A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Both of them grew quiet, and it was silent in the car.

Li Lei tightened his embrace around her, though he was careful not to hurt her. She leaned into him comfortably.

Xia Ling’s head was on his chest, and she could hear his strong and steady heartbeat. This made her feel peaceful, allowing her to forget all the fatigue she felt from the day’s work. The tiredness she felt from having to act adorable the entire day for the program, or from her conflict with Xia Yu, fell away. At this moment, they were all unimportant, the important thing was him and being in his embrace.

He had set her free to do whatever she wanted, go wherever she wanted, and fly as high as she wanted, though he was always there caring for her from a distance. He would not take credit for anything, but simply give her the warmest protection.

This was the kind of love she wanted.

With these thoughts, she held on tighter to the corners of his shirt. Before long, she felt her consciousness grow blurry as she fell asleep in the comfort of his embrace.

Li Lei lowered his head to watch his girl sleep in his arms.

She was quiet in her deep sleep, her bright and clear eyes shut lightly, and her long eyelashes cast a dim shadow underneath her eyes. She had dark eye circles, probably from the lack of rest from these few days of filming. He removed his jacket and draped it over her, before instructing the driver to turn the AC up a little. He then recollected her into his embrace and shut his eyes as well to get some rest.

She was not the only one that was busy during this time.

He had never told her that he had had sleepless nights for a while.

The car drove until it arrived below Xia Ling’s apartment.

The driver woke Li Lei first. Li Lei opened his eyes and put his finger to his lips, signaling to the driver to keep quiet. He looked down and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Xia Ling had not stirred from within his embrace. He looked out at the dark surroundings, thinking if he should carry her upstairs, but realizing that there was a problem. This troublesome little imp had been so stubborn that she refused to give him the door key to her place. How was he going to get her upstairs?

While he could easily break open the door or call in the experts he knew to open the lock, he knew that Xiao Ling would be furious at him for doing that. Did she not leave for the very reason of the lack of privacy and insecurity? No, no, no, he could not let her feel like everything she did was within his control.

Big Boss Li was at a loss.

“Or we could go to your place?” The driver suggested in a low voice.

This driver was actually Li Lei’s aide, and Li Lei had placed him by Xiao Ling’s side under the ruse of Sister Mai Na’s recommendation. This silly girl had thought he was an outsider with no relation to all of them… how adorable of her.

Big Boss Li was most satisfied with Xia Ling’s intellect… or the adorable lack thereof.

His lips curled into a smile as he thought about this to himself.

He rejected the driver’s suggestion. “Let’s go to Ah Wei’s recording studio.” Xiao Ling was having a quiet period right now, preparing for her new album. He was unsure if tabloid reporters were hiding out nearby, and for safety, it would be prudent not to be too showy. If the reporters captured pictures of her going to his apartment, the news the next day would be explosive. On the other hand, taking a photo of them going to Wei Shaoyin’s recording studio would be different, it could be regarded as them having to burn the midnight oil for the recording.

The driver headed towards the recording studio.

When they reached there, Li Lei carried Xia Ling out of the car and into the resting room. Given that the workaholic Wei Shaoyin loved to work overtime, there was a sleeping area in the recording studio, and Xia Ling had slept there a few times. Li Lei could not tolerate his girl having to share a bed with Mr. Crazy Wei and hence had created another resting room just for Xia Ling.

He put her down gently on the bed and covered her with the blanket.

He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her for a while, before switching the lights off and lying down on the bed as well. Hugging her to himself, he fell asleep.

As such, when Xia Ling woke up, she found herself entangled in Big Boss’ octopus-like embrace.

Xia Ling was speechless as she reached out to pinch his cheek. “Hey, wake up! Why are you sleeping with me on my bed?!” Even though they had slept together before, they were a broken up couple now. How could a single man and woman sleep on the same bed?!

She pinched Big Boss Li’s cheek a little harder with these thoughts in mind.

Big Boss woke with a start. “Who pinched me?”

Xia Ling glared at him angrily.

“Morning, Xiao Ling.” He laughed.

“What morning?!” Xia Ling spat out. ” Speak! Why am I sleeping here? Did you take advantage of me yesterday?!”

“I didn’t do very much…”

Xia Ling continued glaring at him.

Big Boss hurried to explain himself, lying through his teeth. “Really! You were the one that was hugging on to me, not letting me go!”

Was that right? Xia Ling looked at him suspiciously.

Big Boss nodded emphatically. “I’m not lying to you! That was exactly what happened! Yesterday, you wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I tried to wake you. I couldn’t open your apartment door and had no choice but to bring you over to the recording studio and let you sleep on this bed. When I was covering you with the blanket, you pulled me onto yourself, treating me like your blanket!”

Was she that… desperate?

Xia Ling flushed crimson.

“Perhaps you were feeling cold?” Big Boss helped to dissipate the embarrassment.

Yes, that had to be it. Xia Ling consoled herself.

Big Boss was congratulating himself quietly for having bluffed his way through. He bustled to help her get up and look for a clean set of clothing to change into — she had many clothes in the resting room in case she had to stay over. She changed her clothes and opened the schedule that Wei Wei had sent to her mobile.

“I have some work at B city in the afternoon and have to leave now.”

“Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

“I’ll get my assistant to buy something to eat on the way.”

Li Lei did not push any further. He lowered his head to give her a kiss on the forehead and prepared to send her to the car.

Xia Ling stopped him just outside the resting room. “You shouldn’t follow me anymore. There are many people outside. I’ll leave now, take care of yourself.” She walked down the long corridor, looking elegant and slender like a beautiful flower.

“Xiao Ling.” Li Lei called out to her.

“Hmm?” She turned around to look at him.

“Let’s get back together after Extraordinary Risks ends.”

She did not expect him to suddenly talk about their relationship and was stunned. Reconcile? It was sudden, but also seemed right. She recalled being in his arms last night and pinching him in the cheeks this morning. She knew that she was not adverse to getting back together with him.

A woman’s body language was usually honest. If they liked the person, any form of intimacy would be fine. But if they disliked the person, just a touch would be disgusting to them. At least, her body was not adverse to him.

“I…”

“That’s settled then.” Li Lei interrupted before she could say anything. He could not tolerate another day of hiding, not having the liberty to merely walk her to the car. He wished for the day that he could walk beside her, shoulder to shoulder.

Xia Ling hesitated. “Let’s talk about it again later.” She did not give him a direct answer, but she was leaning towards accepting in her heart. Since moving out, she realized that she had gotten used to having him by her side. Without him around, she would sometimes subconsciously start to think about him.

Habits were really difficult to change.