A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Bingyu went pale from shock as well. “Boss Chu, what do you mean by this?”

“It’s not me, it’s the Director’s wishes.” Chu Chen said calmly, “Director saw Miss Xia Ling’s injury and was extremely hurt by it. He said for whoever did this to Miss Xia Ling to pay for their sins a few times over. Li Bingyu, you should be glad that your sister only pricked Xia Ling a little. Otherwise… haha.”

Li Bingyu dared not ask for mercy again.

After so many years in Imperial Entertainment, she knew Pei Ziheng’s character pretty well. There was no room for negotiation once he set his mind to something. These two nails presented to them were self-explanatory—he wanted a tit for tat, for Li Bingman to prick herself on her feet. If Li Bingman obeyed, this incident would then be taken to be history.

And if she didn’t?

That thought sent a chill down Li Bingyu’s spine. She’d already offended Xia Ling once. If her sister did it again, would there still be a place for both of them in Imperial Entertainment? There were still eight more years to go before her contract with Imperial ended. If Imperial chose not to groom or promote her over the next eight years, her prime years would be gone by the time she could escape them…

This was too big a risk to take.

“Bingman, take off your shoes.” She ordered.

Li Bingman winced at the two nails and turned to look at Chu Chen and Sister. She knew what they were getting at. “Don’t be like this.” She was about to burst into tears. “I know my mistake now, I really do. How about this, I can get a present for Xia Ling as an apology? Sister, don’t make me do this, don’t…”

Seeing her sister’s pleas, how could Li Bingyu bear it?

Even so, she knew that if these nails did not get into her sister’s feet today, it would truly be Doomsday for them!

“Stick your legs out!” Li Bingyu said sternly, “Don’t make me do it for you.”

Chu Chen was smiling by the side. “If you’re afraid, I can get someone to help you out.”

“No need!” Li Bingyu hurriedly stopped him and forced a smile. “Isn’t it just pricking with two nails? Bingman can do it herself, really.” Who knew how badly things would escalate if Chu Chen got someone to “help out”?

Tears welled up in Li Bingman’s eyes. “These nails are rusty, I’ll get an infection.”

“The nail you placed in Miss Xia Ling’s shoe was rusty too,” Chu Chen said. “Weren’t you worried that Miss Xia Ling would get an infection?” He glanced at his expensive watch. “It’s running late, Miss Li Bingman. Please hurry up, I have other matters to attend to.”

“I…” Li Bingman looked at the nails, horrified. How could she possibly stick her feet out?

Chu Chen got up slowly and grabbed his office bag. “Looks like we won’t be getting this done today. I shall leave first and report it to Director. See you.”

“Boss Chu, please wait!” Li Bingyu called out. She turned around and glared at her sister. “Prick yourself, hurry!” If Chu Chen returned with this mission unaccomplished, it’d be hard to guess what scarier punishment could await them the next day!

But Li Bingman still dared not get to it. She looked at her sister pitifully. “Boss Chu already said he’ll report this. Maybe the Director will change his mind and retract this tomorrow?”

“Naive!” Li Bingyu simply couldn’t understand how her sister was still stuck in her own fantasy at this point. She bent over and placed the two nails on the floor pointing upwards as she yelled at Li Bingman, “Take your shoes off and step on them! If you don’t do it, we’re no longer sisters!”

“Sister!”

“I can never have a sister who disrespects the Director!” Li Bingyu was really desperate now. She’d made up her mind—if her sister refused to step on them, she’d rather sever ties with her! There was no way she would let her sister drag her down!

Li Bingman stared at her sister blankly for a while. She would never have expected her to be this heartless.

“No, Sister, don’t…” She begged weakly. The Li parents used to be owners of a small stall. It was only after Li Bingyu rose to fame did she insist that they open a cafe instead, so as to appear “classier”. However, the fact was that they barely made a profit each month, and it wasn’t even enough to cover Li Bingman’s school fees.

If Li Bingyu severed ties with her, how was she going to continue having a good life?

“Hurry!” Li Bingyu glared at her. “Are you trying to drag the whole family down with you!”

Her ferocious demeanor scared Li Bingman so much that she began taking off her shoes slowly with shaking hands. Her foot was suspended above the nail but she couldn’t bring herself to put it down. She had been wrong, so wrong, to have offended Xia Ling!

Chu Chen took a look at his watch again.

Li Bingyu couldn’t afford to wait much longer. She dashed towards her sister and forced her down. “Ah—!” An agonizing cry resounded as Li Bingman fell to the ground and grabbed her bleeding foot.

“Bingman!” Li Bingyu’s heart hurt to see her sister in this state.

Chu Chen quietly said, “One more foot.”

Li Bingyu’s body stiffened as something came to mind.

“I don’t want to! Sister, I don’t!” Li Bingman screamed like an animal about to be slaughtered as she hurriedly pulled her other leg inwards to hide her unscathed foot.

In a split second, Li Bingyu clenched her jaw and sent the other nail into her sister’s foot! It was another painful cry and by then, Li Bingman did not even have the energy to roll about in pain.

Chu Chen smiled in satisfaction and took his leave.

Li Bingyu sent her sister to the hospital immediately as she went through a series of treatments—medication, disinfection, bandaging—for a whole night. “You can’t rest now,” Li Bingyu said to her sister after the wound was dressed. “It’s Monday tomorrow, you have to go to the training camp and apologize to her as soon as you can. Ask that wretched Xia Ling for forgiveness. If she doesn’t forgive you, you won’t ever stand a chance to go back to school.”

“Sister, I don’t want to.” Li Bingman’s feet were still pulsing with pain and her eyes were filled with hatred. “I hate that wretch to the core. Expulsion it is! I can always go to another camp, and I can be the Best Student of the Year there!”

“No!” Li Bingyu chided. “If you do that, you’ll carry the reputation of being ‘expelled by Imperial’ your whole life. Even if you make your debut in the future, others are going to say that you’re inferior to Xia Ling from Imperial! This isn’t all, the most important thing is—what if Xia Ling still holds it against you? She’s so petty, she’ll definitely find trouble with you next time. Even if I help you out and support you, we are pitting ourselves against Xia Ling and the whole of Imperial Entertainment as her backing! And any company you end up in will likely not be able to take Imperial down! Are you telling me that you don’t want to be in this industry anymore?”

Li Bingman had no words.

The following day, she reluctantly went to look for Xia Ling.

Now that she was standing before Xia Ling, she was acting just like an obedient lamb. “Xia Ling, please be magnanimous and kind and allow me to come back to school. I’m willing to tread behind you and be at your service anytime.”