A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Unknown to himself, Qin Zifeng was already mesmerized by her.

When he first went on stage, he was worried about losing to somebody so much lower in status than him. But now that Xia Ling had showered him with compliments and praised him sky high, he suddenly felt a certain connection with her—like she was a soulmate, a fellow talent who truly understood his music. He was genuinely thinking of her interests now.

“You really don’t have to sing my song,” he said. “My songs aren’t that easy to sing, and it’s especially strenuous for girls. I can sing your song instead.”

Those words actually gave Xia Ling a good impression of him.

She knew that Qin Zifeng’s songs were usually of the pop style, but he usually added special elements to it—such as heavy metal or rock and roll—which made it challenging for most female singers. But not for her. Having been a singer for two lifetimes, she had mastered most of the different genres of songs. She could even sing a whole heavy metal or rock and roll song, much less a pop song with just elements of it.

Hence, she smiled politely. “It’s alright, I really enjoy trying out new styles. The audience has listened to my songs for an entire day, and I even had to repeat a few songs. I bet they must be tired of listening to those, so it’d be good if we could switch things up a little.” Her career in this lifetime wasn’t all that long, so she only had those few songs to work with, and had to repeat them when she got to the later rounds.

Actually, the audience didn’t mind her repeating her songs. Each time she sang the same song, she would make a little modification, giving the song a different style to it. With that, the audience actually did not grow tired of listening to them.

But now that Qin Zifeng was involved, they were even more curious as to how she would modify or perform another singer’s song. They were behind Xia Ling with regards to the song choice. “That’s right, Qin Zifeng! Let her sing your song!”

“We want to hear your song!”

“Handsome Qin’s songs are the coolest!”

Qin Zifeng didn’t expect things to turn out this way. If she sang his song, wouldn’t it appear as if a senior were bullying a junior singer? He was still weighing his options when Xia Ling said, “Moreover… Senior Zifeng, aren’t you curious as to how I’ll be performing your song?”

His heart fluttered.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

During the span of the head-to-head competition, he had observed that her voice was indeed powerful, and her style unpredictable. She was always giving the audience surprises during her performances. He wondered if she sang his song, what sort of surprise would she be able to come up with?

“Qin Zifeng! Qin Zifeng!”

“We want to listen to Handsome Qin’s song!”

The audience cheered him on.

Qin Zifeng finally made a decision. “Alright, little girl, pick a song of mine then.”

Xia Ling smiled, “Let’s sing ‘End of the World.’”

Qin Zifeng raised his brows slightly. “Are you sure?” This girl did not just pick his song, she actually picked the most difficult one to sing.

“This song is very popular recently,” Xia Ling said. “I’ve heard it more often, so I’m more familiar with it.”

Heard it… more often… the audience froze for a moment. Girl, you’re picking such a tough one to compete with him over on the basis that you’ve “heard it more often”?

“This Ye Xingling,” one of the megastars smiled and shook his head. “Very interesting.”

“She’s bragging shamelessly.” Someone said.

Bai Murong grabbed a handful of popcorn but did not comment. He recalled that when they sang “Powerful Opponent,” she had only listened to the song once before and went through the lyrics briefly before she reproduced it perfectly. He knew what she was made of — if she said that she had “heard it more often,” then she was definitely capable of singing it very well.

This was truly a gift.

Qin Zifeng didn’t want to talk to her anymore for fear of hearing even more shocking and surprising things. He had made considerations in her interests, but she had put him down time and again. It seemed like this girl needed to learn a lesson. She needed someone to show her that she was nowhere near the best.

He had set his mind to it and wouldn’t persuade her further. “Alright, ‘End of the World’ it is!” He needed to put her in her place.

Onstage, the music came on, and the fog flooded the stage.

It was Qin Zifeng’s song, so he sang the first line: “If the years we have were boundless, if the time we have was eternal, if you would turn around to look at me once more…”

Xia Ling caught on with the next line naturally and fluently.

“If there was one more connection between us…”

Qin Zifeng turned to look at her and couldn’t mask his admiration. This girl was talented indeed, she could grasp the exact beat and moment to come in, and was neither too overshadowing nor too soft and negligible. It was as if she were built for this melody.

The fact that she could enter at exactly the right moment with perfectly balanced power in her voice was enough to have everyone cheering for her.

Xia Ling went on singing, but the next line was an improvised version, one that kept the original elements of it but had even more of a kick to the melody. “If your love for me was only infinitesimal… a connection in twilight…”

Qin Zifeng felt his heart skip a beat—the time had come.

He had already known before he came onstage that this girl’s impromptu improvisation was fantastic and that he needed to guard against that. But he didn’t expect her to play it this early on in the song. Slightly shaken, he had to consciously compose himself. “Bit by bit, sand gathered into a tower…”

Xia Ling continued making variations to it, like a witch putting her powers to use. “How long can they gather for… if it lasted forever, would it even reach your fingertips…”

Qin Zifeng was going mad, her power and presence on stage were terrifying. The variation of the second line was completely different from the first—there were no regularities to it, but it came together so well. Not to mention the audience, even Qin Zifeng himself had been led into her fantasy world. He was involuntarily going along to her rhythm, her beat.

“A connection in twilight…” He repeated the second verse before realizing to his horror that he had sung it with the melody she had just invented. Frustrated, he went back to his original version. “Can’t reach your fingertips…”

His sudden change in melody sounded a little incoherent.

The megastars gathered offstage were shocked, “Surely not, it’s only been two lines and Qin Zifeng has already been defeated?” What kind of powers did this girl have exactly?

“Take it easy, maybe he just hasn’t warmed up yet. Zifeng’s a strong singer himself, he won’t be defeated so easily,” another one of them said. “Remember when Murong sang ‘Powerful Opponent’ with her? He was overshadowed by her at one point too, but didn’t he recover after that?”

Bai Murong was exasperated. Brothers, could you stop citing me as an example? Could you just forget about the time this girl overshadowed me? Please?