A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Lei smiled too. “Yup, our baby’s fine. The doctor said he’s healthy.”

He then went on to tell her about Valiant Song. “It left without too much pain. It took just one shot to kill it, and that’s probably the only little comfort anyone can take in this tragedy. I brought its ashes and bones back; I plan to bury it in the headquarters, in a spot where our home can be seen. That way, it will be by your side forever. Oh, I’m also thinking of bringing Xiao Lei from the Southern Mountains Equestrian Club over to the headquarters. It shall roam around in the vicinity of Valiant Song’s grave, and they can be each other’s company in some sense. There’s Er Mao, Hairball, and not to forget Shaohui and Xiao Rui, our home will be full of life.”

He tried his best to brush over Valiant Song’s death and focus on the good stuff instead.

Xia Ling hugged him for a while more. She was still upset, but that was inevitable—Valiant Song was like her child; back then, she had bred it personally, saw it be born, and fetched it home in a private jet from the UK. At that time, it was such an adorable little horse… and now, its life ended in such tragedy.

Li Lei seemed to read her mind. “Don’t be too sad. You’re expecting a little baby, if you’re sad, the baby will be sad too. Valiant Song wouldn’t want to know that you’re affecting the baby because of it.” With that, he planted a kiss on her forehead.

She nodded and tried to compose herself.

Li Lei accompanied her for a long while and only left after dinner. There were a lot of urgent matters he had to handle.

Xia Ling tossed and turned in bed. Each time she closed her eyes, she heard the “bang” once again, and relived the scene where Valiant Song fell to the ground. She wanted to run forward, but was stopped by Li Lei. She could hear herself scream “Valiant Song!” before seeing Pei Ziheng turn around expressionlessly.

Her mind was in a mess.

She dared not shut her eyes anymore. Instead, she sat up with the blanket over her knees and stared out the window.

It was silent in the night, and the early fall breeze cooled the air. She was in a daze for a while, until her cellphone on the bedside cabinet rang. As she reached out for it, she saw that on the screen were the words “Pei Ziheng”.

It was late, what could he be calling for?

She looked at his number quietly but did not pick up.

The ringing went on and on, filling the room with a strange kind of sadness.

Did he want to apologize? He used to do that a lot, apologizing and coaxing her after he had done something wrong. But he never truly reflected on his mistakes and always committed them again.

He never really cared about her feelings.

All he cared about was himself, and an obedient plaything.

She looked at the blinking screen and finally decided to press the “decline” button, before adding his contact to the blacklist. From then on, she wasn’t going to receive phone calls from him again. It would be a clean break.

She looked up at the starry sky and took in all its beauty.

She was hospitalized for a while more until her condition stabilized and the doctor said the baby was healthy. She thanked the doctor, left the hospital, and went to live in the house on Cumulolake Isles that she and Li Lei had bought for their wedding.

Li Lei was extremely busy recently, having piled up a lot of backlog during his extended honeymoon trip. Xia Ling told him she didn’t need his company all the time, and that she had her own matters to handle as well, both at Phoenix Down Corporation and in preparation of moving to the headquarters. Hence, both of them got to their own businesses—she woke up each morning, washed up, and took her time to head to Phoenix Down. While she was carefree and relaxed, there was order in the things she did, and she managed to be productive without tiring herself out.

But days like these didn’t last very long.

One fine day, as Xia Ling was brewing some floral tea in her office as she looked through the unfinished compositions, someone knocked on the door. It was Lin Yunan, and he brought another person along—Chu Chen. “He insists on seeing you.” Lin Yunan scratched his head in some frustration. “There was no way I could stop him, it’s as if he’s on steroids.”

Xia Ling put her work down and looked at Chu Chen. “I’ve got nothing to do with your master anymore.”

Chu Chen said, “Just one last thing.”

Xia Ling said, “There’s no such thing.”

She was about to call for the security officers, but Chu Chen had already walked into the office and placed a huge box before her. “Miss Ling, this is from Boss, please take a look.”

The box was exquisite—a deep violet kraft paper was used, and the box was embellished with silver hasps. It looked almost like the beautiful night sky she had stared into.

Was he sending her a gift because he couldn’t get through on the phone?

That man was always trying means and ways to make her happy.

“I’m already Mrs. Li,” Xia Ling was unwavered and refused to lay her fingers on the exquisite box. She looked coldly at Chu Chen. “Take it away, I don’t want anything from your boss.”

Chu Chen did not move. “This really is the last time, please accept it.”

There was a hint of helpless plea in his voice which shocked Xia Ling. When did the assertive Chu Chen become so mild and meek? Even so, she did not want to give Pei Ziheng’s lackey a chance. “Get out.”

Chu Chen said, “Boss has been nice to you, please don’t reject his kindness.”

“Lin Yunan, get him out!” Xia Ling was getting angry.

Chu Chen was being dragged out of the room by the arm, but he did not give up. “Miss Ling, please at least take a look! It’s just a gift, and Boss made it himself! I’ve already passed through security when I came, the gift is definitely safe!”

“You think I’m afraid?” Frustration surged inside Xia Ling, and she became harsher with her words. “Chu Chen, let me tell you, I don’t want your Boss’s trash, you can keep it for yourself if you like! Otherwise, just hand it to any beggar on the streets, there are tons of people looking up to your master anyway!”

Chu Chen was getting angry too. “Ye Xingling, don’t go overboard!”

“Who’s going overboard now?!” Ye Xingling sneered. “Back then when Pei Ziheng split Li Lei and me apart, was that not going overboard?! When he tried to kill my Shaohui, was that not going overboard?! When he killed Valiant Song, was that not overboard?! So what’s wrong with me throwing just one of his gifts away!”

She reached out, grabbed the box, and hurled it on the ground. “Get out! Don’t bother me with his trash!”

The box tumbled on the ground before opening up. The contents spilled onto the ground—a thousand colorful paper cranes. Xia Ling stared at the array of colors, completely stunned.

A thousand paper cranes?

In both lifetimes, the only gifts he had ever given her were flowers, jewellery, clothes, bags and title deeds. He gave her whatever was valuable on the market, and never had new ideas to express his feelings. But when did this change? When did he start thinking in a girl’s point of view, and giving paper cranes instead?