A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Xia Ling was a star now, and it was not all that appropriate for her to be shopping openly in the local stores. Hence, she chose to get what she needed in Paris instead.

As her official boyfriend, Li Lei was more than willing to go along with her, and everything — arranging a private jet, planning the shopping routes, and even carrying the shopping bags — was settled by Li Lei.

Xia Ling purchased a lot of outfits, scarves, and accessories. It was early spring when she first made her debut, and as they moved into the thick of summer, many of her previous outfits were no longer suitable. It was time to get new ones. She got many gifts as well, one for each friend — a pair of beautiful pearl earrings for Sister Mai Na, athletic earphones for Ah Wei, and also individual gifts for those who had recently made their debut, including Lu Tao and Luo Luo.

She even got the mighty Er Mao a Cartier collar pendant.

“Why isn’t there one for me?” Boss coquettishly grumbled as he watched her count her gifts against her checklist.

Xia Ling just realized that she had forgotten about him and was feeling a little guilty. “Well, I got you a Rolex already.”

“That’s not the same, you even gave Mr. Zhou some money!” Big Boss did not let her off so easily.

Xia Ling sighed. Why did she not realize he was this difficult to handle before? He was acting more like a son than a boyfriend…

She thought about it for a while before resigning herself to it. “Shoot, what do you want?”

Li Lei smiled and took her to a jewelry shop the next day. He pointed at a pair of titanium rings and said, “I want this.” It was a simple design, the smaller ring for the female sitting quietly beside the male’s, sparkling in the glass cabinet under the white light.

Xia Ling looked at it, stunned.

“You see, you’ll give me one, and I’ll give you the other. Fair and square,” Li Lei said.

Xia Ling responded in shock, “We’re not married yet, we aren’t even engaged.”

“Why does that matter?” A cheeky expression lay in his eyes. “You can just take it as a necklace pendant. When we get engaged, I can get you something else then.”

“I…”

She was about to say something when the sales staff approached them. “This is our newest design. It seems simple, but it symbolizes eternal love, and as long as a couple puts them on, the Heavens will bless their love.”

Li Lei looked at her, eyes widened with delight.

Blessings…

Unexpectedly, Xia Ling nodded her head. There were too many painful experiences in her previous life, and she hoped that this could bring her some comfort and hope for a simpler and more smooth-sailing experience this time.

The sales staff was overjoyed to have closed a deal and enthusiastically asked if they would like any carvings on the rings.

Li Lei decided to have L and Y, both their surname initials, to be carved.

“Hold on…” Xia Ling hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Li Lei asked her.

Xia Ling was silent for a while… Should she carve Y? Y was the initial for Ye in Ye Xingling. This surname was too distant for her, it was nothing more than a fictitious label for the person she was in this lifetime. Her real name was still Xia Ling.

Should she carve X? But she had no reasonable explanation for that.

How about the L in Ling? That sounded way too intimate.

She had indeed accepted him as her boyfriend, but she still was not ready to hand her entire self to him, be it her soul or her body. She had too many secrets, too many experiences too close to her heart, and there was too much buried deep in her heart that he still had not accessed…

“Xiao Ling?” He called her softly. “Are you alright?”

Xia Ling snapped out of her thoughts. “I- I’m fine. Let’s go with Y.”

Li Lei did not overthink about it and confirmed the carvings to be “LY.” The sales staff got them done in no time and got them a corresponding titanium necklace chains. Li Lei personally put the necklace and pendant on for her.

The flawless ring against her fair, delicate skin — it looked perfect.

“They really should get you to endorse their products.” Li Lei smiled.

Xia Ling fiddled with the ring she now wore as a necklace and felt the little Y engraved in the ring. She smiled distractedly. “Actually, I don’t really enjoy being an endorser.” She was a singer purely because she enjoyed singing, all the other tasks that came with it were just taken on as part of her work ethics and publicity.

Li Lei nodded and consciously took note: he would get Sister Mai Na to take on fewer endorsement tasks for her.

They filled the private jet with all the gifts they had gotten in Paris and flew back to distribute them.

When they got to Wei Shaoyin, they were greeted with reprimands. “Ye Xingling, you’re finally back! Do you know how long you’ve delayed the recording for?! Shopping! If we can’t get the next song released, I’ll see what you can shop with!”

Xia Ling kept quiet.

Wei Shaoyin bombarded her with song sheets and other documents. “Take them! These are all accumulated. I want you to finish going through them in three days!”

“Okay.” She was buried in the pile of papers and mild as a lamb.

The producer was king, and this Virgo producer happened to be a fire-breathing dragon when he acted up.

In the next few days, she spent the bulk of her time in the recording studio, working from dawn till dusk. According to Wei Shaoyin, this new song was critical as it was the last song that could be released before the Best New Artiste Award ceremony. This was the final chance to amass some popularity and could make or break the artiste’s success in receiving the award. Hence, they had to make sure this was a job well done.

They did the audio-testing and editing for days on end, ingesting so much caffeine that even walking gave them a light, floaty sensation. When it finally came to an end, Xia Ling let out a long moan and rested her head on the desk, unwilling to get up.

Wei Shaoyin was still in glowing spirits, tying up the final loose ends while talking to her. “Xiao Ling, you’re going to be staying here for a while, I still have quite a bit to discuss with you… There’s a bed in a section of my office, we’ll continue after you’re up from your nap.”

Xia Ling nodded weakly, her head groggy. She bumped into the door frame twice on her way out, and finally stumbled into the bed in the office. She closed her eyes and entered dreamland almost immediately.

She woke up in the back of a car. It was quiet in the car, and the seat under her was a soft genuine leather texture, while a thick blanket covered her; put together, it felt warm and cozy. She was dazed for a few moments before she propped herself up and saw the person in the driver’s seat… just the back view of him.

It looked so familiar.

“You’re up?” It was Li Lei’s voice. He looked up and glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Sleep in for a bit, we’ll be home soon… Oh right, you’d better not go to Wei Shaoyin’s so often in future; that workaholic has practically lost all his humanity. If he doesn’t let you go, just give me a call and I’ll rescue you.”

Xia Ling was still hung up about that song. “Ah Wei said he still had quite a bit to discuss…”

Li Lei turned around to look at her, his expression unreadable.

Xia Ling felt somehow a little guilty and her voice trailed off.

“Having one workaholic in Skyart is enough.” Li Lei turned back around and continued driving, his tone gentle but with a trace of inexplicable threat. “I don’t want there to be a second one. Xiao Ling, if you sleep in his office again, I’ll immediately send him to South Africa and make him work with aboriginal music instead!”

… Well, why was it that he would take it out on Ah Wei if she made him unhappy?