A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Su Tang watched the white horse pull the smiling girl on the carriage, her expression cold and unchanging.

She had always known that Ye Xingling was a big shot, so when she organized the ceremony she had falsely sent an invitation to her home.

She wanted to help in removing the thorn from their flesh.

Who knew, Nangong Qingya barely made an impact. She had only served to slightly disrupt the relationship between Young Master and Ye Xingling, and they had patched up quickly thereafter.

She still had to think of other methods.

Unmovingly, she had to think of a new way.

The red carpet event had ended, and Xia Ling was being escorted by two flower children off the carriage and backstage. The fans were still making their way into the venue, and soon enough, it grew more and more full.

Dreamy music filled the venue as the host took the stage.

It was bustling.

Xia Ling had changed into a sparkly singlet — she rarely ever dressed this hot and sharp — and the cheering grew louder. She stood on the stage, and the light shone on her like the moon.

She heard the cheering from all directions, and the lightsticks fluttered on in the darkness.

It was a chaotic, fleeting moment that hardly felt real.

In her last life, this very venue had seen her celebrate her tenth debut anniversary.

But it had been a bit different. That day, the crowd had been even larger, more magnificent, the roof open and the stage hung high above. The walls on the side had also been taken down to accommodate more people. That was how powerful she had been then, at her peak, her most beautiful, flowing moment, and someone had stabbed her and pushed her off the stage.

She subconsciously peeked behind her.

Backstage was dark, and there was nothing there.

That day, who had killed her? Till now, she had no answer.

Downstage, the neverending cheering brought her back to the present. She was ready now: one arm outstretched, chin slightly pointed up, stage persona on.

The fireworks came on.

Dry ice, fog.

Rainbows of a thousand colors.

Followed her single gesture.

She had hit a high note, a note so high that shocked even herself. She was in good form and felt as if her life was slowly coming together, coming back through her music.

This stage was where her previous life ended, and where her new one was going to begin.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

“Gosh, Ye Xingling’s condition today is top quality,” a music critic commented to the colleague beside him. “You hear those starting notes? They’re so much higher than normal, I thought she had accidentally started off too high because of her nerves, but no, neither did she grow anxious, nor did she try to pull the one lower. She just went with it! And it sounds better than usual!”

If she had started off too high, the entire song would have to be adjusted even higher. For instance, if the original song had been meant for a mezzo-soprano, it would have become suitable for a soprano instead, and for a singer, this spelled a big challenge.

“This is beyond science,” the other critic replied in awe. In the industry, she had not become famous due to her pitch, but because of her sheer expressiveness that lured listeners in… Typically, this brand of singer hardly had a large repertoire, but did you hear that high note? That was more captivating than her usual tone, just like…

“Just like a falsetto!”

The critics stared at each other in awe. Falsetto was an extremely rare talent, and it was difficult to train. In the world, the few singers who possessed this skill were few, and in the entire Asian sphere, after Xia Ling had passed, no one else could replace her.

And today, Ye Xingling’s falsetto…

It was difficult to tell if it were actually a falsetto or a pharyngeal voice!

“She must’ve practiced hard to get her voice to do that,” the critic began again. A pharyngeal voice was a skill that some singers used when they couldn’t attain a falsetto. However, a pharyngeal voice was inferior to a falsetto in terms of quality and depth, and few could use the former to reproduce the latter.

His partner nodded. “You’re right. Tonight, I better put out a good comment.”

“I think we better listen till the end, one song doesn’t mean anything, we have to see if this quality persists. Furthermore, I’m worried that doing this might be bad for her throat. What if she can barely finish a concert because she’s already lost her voice?”

“That would be a waste? It decreases their shelf life! Who would be that silly?”

“Who knows, everyone wants to make it big. I mean, what’s the big deal? You can just not do big concerts next time.”

They looked at each other, worry evident in their eyes. They hoped that this time, they weren’t watching another star work herself to nothing.

On stage, Xia Ling kept the music going.

What the critics had feared hardly came to be, but rather, the concert merely got better and better.

Xia Ling didn’t know what had gotten into her either, as if a new burst of energy had been injected into her veins and pushed her to sing better and better. She had guessed that this might be because Master Li was in attendance — Li Lei had pre-empted her on this, that he was sitting in a second-floor box right opposite the stage — and she had to do her very best to show him that she belonged here, that she was talented…

That she was good enough for Li Lei.

Li Lei was sitting downstage too, first row VIP.

His clear, warm eyes were on her, pride glowing.

The fifth song had come and gone.

“I’m so happy to be standing here. Someone very important to me is also here to see me, and I hope that I have not disappointed him.” She was looking at the front row as she said this.

“How could I ever be disappointed in you.” Li Lei mumbled, grinning.

Downstage, the cheers and screams were growing, sounds of “Who?!””Who?!” flooded her ears. But she merely stayed there, on stage, smiling, as the sixth song, <Wings of Stars> started.

“On the wings of stars, flying with my beloved…”

Her voice rang in the stadium, echoing.

Someone was on stage to give her flowers.

A handsome young man, in a suit of white silver, a gigantic bouquet of scarlet red roses in hand.

Xia Ling looked at his roses and smiled, slightly lost, but said nothing as she took them from him. She recognized him — Wang Tao, from the charity event, from the Wang Family.

That night he had sent her home, and she had agreed to give him VIP tickets to her concert. It had happened, then.

Unfortunately, this boy had really wanted this to be unforgettable. Gifting flowers were one thing, but roses?

Li Lei was still downstage.

The screams continued to grow. The fans had thought the “important person” was this man.

Li Lei’s face grew darker.