A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The crowd was boisterous as they cheered in celebration of their survival.

The lifeboat had been released a while back, and the lifeguards were now helping the three of them back up onto the cruise. Xia Ling was drenched and her soaked gown was a little translucent, emphasizing her great figure even more. She looked just like a mermaid out of the water, but she was extremely weak.

She coughed out some water and panted heavily, using her last bit of strength to check for Little Shaohui’s breath. The child had fainted and his face was pale. She reached out towards his nose with a trembling hand, and after what seemed like an eternity, she finally felt his weak breathing.

Only then did she heave a sigh of relief, before passing out too.

“Xiao Ling!” Li Lei called out to her. At that moment, he didn’t have the heart to care that he was exhausted as well, or that he was dripping wet. He immediately did CPR on her before managing to get some water out of her. He gave her chest many more pumps before her breathing stabilized.

Li Lei picked her up and strode towards the cabin. “Where’s the doctor!”

The doctor on board hurriedly caught up with Li Lei. On the other side, Little Shaohui was already out of the woods after treatment from the lifeguards. He was brought into the cabin not too long after.

Xia Ling had no idea for how long she was unconscious.

She had a long dream, in which a vast ocean and the dim light of the sun appeared in the distance. She dreamt a group of sharks was chasing Li Lei; she tried to save him but to no avail, and eventually had to watch as the sharks ripped him into shreds…

“Ah!” She woke up screaming.

“Xiao Ling!” The man keeping vigil looked up at her, overcome with joy. “You’re up? How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere?”

She looked at him, stunned for a few seconds, before proceeding to hug him and wail like a child.

Li Lei was caught off guard. “Xiao Ling? Xiao Ling, what’s wrong? Where are you hurting? Don’t scare me!”

She continued crying without giving an explanation. But soon after, she began chiding him between sobs. “Li Lei, you jerk! Why did you jump in to save me?! What if you got eaten by the sharks?! If you die, what am I to do?!” She cried even harder now and was barely catching her breath.

Li Lei finally understood why she was so upset. He hurriedly explained, “Xiao Ling, be good, don’t cry… Aren’t I doing fine now? I couldn’t think so much just now. The moment I saw you were in trouble, I just had to jump in.”

He kissed her forehead. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry, alright.”

But she could not stop her tears. “Who allowed you to jump in? Who allowed you to jump in! If not for Shaohui, you would’ve been killed by sharks! W-Why did you bring Shaohui down with you?! He’s so young, how could you be so cruel!”

Li Lei felt so wronged. “I didn’t take him along, he chose to jump in with me. If we weren’t in the water, I would’ve bashed him up! Yes, once he’s recovered I’ll teach him a good lesson!”

Xia Ling reached out to hit him. “I’ll teach you a good lesson first! Why would you dare jump in on your own if you didn’t bring him along?! Did you think about the consequences? If he didn’t follow you, you’d have been dead!” She hit him over and over again, but because she was still weak, Li Lei did not feel any pain.

Li Lei did not evade her beatings at all. After taking them for a while, he tried to coax her again, only to realize that whatever he said was wrong anyway. He had no other choice but to hold her in his arms gently, pat her back, and speak to her calmly and tenderly. When she was finally tired from the crying and from hitting him, she stopped.

He got some tissue paper and wiped her face. “It’s alright now. Look at us, isn’t our family of three doing just fine? You’re my Phoenix and I’m your parasol tree, nothing will go wrong as long as we’re together.”

Xia Ling felt like crying again. He’d saved her life countless times all these years, and she had lost track of how many lives she owed him. She sniffled and glanced at Shaohui, who was sleeping on the bed beside her. His breathing was slow and steady, and he seemed to be smiling as if he was having a sweet dream.

Li Lei followed her gaze and looked over, too.

“Our son is brave.” He comforted her. This time, it was Little Shaohui who saved both their lives.

“Beat him to death!” Xia Ling said sulkily. Their son was so young and was already getting defiant. The sea was full of sharks and he actually dared to jump? When she saw him struggling helplessly in the water, her heart practically broke—this time they were lucky to escape unscathed, but what if they hadn’t been?

Evidently, Li Lei was finally singing the same tune as his wife with regards to this issue.

Their son was brave indeed, but he was also asking for it!

Li Lei, who’d survived yet another calamity, was already thinking of how to give his child a piece of his mind.

Meanwhile, Little Shaohui was still soundly asleep and oblivious to his parents’ plans. He turned over and began sucking on his thumb, as if he’d dreamt of some delicacies.

Seeing how blissful his son looked, Li Lei couldn’t help but hug his wife even tighter.

He kissed her on the forehead again and whispered, “Shall we have another child?”

Xia Ling leaned against his sturdy shoulder and watched her son sleep as well. She whispered back, “One is already enough to worry us, what if we can’t manage with two children?”

Li Lei smiled and began unbuttoning her top. “We can have a little girl this time, she can’t be as mischievous as this little brat.”

Xia Ling gasped a little. “Our son is right here!”

But he couldn’t be bothered. He pinned her under his weight…

It was probably because of the near-death experience, or that they were too afraid of losing each other again, but this time they cuddled for a long, long while. When it was over, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Accompany me.”

He gently snuggled back into her embrace.

Feeling his breathing and the warmth of his body, she gradually felt more secure. It was almost as if the incident in the sea had become nothing more than a fictitious story, a false memory.

“The night sky is beautiful,” she murmured as she looked out the window.

Before they knew, the night had come.

Li Lei looked up at the stars with her and said, “The wedding will be delayed slightly. We were supposed to reach the island today for the banquet, but we’re only doing that tomorrow now. The guests are all being very nice; they didn’t have a single word of grievance about this. Anyway, there’ll be a party on the cruise tonight, and the wedding will resume tomorrow.”

She nodded. It was so good to have him around, he always ensured everything was properly dealt with.

Out of the blue, she thought of someone. “How’s Li Feng doing?”