A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

“Hahaha.” Bai Murong laughed out loud, not giving her any face.

He had long despised Xia Yu as he witnessed this weak and harmless-looking girl bullying Xiao Ling and trampling on Luo Luo in secret. All these shaped his view of her as a devious person.

Hearing his laughter, Xia Yu’s expression became angrier, and her face turned into different shades of red.

“That’s enough, let’s continue with the filming. Everybody in your positions!” The director clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention and commandeered the filming to resume.

In the next segment, they were going to pick the winner. Xia Ling’s team and Luo Luo’s team found the key at the same time. However, there was only one key. Who should be given the responsibility of holding it?

“Such a difficult decision…” the clown contemplated.

“Give it to me, give it to me!” Luo Luo jumped twice on the same spot in her excitement and batted her lids at the clown. “The key should be held by the real princess! You cannot give it to the little squirrel in my house.” She had a close relationship with Xiao Ling, but that did not mean that they would give in to each other in a competitive game.

Xia Ling laughed lightly. “The little squirrel is faking it well.”

Luo Luo opened her eyes wide at Xiao Ling in mock surprise. “You’re the little squirrel!”

“Let’s allow everyone here to be the judge. Which of us seems more like the little squirrel?” Xia Ling was not falling for her charms, as she said with an elegant smile. She was a Diva in her past life, embraced by dozens, and poise and elegance was second nature to her. Even if she might sometimes be vibrant and adorable off-camera, when the time came to display her elegance, nobody would be able to show it better than her. Instantly, Luo Luo was overshadowed, given her image as a girl-next-door.

The cameramen smiled, amused at this development, and gave Xia Ling a few more direct shots.

“Murong, are you really not going to consider switching sides?” Rong Ping spoke up in support of Xia Ling as he joked with Bai Murong. “You still have time to switch over to the side of the Real princess!”

“Don’t try to swindle me into betraying Princess Luo Luo.” Bai Murong was adamant of his stance, and he reached over to pat Luo Luo on the top of her head with a big smile. “Don’t worry, I’m going to protect you!”

“Yes, yes!” Luo Luo nodded her head and looked up at him with reverence in her eyes.

The lovebirds stared into each other’s eyes, alone in their world…

Xia Ling could not bear to look at them and cleared her throat loudly before speaking to the clown. “So who are you going to pass the key to for safekeeping?”

“Princess Xiao Ling, don’t worry. I’ve prepared the fairest and most logical game to ensure that the key is passed to the more suitable person.” The clown replied.

Everyone looked at him in anticipation.

“That is… a game of rock, paper, scissors!”

Everyone was speechless for a moment. Rock, paper, scissors?! Was this the fairest and most logical game to determine the owner of the key?

“I’m terrible at rock, paper, scissors…” Luo Luo complained.

Bai Murong stepped forward and said, “I’ll help you.” He looked at Xia Ling and Rong Ping with a taunting expression. “Which of you is going to compete with me?”

“Confident, aren’t you?” Xia Ling laughed as she shook out her wrist. “Let me.” She felt that she was better at these little games than Rong Ping. Rong Ping was a boring one that rarely played such games with others. How could he be a match to the game master, Bai Murong?

As for Xia Ling herself, she was playful like Bai Murong in her past life and was very good at games.

“Let’s see what you’ve got! Don’t cry when you lose!” Bai Murong taunted.

“Let’s see who’s the one that’s about to cry. Don’t go crying for your mama.” Xia Ling retorted, not one to be intimidated.

“We determine the winner in just one round! We determine the winner in just one round!” The clown chanted, interrupting their taunts.

“Let’s do it!” Bai Murong looked over at Xia Ling.

Xia Ling tilted her head to the side and displayed an enchanting smile as she said, “I’m going to throw scissors.”

Everyone stared at her incredulously. What? Why was she telling him her move beforehand?! However, everyone applauded her for this clever move soon after. While she seemed to be declaring her move brazenly, Bai Murong would now be met with the dilemma of deciding if he should trust her. If he believed her, what if Xia Ling did not throw scissors? And if he chose to disregard her statement, what if she was telling the truth? Bai Murong had much to contemplate…

This was a clever move to confound her rival before the game.

Everyone was applauding Xia Ling silently.

Bai Murong’s lips curled into a smile. “Oh, the confidence!”

“The confidence of a Real princess!” Xia Ling laughed.

Real princess? The real princess would not lie to others, Bai Murong thought to himself. He had interacted with Xia Ling at the Nebula Music Festival before and knew that she had an innocent personality. Although she was mischievous, she tended to be careless and overlook the details. Like this time, he was eighty percent sure that she was going to throw scissors for real…

Yet…

Bai Murong’s smile became wider. Maybe he should let her win this once? When he was preparing to participate in this program, Big Boss Li Lei reminded him time and again to take care of this her. She had already had a hard time in this program thus far, and seeing that this week was the final segment, it would do her good to display a strong comeback and be crowned the winner. To be down in the dumps at the start, and to soar in the sky at the end. This would do wonders for her popularity, and the program would attract many eyeballs, wouldn’t it?

Big Boss, Big Boss, for the love of your life, I’m going to have to betray Princess Luo Luo this once!

Bai Murong thought to himself before saying to Xia Ling, “Cut the rubbish! Let’s play!”

As expected, Xia Ling threw scissors.

And Bai Murong threw paper.

“Scissors and paper… Princess Xiao Ling is the winner!” The clown bounced animatedly on the spot and announced. Congratulatory music rang out and the lights lit up, as a burst of confetti rained down on Xia Ling. “The key belongs to Princess Xiao Ling!”

“Oh, Murong, you’re such an idiot!” Luo Luo complained childishly. “Xiao Ling said that she was going to throw scissors… why did you stupidly throw paper?”

“How would I know she was telling the truth?” Bai Murong pretended to be forlorn. He felt slightly apologetic to Luo Luo. However, she had been the perfect partner to him in this program, and even if she did not win, her screentime and surge in popularity was a sure thing. Hence, Bai Murong knew that he would be able to make it up to Luo Luo by being nicer to her in the future.

There was never a perfect scenario after all.

Bai Murong congratulated himself for dealing with this difficult situation well, seeing himself as an honorable martyr.

Xia Ling smiled happily at them. “I told you I was going to throw scissors! The real princess wouldn’t lie.”

Clearly, she could not tell that he had let her win and was going to rub it in. Bai Murong felt wronged by Xiao Ling’s taunting, but he still smiled and said, “Yes, yes, you’re right, whatever you say.”

He could only pat himself on the back for his glorious sacrifice.