A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Inside the Audi.

Li Lei was extremely close to Xia Ling as he watched the scene of Xia Yu getting caught in a fix from the small screen together with her. He smiled and asked, “Are you satisfied?”

Xia Ling’s feelings were complicated. That was the first time she saw her sister getting humiliated and reviled by others in broad daylight. However, she got over it in a flash — villains who commit all sorts of wicked actions would often get their retribution. She looked up and returned Li Lei’s smile. “Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me, you’re treating me like an outsider.” Li Lei wasn’t pleased about it and asked, “Can’t you express yourself with some actual deeds?”

Xia Ling was rendered speechless. How was expressing herself with actions any different?

Xia Ling wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. However, she decided to be patient and went along with him. “How do I do that?”

Li Lei tilted his head and thought about it. “Accompany me somewhere to have fun!”

Xia Ling really wanted to sigh out loud. If he were to make any other presumptuous demands, she could easily reject him. But to refuse such a small matter like accompanying him to have fun, it would make her appear unfriendly. She speculated that Li Lei did it intentionally, betting that she would not be able to refuse.

“Fine then,” said Xia Ling. She could not help but complain about him in her heart. Big Boss, you are no longer young. Is it really acceptable to mimic preschool children and go to the amusement park to play?

A few days later, when it was peaceful and sunny, he brought her to the amusement park.

At that moment, she was already a celebrity with some popularity, thus she disguised herself to prevent others from recognizing her. She wore a baggy and oversized olive-drab sweater with a long and thin scarf around her neck, covering half her face. She even wore a huge pair of shades with large frames and tied an ordinary ponytail, looking like a cute but old-fashioned nerdy schoolgirl.

Li Lei laughed at her. “You look like a dummy.”

Xia Ling glared at him. “You’re the dummy.” Her voice sounded a little muffled, coming from under the many layers of her scarf. Giving a clear and serious look under her shades, she appeared to look silly but cute.

Li Lei couldn’t help but laugh, then he stretched out his dry and warm hand to rub her head. “Let’s go have fun, big brother will lead the way.”

Hmph, Brother? Xia Ling was still puffing with anger and began to scold him secretly. I was already 28 years old when I was killed, little brother, how old are you now? You are not even 28 right, why are you acting mature, hmph!

Despite her complains, she obediently went with him.

The amusement park was extremely crowded, and they were mostly families of three or students. Occasionally, there were couples as well. Xia Ling was petite and was knocked by the masses till she began to stagger along at the start. However, Li Lei quickly began to shield her. With his height of 1.85 meters and with his evenly toned robust physique, it was a breeze for him to open up a path for her, saving her a lot of effort.

“Look.” A girl tugged at her good friend beside her and said, “That man over there is so hot!”

Her good friend managed to see Li Lei by following where her friend pointed and was also immediately lovestruck. “Oh my, wow… he’s really extremely hot and handsome, he must be mixed-blood right? His eyes, his sharp nose, that sexy lips… Oh no, I’m gonna faint from his hotness.”

The third girl laughed and patted her other two friend’s back. “That’s enough, stop fainting, can’t you guys see that he has a girlfriend? Look, that girl he’s trying to shield… Tsk, she looks so old-fashioned, I wonder what that hunk sees in her.”

It was only after the girl mentioned it that they realized the girl who looked like a country bumpkin beside Li Lei. Well, it wasn’t their fault as Xia Ling was too petite, making it extremely difficult to spot her in the huge crowd.

They were green with envy and shot looks at Xia Ling. After that, they all sighed. “Sigh, it seems like the hog ate the cabbage. I wonder how many good deeds she did in her past few lifetimes to have snagged such a handsome boyfriend who is so protective of her.” After observing them, they realized that that hunk was always shielding that old-fashioned girl from the crowd turbulence. The amusement park was packed like sardines, but no one could touch that girl even a tiny bit.

“He’s really a good man.” Girl A lamented.

“That’s true love.” Girl B lamented.

“We don’t stand a chance at all, let’s just wish them happiness.” Girl C lamented as well.

Xia Ling walked beside Li Lei, not realizing that countless girls were secretly shooting glances at them just like the three girls earlier. She was shielded so well by Li Lei that she didn’t feel any pressure from the crowd. As she continued to walk, she regained her curious nature and started to peer around.

“Look, there’s a merry-go-round there!” She called Li Lei excitedly and said, “I want to go, let’s go!”

His eyes glowed with tenderness and replied, “Okay.” He seemed to have forgotten who was the one supposed to accompany the other to have fun. The whole journey, his kiddo Xiao Ling had wanted to sit the pirate ship, watch the guessing games as well as eat haw candy. Every time she suggested something excitedly, he would blaze a trail through the crowd for her.

He felt that he was the best kind of man that ever existed. He had racked his brains to persuade her to visit the amusement park and had even willingly become her slave — she was bouncing around empty-handed vivaciously while there were already many different things hanging from his arms. There were colored balloons, cotton candy, mini-windmills, and soap bubbles…

Kiddo Xiao Ling, did you not visit the amusement park for a few lifetimes?

Li Lei judged her silently, but his gaze never left that old-fashioned, silly-looking yet cute figure. His eyes revealed a gentle hint of contentment.

What he did not know was, in actual fact, Xia Ling truly had never really visited an amusement park before.

In her previous life when she was still in the orphanage, finances were tight and the Head of the orphanage said that only the top ten best performing children could visit the amusement park. At that period of time, Xia Ling gave it her all and showed great initiative. She swept and cleaned the orphanage’s grounds, stayed up all night to revise her homework to get the first place, enthusiastically participated in artistic performances… She told Xia Yu that she had never visited an amusement park and really yearned to go.

Sickly Xia Yu was filled with envy and told her sister, “I’m definitely not able to go, you should go in place of me and help me take a look.”

Xia Ling clutched her sister’s hands and nodded solemnly. “No problem, Xiao Yu. When I come back, I will tell you about every single thing that is fun there.”

She failed to notice that Xia Yu had looked down, in an attempt to cover her jealousy and hatred.

Xia Ling worked hard for a long time before she finally got a spot. However, something unexpected happened on the day they were supposed to depart for the amusement park. Xia Yu had accidentally fallen off the bed in the dormitory and had a heart attack. Her tiny body was curled up into a tiny ball as she was hurting badly. While she was semi-conscious, she was delirious and repeatedly asked for her sister as she continued to frown. Xia Ling’s heart ached for her sister and no matter how much she longed for the trip, she could only fall back from the group that was about to set off. She then kept watching over Xia Yu for an entire day.

After being adopted by Pei Ziheng, she did suggest visiting the amusement park.

However, Pei Ziheng said that there were too many common people and it wasn’t appropriate to mix with them. If she wanted to go, they had to clear out the place.

After he made some arrangements, the whole amusement park was cleared out. He brought her to receive VIP treatment, with empty merry-go-rounds, empty Ferris-wheels, dull and desolate balloons and colored lamps… After playing those once or twice, she lost all interest in them.

This time visiting the place with Li Lei was the first time she truly experienced what an amusement park was like.

It was the best to be in the midst of the bustling crowd and countless different happy faces.