A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Li Lei was aware of the bungalow that Pei Ziheng had given to her. Both of them had even argued about it before.

Later, Xiao Ling grew sensitive every time he broached the issue, so he was careful not to bring it up. Now, Li Lei was happy to hear her say that she wanted to get rid of the bungalow. “Okay, I can help you get rid of it as soon as possible.”

He owned a real estate company, it would be easy for him to get someone to deal with all the processes.

However, Xia Ling said, “I want to handle it myself.” She did not want to rely on him for everything. She felt that the consequence of overreliance on someone was too terrifying — her experience in her past life was a perfect example. In this life, even if she fell for someone, she needed to maintain her independence.

Li Lei was not too happy to hear her say that but did not insist on it. He knew that even if he had a place in Xiao Ling’s heart, it was still not to the extent where she would hand her life over to him. He needed to be careful of her feelings and was afraid that he would lose her if he made a small mistake. Their big fight previously had made it clear to him that she would leave at first instance if he made her unhappy.

This was scarier than anything else to Li Lei.

Hence, he said, “Okay then, you can handle it yourself. If you meet with any problems just come look for me, I can give you the help you need anytime.”

Xia Ling nodded and felt relieved.

She wanted to settle this by herself, but she was not used to handling these administrative matters. She had always only cared about singing and performing; thus, she did not really know where to begin when it came to matters like this. As such, Li Lei’s words of encouragement and assurance gave the comfort that he would have her back.

She started to manage the sale of the bungalow, intending for the proceeds of the sale to be donated to charity.

Pei Ziheng’s money was like poison to her, and she felt it would burn in her hand. Donating it would be the only way she felt they could draw a clean line.

She asked her assistant Wei Wei to check on the market price of the bungalow and contacted various auction houses to deal with the sale.

Wei Wei was a diligent, intelligent, and hardworking girl. Even though it was the first time she was handling the sale of a bungalow and was far from perfect in managing the process, she was still able to inform Xia Ling that the bungalow had been sold after some time.

The buyer was said to be a businessman of Chinese origins, who returned back to China for a holiday. He had heard that the proceeds from the sale would be donated to charity and, hence, felt respect for Xia Ling. He had requested through the auction house to meet her face-to-face because he too was interested in charitable endeavors and wanted to meet her to discuss them.

Although Xia Ling wanted to donate the proceeds of the bungalow, she was not familiar with charitable organizations and the philanthropic field. She was afraid that the money would be used for the wrong reasons and did not have experience in putting in the proper monitoring for the use of the money. She felt that it would be a good idea to hear the views of a more experienced person. Thus, she agreed to meet the buyer.

The chauffeur Old Chen drove her to the appointment venue with her assistant Wei Wei and four bodyguards.

When they got there, they found themselves in an elegant and exquisite wooden building. There was a big pond with a rock formation that created a windbreaker, and inside the pond was a meter-long golden carp. The server came forward and offered to bring Xia Ling to the private room that was booked, but indicated that Wei Wei and the bodyguards would have to stay outside. “Sorry, Miss Ye, the gentleman inside invited you to come in alone.”

Xia Ling was slightly taken aback. She did not expect the buyer to make such a request.

However, she thought it was understandable as well since he could afford to buy the bungalow she had put up for sale. Someone so wealthy would likely be a big shot, right?

Yet, there were things that she could not agree to as well.

“I can’t go in alone,” she said. “Please help me to tell the gentleman inside that I need to bring my assistant and two bodyguards with me. If he thinks that that is inconvenient, we can reschedule this meeting.”

Ever since she was kidnapped by Pei Ziheng, the bodyguards had been put in place to follow her, and there were always people around her even if it was not obvious. This was something that Li Lei had insisted on, and while she felt that he was being paranoid, she would keep her promise to him on the matter.

The server’s expression became nervous. “Miss Ye, the gentleman inside is our platinum member. This same request applies to everyone that he has met here.”

Xia Ling turned and made to leave.

She heard a polite voice ring out from behind her. “Please stay and hear me out.”

She stopped in her tracks and turned around. She saw a middle-aged man walk out of the private room, his hair combed neatly back, dressed in a slick suit. His voice was stable and calm. “Miss Ye, the young master invites you to come in.”

Xia Ling asked, “Including my bodyguards?”

“Yes.”

She gave the server a look. Didn’t he say it was an unbreakable rule?

“There are always exceptions to the rule.” The middle-aged man gave her a polite smile, seemingly answering the question in her mind.

Xia Ling brought Wei Wei and two bodyguards with her as she followed the middle-aged man into the private room.

When she entered, she regretted leaving two of the bodyguards behind. The door to the private room looked small and exquisite, but the space behind it was vast and, moreover, ten or so people were standing in all corners of the room. Scanning the room, she saw that many of these men were of the physique where it seemed they were used to being in physical fights.

Her first reaction was to back out of the room, but the door behind her had already been shut.

The two bodyguards immediately became alert to the situation, and Wei Wei inched closer to Xia Ling, feeling afraid.

“Miss, please relax.” An attractive voice said.

Xia Ling followed the sound and saw that there was a platform in the middle of the room with a tiger-skin blanket draped over it. A man was lazing on the tiger-skin blanket, and while he was not exceedingly handsome, his eyes were seductive, and he was smiling at them at this moment.

Xia Ling felt that he looked familiar, but could not remember where she had met him before.

There was a beautiful girl like a Persian cat sitting by his feet giving him a leg massage. He was running his hands absentmindedly through the girl’s auburn, wavy, long hair, while turning to Xia Ling and saying, “Do have a seat.”

Xia Ling did not sit down.

This scenario was too different from what she had expected. She thought that they would just be having a casual chat, but it seemed that the buyer was intending to make her feel uncomfortable with this entourage. She was afraid that he had some other motive.

“How would you like me to address you, Mister?” Xia Ling asked cautiously.

“You can call me Young Master Feng.” His voice was low and gentle.

Young Master.

Clearly, he did not regard her as an equal. To Xia Ling, this was a casual meeting, whereas to him, he had called for her. Xia Ling was regretting coming over. Before she came, she had only heard that he was a businessman with Chinese origins who was back for a holiday. She should have asked for more details to understand what kind of person he was.

“Sit.” The man repeated.

Seeing that she still did not move, he gave a smile and said, “Aren’t you going to give me some face?”

As he spoke, two men in black suits stepped forward and came toward Xia Ling. They were tall and well-built and looked menacing. The two bodyguards that Xia Ling had brought with her also took a step forward, shielding her behind them. In a split second, there were loud “swooshes” from all around, and Young Master Feng’s men had all pulled out their pistols. There were more than ten guns trained on them.

Xia Ling’s bodyguards reacted quickly and drew their weapons as well. However, they did not point their guns at the men around, but rather at their boss, Young Master Feng.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds.

Wei Wei was stunned for two seconds before letting out a scream and pulling onto Xia Ling’s sleeve in panic.