A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

It was actually a toy gun.

It was very similar to a real gun, with a metallic case and bore some weight.

Xia Ling did not expect Li Lei to give this to the child. In her impression, this wasn’t a toy that a pure and naive child should own or play with. Maybe this wasn’t a big deal for the black triads, but there was no way she would want Shaohui to have anything to do with a cold, ruthless tool like this.

Shaohui fiddled with the toy out of curiosity.

Xia Ling slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch it.”

Shaohui had never seen her this fierce and looked up at her with a look of innocence and confusion. Xia Ling sighed and toned down. “This toy isn’t fun to play with. I’ll get you something else, alright?”

Shaohui hesitated for a while as he looked at the toy gun longingly.

Xia Ling scolded Li Lei a few times over in her heart, and finally understood why Li Rui had such a horrid temper. How could any child be respectful and refined growing up in such an environment?

She suddenly felt fortunate that this child did not live with Li Lei.

This thought scared her… if the other Shaohui, her biological son, was still alive; if the three of them were one happy family, would the father and son be playing with this toy gun together?

“Sister, are you unhappy?” Shaohui tugged at her sleeve gently.

She came back to her senses and forced a smile. “No, I’m not unhappy.” She kept the toy gun and said, “Sister will get you a toy car tomorrow, okay?”

The child still looked at the toy gun longingly.

“This isn’t anything good.” Xia Ling was at a loss for better words.

“But, Sister,” Shaohui said, “Didn’t you say an older brother gave me this? Why would he give me something that isn’t good?” He looked at Xia Ling with clear, innocent eyes.

Xia Ling’s heart ached.

She didn’t know how to respond to the child. Maybe Li Lei was just giving him what he thought was the best, but from her perspective, it was harmful.

It was just like their love life, full of obstacles for so many reasons.

She ruffled that boy’s hair. “Go to sleep.” She called the nanny over and asked for the box containing the gun to be taken away.

Shaohui’s eyes followed the nanny.

He held his teddy bear with one hand and Xia Ling’s hand with the other. “Alright, let’s go to sleep.”

The two of them went to the bedroom and he obediently tucked in her arms, sleeping soundly. In his dream, he saw the toy gun again. He remembered asking his uncle, “Uncle, what’s my father like?”

Uncle said, “Your father is brilliant. He started a company and could fight a war. His shooting is extremely good.”

Shaohui asked, “Shooting?”

Uncle said, “When you return to your father’s side, your father will teach you, alright?”

The young child nodded his head. He smiled as he sucked on his thumb, and thought, Uncle said that Dad and Mom will reunite someday…

Meanwhile, Xia Ling had a terrible sleep.

The little one had drooled all over her, leaving saliva marks the next morning. He woke up groggily and walked out of the room, with the teddy bear still in his hands.

Xia Ling held him back. “Where are you going?”

“To the garden, to feed the rabbit.” He said quietly.

Xia Ling looked at his pretty little face with some baby fats and wondered, did she raise him to be too… too much like a girl? Maybe letting him play with toy guns and the like wasn’t all that bad?

… No.

No, no, no.

She was not going to raise her child to be rude and violent like Li Rui.

She decided, the first thing she’d do when she left would be to get Little Shaohui a toy car and some wooden blocks, ship models… in any case, nothing like guns and weapons.

Shaohui did not know what she thought and simply spent a happy morning in the garden with the small animals. It was a great environment with a lot of greenery and a pond rich in eco-biology. In fact, it was even better than the dull cityscape. The little animals here seemed to like Shaohui a lot, Xia Ling even saw some squirrels offer him fruit and nuts during breakfast.

Xia Ling was in a dilemma…

Was this child going to turn out too much like a girl?

She left with a heavy heart and got the chauffeur to drive her to a mega toy store. Seeing that a celebrity had arrived, the staff members put on their best performance and recommended all their best buys. Some of the customers stood around and snapped photos of her.

It didn’t take long for news to reach the online platforms. Netizens were speaking of how nice she was to the child, and how willing she was to personally pick the toys for him.

Back in the office, Lin Yunan was aware of this too. He especially went to look for her. “It seems like you’re really nice to this child. There’ve been a lot of positive comments recently.”

“Of course,” Xia Ling casually responded as she took her time to classify the toys she had bought. “Which toy car is better, the one with the remote control or the one that he should play by hand?”

Lin Yunan couldn’t be bothered to answer her. “But how do you intend to go on from here? This child has to receive education and get some social interaction, you can’t keep him at home for good. Are you going to send him to a school and let him stay in a hostel? Or hire a home tutor? Where is he going to find companions?”

This series of questions stunned Xia Ling.

It suddenly hit her how lonely Shaohui was.

Does he enjoy playing with the squirrels because he’s too lonely?

“This child looks a bit like a blockhead.” Lin Yunan was straightforward and curt. “To sugarcoat it, he’s innocent. But to be direct, he just seems like a blockhead. You’d better educate him well. Otherwise, it’d really taint your reputation as a Diva.”

“This has nothing to do with whether I’m a Diva.” Xia Ling retorted instinctively. She didn’t want the child to be pressurized by fame or status, all she wanted was for him to grow up healthily. But Lin Yunan’s questions were real concerns, Shaohui definitely needed education and companions.

“I won’t send him to a hostel.” The child was so close to her, she couldn’t bear to do it.

“So…?” Lin Yunan asked, “A home tutor, then? What about his social circle?”

Xia Ling hung her head low and thought for a while. “I’ll find a way for him to make friends.”