A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-181

Chapter 181: Scandal

Xia Ling did not dare to make eye contact with him. She turned around and quickly walked towards the exit to escape. On impulse, she rushed out of the shopping mall and stood in the streets which was crowded and filled with passers-by. Suddenly, she was hit with a huge wave of loneliness. There was some pain which she could never explain to anyone and could only silently suffer alone.

Xia Ling leaned her body against the wall in the corner and thought of the recently complicated things that had happened to her. She was physically and emotionally tired.

Some time had passed before someone knocked into her. “Oh no. I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking when I was turning and didn’t see you..” The person apologized profusely. Suddenly, he stopped talking and stared at her for a few seconds. “Ye… Ye Xingling?!”

Presently, her name was quite well-known.

She finally remembered that she was exposing herself on the streets and did not have a disguise on at all. She had been so angry that she was driven into confusion by Li Lei. Reaching out her hand, she quickly flipped over the coat hood and wrapped her long scarf around her neck a few times to cover her face. She wanted to leave immediately, but a few people were surrounding her.

“It really is Ye Xingling!”

“Xiao Ling! Xiao Ling! I’m your fan, can you sign something for me!”

“Xiao Ling, can I shake your hand?”

“Wow, it is her in person! I’m so happy! Take a group photo with us, please…”

There were numerous sounds, and people were pushing to get to the front. As many people took out their phones and took photos of her non-stop, more and more people gathered in the crowd, and a commotion started. She only wanted to leave as fast as possible, but she had no way of squeezing through the crowd.

“I have something urgent to do. Can I trouble everyone to make way for me?” Xia Ling said as she tried her best to push through the crowd.

“Her voice sounds very good in person.”

“Xiao Ling, Xiao Ling! Show more of your face! Look this way!”

She was trapped in a sea of people and could not squeeze out. She started to become really anxious. Just now, she had bought clothes with Li Lei, and it took up much of her time. If she did not go for styling now, she would not be able to make it in time for tonight’s music festival. “Make way. Make way please…” she said impatiently.

The crowd refused to give way. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist.

“Please don’t randomly touch me…” Before she could finish her sentence, she lifted her head and realized that it was actually Li Lei.

There was no expression on his face, and his grip was very strong as he used his other hand to push through the crowd. “Move. Everyone move. Tonight, Ye Xingling has a music festival live-stream. If you surround her here, there will be no show for you to watch tonight.”

Some people move aside. However, even more people continued to surround them.

Some people did not think the world was chaotic enough and asked, “How are you related to Ye Xingling?”

“Who are you? What right do you have to push us… Ow, it hurts!” Li Lei pushed a man so hard that he retreated a few steps.

Li Lei was not kind towards these people and used his tall and muscular body as an advantage to easily break the crowd apart and pull her out of it.

They got on his SUV.

The atmosphere was a little awkward. In the shopping mall, she provoked him and yelled at him, but he still broke into the crowd to save her.

Xia Ling stammered. “Thank you.”

“Am I only worth a simple ‘thank you’ from you?” Li Lei was very irritated. Ever since he pulled her out of Pei Ziheng’s arms and talked to Su Tang, he was unsure about Xiao Ling’s feelings for him. Su Tang said that only when a woman wanted to draw the line with a man would she not care about his gifts or not give him a gift. She would not care about whether he was by her side and would even vaguely say thank you. No matter what happened, she would not ask for his help because she never included him in her life from the start.

Only those who were ready to leave at any time were not willing to fall too deep.

There was some anger in Li Lei’s heart which he did not know who it was directed at. To vent it, he stepped on the accelerator, and the car took off at lightning speed. Xia Ling was caught off guard, and her body slammed into the back of the chair. Thus, she became angry again and shut her mouth.

Soon, they reached the place for styling.

Xia Ling ignored him and got out of the car herself, walking towards the building. After she took a few steps, she realized that he had caught up with her and stopped walking. She turned around and snapped at him. “I’m already here. Why are you still following me?”

There was no expression on his face. “Are you so scared that people will find out about our relationship?”

This person was simply unreasonable today. Xia Ling endured it, which was why she did not quarrel with him in the aisle. She quickly walked to the styling room and opened the door. A piano piece was playing in the room, and there was a faint fragrance. When they heard the sound, everyone turned to look at them: Bai Murong, Sister Mai Na, and the stylists. Everyone was there.

She clearly saw a glimmer of light in Bai Murong’s eyes, but he quickly covered it up.

Great, Li Lei had achieved his goal. Now everyone knew about her relationship with him. He was the Big Boss of Skyart Entertainment and the type that rarely cared about the company. Now that he was there with her, she could not blame the thoughts that other people would have in their hearts.

Xia Ling was feeling horrible, so she randomly sat down on an empty spot.

“Xia Ling.” Sister Mai Na called her. “Come with me.” She then turned to look at Li Lei who was behind her and politely said, “Boss, can I take up a few minutes of your time? I have something to report.” After saying that, she walked into a small room. Xia Ling and Li Lei did not know what was going on, so they followed her.

The small room was very quiet, and there were only the three of them there.

Sister Mai Na closed the door. Her face became solemn as she retrieved her phone from her bag and threw it in front of them. “Look at it yourselves.”

There was an ominous feeling in her heart. Xia Ling took the phone and saw that it had photos of her and Li Lei splurging in the shopping mall. The camera angle was perfect, and her facial features were clearly recognizable. There were photos of him buying clothes with her, swiping his card, and even of the smiling manager beside their pile of wrapped clothes talking to them… Furthermore, there were photos of her being surrounded by the crowd and Li Lei taking her hand and rushing out of it.

“Who took these photos?” asked Li Lei.

The high quality of the photos indicated that they were taken by professional cameras.

“The paparazzi caught up to you.” Sister Mai Na glanced at them coldly. “Don’t you know how to pay more attention when you are on a date? Ye Xingling, was your anti-stalking training done in vain? Furthermore, Li Lei, you know that your girlfriend is an artiste. Don’t you know how to protect her?!” Without outsiders, she was no longer polite to Li Lei. It was actually not a report, but a lecturing.

Xia Ling frowned as she read the news report. The general gist of it was guessing what her relationship with Li Lei was and whether there was anything shady that Skyart Entertainment did not disclose when they were promoting her. Furthermore, the story about her hugging Pei Ziheng in the lift awhile back was leaked. Although there was no picture, the linkage of both stories was enough to cause a great uproar.

Not long ago during the music festival, she had some unclear interaction with Imperial Entertainment’s Boss Pei. That day, Boss Li of Skyart Entertainment was also there, and it was reported that there was a conflict between the two big bosses, and the heroine of the conflict was Ye Xingling. What exactly was her relationship with the two big bosses? The photos today seemed to have revealed something to the public.

The report was extremely well written and had all sorts of malicious speculations.

Sister Mai Na was very irritable. “What should we do now? All the public relations plans have to be redone! If we don’t respond in time, Ye Xingling, you will gain a reputation of seducing two big bosses!”