A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

In the changing room.

Xia Ling changed out of the wet dancewear into some clean clothes.

Li Lei entered the room holding a hairdryer to help her blow-dry her hair. Her long wet hair slowly became dry under his careful touch, and there was a sweet fragrance being emitted from her light strands.

Both of them reveled in this rare moment of peace, enjoying each other’s company in silence.

When her hair was almost completely dry, Li Lei put the hairdryer down, picked up the comb, and combed it through her hair. Then, he said, “Okay, let’s go now.”

Xia Ling asked, “Have you helped others blow and comb their hair before?”

“Hmmm, yup, I have.” Li Lei said offhandedly.

“Ah, no wonder… I was thinking that you were quite skillful at it.” Xia Ling said in passing as she stood up and walked out of the room.

Mr. Li Lei stared after her mildly stunned, before realizing his mistake. “Hey, Xiao Ling, don’t be jealous! You need to hear me out first! I helped my grandmother blow and dry her hair! It was my grandmother…”

His voice traversed down the long corridor.

Xia Ling was feeling lighthearted, and a smile came upon her face as she slowed her steps.

Li Lei chased up to her and walked alongside her.

Seeing his nervous expression, Xia Ling thought to herself that them starting over was not a bad idea.

The Meteor Wings advertisement titled “Genie in your dreams” had completed filming, but this did not mean that the advertisement gig was over. Initially, the contract she signed with the Gu family was an exclusive one, which meant that Xia Ling would not be able to endorse any other perfume brand for a period of three years. In the same vein, the Gu family could only recognize Xia Ling as their endorsement model for the same time period.

Only one year had passed since the deal was struck.

If Xia Ling continued to stay on at Skyart Entertainment, holding up her end of the contract was not going to be a problem. However, the problem was that Xia Ling was intending to leave Skyart Entertainment.

The endorsement contract was signed between the Gu family and Skyart Entertainment, which was acting on her behalf. If Xia Ling left Skyart, they would have no choice but to breach the contract and pay the Gu family the relevant compensation for the premature termination of the contract.

Skyart Entertainment could easily afford this breach of contract penalty.

What they could not afford to pay was the damage it would bring to the mutual relationship between the companies.

This endorsement opportunity was given to Xia Ling by the Old Master of the Gu family in the midst of her warring with Imperial Entertainment, being slandered and her reputation down in the dumps. He had chosen then to let her endorse the most important product in their collection to give her a leg up in her career.

She had performed her duties as Meteor Wings’ endorsement model flawlessly, and sales for Meteor Wings was at its best.

If she chose to leave now, there would not be another female artiste that could take her place. Meteor Wings’ image and sales would take a big hit, and all the marketing plans would have to be reworked. There would be a big headache for the Gu family, not to mention the likely financial losses.

Li Lei knew all of these.

His family was close to the Gu family for several generations, and his Xiao Ling had received favor from Old Master Gu. Even though Gu Lin was a pain in the neck, and Uncle Gu was biased towards her, he still could not let Xiao Ling leave her endorsement position at this time on account of the business ramifications.

He opened the discussion with Xia Ling on this topic. “When you leave Skyart, can you sign another endorsement contract with the Gu family?”

Xia Ling understood what he was getting at. “I have no problems with that, as long as your dear childhood sweetheart doesn’t give me any problems. I don’t have the habit of working for someone if they look down on me.”

Li Lei laughed. “Gu Lin is a kid and doesn’t know the importance of Meteor Wings to her family and her future. Luckily, Grandfather Gu sees reason and will not let her mess things up.”

“I fear that Gu Lin will think I’m clinging onto the Gu family desperately.” Xia Ling said with a huff, unconvinced.

Li Lei laughed again as he consoled Xia Ling, seeing her acting like an agitated kitty. “Who is the one clinging onto the other? Everyone in the business can see that clearly. What’s more, you should raise your endorsement fee. Take it as you’re asking them for compensation for the mental strain it will put on you.” He took her small, slender and fair hand in his and wrote a figure in her palm.

“You’re asking me to raise my fee that much?” Xia Ling remarked in shock.

Li Lei shrugged. “Believe me. The Gu family can afford this, and it’s just at the brink of being exorbitantly expensive, but still not enough that they would let you go.” Given his knowledge of the Gu family business and his experience as the Big Boss of a company, he knew without a doubt that he was right. He had not put down this figure the last time only on account that the Old Master Gu was helping Xia Ling. However, since Gu Lin was so bent on making trouble for Xia Ling time and again, Big Boss Li was not to be trifled with and felt that this was fair.

Moreover, his Xiao Ling was just about to leave Skyart Entertainment to embark on a solo career, he needed to make sure that she would have sufficient resources to live on. Women needed money to protect themselves and to have enough backing, such that they would not need to bend over backward to please anybody. With this money, she would have the freedom to be selective about what programs and endorsements she would want to accept or reject.

He wanted her to be comfortable.

With his help in pulling the right strings, the Gu family entered into negotiations with Xia Ling to sign another exclusive endorsement contract.

On hearing the endorsement fee she was asking, Father Gu was alarmed. “Why don’t you just rob a bank?!”

Xia Ling smiled lightly. “I wasn’t originally going to ask for this much. However, you saw how it was in our last filming. What’s to say that Miss Gu will not come to disturb us again in the future, raising the difficulty of me being able to perform my work and affecting my emotions. Only this compensation would be just enough to allow me to be willing to put up with that.”

What?! This exorbitant figure was only “just enough” for her?!

Father Gu was furious and wanted to slam his fist on the table. He was not of the view that his daughter had been out of line. On the contrary, he felt this little artiste in front of him was being preposterous and asking for too much. “The Gu family doesn’t need you as an endorsement model! I’m going to get you replaced!”

“Sure, replace me then.” If it were not for Li Lei’s advice, Xia Ling would likely have acquiesced seeing Father Gu’s reaction. However, Xia Ling now knew that she could push him for more. “If CEO Gu is confident of finding a replacement for me, I will be happy to step aside. Do you think I’m hard-pressed for this endorsement deal? Let’s be honest, I’m only here on account of Grandfather Gu. Otherwise, I wouldn’t take on the job even if you groveled at my feet.”

This girl! How could she be so arrogant?!

Father Gu felt himself get redder in the face from anger but pulled himself back from firing Xia Ling there and then with what remained of his rationality.

Old Master Gu’s priority at the moment was Meteor Wings and had told him at length not to offend this endorsement model. If the Old Master found out that he had fired her, he was worried about keeping his position as CEO.

As such, Father Gu could only control his temper and agree to Xia Ling’s exorbitant endorsement fee.

Xia Ling was overjoyed, and the way she looked at Li Lei after the meeting was much friendlier than before. Big Boss Li was really her fortune master. He had just given her a random figure, and she only needed to go into the meeting room, demand for that fee, and swagger out as they had no choice but to accept.

She would not need to worry about buying anything — her branded bags, cosmetics, clothing purchases…

Hahaha…. just thinking about all that was making her really happy.

Xiao Ling was in an excellent mood. As they passed by a retail outlet, she walked in to buy Big Boss Li a tie as a thank you gift.

Big Boss Li was pleasantly surprised at this and accepted the gift with a radiant smile on his face.

He called Sister Mai Na. “Arrange for the PR team to issue a press release saying that Xiao Ling is about to leave Skyart Entertainment. She has landed her first endorsement deal after going solo, and that is to continue being the endorsement model for Meteor Wings. Her endorsement fee has broken the national record.”

There were some rumors recently that said Xiao Ling was being chased out of Skyart Entertainment after their breakup.

He could not let Xiao Ling be regarded as so despondent. Even if she were to leave Skyart Entertainment, she was going to leave with style. Only then would she be protected from the bullying of those in the industry that had their eyes at the top of their heads.