A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-601

Li Lei continued to stand beside the fence, his clothes fluttering in the evening summer breeze.

After hearing Xia Ling’s laugh, he smiled more deeply. He then said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Well then, I’m leaving.” After that, he hung up and acted like he was really leaving.

Wh… what?!

Xia Ling’s mouth was agape as she watched his back view. She was fuming mad. This person was really going overboard! If he had put in more effort to pacify her, she would have let him in! Hmph, he better be careful, jerk!

The night air was slightly smoky.

His back view disappeared into the depths of the red wall and ivy.

A lump formed in Xia Ling’s throat. She immensely regretted throwing a tantrum. She should have just directly opened the door for Big Boss Li because she really missed him…

Xia Ling looked down unhappily.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice behind her. “Hi, my little beauty.”

It was Li Lei! She turned around in surprise with a pair of bright eyes and gave him a big hug. “Li Lei!” After the hug, she hit him hard and cried out. “You jerk! You lied to me! I saw you leave!”

He smiled and patted her head. “Missed me?”

“Of course not!” She rebuked.

“But I’ve missed you.” He continued to smile and kissed her. Both of them were filled with happiness. He did not climb up the wall in the backyard in vain.

“If you missed me, why did you leave?” She was still unhappy.

“I’m not leaving.” He gently said and sat on a small sofa as he hugged her. “Little Pig, are you ok? Were you scared to death by Nangong Qingya?” After receiving her call, he immediately rushed over as he was afraid that she had suffered in Nangong Qingya’s presence.

“I’m fine.” Recalling Nangong Qingya’s face, a lingering fear was still present in Xia Ling’s heart. “What sort of pill did you give her exactly? It’s so scary.”

“A type of substance that makes one’s skin rot.” Li Lei said casually. “Some time ago, I delivered a batch of goods to the Wei family and the Wei family gave it to me as a show of thanks. There are still two bottles. One bottle causes the hands to rot, and the other bottle causes the feet to rot.”

Xia Ling shuddered. It was still terrifying to her.

“They…” She swallowed hard. “What exactly does the Wei family do? Why do they create such frightening pills?”

“The Wei family’s pharmaceuticals are very popular in the black market. Legend has it that they were the supplier of chemical weapons of several big countries. If you run into any danger outside, just report my name.” Li Lei slightly paused and was reminded of his obstructive grandfather at home. “You can report Wei Shaoyin’s name.”

“Ok.” Xia Ling did not think too much about it. What danger could she be in? However, she felt uneasy. “Will Nangong Qingya be ok?”

“Are you worried about her?”

“She…” Xia Ling hesitated for a moment before saying, “Her crime is not so severe that she deserves to die. Do you think… we went too far?” She knew that Li Lei did everything for her benefit and protected her, but she was really afraid that what she said would make him unhappy. As she spoke, she carefully observed his expression.

However, Li Lei was fine and ran his fingers through her long hair. In a gentle voice, he said, “You are so soft-hearted. What would you do without me?”

“I’m not soft-hearted!” She tried to sound as fierce as possible.

“Ok, ok, you’re not soft-hearted.” He smiled and paused for a few seconds before saying, “Don’t worry. Nangong Qingya is fine. The substance that caused her face to rot is not contagious. Her face looks scary, but besides that, there isn’t a big impact. After I give her the antidote, she will slowly recover.”

After hearing what he said, Xia Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Lei noticed it and sighed. How was this little girl not soft-hearted? Luckily, he knew that she would feel bad and especially chose a substance that would have a scary effect but caused the least harm. Otherwise, her conscience would be tortured to death.

“Give her the antidote, then.” Xia Ling said.

“Don’t you want the remaining 75 billion?” Li Lei asked.

“Didn’t you say that she’s broke?” Xia Ling calmed down. In reality, she was just testing him when she told him over the phone that he could not marry her unless he obtained the money. If Nangong Qingya was really broke, they could not let her pay with her life. Besides, it was just a gamble outside a sexy underwear store. Asking her to pay 5 billion was probably enough.

However, Li Lei said, “Nangong Qingya might not have money, but the Nangong family does.”

Xia Ling said, “It’s 75 billion. Do you really want them to go bankrupt? What feud do we even have with them?”

“If they don’t offend me, I won’t offend them.” Li Lei sneered. These so-called eminent families all wanted their daughters to marry him and already investigated his relationship with Xiao Ling a long time ago. They all knew that he loved Xiao Ling but fearlessly sent their daughters over and even tried to sabotage Xiao Ling—

Xiao Ling did not know that these days, his bodyguards stopped many car accidents and murder plans in secret.

Li Lei did not intend to tell her these things as they would scare her.

However, that did not mean that he would not fight back.

“The Nangong family isn’t as innocent as you think.” He said briefly. “Their family is involved in the triad. The difference is that the Li family is involved in arms, casinos, and smuggling goods. The Nangong family, however, is involved in drug-trafficking, human-trafficking, and selling human organs.”

Xia Ling shuddered in horror.

These things were too unreal to her, like a fantasy.

“Their money isn’t clean.” Li Lei said. “Even if they gave it all to you, they deserved it.”

“I…” Xia Ling didn’t know what to say. If the money was really dirty and she received it, she would probably have nightmares at night.

“Have I told you about the Li family’s past?” Li Lei softly touched her hair and asked.

She shook her head.

Thus, Li Lei said, “The Li family originally lived in China. In the Qing Dynasty, people lived in dire poverty. One ancestor of the Li family couldn’t stand it, so he secretly went overseas. At that time, many people would starve to death on a ship, and less than a dozen would survive. Those who did were thin and yellow and became laborers.”

“These laborers were arbitrarily beaten and bullied by their contractors. More than half of them died.”

“Under my ancestor’s lead, the remaining three or four people took advantage of a dark and stormy night and killed the contractor. As such, they occupied his small piece of land and slowly were able to make a living.”

“This was the first generation of the Li family triad.”

“At that time, there was no law and normal way to help these suffering laborers. They could only fight, kill, and rely on their fortitude to create a future for themselves.”

“They gradually grew stronger and had their own morals and order. Later, all the poor people who secretly left the country joined my ancestor’s gang. Joining the gang meant they had work, food, protection, and shelter from the storm.”