A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

She thought that Li Lei would try to persuade her to eat the candy.

However, all he did was to have a mouthful of the cotton candy himself, saying, “You’re not eating? Then, I’ll have it. Why don’t you tell me what’s up with the lingerie?”

Xia Ling glared at him. He was simply too much!

Did he think he was listening to a nice story? And why did he steal her cotton candy?

She grabbed the cotton candy from his hands and took a huge bite of it, saying in a muffled voice, “Why should I tell you since you are stealing my candy?!” Then, she pouted again.

Li Lei looked at the candy in her hands silently. He knew that Xia Ling liked her food and would be much happier and less guarded when she was eating. Hence, he carefully probed again. “Tell me who you were with and I’ll get you all the cotton candy that you want.” It was akin to a big bad wolf trying to trick a cute little bunny.

Xia Ling was caught off-guard and replied, “He’s my…”

She almost slipped up.

However, she caught herself just before she completed her sentence, swallowing the rest of the candy in her mouth. “I can’t reveal his identity.” Seeing that Li Lei’s expression was turning dark, she hurriedly added. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I’ve promised him to keep it a secret. He said that keeping it secret was for my own good.”

“For your own good?” Li Lei’s tone was suspicious. It looked like Xiao Ling was close to this man in question and she trusted him.

Since when did such a man appear in her life? Why was he completely unaware?

Xia Ling felt a little sheepish and curled herself into a ball. “Erm… I actually don’t understand what he means… How about… I’ll ask him if I can tell you the next time we meet?”

“The next time you meet him?” Li Lei’s expression became darker. Was there any end to this? “He gave you lingerie this time… What will be his motive the next time you meet?”

“It’s really not what you are thinking…” Xia Ling was helpless as she didn’t know how to explain the situation. “The person I met at the lingerie shop was Nangong Qingya… and I only bought so much lingerie to spite her. That guy was just helping me pay.”

This explanation did nothing to clear the air.

Li Lei was contemplating if he should flare up at her. How could she allow any random man to buy her these kinds of stuff? Yet, he rationalized that it was useless losing his temper. What could he do to Xiao Ling? Were they going to have another quarrel and then he would have to buy her another stick of cotton candy?

“I’ll make sure that money is sent to your account every month.” This was the only solution that Li Lei could think of. “You’re not allowed to use money from any other man!”

“But… I have money…” Xia Ling responded meekly.

“The little money you have isn’t enough for anything!” Li Lei shouted out in exasperation. Why did she reject him every time he offered to give her money? He needed to make sure that she became more spendthrift and to have the habit of getting money from him, for him to have a lever to tie her down.

Li Lei was uneasy. Why did she have no interest in material wants at all?

“I…” Xia Ling hesitated, thinking if she should tell him about the ten billion yuan that she had in her bank account.

“It’s settled, then!” Li Lei didn’t give her a chance to explain or reject him. “Every month I’ll send you five million yuan. You can buy anything you so wish. If it’s not enough, you can get more from me. In any case, you are forbidden from using money from any other man!”

Xia Ling swallowed back what she was about to tell Li Lei.

This was mainly because she was struggling to calculate how many months Li Lei would have to give her five million to make up the equivalent of ten billion yuan. She knew that men tended to be highly prideful when it came to money, and she felt that revealing her wealth would only agitate Li Lei further.

She didn’t like to use his money, as her experience with Pei Ziheng in her past life had left her with deep trauma. She felt that if she relied too much on someone monetarily, she would be unable to break free from that person. The ten billion yuan given to her by Xia Moyan was different. That was money from her parents and brother.

She decided that she would save all the money that Li Lei gave to her. After all, the ten billion that her brother gave her was enough for her to spend on anything she wanted forever. She would just let Li Lei think that she was spending his money.

“Oh… alright…” She replied reluctantly.

Li Lei was still unhappy. “Why are you looking so forlorn even when I’m giving you money?”

“I’m finding it so tough to have any motivation to become the top Diva in the entertainment circle.” She mumbled. She didn’t even make half as much when she held a concert, why work at all?

Li Lei laughed. “I can afford to provide for you.”

“Oh no.” Xia Ling was not one to back down. “I’ll provide for you.”

She had ten billion now, more than enough to provide for the daily expenses of two people.

Li Lei thought that she was joking. “Okay, I’ll wait for you to earn big bucks.”

Xia Ling didn’t explain and instead changed the topic. “I’m holding a concert next week. Remember to come to watch and support me.”

“Of course, I will.” Li Lei was already informed of her concert times. He had, in fact, gotten into a spat with his grandfather over this. His grandfather had chosen that very day to ask him to accompany him to the Nangong Family, but he had declined vehemently. He said, “Grandfather, I’ve already agreed to meet the ladies in the ceremony. You need to give Xiao Ling and me some personal space. If you force a rabbit to a corner, it will bite. If you push too far, I’ll never see Nangong Qingya again.”

Old Master Li was furious but could not do anything to change Li Lei’s mind.

They were both pushing each other’s limits on this matter of marriage, constantly at loggerheads. This time, Old Master Li relented.

He declared that he was going to drive Xia Ling out of Skyart.

Li Lei laughed. “Grandfather, are you going to meddle in my businesses?” There were two types of businesses that he managed — the business lines he inherited from the family overseas, as well as the business he built for himself locally. The Li Family had an unwritten rule — if someone built their own business, that business was undoubtedly theirs to keep. No one, be it a senior in the family or the head of the family, could meddle in them.

Old Master Li could only take back his words.

Li Lei passed him a concert ticket. “Here’s a ticket for the VIP suite, Grandfather. Xiao Ling is really something else. You should come to listen if you’re free.”

Old Master Li was so angry he almost hit Li Lei. “I’m not going!”

Li Lei placed the ticket on the table and left.

Now, he told Xia Ling, “Xiao Ling, you need to perform well that day. Grandfather will come to watch you.”

Xia Ling responded in shock. “The Old Master? Doesn’t he hate me?”

Li Lei laughed. “He’s a little fierce, but he’s a nice person. Even though he has some preconceived notions about you, he doesn’t hate you. He’s even prepared to support you and come watch your concert.”

Was this truly the reason?

No, Li Lei just knew his grandfather too well. Grandfather knew that Li Lei would definitely go for the concert, and to prevent him from being completely taken by Xia Ling’s performance, he would likely appear to keep a close eye on Li Lei. What’s more, Old Master Li was also keen on knowing more about Xia Ling and understand how she managed to win the heart of his beloved grandson.

He would definitely go to learn more about the enemy.

However, Li Lei was confident in Xiao Ling’s aura on stage. Everyone that watched her live would fall in love with her, and her presence on stage was incomparable.

Grandfather would have a change of heart.