A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Lei entered the room and said to him tenderly, “Dad’s here.”

Li Rui, who was lying in bed, was hit with delight and called out, “Dad!” But once he saw that Xia Ling and Little Shaohui were following right behind, he began throwing a tantrum. “Bad woman! Get out! Li Shaohui, you too! Get out!” In a fit of anger, he threw a mug at them.

The child did not have enough strength to aim well. Hence, Xia Ling and Shaohui easily evaded it.

Li Lei grabbed Li Rui’s hand and told him seriously, “Xiao Rui, don’t be rude. Your Aunt Xiao Ling and Brother Shaohui specially came to see you. You have to get along well with them, do you hear me?”

“I don’t want them to come to see me!” The child was still yelling. “Damned Aunt, damned Brother! If not for them, I wouldn’t be called a bastard child! Get them to die! All of them!”

Li Lei frowned. “Who called you a bastard child?” He had instructed the subordinates long ago and warned them not to tell Li Rui about his actual identity. Who actually dared go against his words!

To his surprise, Li Rui said, “It’s Mom! Mom said everyone else is mocking me for being a bastard child! If it wasn’t for that woman, she could be your wife! Our family of three would be officially recognized!”

Who knew it would be Su Tang who said this?

How did she even raise her kid?

Li Lei knitted his brows together even more. He began to wonder if he had been wrong to show a lack of concern to Li Rui all these years. He had thought that Su Tang would be a good mother. But given the way things were now, it seemed like she wasn’t all too concerned about this child. Besides the harsh beatings, she was even feeding him such tales!

How could this go on in the long run?

He was about to say something when a soft, gentle voice interjected. “Xiao Rui, even though there’s Mom and me now, you’re still Dad’s son. Your mom lied to you. Even though Dad and your mom aren’t married, your mom is the only one whose status is affected. You’ll always be the Li family’s Little Young Master.”

“You’re lying!” Li Rui yelled instinctively, but he was already slightly wavered by Shaohui’s words.

Little Shaohui was still soft and meek. He took a few steps forward and held Li Rui’s hand. “Mom has always told me to be nice to you because you’re my younger brother. Look, besides your mom, no one else has ever called you a bastard child—she’s the only one who’s ever treated you like one. Dad, my mom and I, as well as the other aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, have always treated you as the honorable Little Young Master Li. Whatever I have, you have too, isn’t it?”

Li Rui was even more convinced now. He wanted so much to rebut but had no words.

Li Lei glanced at Little Shaohui—this child was really applying what he had learned. Just a few days back he had imparted some knowledge to him, and now he was already sowing discord between Li Rui and Su Tang.

“Shaohui.” He warned solemnly.

In any case, Su Tang was Li Rui’s biological mother. Little Shaohui was being too much.

But Xia Ling glared at him. “Li Lei, come out with me. Let the brothers have a talk.”

Li Lei did not expect his wife to be so protective of their son. This was getting tough—Shaohui was obviously trying to brainwash Li Rui into thinking that his mom was all bad. Meanwhile, Li Rui was way too simple-minded to see through that, and it wouldn’t take long for him to be convinced.

Xia Ling clenched her teeth and whispered, “Su Tang was hard-hearted enough to hit her child this badly, don’t you want him to have his guard up against her even a little? Are you going to regret it only when Li Rui loses his life?”

Li Lei felt a shiver down his spine and realized that she made some sense. Hence, he followed her out of the ward.

They left Little Shaohui alone inside and could not figure out what he was saying to Li Rui.

Xia Ling watched them through the window. She saw that Little Shaohui was looking at Li Rui with his sincere eyes the entire time and gesturing as he spoke. Initially, Li Rui was guarded against him and appeared rather fierce, but he gradually relaxed over time and began showing some skepticism. A while later, he began asking Shaohui questions, and then the two brothers ended up hugging each other.

Seeing Li Rui wailing his eyes out in Little Shaohui’s embrace, Xia Ling kept silent.

What sort of spell did this child have to settle a little devil so quickly?

Li Lei went to the window and saw what was going on, too. He shook his head in awe. “Maybe I’ll really be able to retire prematurely.”

Xia Ling rolled her eyes. “Who was the one who didn’t allow Shaohui to speak earlier on?”

Li Lei smiled awkwardly. But smiles aside, he knew that it could be hard for Li Rui to get along with his mother properly in the future, given how Shaohui had depicted Su Tang before him. Seeing the wounds on that child, Li Lei said, “I’ve to look for a family for him as soon as possible.”

Xia Ling looked at Li Rui who was sobbing inconsolably and kept quiet for a long time.

“Xiao Ling?”

“I’m thinking…” Xia Ling paused for a while before going on slowly. “Li Rui is your child. Since that’s what everyone knows as fact, it doesn’t seem appropriate to have him at someone else’s home. No matter the reason, it would appear that both his parents have abandoned him. Why don’t we raise him instead? That way, Little Shaohui and he would both have some company.”

Li Lei was stunned. “You’re willing to raise him?”

“He’s not your biological son, anyway.” Xia Ling smiled. “If he was, I’d have strangled him and tossed him into the sea long ago. But this child is too pitiful, just let me be Mother Theresa for once.”

She used to detest this demon child Li Rui to the core, but when she saw him lying on the hospital bed covered in scars, she couldn’t help but feel sad for him. She felt so sorry for his lack of familial love. How pitiful and lonely he must be feeling; how traumatic it must have been for him to be beaten so badly by his biological mother.

This must be why he was crying so hard in Little Shaohui’s arms now.

Xia Ling looked up at Li Lei very seriously. “Get the adoption papers settled and change Li Rui’s guardian from Su Tang’s name to yours. This way, he’ll officially be a Little Young Master of the Li family. Our new home is huge, we can prepare a room beside Shaohui’s for him, so that the two brothers can play together. With a close relationship, there won’t be too much rivalry and trouble when they’re older.”

She had thought of everything.

Li Lei was a little shocked. “New home? Xiao Ling, you plan to move back to the headquarters?”

“Yup.” Xia Ling smiled. “For my sake, you’ve been running between our city home and the headquarters for so long, it’s been tough on you. Since it’s a matter of time that we move back, why not do it now? It’ll be good for Shaohui to get along and bond with the uncles and children back at the headquarters, too.”