A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

“You’re good.” Xia Ling was being civil.

“I graduated from Cambridge.” Xia Yu smiled sweetly as she showed off.

Xia Ling was unhappy now. Look at how good this Cambridge graduate was, what about Rong Ping who got a Ph.D. from Stanford? How many did he find?

She silently cursed at Rong Ping without losing her smile. “How did you know there’d be a card here?” If she guessed right, this card should be the continuation to Luo Luo’s “singing bird” clue. Xia Yu had no previous clue to this musical box, so how did she find her way here?

Xia Yu simply smiled and evaded the question. “Ye Xingling, do you want to exchange tips with me?”

“Exchange tips?”

Xia Ling understood how she got to the musical box. She must have met Luo Luo along the way and exchanged tips with her.

But, just how much did she know?

Xia Ling was alert now. If Luo Luo had told Xia Yu about everything they got, then Xia Yu could possibly have information on all 10 cards.

“No, I don’t want to.” She rejected Xia Yu directly.

Xia Yu showed a shocked expression. “Why not? Ye Xingling, this is a competition, but we have to work together. There’s no good in being so petty.” She made it sound as if Xia Ling was being insensible and unreasonable.

Xia Ling could not keep up with Xia Yu’s way of sarcasm while feigning innocence, acting like the kind and weak one was never her forte.

Hence, she decided to play along in her own way. She smiled wilfully. “Yes, I’m petty, and I don’t want to exchange tips. How’s that?”

The cameramen snapped tons of shots around the two of them. Everybody knew about the fight between these two female celebrities the year before, and how it came to a close when Xia Yu made a public apology. Now that they were against each other once again, could it lead to another brawl? It would be great if they could capture something sensational.

Xia Yu slowly spoke, “Then how do you intend to complete the mission? You won’t be able to get the clues you need if you don’t know enough information from all the cards.” The sun rays fell on her face with a beautiful glow. With the tone she used, it was almost as if she were genuinely concerned about Xia Ling.

Xia Ling smiled easily. “I’ve Rong Ping.” She tilted her head a little and added, “Why do I need to worry so much? Why don’t you just get Zheng Chenhao to worry about these instead? It’s too tiring to take it all on yourself.”

Xia Yu was fuming on the inside. What did Ye Xingling mean, was she mocking her helper for being useless?!

It was precisely what Xia Yu was unhappy about. Zheng Chenhao was physically attractive, but he was not the least bit intelligent. Xia Yu had to depend on herself to figure everything out while he followed along.

How nice it would be if Rong Ping were still around.

Xia Yu thought about the round the day before and detested Xia Ling even more for getting such a useful assistant.

“Chenhao?” She had to keep her smile on no matter how much she disliked him. “Brother Chenhao listens to me and takes good care of me. I wouldn’t bother him with something as trivial as exchanging tips with others.”

“What?” Xia Ling smiled too. “I’m more than willing to bother Rong Ping with such trivial matters.”

Xia Yu might have been curt with her words, but between the two of them, it was obvious who was better at this sarcastic exchange. Xia Yu could not conceal her emotion very much and revealed some of her unhappiness, while Xia Ling happily bade her farewell and left.

Xia Ling went to look for Rong Ping.

She found him in a quiet reading room and told him about her encounter with Xia Yu. “We need to find out what’s on the card in the musical box. But I think the rest of the information is with Luo Luo now since they have exchanged tips. We should meet Luo Luo’s team and decide how we should proceed from here.”

Rong Ping nodded and looked for Xia Yu. Both of them were smart and good at acting, and it did not take much effort for Rong Ping to get Xia Yu’s musical box card by giving her an unimportant card in exchange.

Xia Yu thought that she had the upper hand, and faced the camera as she said, “Brother Rong was more than willing to give me what Ye Xingling was unwilling to. I’m very touched by Brother Rong’s kindness.”

Rong Ping smiled gracefully.

He brought the information that he just got and met Xia Ling, Luo Luo, and Bai Murong at their designated spot.

True enough, Bai Murong said that he had managed to trick his way into getting two cards’ clues from Zheng Chenhao —”trick” was the right word indeed because Zheng Chenhao was foolish enough to give Bai Murong two cards’ worth of clues when Bai Murong had only given him one in exchange. Hence, adding Bai Murong’s one card of clues, along with three cards that Xia Yu had initially, they easily figured out that Xia Yu’s team only had five cards worth of clues.

How about Luo Luo and Xia Ling’s alliance?

Xia Ling had the rose card and the Cinderella card, while Rong Ping found two cards on his own and got ahold of Xia Yu’s musical box card. Luo Luo had the bird card and the snack card that she found with Xia Ling’s team, while Bai Murong found one card and received two from Xia Yu’s team. Adding them all up, they had 10 in total.

“Yay!” Luo Luo was exhilarated. “Let’s start looking for that final clue!”

Through their brainstorm, and especially with Rong Ping’s intellect and Bai Murong’s analysis, they found a direction to the final clue. Luo Luo who was in charge of livening things up, as well as Xia Ling who was there to cheer the two men on as they dashed to the roof of the castle under the two men’s instructions. In a pile of fake flowers, sculptures, and miscellaneous items, they found… a key.

It was a key alright.

“At midnight, Cinderella quietly opens the door — it’s definitely a key.” Rong Ping and Bai Murong took the 10 cards out. “Xiao Ling, only this clue hasn’t been used yet, it must be the main lead to be used now. This will be the key to open Cinderella’s door, and also the key for her to transform into a princess.”

“So, the clue about the crystal is regarding this key as well?”

“Yes.” Bai Murong smiled and raised the key. “Emcee! Director! We’re done with our mission! Princess Luo Luo and Princess Xiao Ling have worked together to achieve the final task!”

“Oh yes, you solved it. Congratulations!” The clown suddenly appeared once again and applauded their victory, while also mumbling. “How did the production crew allow an alliance to be formed? Look what happened now, the gap is simply too big — Luo Luo’s and Xia Ling’s teams score 100 points! Xia Yu’s team, 50 points! That’s not a pass!”