A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Leng Hui was calm and composed. “The challenge is very straightforward. Whoever loses will have to kneel on the ground and sing ‘Conquered.’”

Pfft— Lu Tao spat out the water he was drinking upon hearing that. Between coughs, he asked, “Wait… W-what did you say?”

Leng Hui looked at him like he was an idiot.

He was used to his partner looking at him this way. As he caught his breath, he asked in shock, “You’re saying Ye Xingling wants us to kneel before her and sing ‘Conquered’?!” Gosh, if that was the case, it’d be utterly embarrassing.

Leng Hui asked, “Did you just resign yourself to losing this competition?”

Lu Tao said, “I…! Leng Hui, do you really think we could possibly win her? It’s Ye Xingling we’re talking about! The Little Diva with the falsetto! She’s a renowned cult leader on stage! Us beating her? You’re kidding!”

Leng Hui was still expressionless. “I’ll tell you some good news.”

“What good news could there be?!” Lu Tao was so agitated he began pacing around mindlessly. “Don’t bother me. Let me think of how I’m going to deal with this… how am I going to die this time… Well, it’s not like I’ve never knelt down to her back when we were at the training camp. But, this is different, it’ll be in front of so many people…”

Lu Tao mumbled to himself as he walked in circles.

Even the assistant couldn’t bear with it any longer, and called out to him quietly, “Brother Tao…”

“What a wretched girl, I really should’ve seen through her…” Lu Tao continued murmuring.

“Brother Tao…””Brother Tao…”

“Should I kneel with my left leg or right leg while singing it…” Lu Tao was going into the specifics.

“Brother Tao…””Brother Tao…”

“Be quiet!” Lu Tao was angered. He was already so annoyed, why couldn’t the assistant just leave him alone?

Leng Hui chuckled coldly. He put on his windbreaker and was all ready to leave the dance studio. He was different from Lu Tao and preferred the simple and comfortable style in his apparels whenever he was not dancing.

“Hey, don’t go yet!” Lu Tao looked up to see his partner leaving.

Leng Hui stopped in his tracks and raised his eyebrows ever so slightly.

“What’s that,” Lu Tao said, “Are you not practicing anymore? We’re facing a crisis here! Even if we have to kneel, we’ve got to find a good pose doing it!”

Leng Hui chuckled again.

“What are you laughing at?!” Lu Tao was genuinely anxious.

Leng Hui finally spoke up, slowly and clearly. “Actually, Xiao Meng has been trying to tell you.” Xiao Meng was the assistant. “We won’t be the ones singing ‘Conquered.’”

“How could it… Wait! What does that mean?” Lu Tao was confused. “Are you running a fever? Are you saying that we can beat Ye Xingling?!”

“We don’t have to go onstage.” Leng Hui said calmly.

Not going onstage would mean there’d be no win or loss, and no loss would mean no need to sing that song.

Lu Tao took a few seconds to process it before looking at him in shock. “Why don’t we need to go onstage? The concert… is canceled?! Damn it! Are you serious, the company’s canceling the concert all because of Ye Xingling?!”

Leng Hui finally looked at him like he had some brains.

Lu Tao was in a fluster. “But…! Where’s Tan Ying’s dignity?! If nobody’s going onstage, Skyart will be mocked by all the fans! How could he bear to do this!” It was evident that Ye Xingling’s challenge had scared everyone.

Leng Hui asked, “Who said nobody’s going onstage?”

Lu Tao was confused.

Leng Hui explained slowly. “Yesterday, Ye Xingling issued the challenge openly. All the fans were so excited that they were pressuring Skyart to take it up. So, Tan Ying switched us out and let Bai Murong stand in for us instead.”

Only now did Lu Tao understand what was going on.

Bai Murong was a megastar with brilliant singing abilities, and his popularity was not to be underestimated. In other words, he was the number one singer in the whole of Skyart Entertainment.

“But,” Lu Tao said, “Bai Murong is a Heavenly King. Wouldn’t it be making a mountain out of a molehill by getting him to compete with Xiao Ling?” Now that he didn’t have to worry about himself anymore, he was worried for Xia Ling instead.

Leng Hui looked at him in the eye. “Bai Murong, against Ye Xingling, that’s making a mountain out of a molehill?”

“One is a Heavenly King, and the other is a female celebrity who has only just made it big, is that not too much?”

Leng Hui looked at him as if he were a fool again.

Lu Tao was beginning to feel his IQ dropping looking at his partner’s expression. He was about to say something more when he realized what Leng Hui was trying to say — actually, besides the media coverage that they got, how was Ye Xingling inferior to Bai Murong in any way?

Popularity? There was some difference, but it wasn’t significant.

Singing ability? Both were splendid.

Looks? Xiao Ling looked simple usually, but once she went onstage, her incredible charisma and stage presence had everyone forget about her appearance, and all that was left was amazement and awe.

Thinking about it this way, Lu Tao felt that she really had a chance of winning!

He was surprised to reach this realization. “Well… if Bai Murong loses, it’d be even more embarrassing than if we did! Why would he agree to replace us?!”

“Do you know what number one is?” Leng Hui asked slowly.

“What is number one?”

“It’s a flag that the public looks up to, embodying a spirit that never dies. Everybody else can withdraw and cower in fear and uncertainty, but not him — that’s what it means to be number one.”

And Bai Murong was the best of the best.

Back at Phoenix Down Corporation.

Xia Ling was holed up in her own office, her petite figure sinking into the soft sofa bed as she savored an ice cream. Every so often, she would dig a small spoonful of it and feed Hairball beside her.

Hairball meowed affectionately.

Ever since Li Lei returned, Er Mao had been taken away too. Xia Ling was afraid that there was nobody to take care of Hairball, and hence, secretly contacted the supervisor of the apartment in order to get it for her. Well, it was also a memory that Li Lei left behind for her. Hairball was a stray cat, so it didn’t take long for it to get comfortable around the office among new people.

And Xia Ling now had a companion too.

When there was nothing much to do, both of them would daydream in the office together.

She finished a huge bowl of strawberry ice cream and was licking the bottom when Lin Yunan entered. “Aha! I see you’re pretty relaxed.” Lin Yunan always sounded a little sarcastic with his words.

“I’m bored.” Xia Ling said straight to his face. She did not have any projects or shoots to do at the moment and was just waiting for the concert in which she would defeat Skyart. Besides practicing her singing, there was not much to do.

Lin Yunan tossed her the newspapers. “Your competitor is a lot more hyped up over it than you are.”

“What is this?” asked Xia Ling.

“See for yourself.” Lin Yunan set on the couch opposite her with one leg over the other.

She flipped through the papers and saw Bai Murong’s handsome face all over the Entertainment section. There was also a huge headline: Bai Murong accepts Ye Xingling’s challenge —

“If you win, this will be the last of it. But if I lose, I’ll kneel down and sing ‘Conquered’!”