A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

It quietened down in the cave again, except for the occasional crackling from the fire.

Li Lei was deep in thought, and only snapped out of it when Shaohui called him, “Dad?”

“Why wouldn’t I acknowledge you?” He smiled and ruffled his head. “Whether or not you can openly address me as your father, you’ll always be my precious son. This fact won’t change, even if we can’t go along with the ceremony.”

Little Shaohui seemed a little confused. “But, if we don’t perform the ceremony, the three of us can’t act like a family openly. And, you and Mom…”

“Will your mom and I be able to openly be together after the ceremony?” Li Lei was asking himself as much as he was asking the child. “With this ceremony, we can declare publicly that you are our biological son, and it’d be easier for me to woo her… but this is just a strategy.”

Shaohui did not seem to understand what he was getting at.

Li Lei quietly said, “Dad hurt your mom before, it’s understandable that she doesn’t want to forgive me. If she’s unwilling to forgive me… all these strategies will only become a bother to her. There was no need to put your lives on the line because of this, hence I suggested coming down first.”

He would keep her safe while wooing her, but in the event that he could not, he would rather give up being with her than endanger her. Her safety was his utmost priority.

It went quiet again in the cave.

Xia Ling lay in the corner of the cave but could not fall asleep. So this was the reason Li Lei did not want to continue scaling the mountain? For some reason, her heart ached and she felt awful.

She was uncertain now about why she had insisted on bringing the child along. As Li Lei said, if it was all just for a title, was this worth it?

All she knew was that she still wanted to continue scaling the mountain.

Light from the fire illuminated the cave, as the smell of burnt wood filled the air every so often.

She heard Li Lei tell Shaohui, “It’s getting late, go and sleep.”

The young child nodded obediently and lay down near her.

She heard a familiar sound and figured that Li Lei must have been tucking him into the sleeping bag.

“Dad,” he asked one last question before going to sleep. “Will you protect us until we reach the peak of the mountain?”

In the silence, she guessed that Li Lei was smiling. “Yes. Wherever you and Mom want to go, I’ll protect you to the very end, however dangerous it might be.”

The child fell asleep peacefully.

Xia Ling’s nose scrunched up a little.

His words brought up too many past memories. Since they first met, he had rescued her from Pei Ziheng’s hands time and again, before saving her at the paragliding incident, and then the drowning case during her filming…

The attack by the wolf happened just a while ago too.

She was almost losing count of how many times he had saved her.

All these years, this man had been etched in her heart. Each time she saw him, she felt so secure, so unafraid of anything that might befall her. That was why she buried herself in his chest and cried after he killed the wolf — she knew that it was the safest spot in the world.

Right there, she could unleash her emotions and not put up a front.

It suddenly hit her. Maybe, it wasn’t because she wanted to declare Shaohui as her biological son that she insisted on getting to the mountain peak, to have the whole family acknowledge one another. It was because she wanted to let the world know that her child’s father was none other than him.

Li Lei.

This name made its way around in her heart and in her mind. It had replaced Pei Ziheng long ago.

When Li Lei said he wanted to turn back, she had been so angry. But it wasn’t because she was afraid he wouldn’t acknowledge Shaohui. She was afraid that he loved her no more.

This realization shocked her a little.

Somebody around her shifted, and a soft rustling sound came from her sleeping bag.

She dared not move and hoped that he wouldn’t discover she wasn’t asleep yet. Meanwhile, that person did not leave. Instead, he seemed to be sitting on the ground beside her. It could be a delusion, but she seemed to be able to sense his body heat, shielding her from the harsh cold outside.

With her mind groggy, she fell asleep.

When she woke up, she took a look at her watch and realized that it was already four in the morning.

She had slept too long, and it was already her turn to keep vigil. Why didn’t Li Lei wake her up? She checked the sleeping bag and saw that Li Lei had already fallen asleep, while a small silhouette sat before the fire in a daze.

“Shaohui?” She walked over.

Little Shaohui looked at her and smiled. “Mom, you’re up? Look at that star over there, isn’t it beautiful?”

Xia Ling couldn’t be bothered with the star. She frowned and asked, “Why are you the one keeping vigil?”

How could such a young child be doing something so tough?

Shaohui tilted his head slightly. “Dad said a man has to learn to do this.”

Xia Ling was speechless. He was just a child, how could he be considered a man?

“Your father woke you up for this?” She didn’t sound too happy.

Little Shaohui blinked his eyes and weighed it out, before deciding to betray his father. “Yup.” Actually, his father just wanted his mother to get a bit more rest. He had told Shaohui that Mom had been worried about him the night before and did not get to sleep well.

Little Shaohui had wanted to protest by saying that he did not get much sleep as well because of the python. But seeing his father’s determined expression, he had no choice but to crawl out of his sleeping bag.

Dad was being mean.

Since his mother had already asked, he decided he might as well make up a story. “Dad even told me not to tell you the truth. He said that if you asked, I’d have to tell you that I woke up on my own and volunteered to keep vigil.”

Xia Ling’s expression darkened immediately.

All the gratitude she had towards Li Lei before she fell asleep evaporated instantly. She instructed Shaohui, “Go to sleep.” And took on the duty herself.

“Okay.” Little Shaohui happily went back into his sleeping bag. It felt nice to be Mom’s precious.

As for Dad? Hmph, he couldn’t be bothered. Mom would just be angry for a while before remembering how loving Dad was to her and how much he had sacrificed.

Little Shaohui held onto his little sleeping bag and fell asleep in no time.

He did not manage to sleep for long before the sun rose. When he woke up, he saw Dad preparing breakfast with a long face, as if he had just been lectured. Meanwhile, Mom’s look was still dark and unhappy, but she was helping Dad with the boiling of water and all.

Well, that’s the way.

Little Shaohui nodded at himself. Uncle said that it was usual for couples to argue and patch up quickly.

Look how harmonious they were.