A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

He took her to buy some clothes.

This was the first time he entered such a shopping mall too. Shopping in a place crowded with people was a strange and new feeling for him. He held her little hand and looked at her—she appeared to be overcome with joy as her eyes explored the place excitedly.

He asked her, “What do you like?”

“That one!” She pointed at a store not too far away. They were displaying little gowns with sequins and lace on them, and they glistened in the store lighting. However, something suddenly hit her as she retracted her hand and looked at him apprehensively. Quietly, she asked, “Do you think it looks nice?” Just like him, this was also her first time at a mall, and she had no idea how to pick her own clothes. Back in the orphanage, all the clothes were donated by others and they simply wore whatever was available without much choice.

She suddenly recalled Pei Jingyu’s look of despising the previous day.

What if she chose the wrong clothes and got mocked by her?

Pei Ziheng couldn’t be bothered with these considerations. He took her to the store and got the employee to get one for her to try on.

The employee could tell at one glance that Pei Ziheng was a rich man. Hence, she smiled enthusiastically and said, “You have such good taste. This is our new design for the season, it really suits this miss here. A beautiful miss like you should wear an equally beautiful dress.”

Xia Ling held it tight and went to the fitting room.

Her physique was perfect and her complexion was fair and good. With her pretty little face, she looked good in anything. When she walked out of the fitting room, Pei Ziheng almost forgot how to breathe. He had seen her fight, he had seen her anxious and upset, but he had never seen her look so perfect.

She was like a princess in a dreamscape.

How could such a beautiful person possibly exist? Pei Ziheng gazed at the girl before him, who had to tilt her head up to look at him. He thought that maybe this was why he brought her home—to give her a good life, one that she was worthy of.

“Is it bad?” She got worried again as he kept quiet.

Only then did he snap out of his gaze. “No, it’s beautiful.”

The employee was also awed by her beauty. A few others who were serving their own customers turned around to take a look at this beautiful little princess. Even some of the customers themselves widened their eyes in awe. “Whose daughter is this? She’s gorgeous.”

The employee smiled and complimented her. “Miss, you look so perfect in this, it’s as if this dress was made for you!” She adeptly went on to look for a few accessories. “Just a dress won’t do, you’ll look better if you wear it with some accessories! Here’s a seashell hair accessory, here’s a…”

She went on as she began putting it on for Xia Ling.

Out of the blue, a hand reached out and took the accessory away from the employee.

Pei Ziheng bent over and looked down, carefully clipping it onto Xia Ling’s hair. His slow breathing beside her ears got her a little tickled. As she blinked and looked up at him, she suddenly realized just how handsome he looked—his featured were deep-set, his eyes were serene and quiet, his nose bridge high, his lips intuitively pursed into a straight line; he looked so serious and dependable.

She watched him as he the accessory on her.

The store was faintly scented and the lighting was abundant. In there, her little dress glistened and glowed.

Time seemed to have frozen at this moment; all the best things were captured in one scene. Everyone in the store stopped what they were doing and watched them with their breaths held back, not wanting to disrupt this beautiful fantasy.

Finally, a little girl broke the silence. “Mom, that big sister is so beautiful, and the big brother is so nice to her. Are they the prince and princess?”

“That’s probably what a prince and princess would look like,” the mother ruffled her hair and said gently.

Xia Ling’s lips curled up as she heard the whispers. She felt a little shy, but also sweet and fuzzy inside. All her life, everyone had referred to her as a little troublemaker, a feral child, but no one ever told her that she could be a princess too.

Every girl had dreamt to be a princess.

And her dream was slowly being fulfilled in the hands of Brother Pei Ziheng.

Pei Ziheng tried on a few different accessories for her, as if he was dressing a barbie doll. Only after a long while did he straighten up and nudge her towards the mirror.

She looked at her own reflection and couldn’t believe that the pretty little girl she saw was actually herself.

She reached out and touched the cold glass surface with her fingertip gently, and saw that the little girl before her did the same. She gazed at this scene for a long time.

“What are you thinking?” He asked her as he reached his hand out as well and wrapped her little hand in his.

“I’m thinking…” her voice suggested that she was still in a daze. “Could this be a dream? And that once I’m awake, I’ll lose everything.”

He chuckled. “Little one, you’ll never wake up from this dream.”

That day, he took her to many different stores and bought her everything she laid her eyes on.

They shopped around hand in hand for a long time, but deep down she was still thinking about her sister in the hospital. Finally, as much as she hated to leave the mall, she headed for the hospital.

“Xiao Yu, I’m here to see you.” She smiled and entered Xia Yu’s ward with Pei Ziheng.

The little girl in bed looked sickly and tired, her lips purple and her body shrunken. She looked up at her sister holding that man’s hand. Sister was dressed in a beautiful dress and her lush black hair was tied up with a pretty ribbon, just like she was an exquisite doll.

But what about herself? So skinny, so weak, so ugly.

Xia Yu bit her lower lip and forced a smile. “Sister, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Xia Ling could not see the dismay beneath her eyes. She walked towards Xia Yu and took a pretty little dress out of a huge box. “Look at this, Xiao Yu. Do you like it? I specially picked this for you, it’s from the same collection as the one I’m wearing now. Oh right, being from the same collection means that the designs are of a similar standard, that’s what Brother Pei told me!”

She announced her new knowledge to her little sister with pride as she handed her the dress, awaiting her reaction.