A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-135

Xia Ling stopped in her tracks.

So that girl knew Li Lei? She did not know how they were related, but they seemed close.

Xia Ling’s gaze fell to her hand that was grabbing onto Li Lei’s forearm. She squinted her eyes slightly. Very well, now that she was present as his official girlfriend, what was she going to do?

She casually took a glass of wine from a passing waiter and strode towards them elegantly.

“… Brother Lei, when will you come over to my house? The lilacs you gave me have bloomed, and I got somebody to get a pavilion done up in my garden. When you come over, we can have tea together there.” That girl looked up towards Li Lei in sheer admiration and was leaning so close to him that even her bosom was pressing against him.

Even a fool could tell that she was interested in Li Lei, and yet Li Lei made no move to distance himself.

Xia Ling’s rage rose inside her, and she almost splashed the wine in her face, but the little bit of rationality she had stopped her from doing so. This was Pei Ziheng’s territory, and she did not want more enemies or trouble than she had… She chanted in her head “impulsiveness is the devil” and calmed herself down.

She went to stand beside Li Lei as if nothing was happening.

“Xiao Ling,” Li Lei turned to look at her and smiled. “you came just in time. Let me introduce her to you, this is Gu Lin, the eldest daughter of the Gu Financial Magnate. She’s the granddaughter of the Grandfather Gu that you met before.”

So she was the eldest daughter of the Gu Financial Magnate, what a pity… Xia Ling thought Old Mr. Gu was an intelligent and wise man, how did he end up raising such a shameless and rude granddaughter?

Li Lei then introduced her to Gu Lin. “This is Ye Xingling.”

Gu Lin’s expression changed after hearing the introduction. In a situation like this, the default rule was to introduce the party of lower status to the party of higher status first. The less important figure was introduced before the more important figure; such a concept was definitely not new to Li Lei. But he chose to introduce her to Ye Xingling first…

She, Gu Lin, was obviously of higher status!

Did it mean, then, that in Brother Lei’s heart, that “Ye Xingling” was a more important figure?

Gu Lin’s intuition made her tense up. She sized Xia Ling up and realized that it was the person she had knocked into earlier, and that made her even more annoyed with Xia Ling. “Ye Xingling?” She used an arrogant and fussy tone. “I think I might’ve heard of you, you’re a minor celebrity in Brother Lei’s company?”

She intentionally emphasized the word “minor.”

“I’ve never heard of you, though,” Xia Ling replied calmly and even more arrogantly than she did.

She could not splash red wine in her face, but that did not mean she could not find another way to put her down. She had no intention of swallowing her anger if she could find a way around it in a contained manner. Regarding putting someone down sarcastically, could anyone beat her? She was one who had used her words to fight her way up ever since she was in the orphanage, and after she entered the Pei family, she continued at it with those high and mighty figures. It was even more frequently employed in the entertainment circle where fights and bickerings were almost staples. She did not have many talents, but this was one that she was too good at for anyone to deny.

Sure enough, Gu Lin was enraged, “You… you!” She stomped her foot and shook Li Lei’s elbow, “Brother Lei, she’s bullying me!” She and Li Lei could be considered childhood friends, and she had been his secret admirer since they were children. She knew he liked innocent girls and hence had perfected her acting in front of him.

The Li family and the Gu family were old family friends.

On account of Old Mr. Gu, Li Lei could not do much about Gu Lin.

He acted as a big brother giving in to his little sister. “You’re not young anymore, what’s with all the bullying stuff? You and Xiao Ling aren’t in the same industry, it’s no surprise she doesn’t know you.”

Not in the same industry?

Gu Lin side-eyed her, satisfied. “Oh, right. A minor celebrity like you has it tough at it is, besides your main job, you have to curry favor with all the people around you and attend all sorts of receptions to widen your connections. How could you know a big missy like me? Haha, I won’t stoop to your level.”

Oh, for goodness sake, Li Lei did not mean it that way.

But, his words were indeed misleading.

As they spoke, Gu Lin had rested her hand on his elbow. He thought of moving his arm away when he saw Xia Ling walk towards him in the corner of his eye. Under the chandelier, Xia Ling walked elegantly with a glass of wine in her hand, her demeanor calm. She must have seen her holding onto him but pretended not to.

Was she not bothered by it at all?

Li Lei was heavy-hearted, and at that moment decided to sound her out.

He deliberately let Gu Lin have her way, and left her hand on her arm. He even allowed her to be condescending to Xia Ling.

As for Xia Ling, her only problem was concerning Gu Lin insulting her. She had no response nor reaction to the way Gu Lin had her hand on him or how she acted intimate with him.

Xiao Ling, do I not matter to you?

He asked in his heart. In order to get his answer, he looked at her without any change in expression.

Xia Ling clenched her fingers, she was so close to splashing that red wine — not at Gu Lin alone this time, but at her and Li Lei both. This adulterous pair acted like she did not exist? No… She could not care less about Gu Lin who did not know about her relationship with Li Lei. She had no reason to fight with her love rival, but what about Li Lei?

He was the one who initiated the relationship, why was he getting so close to someone else now?

As she looked at them, her reluctance to create a scene and her arrogance led her to maintain her calm expression. Even so, her heart was aching with the surge of past memories — at that time, it was also because Pei Ziheng had another woman that she kicked a huge fuss and eventually became a pathetic laughing stock. Now she understood this — once a man had a change of heart, there was no point even if she got rid of her love rival.

She did not want to fight such a meaningless battle anymore.

Gu Lin was still provoking her. “What, have you gone mute? You’ve got no words? Is there anything else? Otherwise, stay away from us. Can’t you see I’m talking to Brother Lei here?”

Xia Ling’s clear eyes were still undisturbed. She shot a nonchalant glance at Li Lei and walked away.

In the crowd, her posture was gracious and elegant and her back straight as she walked off without care or longing… At that moment, Li Lei was extremely fearful, as if he would never be able to get to her again once she integrated into the crowd.

“Xiao Ling!” He called out to her, removed his arm from Gu Lin’s resting hand, and chased behind her.

Xia Ling heard his call but did not stop, she carried on straight ahead. All of a sudden, she felt a warm, coarse hand grab her elbow. She turned around and glared at him. “Let go!”