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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Zhao Jinxin couldn’t wait to drag his huge luggage over and first occupied his stuffs into Li Shuo’s bathroom and cloakroom.

Li Shuo helped him clean up his things, then looked at his own bedsheets and thought for a while: “Should we go buy new sheets together?”

“No, I want to use all your sheets and quilts to sleep first.” Zhao Jinxin raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, “I want all of your things to have my scent, including you.”

Li Shuo laughed: “Are you a dog?”

Zhao Jinxin blinked: “I am a sheep.”

“Well, yes, you belong to the sheep zodiac.” Li Shuo suddenly remembered what his mother had found a year ago about the marriage prediction by the master, maybe… It was really accurate.

Zhao Jinxin put his arms around Li Shuo’s shoulders: “What gift do you want for your birthday? It should be more expensive.”

Li Shuo shook his head: “I’ve told you, I don’t need anything.”

“Just think about it. I’m so rich, you don’t want to take advantage of this, isn’t it wasteful?”

Li Shuo chuckled and said, “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

Zhao Jinxin kissed him on the cheek.

“But first, don’t be too extravagant for my birthday, it’s too tiring. At most, just invite a few friends to have fun.”

“Okay, I promise.”

Li Shuo also kissed him: “What do you want to eat tonight, I will cook something you like to celebrate your moving in.”

“Simchi beans, lemon fish, red wine beef…” Zhao Jinxin read a few casually, and then smiled ambiguously, “and you.”

Li Shuo pulled Zhao Jinxin’s ear and said with a low smile: “You can eat them all today.”

After the cohabitation life officially began, the two people’s daily life was as sweet as candied fruit.

This time it’s no longer the same as in the past. They no longer use sex to burn passion for love. They are constantly digging out their common interests and topics with each other, focusing on those wonderful little details in life, and they will cook together and listen to a song together. Singing and experiencing the full life of happiness, the mood of constantly getting surprises and satisfaction from each other is like digging for treasures, which is indescribably wonderful.

They have a lot of things to talk about such as work, music, art, sports, and they hardly quarrel. Li Shuo is patient and good-tempered while Zhao Jinxin loves to act like a baby. From the moment he opens his eyes and sees each other until the evening, things were so beautiful that it surpasses imagination.

At the end of summer and as it hits early autumn, the weather has become cooler, and Li Shuo’s birthday is also coming.

He will be 35 years old this year. In fact, it is not much different from previous years, but because of the addition of an important person in his life, his whole life has become somewhat different.

Early in the morning, Zhao Jinxin went out. Before he left, he kissed Li Shuo several times, and with the excitement that couldn’t be concealed, he said, “See you at night, my sweet lamb.”

Li Shuo smiled and said, “See you tonight.”

“I have been waiting for it for so long, but haven’t you thought of my nickname yet?” Zhao Jinxin pouted, “I’m going to be angry if you haven’t thought of it.”

“Okay.” Li Shuo kissed him dotingly, “See you tonight, my great leo.”

Zhao Jinxin smiled: “Tell me how to define great? Is it mighty, great, or…big?”

Li Shuo laughed: “All of them, okay?”

“Uncle Li is awesome.” Zhao Jinxin gave him a strong hug, “Dress up handsomely at night, um, you are already handsome, but you better look more dashing.”

“OK.”

Zhao Jinxin went out with a flushed face.

Li Shuo stood on the porch for several seconds, only to realize that he still had a smile on his face. He rubbed his cheeks and couldn’t help but smile again.

The whole morning, he took care of his work. At about noon, Wen Xiaohui came to him with a big bag.

Li Shuo quickly took what he was holding and poured him a glass of water: “Hurry up and take a rest.”

“It’s okay, I’m not tired at all.” Wen Xiaohui said with a smile, “I like dressing you up the most. Today, you must be fascinated by people. Thousands of people are there for nothing. This time, thousands of people will be killed by your appearance.”

Li Shuo said helplessly: “It’s just a birthday, there is no need to be so grand.”

“If you want, you can treat it as my personal interest, and I won’t charge you.”

Li Shuo smiled and said, “Okay.”

Wen Xiaohui rolled up his sleeves and started to work. This time, he was more serious than the last time. He modified Li Shuo from head to toe. After he was done, Li Shuo seemed to be shining with a a new aura.

Wen Xiaohui’s eyes are twinkling, and he is obviously very satisfied with his work. He took out a bunch of photos with his phone, and then proudly said: “I’m really good.”

“Xiaohui, thank you.” Li Shuo looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes suddenly dimmed. He remembered that half a year ago, in the hotel next to the hospital, he did the same thing. He spent several days and nights just to celebrate Zhao Jinxin’s birthday. He thought he would see surprises from Zhao Jinxin’s eyes, but what was waiting for him was …

Wen Xiaohui sensed something sensitively so he patted Li Shuo on the shoulder: “The past is over, today you are the protagonist.”

Li Shuo smiled and nodded.

“Hey, I’m sweaty all over my body. I will take a shower and put on makeup, and let’s set off.” Wen Xiaohui yawned and ran to the bathroom.

Wen Xiaohui has swift hands and feet. In less than an hour, he cleaned himself up and looked glamorous. He took Li Shuo’s arm and smiled and said, “Let’s go. Let’s go and shine in their eyes.”

Li Shuo straightened his chest, his eyes soft and determined.

Zhao Jinxin did not hold the birthday party at a hotel, but held it at a holiday villa in the suburbs. They drove their car and saw that the villa was brightly lit from a distance. A string of small light bulbs were pulled on the outer wall and they drove into the yard full of a few parked cars.

Li Shuo is a little bit confused. There shouldn’t be many people here today. They said they would only invite familiar friends.

Wen Xiaohui stretched his neck and looked at a cart: “My Luo Yi is here.”

“He’s here too?” Li Shuo was a little surprised. He and Luo Yi had just stopped being hostile to each other, but they still didn’t like each other much.

“Well, he was afraid that I would drink alcohol and molest other nice men.” Wen Xiaohui made a look of regret.

After getting out of the car, Wen Xiaohui didn’t dare to take Li Shuo’s arm, and the two walked into the villa side by side.

As soon as the door opened, a gorgeous spray of confetti fluttered all over the sky, and a group of people shouted “Happy Birthday”.

In the rain of colorful paper, Li Shuo saw familiar faces. In addition to Zhao Jinxin, Li Chengxiu, Shao Qun, Brother Xiang, Luo Yi, there were also Cheng Sheng and Zhao Jinxin’s parents, as well as his own parents!

Li Shuo was completely stunned.

Zhao Jinxin walked over step by step, his eyes fixed on Li Shuo. His eyes portrayed the look of strong love, he took Li Shuo’s hand, and said quietly: “Do you not want to get out of bed today…? .”

Li Shuo smiled: “Can’t you praise people seriously?”

“You look perfect today.” Zhao Jinxin held up his hand and kissed the back of that hand, “Happy birthday, my love.”

“Thank you.” Li Shuo stared at him, love almost overflowing from his eyes. He looked at the four elders, and was slightly embarrassed, “How come you are…”

Zhao Rongtian smiled and said nothing.

Li Shuo patted Zhao Jinxin on the shoulder, walked to his mother’s side, bowed her head and kissed her forehead: “Mom, today is my birthday and your great anniversary, thank you.”

Mrs. Li’s eyes are red: “My dear son, happy birthday.”

Li Shuo walked over to greet his friends one by one, Cheng Sheng said in a whisper: “You kid… I really admire you.” He gave Zhao Jinxin a meaningful look.

Li Shuo blinked his eyes: “I will treat this like a praise.”

“Of course I praise you, but also bless you.” Cheng Sheng squeezed Li Shuo’s shoulder, “Brother, I wish you happiness.”

Li Shuo nodded: “Thanks.”

“Come on, let’s have dinner.” Wen Xiaohui hugged Luo Yi’s arm, “It’s Chef Li’s cooking today. You haven’t eaten the meal cooked by him right? You will get greedy.”

Luo Yi smiled lightly: “Then I should learn and go back and make some for you.”

“Sounds good.”

Li Chengxiu smiled embarrassedly, Shao Qun curled his lips in response. There were elders around so he was very restrained.

Everyone was eating and chatting and the atmosphere was warm and lively. Li Shuo looked at Zhao Jinxin from time to time and held his hands quietly under the dining table, feeling like consuming sugar in his heart.

After eating, Wen Xiaohui asked to cut the cake openly, Zhao Jinxin said: “The cake is on the second floor, let’s go up.” He took Li Shuo’s hand, “We will go up later.”

Li Shuo raised his eyebrows: “Why upstairs? Are there any surprises?”

Zhao Jinxin smiled mysteriously: “Try to guess.”

Li Shuo watched everyone going upstairs, and said with a smile: “Should I look forward to my present?”

Zhao Jinxin gave him a rough kiss, and took out a red ribbon from his pocket as a trick, and tried to  tie it around Li Shuo’s eyes.

Li Shuo shrank back, squinted his eyes and said, “What do you want to do, you little kinky demon?”

“So many people are here, what can I do?” Zhao Jinxin laughed out loud, “You have little confidence in me, huh? Or do you really expect to play this way in your heart?”

Li Shuo licked his lips: “I really look forward to it.”

“Then let’s play this tonight.” Zhao Jinxin bit his ear. “Just use this ribbon, but now it has other uses.” He quickly tied the ribbon around Li Shuo’s eyes.

Li Shuo smiled and said, “I see what tricks you want to play.”

Zhao Jinxin led Li Shuo upstairs: “Be careful with your steps.”

“Okay.”

Li Shuo stepped on a flat ground, and Zhao Jinxin said: “You can count to 10 and you can take off the ribbon.”

Li Shuo’s heart jumped wildly inexplicably, what exactly did Zhao Jinxin prepare for him? He counted down silently in his heart, until 10 counts quickly passed, he took off the ribbon.

The scene in front of him caused him to freeze.

He saw a room that was almost exactly the same as the hotel suite he had set up by himself a year ago. The huge living room was completely remodeled. Not only was the space similar, the large furniture, and the decorations were similar, but many places even imitated the details, except for the pile of stuffed toy sheeps… Li Shuo’s gaze fell on Zhao Jinxin, and Zhao Jinxin held a cream-white sheep puppet in his hand. The puppet was stained with paint in several places and was a bit dirty, but it was still looking pure.

Everyone spread out on both sides, revealing the wall that was hidden by them. On the wall, with the same perfume lilies and balloons, put together a string of English words: ‘Marry me, Lambert’.

Li Shuo suddenly felt sore in his eye circles, and his lips trembled slightly.

Zhao Jinxin strolled over and got closer. Li Shuo discovered that the little sheep was wearing a platinum ring on his head. The style was low-key and elegant.

Zhao Jinxin smiled slightly, and then knelt down on one knee: “Li Shuo, the reason why I reproduce this scene is to tell you that I should have done this from the very beginning.” He cleared his throat and said, “I love you. Marry me?”

Li Shuo looked at him blankly, then smiled, his eyes were red, he looked at Zhao Jinxin’s enthusiastic eyes, looked at the funny little sheep, looked at the ring, the more he looked at them, the more blurred his eyes became. He showed a big smile and whispered: “Didn’t we say that we don’t want to make it grand.”

Zhao Jinxin smiled, “This is the only proposal done by Zhao Jinxin in my entire life. If I really want to make it grand, I will buy the headlines of the national newspapers.”

Li Shuo chuckled.

Cheng Sheng made a roar, but the others looked nervous, especially the four elders.

Zhao Jinxin picked up the ring and held Li Shuo’s hand: “I’m serious.” He looked at Li Shuo’s eyes and slowly put the ring on his fingers.

Li Shuo bent his fingers and looked at Zhao Jinxin tenderly: “Do you even know the meaning of marriage?”

“Loyalty and perseverance.”

“Loyalty and perseverance are easy to say but difficult to do. You are only 24 years old, are you really ready?” Li Shuo asked softly.

“I have made all the preparations. I don’t know what marriage is like, but I know that I love you.” Zhao Jinxin pushed the ring in.

The two of them stared at each other, their eyes are like electrified when they met in the air, Li Shuo lowered his eyes, and there was an indescribable throbbing in his heart. All his emotions rushed towards this person again. He finally, slowly, relaxed his fingers, and relaxed the heartstring that had been tight all the time.

Zhao Jinxin put the ring in in one fell swoop.

“Wow!!” Wen Xiaohui yelled, then stomped his feet with excitement.

Everyone else showed a touched and relieved expression.

Zhao Jin jumped up eagerly, wrapped Li Shuo’s waist with one hand, and fixed the back of his head with the other. He enthusiastically blocked the soft lips, and kissed him deeply.

Li Shuo wrapped his arms around Zhao Jinxin’s neck. He thought it was the sweetest kiss in the world, because he hugged the person he loved the most in the world.

There is nothing more precious than this moment.

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Next update: 2022/04/15 (on knoxt), 2022/04/17 (on wattpad)

*Translator’s Note: Aaaaa these last few chapters are so sweet, I kept smiling while I was translating. I think I’m high on sugar too. Oh you’ll see some ‘parking lot’ in the next chapter. Everyone ready???? Hey, if I’m not mistaken in ‘Additional Inheritance’, Luo Yi held a knife to Li Shuo’s throat, right? -K