A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Feng Kun admired Xia Ling as she smiled, saying, “This is a new fruit wine. The taste is exquisite, I think you will like it.”

Xia Ling closed her eyes as she sipped the wine. The stars in the night sky became more magical and mysterious like the entire world was shrouded in a layer of resplendent color. Soft music was playing in the background, and she recognized these as familiar tunes from her past life.

“Do you remember these songs?” Feng Kun asked gently. “We made these together.”

“Mmhmm.” She mumbled. The alcohol content in the wine was a little high, and she felt her mind reacting a little slower.

Feng Kun’s eyelid started to twitch. That soft “mmhmm” was like thunder in his ears. He subconsciously clenched his fist together as it started to tremble in his nervousness. He forced himself to stay calm and continued to use a gentle voice as he called out. “Xiao Ling.”

She did not reply as the familiar tunes surrounded her, seemingly bringing her back to the times in the past. She felt at ease.

Feng Kun refilled her wine. “Have some more. This was made to match your taste. Do you still remember the year we went to Bordeaux in France? You picked a really sweet grape and wanted to use that to make your own wine, but instead almost destroyed an entire vineyard.”

Recalling that incident, Xia Ling’s lips curled up at the corners. “I remember. That time you pulled me away secretly.”

Alarms bells rang out in Feng Kun’s ears again.

Even though Feng Kun had enormous self-control, his voice could not help but start to shake. “Xiao Ling… Xiao Ling… ”

“Ah Kun.” Xia Ling’s mind was in a blur as she gave a silly smile under the influence of the alcohol.

The familiar nickname made Feng Kun tear up a little. Was this person in front of him really her? Even though it was preposterous and defied all logic, she was really back! Feng Kun continued to probe to verify his suspicions, reeling in his excitement. “I’ve really missed you these few years.”

“Only you… missed me.” Xia Ling continued to smile with her head spinning. She swirled the liquid in her glass. “They are all… liars.”

“Who are they?” Feng Kun breathed deeply as he asked.

“Xia Yu, Chu Chen, and… and… ” Xia Ling could not bring herself to continue.

Feng Kun refilled her wine again and watched as she drank it up, his voice becoming even gentler. “And who else?”

“Pei Ziheng.” She looked up to the starry sky and murmured in her giddy reverie. “Pei Ziheng…” The tall and handsome image appeared in her mind again… his sharp nose and thin lips, and the glare that he would give when staring at someone. Her eyes started to brim with tears, and her nose crinkled. “Pei Ziheng, that bastard… liar… that big liar…”

“What did he lie to you about?” Feng Kun asked.

“He said he would be nice to me forever. But he wanted to marry Wang Jingwan. He said that butterfly… that butterfly was our secret promise, but he gave it away to someone else! Liar… Liar!”

Xia Ling suddenly became agitated and threw the wine glass at the glass wall.

There was the sharp sound of glass shattering, and shards flew in all directions.

Feng Kun grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away from the shards of glass, asking, “What butterfly?”

“The butterfly on the card.” She struggled free from him and drank another glass of wine.

“Who did he give the butterfly to?”

“Me.”

“Didn’t you say he gave it to someone else?”

“He did give it to someone else! He gave it to Ye Xingling!” She said in a flustered manner. Her mind turned slowly as she added, “He didn’t give it to me!”

“Aren’t you Ye Xingling?” Feng Kun held his breath, sensing that he was about to hear the truth.

“I’m not!”

“Then who are you?” Feng Kun’s attractive voice was just by Xia Ling’s ears, seducing her to speak the truth.

“I… I… ” She sensed that something was amiss, and shook her head several times trying to regain clarity. She looked up at him and gave another silly smile. “I’m not telling you.”

She reached out for the wine but was stopped by Feng Kun. “Xiao Ling, you can’t drink anymore.”

“I’m not drunk.” She tried to push him away, trying to grab at the wine that was just a short distance away from her.

He sighed. “I shouldn’t have let you drink so much.”

“I want to drink!”

“No.”

“Then… ” She looked at him and smiled. “Shall I tell you who I am?”

“You’re going to let me in on the big secret just for a glass of wine?” Feng Kun did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Xiao Ling, you really can’t drink anymore.”

“No… I want to drink.” Xia Ling ignored his advice and continued to struggle free from him. “Feng Kun, let me go… let me go… give me wine. If you give me the wine, I’ll tell you who I am…”

“I already know who you are.” His voice was gentle as he grabbed her, preventing her from reaching the wine.

She forgot to struggle momentarily and eyed him suspiciously. “Then, why not you tell me… who am I?”

He did not reply immediately. After a while, he reached out his hand to caress her face. “Xiao Ling ah… Xiao Ling… I’ve known you for more than ten years. I still can’t believe that you died so easily.”

“Easily?” She laughed out loud. “It wasn’t easy… wasn’t easy at all. Ah Kun, do you know how much I wanted to stay alive? But they wanted me dead… wanted me dead…”

Feng Kun hugged her tightly in his arms.

“Yet, so what if I didn’t die? I would still be in his cage… still be his underground lover, his puppet all my life! Ah Kun, do you know how terrified I was? I was afraid that one day when I woke up, I would really just be a puppet…” She choked up and started to cry.

Feng Kun hugged her as she cried. A long while later, he hoarsely asked, “Were you scared when you fell off the tall stage?”

“I was scared…” She replied as she started to drift off into dreamland in the warmth of his embrace. “I was terrified… but… jumping down was an escape as well. I would be free of Ziheng… when I could still remember a little of how he was good to me… that little that was not driven out of me in that year of torture…”

Her voice became softer and softer before she was silent and fell asleep.

She dreamed a long dream — it started with her in the orphanage with the irises in full bloom, before moving on to the huge concert with the ten thousand strong audience. Then, there was the barking from the monstrous mastiff… the man with the whip in the darkness… all the hugs… the love… the goodbye…

She woke up the next day with a splitting headache.

Xia Ling rubbed at her temples as she sat up. She got off the bed and pushed open the door, taking in her surroundings. She realized that this was not the bar or the apartment where she lived with Li Lei. However, the decorations and settings were extremely familiar. She made a round around the living room and looked into the kitchen before moving on to tour the second level. It finally hit her —

This was Feng Kun’s house.

Why was she here? And, where was Feng Kun?

Xia Ling looked around the place and found the door of Feng Kun’s work studio slightly ajar. She pushed it open and found him inside. In the morning sun, Feng Kun was dressed in a light-colored casual attire, sitting in the soft sofa seat, staring at the instruments and music equipment in front of him deep in thought.

Hearing the sound of her entering the room, he turned and saw her.

“Xiao Ling?” He said gently. “Come in. Since when have you become so polite.”

Xia Ling was stunned. “Mr. Feng, we…” She wanted to say that they were not that close but saw the smile forming at the edge of his lips and the glint in his eyes. She knew that something was wrong and swallowed the second half of her sentence back into her mouth.

“Stop pretending.” He smiled at her. “I know you are… Xia Ling.”

He said her name word by word, intentionally pronouncing it clearly.