhao Jinxin for five seconds, then smiled and shook his head: “Jinxin, you know I can’t refuse you now…”

“That’s why I said this now.”

“Feelings are just feelings…”

“And thanks are thanks, I know.” Zhao Jinxin smiled, “Hmm, we still have a tacit understanding.”

Li Shuo laughed, but his eyes were a little bit painful: “I don’t want to lie to you, even if you are lying in a hospital bed because of me now, I can’t lie to you. I believe you like me, but what I worry about is that in the future, the confidence and courage that were built up twice by me will all be broken up by you. If it is you, I am afraid there will be a third time.”

“Yes.” Zhao Jinxin grabbed Li Shuo’s hand, “I know that asking you to give me another chance is for you to take a huge risk, but only if you give me this opportunity can I prove to you that you made the right choice this time. The risk is worth it.” He smiled, “Like you said, I’m a bastard. I tried my best to force you to accept me. It’s not as effective as this moment. So I won’t let it go.”

Li Shuo nodded, and said helplessly: “This is indeed you.”

Zhao Jinxin grabbed Li Shuo’s hand, leaned over to his lips and kissed softly: “Not only getting my hand injured, I am willing to lie in the ICU just for this opportunity.”

“Don’t say such things.” Li Shuo flicked Zhao Jinxin’s forehead.

Zhao Jinxin hugged Li Shuo and rubbed his chin on Li Shuo’s shoulder. He then closed his eyes with a smile: “But what I said was true.” He was willing to pay even more than himself if he could hug Li Shuo back into his arms. He used to think that to talk about a love like this is the stupidest thing he will ever have to do in his life but now it all has changed. Before this, he has been unable to correct the mistakes of the past so now, he must occupy the future of this person.

Li Shuo stroked Zhao Jinxin’s back, feeling as calm as the water on a lake for a moment. He didn’t know how to describe it. It was as if he was relieved that he had no choice, and as if he was rejoicing that the so-called ‘no choice’ choice was to comply to his deepest desire that he didn’t dare to face directly himself.

In short, he couldn’t resist liking Zhao Jinxin. Compared with the torture that Zhao Jinxin had given him, the struggle between his own reason and emotion was even more torturing for him physically and mentally. It was his natural self-preservation mechanism that was fighting against his own desire. The fighting between the two parties was in full swing, turning his heart into an anxious battlefield.

Now he finally doesn’t have to endure this anymore, as Chang Wenyou said, Zhao Jinxin must be his destiny. And how long this is destined to last depends on both of them. He has to teach Zhao Jinxin a long, heavy, and deep lesson, decrease his chances of making mistakes, and use the net of tenderness and love to trap him in it.

Li Shuo said softly: “Three promises.”

“Even thirty will do.”

“First, we won’t live together. Second, you can’t interfere in me making friends. And third, you can’t monitor my whereabouts.”

Zhao Jinxin smiled and said, “Oh, okay.”

“Will you be good this time?”

“Yes, I will 100% be Uncle Li’s good baby.”

Li Shuo snorted: “You still wanna be a ‘good baby’? Such a big person, such a big man, are you not ashamed of yourself?”

“I look good and I’m not ashamed of myself.”

Li Shuo squeezed his cheeks, and said with a serious face: “Jin Xin, you must always remember that no matter what kind of gratitude I owe you, I am willing to use the same method to repay you. But I don’t owe you feelings. I will not repay any feelings. I promised you because I like you. I want to give us one last chance. It is absolutely the last time.”

“I understand.” Zhao Jinxin’s eyes flashed with a warm flame. He couldn’t help but hold Li Shuo’s head, give him a heavy kiss, and said sincerely, “Thank you.”

Li Shuo smiled softly.

“By the way, you took care of me the night before, right?”

“It is as you said.”

“I know it’s you.” Zhao Jinxin curled his lips, “As a result, you disappeared when I woke up, and asked the assistant to lie to me.”

“Who told you to ruin so much of my good wine?” Li Shuo said angrily.

Zhao Jinxin said with a smile, “Am I not your beloved baby? You can’t be stingy for me to drink a few bottles of your wine.”

“I don’t feel sorry for your drinking, I feel sorry for you to waste good wines like cheap liquor.” Li Shuo ruffles Zhao Jinxin’s hair, “and that method of drinking is too harmful to the body, so you are not allowed to drink like that in the future.”

Zhao Jinxin fell into Li Shuo’s arms and said coquettishly: “I listen to everything my Uncle Li wants.”

Li Shuo looked down on Zhao Jinxin in a complicated mood. Zhao Jinxin is really too contradictory. Him dealing with the cruelty of Lao Diao’s gang made him shudder, but now this same person is really really coquettish with him… Could it be the psychological trauma of his childhood caused him to develope multiple personalities? Can multiple personalities switch so abruptly like this?

“By the way,” Zhao Jinxin suddenly thought of something, “My brother did not embarrass you, did he?”

“He doesn’t have that ability.”

“You two…” Zhao Jinxin chuckled, “It’s easier to persuade you but it’s hard to persuade my brother, I’ll just let my sister-in-law deal with him.”

Li Shuo shrugged, he also remembered something, and said a little embarrassingly: “How does Mr. Zhao knows about our relationship?”

“My dad has great eyes, he just doesn’t point it out. Did he say anything to you?”

“He didn’t say anything.”

Zhao Jinxin breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Shuo hesitated: “Why, are you afraid that he would object us?” Because his family atmosphere is open and free, he has hardly considered family obstacles, but he can’t help to consider for Zhao Jinxin.

“Him? He won’t object, he has always been afraid of me… um…” Zhao Jinxin snorted, “He’s afraid that I’ll be playing around with you and will affect his friendship with your dad.”

Li Shuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, why is it the same as his own dad’s concerns towards himself ?

“You don’t need to worry about my parents.” Zhao Jinxin stroked Li Shuo’s Adam’s apple with his thumb. “When I was young, they controlled me too much, which caused me to be rebellious and deliberately do some dangerous things to fight their pressure. So now they relax much of their earlier restraints. Besides, I’m sick. I’ll be the same as a normal person if there is no accident. Once something happens, it may be a major event. They just want me to have a good time. Everything else is secondary.”

Li Shuo sighed, and said distressingly: “I never want to see you shed a drop of blood again in my entire life.”

Zhao Jinxin smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I have to live a long life for you.”

“You poor thing…” Li Shuo murmured, fearing the dark and having blood coagulation disorders. Suddenly he was at a loss for not knowing how to protect and love Zhao Jinxin. But he must be calm now, he wants to put more initiative in this relationship.

Zhao Jinxin hugged Li Shuo, displaying a sly and sweet smile.

Suddenly, the door of the ward was violently pushed open, and Shao Qun swaggered in. He was full of disdain when he saw them hugging.

“Brother.” Zhao Jinxin smiled, “You have taken care of my parents for these two days.”

Shao Qun snorted coldly: “You only hurt your hand, why are you lying down on the bed?”

“My mother told me to lie down, I don’t want to either.”

Shao Qun glanced at Li Shuo: “You surnamed Li, Cheng Xiu will come in to see him in a while, don’t tell him what he shouldn’t know.”

“I judged whether or not I should say what I should say.” Li Shuo said bluntly.

“You’re looking for trouble.”

“Oh, my hands hurt.” Zhao Jinxin suddenly yelled.

Li Shuo nervously asked: “What? Did you bump it into something?”

“It just hurts.” Zhao Jinxin put his arms around Li Shuo’s neck to play tricks, and at the same time made a signal to Shao Qun, and then gave a thumbs up.

Shao Qun rolled his eyes before opening the door: “Sister-in-law, come in.”

Li Chengxiu first peeped in with his head, blinked his eyes, and then walked in. With a large and earthy fruit basket in his hand, he walked over to the bed and said to Zhao Jinxin shyly, “I wish you a speedy recovery. .”

“Thank you sister-in-law for your concern.” Zhao Jinxin smiled brightly and cutely.

“Okay, let’s go.” Shao Qun hooked Li Chengxiu’s shoulder to take the person away.

Li Chengxiu ignored him, and looked at Li Shuo, as if he had plucked up the courage to say, “Brother Li is… a very good person. You treat him well, okay?” He blushed after he finished speaking.

Zhao Jinxin smiled: “Sister-in-law, don’t worry.”

Li Shuo smiled and said: “Cheng Xiu, thank you, another day-…”

“-fuck off another day.” Shao Qun extended a middle finger to Li Shuo behind Li Chengxiu, “Cheng Xiu is leaving, the hospital smells so bad, let’s go home quickly.”

“I came to see him…”

“Aren’t you finished seeing him? He’s alright, he will be discharged tomorrow.”

 “But I……”

“Come, let’s go home and feed the dog.” Shao Qun coaxed Li Chengxiu out of the ward.

Zhao Jinxin smiled and said, “My brother, he is really possessive. It’s funny to see you stimulate him.”

“Really, how did I stimulate him?”

“Forget it.” Zhao Jinxin smiled, “It’s not that interesting and I am also possessive.”

Li Shuo smiled.

After a while, Mrs. Zhao came. Li Shuo talked a few polite words with her and left. He could see that Mrs. Zhao must also know something about him and Zhao Jinxin. This woman has a better persona than his mother, but she is also very open-minded. However, all of his thoughts are on Zhao Jinxin’s injury so he doesn’t seem to care about other things.

Li Shuo walked out of the ward and saw Wen Xiaohui who was obviously waiting for him. Wen Xiaohui looked at him with complicated eyes.

Li Shuo walked over and rubbed his head: “Let’s go eat.”

Wen Xiaohui hugged his arm and sighed: “Good idea.”

“I’m done.”

Wen Xiaohui tilted his head on his shoulder: “Brother Li, I used to think that you will definitely have a wiser and smarter life than me. Now, it seems that we are in the same boat.”

Li Shuo smiled and said, “That’s why we are friends.”

“Let’s go have a drink.”

“What’s there to drink at noon?”

“I need a drink now.” Wen Xiaohui covered his forehead, “Thinking that my male god had fallen into the hands of that little demon, I have to take a drink slowly.”

Li Shuo laughed loudly.

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Next update: 2022/04/07 (on knoxt), 2022/04/09 (on wattpad)

*Translator’s Note: I’m sharing with you the manhua version of this novel available in Kuai Kan Comics apps. So far, no official English translation yet, I think? Other than this novel, ‘Beloved Enemy’, ‘Sissy’, and ‘Years of Intoxication’ are also out on manhua versions in the same apps. The translation below was done by me. -K