Chapter 27 – Heroic
Novel Title: 谁把谁当真 (Winner Takes All)
Author：水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 黎朔 (Li Shuo -MC), 赵锦辛 (Zhao Jinxin -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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A loud explosion was followed by a violent tremor. In that instant, Li Shuo’s heart raced, and his scalp tingled. The 4-ton SUV shook like a toy, causing him to drop his phone. Instinctively, he grabbed onto the back of the driver’s seat, barely steadying himself.
What happened?!
In his shock, Li Shuo turned towards the sound of the explosion. A few hundred metres behind, flames shot into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and car horns blared chaotically. People on the street were running away from the fire in terror, many shouting “bomb!”
“Sir!” Guang Shu suddenly shouted in fear.
Li Shuo whipped his head around to see his father clutching his chest. He was slumped over towards the driver’s seat. His face was pale, his eyes were wide, and his body was trembling uncontrollably.
Li Shuo’s eyes widened in horror, “Dad—!”
Meanwhile, in the Ennan Group office, Zhao Jinxin heard the loud explosion both outside and through his phone. He froze.
The lawyer abruptly stood up and ran to the window, exclaiming, “Oh my God. There’s been an explosion on Seventh Avenue!”
Zhao Jinxin leapt from the sofa and dashed towards the door. As he ran towards the elevator, he shouted into his phone, “Li Shuo! Li Shuo!”
The other end was filled with chaotic noise—car horns, sirens, and people shouting—but not the voice he desperately wanted to hear.
Zhao Jinxin’s face turned ashen as he felt his heart sinking. He reached the elevator bay, saw that all three elevators were still a long way up. He angrily kicked open the door to the emergency exit, racing down from the 17th floor.
“Li Shuo! Li Shuo! Can you hear me? Li Shuo!” Zhao Jinxin’s voice echoed through the empty stairwell, colliding with the walls. “Fuck!! Say something!” In frustration, he threw his phone, which shattered against the wall.
“Medicine! Where’s the medicine!” Li Shuo grabbed Guang Shu’s sleeve and shouted.
Guang Shu, trembling, pulled a bottle of medicine from a compartment. Li Shuo quickly grabbed it, poured out two pills, and fed them to his father. He then unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, trying to help him swallow. But spilled most of it on all three of them.
Li Shuo got out of the car. He opened the passenger door and dragged his father out, laying him flat on the ground. His father’s pupils were dilated. His body was rigid and he fell unconscious—his condition was critical.
Li Shuo panted heavily. His mind was buzzing. His eyes were burning. And his legs were nearly giving way. He bit down hard on his lip, using the pain to force himself to stay calm. He then knelt down to perform CPR on his father.
After just a few compressions, Li Shuo was hit hard in the back, almost falling onto his father. He looked back to see a panicked man falling beside him, whom he pushed away.
The street was chaotic. People were either fleeing the danger or searching for loved ones. The opposing currents of people made it likely someone would step on them at any moment.
Guang Shu got out of the car and used his frail body to shield Li Shuo. “Quick, I’ll block for you,” he said, pulling out his phone to call 911.
Li Shuo bent down, performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions. His forehead was drenched with sweat, his vision blurred, and fear consumed him like a plague. He had never felt time move so slowly and cruelly.
Dad, dad, please… Wake up… Wake up…
Li Shuo continued pressing on his father’s chest until his arms were numb. Finally, Mr. Li showed a faint sign of breathing.
Guang Shu was on the verge of tears. “The emergency number isn’t going through!”
Li Shuo looked around in despair. The cars were gridlocked, the streets chaotic with people. There was no way to drive out. The nearest hospital was two blocks away. Given their proximity to the explosion, emergency resources were likely fully occupied.
Fighting back tears, Li Shuo gritted his teeth and hoisted his father onto his back. His father, tall and heavy, was at least 20-30 pounds heavier than him. As he lifted him, his calves trembled with the effort.
“Hey, stop!” Three young black men suddenly blocked their path, pulling out knives from their pockets. “Give us your wallet.”
Li Shuo’s eyes turned bloodshot as he roared, “Get lost!”
Guang Shu also shouted, “Go away!”
The men, clearly high on drugs and taking advantage of the chaos to rob people, sneered. “That old guy on your back won’t last long. Just give us your wallet.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll give it to you. Just get out of the way!” Guang Shu shouted as he rummaged through the car for the wallet.
The next second, Li Shuo’s vision blurred as one of the men was kicked away like a ragdoll.
Li Shuo focused his gaze—Zhao Jinxin?!
Zhao Jinxin grabbed another man’s shoulder and punched him square in the face. Li Shuo watched, as if in slow motion, as the man’s teeth flew out of his mouth.
The last standing assailant finally reacted, brandishing a knife and lunging at Zhao Jinxin. Zhao Jinxin sidestepped, grabbed the man’s wrist, and twisted it behind his back with a fierce small lock. The man let out a pig-like squeal, and Zhao Jinxin grabbed his hair, slamming his head into the car window. The man crumpled to the ground.
As Zhao Jinxin did all this, his expression was chillingly cold. His gaze was fierce and sharp. It was a stark contrast to his usual carefree demeanour.
Li Shuo stared at him in shock, unable to utter a single word.
They stood only a couple of metres apart, their eyes locking for a brief moment. It was as if the explosion, chaos, and people around them ceased to exist, leaving only each other in their world.
Li Shuo looked at Zhao Jinxin, who stood strong and heroic against the backdrop of smoke and chaos. Zhao Jinxin looked at Li Shuo, dishevelled and red-eyed, devoid of his usual calm and grace, appearing desperate and helpless.
That fleeting eye contact felt like something pierced through their hearts.
Zhao Jinxin ran over, grabbed Li Shuo by the neck, and kissed him fiercely. The kiss was so forceful and wild that it made Li Shuo’s gums ache. Yet, it was that pain that brought him a strange sense of stability, helping him regain a sliver of calm.
Zhao Jinxin roughly threw off his suit jacket and took Mr. Li off Li Shuo’s back, saying in a deep voice, “To the hospital.”
Li Shuo didn’t know what to say at that moment. He could only follow Zhao Jinxin as they ran towards the hospital two blocks away. He and Guang Shu frantically pushed through the crowd. He was drenched in sweat, fervently and sincerely praying for the first time in his life.
At first, Zhao Jinxin ran quickly. But halfway through, he was panting heavily. His eyes were bloodshot, his shirt soaked, and sweat dripped down his sharp chin.
Li Shuo shouted, “Let me take over!”
Zhao Jinxin, with his voice trembling, replied, “No. We’re almost there.”
Li Shuo knew how heavy his father was. When he had carried him earlier, his legs had trembled. At Zhao Jinxin’s pace, he might struggle to run even 100 metres.
Zhao Jinxin managed to hold on, running the two blocks. As they neared the hospital at the end of the road, his legs began to wobble. Li Shuo supported his father to prevent him from falling, while Guang Shu ran ahead to call for emergency help.
As they reached the chaotic hospital, two male nurses rushed out with a stretcher. Zhao Jinxin placed Mr. Li onto the stretcher, then collapsed onto the ground. He was dizzy from exhaustion.
“Jinxin…” Li Shuo glanced between his father and Zhao Jinxin, looking anxious.
Zhao Jinxin, gasping for air, said, “Don’t worry about me… Just go.”
Gritting his teeth, Li Shuo turned and followed the stretcher.
The hospital was crowded with injured people. It was chaotic and packed. After struggling through the crowd, they finally got Mr. Li into the emergency room.
Li Shuo and Guang Shu stared at the closed emergency room doors. Their hearts were gnawed by anxiety.
Guang Shu squatted down and began to cry quietly.
Li Shuo wiped the sweat from his face and squatted down beside him, patting his back and whispering hoarsely, “Guang Shu, don’t be afraid. My dad will be fine.”
Guang Shu choked out, “Should we…- Should we inform Madam?”
“Not for now. There’s just been an explosion nearby; it’s dangerous and chaotic.”
Just as he finished speaking, Guang Shu’s phone rang. It was a call from home.
Li Shuo took the phone, gestured for Guang Shu to remain silent, and walked to a relatively quiet stairwell to answer it.
“Guang Shu!” Mrs. Li’s voice was trembling. “Where are you? Seventh Avenue just exploded!”
“Mom, it’s me,” Li Shuo replied.
Mrs. Li’s voice quivered, “Why couldn’t I reach your phone? I couldn’t get through to your father’s either. You two nearly scared me to death!”
“We’re fine. My father and I were in a meeting,” Li Shuo’s voice was calm and reassuring. “Mom, we’re both okay. Just stay at home and don’t go out. It’s not safe outside.”
Mrs. Li sighed with relief, “As long as you’re both safe, that’s all that matters. You scared me half to death.”
After hanging up, Li Shuo leaned against the wall, feeling utterly drained. He closed his eyes tightly. He couldn’t bear to think about what might happen if something bad really happened to his father. What else could he do? He felt utterly helpless… If it weren’t for Zhao Jinxin, he might not have even gotten his father to the hospital… He had prayed to every deity he could think of, experiencing an unprecedented level of pain and despair.
After composing himself, Li Shuo returned to the area outside the emergency room. He saw Guang Shu standing by the wall, looking despondent and pitiful.
Li Shuo took a deep breath and patted Guang Shu on the shoulder. “Guang Shu, please stay here. I need to find Jinxin.” He wasn’t sure how Zhao Jinxin was doing—maybe he was so exhausted he couldn’t move.
Guang Shu nodded. “Go quickly. Thank goodness for him. Thank goodness.”
Li Shuo ran outside the hospital. His eyes scanned for that familiar figure.
Finally, amidst the chaos, noise, groans, and pain of the hospital corridor, he saw Zhao Jinxin sitting on the ground near a public phone. Zhao Jinxin was making a call, looking utterly exhausted.
Li Shuo’s heart fluttered as he walked over.
Zhao Jinxin saw him too. He slowly hung up the phone and reached out his hand.
Li Shuo knelt in front of him. “Are you okay…?”
Zhao Jinxin pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him as if afraid he might disappear. He whispered hoarsely, “You scared me to death.”
Li Shuo felt a warmth in his eyes and hugged him back. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Zhao Jinxin stroked his back. “It’s good that you’re okay. Shushu will be fine too. My dad has arranged for a top cardiologist from a nearby hospital. A helicopter will be here in five minutes. If your father’s condition allows, he’ll be transferred directly.”
Li Shuo choked up, “…Thank you.” At this moment, he couldn’t think of anything else to say. This man had appeared during the most vulnerable, desperate, and needy time of his life and had pulled him out of the abyss.
As for Zhao Jinxin, no one had ever impacted him so profoundly like Li Shuo did.
Zhao Jinxin wiped away the tears from the corner of Li Shuo’s eyes with his thumb, suppressing the stirring in his heart. He smiled slightly, “I never thought Li Shushu could look so pitiful. You really are…- If you asked me to pluck the moon for you now, I might just agree.”
Li Shuo forced a small smile. His tears still glistened in his eyes. But he held them back.
Zhao Jinxin gently kissed his eyes and softly said, “Don’t be afraid.”
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*Proofread by 2024.08.02* I’m currently in the middle of the proofreading stage of my first ever translation; ‘Winner Takes All’. Lots of changes will be made especially to titles such as ‘Brother’ will be changed to ‘Ge’ and ‘Uncle’ will be changed to ‘Shushu’. I will proofread these chapters slowly when I’m free so please understand if there are any delays or discrepancies. TQ.
Proofread version of the rest of the novel will only be available on Novels Space.space while Mature Chapters will be released on Wattpad.
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