A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Lei felt depressed.

However, he had to clean up this mess.

In this incident, it was clear to him that Li Rui was being unreasonable. As such, Li Lei said, “Xiao Rui, don’t throw a tantrum. You fell and your new suit is dirty, but that isn’t Brother Shaohui’s fault. Be good, nanny can carry you back to your wheelchair. Don’t try to be playful anymore and just sit quietly.”

Li Rui started bawling louder. “Boohoohoo… it’s all Ye Shaohui’s fault! All his fault! Boohoohoo… daddy never hit me before…. but when Shaohui came along, you hit me! My injuries from your beating haven’t even recovered yet and you’ve brought Shaohui here to bully me! Boohoohoo… daddy is being biased! Daddy is biased!”

His cries were loud and piercing.

The nanny and family doctor tried to help him up but were pushed away angrily by him.

Li Lei started to feel irritated but knew he couldn’t be too strict with Li Rui since he wasn’t really his son. He said, “Such a big boy and still crying… stop being a joke in front of Shaohui.”

Li Rui’s cries stopped abruptly and he said vehemently, “He said that he would pay me for this!”

“Since when did I say I would pay?” Shaohui asked bewildered.

Li Rui exclaimed, “You told me to wait!”

Shaohui was even more bewildered. As he stroked Er Mao’s smooth fur with one hand, he cocked his head to the side and said, “I only told you to wait but didn’t say that I was going to pay you. You can wait till I figure out why in the world I have to pay you before I’ll come to find you with payment.” His voice was innocent and soft, but his statement was far from soft. His reasoning was clear and left nothing for negotiation.

The nanny and family doctor watching on were impressed by Shaohui.

As helpers to this family, they were at the beck and call of this little terror, and nobody could handle the spoiled Li Rui. Finally, someone was able to take Li Rui down a notch. They were almost ready to run around in celebration.

Li Rui only realized now that Shaohui wasn’t intending to pay him when he told him to wait.

Li Rui’s face turned red in an instant and pointed a shaking finger at Shaohui. “You… you…”

“I what?” Shaohui asked in an innocent voice again, unfazed.

Li Rui was speechless in his anger. He started to cry out loud again. “He’s bullying me! Boohoohoo…”

At this point, Li Lei had given up hope of a peaceful resolution seeing the battle unfold. He instructed the nanny, “Bring Young Master Rui back to the house and give him a shower. Change him to a new set of clothes and help him to calm down.”

The nanny nodded before going to help Li Rui up.

However, Li Rui refused to get off the ground.

Shaohui was unimpressed. How could such a young child be so fond of throwing tantrums? If he were to do this in uncle’s house, uncle would punish him with copying lines and lines of scripture. As he thought of this, he continued to stroke the thick and soft fur behind Er Mao’s neck. He murmured, “The rules in this house are so lax… how lucky you are…”

Er Mao gave a great big yawn.

Li Lei heard Shaohui’s comment and his mouth twitched a little. This child… how was he brought up at home? His comments were so pointed, such that Li Lei didn’t know how to react. How was Li Rui’s behavior a reflection of the rules in the house being lax? It was only because Li Rui was not his own child!

His hands were tied when it came to his discipline.

As for Old Master Li? He was even more liberal with Li Rui. “This child, Xiao Rui…” The Old Master Li had commented to Li Lei one day earnestly. “You should feed him and give him all the material comforts all the days of his life. However, you don’t have to be too strict with him. Take it as you are just paying Su Tang back for saving your life. After a few years, you will have your own child. Then, don’t let Xiao Rui be a hurdle for your child.”

Li Lei felt his heart sink a little.

He had been in this family since young and knew what Old Master Li meant. The Old Master was saying that he should let Li Rui be a good-for-nothing wealthy young master, and do as he pleased. However, Li Rui would have no part in the Li Family Inheritance. He was still an outsider and should not contaminate the Li Family pedigree.

The best way to ensure this was to raise him to be a nobody.

Even though this was cruel, it was better than allowing him to become a menace in the future. Li Feng was the perfect example of this. If Li Feng wasn’t so scheming, the troubles in the Li Family would be halved.

Li Rui continued to cry, but as he was still a young child, the nanny could drag him away against his will.

Seeing Li Rui being removed, Shaohui watched in envy and murmured again. “Ah… I really want to have a dad too. If I have a dad, does it mean that I can throw tantrums like him too?”

His little face was full of longing.

Li Lei’s heart clenched and he asked Shaohui gently, “Where’s your dad?”

Shaohui lifted his head to look at Li Lei.

Er Mao also lifted his head to look at Li Lei.

Li Lei was bewildered at their stares. “What?”

Shaohui sighed out loud. “I’ve never seen my dad since the day I was born. I’ve also seen very little of my mum. Thankfully, I have my sister now. However, when will sister find me a daddy?” The logic in this sentence was a mess. How could his sister find him a dad?

Yet, Li Lei didn’t pick up on this irregularity. He asked, “What kind of father does little Shaohui want?”

This time, Shaohui replied eloquently, “I want a daddy that’s nice to sister.” He added nonchalantly, “Sister recorded a new song recently saying ‘She wishes for someone to love wholeheartedly, till she is old and wrinkly’. Uncle Li, what does that mean?”

Wished for someone to love wholeheartedly.

That meant to be a couple for life, to grow old together, without a third-party in the relationship. Clean and simple.

Li Lei knew that his condition now was a mess. He had to shoulder the burden of taking care of Su Tang and her child, though that was something that he owed to them, and he needed to pay them back. You could say that he was selfish, but he didn’t want to give up on Xiao Ling. He only ever wanted to have a family with Xiao Ling. They could adopt… no, they had Shaohui now… they could live with cute Shaohui all the days of their life.

And Su Tang… she had a child out of wedlock. Their relationship was merely that he would let her use his name as the father of her child, such that her child would not be “fatherless.” That was it.

Little Shaohui pulled at Li Lei’s sleeve. “Uncle Li, I’m hungry.”

Unknowingly, the sun was setting and it was getting dark.

Li Lei snapped back to his senses. “Uncle will go make something nice for you to eat.” He had promised that he would cook for Shaohui earlier.

However, the child said, “Why isn’t sister coming to pick me yet? Uncle, you need to make more food… Can we wait for sister to come before eating? She’s been having a tough time with all the schedules, and she’s only been having takeaways.”

His words made Li Lei’s heart ache.

“Of course.” He patted Shaohui on the head. “I’ll make more dishes that your sister likes. We can wait for her to come to have dinner together with us.”

“Uncle… Uncle…” Shaohui started to tug at him again.

“What else do you want to say?” Li Lei asked very gently.

“Can I learn to cook from you? Sister is so picky and always has to eat those yucky takeaways. After I’ve learned to cook from you, I can make delicious meals for sister.” If he could make food that tasted like dad’s, mummy would always think of dad when she ate!

Little Shaohui was amazed at his own intellect.