A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-699

Suddenly, Xia Ling regretted having these two for a meal. They were well and truly irritating.

She ate at an incredible speed before sending the two men out to her satisfaction. She closed the door and sighed in relief. “That was tiring.”

Shaohui looked at her curiously. “You don’t like Uncle Pei and Uncle Li?”

Xia Ling was stunned, not having expected the kid to ask something like this. “Uncle Pei is hard to read, Shaohui. You better keep a distance from him, he’s dangerous,” she contemplated.

Shaohui nodded. That was understandable.

“But then, why did you ask him for a favor?”

Xia Ling smiled bitterly. “When I saw that you were sick, I was worried. Uncle Pei was nearby, so finding a doctor from his place was so easy.” Silence. “Uncle Pei is hard to read, but he isn’t completely rotten. I owe him… a lot.”

Shaohui blinked. He didn’t know this.

His uncle had mentioned something like this previously. Out of the people who objected to his parents being together, there had been Uncle Pei. But even then, he had mentioned as well, “Uncle Pei and your mum go way back, you have to be careful.”

Given that he had almost gotten killed by Uncle Pei today, he suddenly understood what his uncle had meant.

Grasping onto Xia Ling’s hand, he said, “Then what about Uncle Li? Do you like Uncle Pei more? Or do you like Uncle Li more?”

Xia Ling’s face grew hot at the thought of the handsome mixed-blood man.

“Shaohui, which one do you like?” she shot back.

“Of course, I like Uncle Li. He’s nice to you, and he also has Er Mao,” the kid replied seriously.

Xia Ling’s smile faded. Ah, it was because of Er Mao. She ran her hands through the child’s hair. “Is Furball not cute enough for you?” Furball was the stray cat that she had taken under her wing. It played with Shaohui often.

“Cute…” Shaohui replied, “However, Er Mao is irreplaceable.” He blinked. “Just like Uncle Pei, even if he’s gentler, he’s not the same as Uncle Li.”

Xia Ling was stunned by this statement.

Out of all the people in the world, it had to be him.

Even if there were thousands of others, even more gentle, even more outstanding, there was no way she could forget him. A scene etched into her memory, in that storm, standing in the fluttering blossoms, his voice saying, “Xiao Ling, I love you.”

She shut her eyes and felt the bitterness seep into her heart for a moment.

The days after, Shaohui remained hospitalized, but Xia Ling couldn’t continue staying by his side.

She was an artiste, after all. In spite of her Diva title, she still had to go to work. She had a gig in another city that she had agreed to attend, but that meant that Shaohui would be alone without a caretaker.

Upon hearing this, Li Lei stepped up to offer his help. “Xiao Ling, let me look after the child. You have a nanny, but it might be a little difficult for her to make any decisions since she is working for you, after all.” There was an underlying sense of urgency in his tone now — if he didn’t take his chances now, he didn’t know when the next opportunity would arise. If he slipped, a certain Pei Ziheng next door would swoop in to try his hand again.

Xia Ling deliberated for a moment.

Seeing how Li Lei had brought Li Rui up, she was worried.

However, there didn’t seem to be another suitable candidate up for the job. Lin Yunan? Wei Shaoyin? Feng Kun? They didn’t have children, so they were inexperienced. Pei Ziheng? Uh, she’d pass. Li Lei it was, then.

Her schedule was pretty long this time, almost an entire week.

“Let Uncle Li take care of you for a while, okay?”

Shaohui clapped. “Great, I love Er Mao.”

The child’s answer barely made any sense. Xia Ling sighed over how a certain man’s charms extended beyond his pet. She informed Li Lei of her decision but added on additional conditions. “Su Tang and Li Rui are not allowed near my child. If Shaohui is in the hospital, that means that they aren’t even allowed to step into the place. If they get sick, they better head to another hospital. Got it?”

Li Lei understood what she meant, and agreed solemnly.

“Also,” Xia Ling added, still worried. “Call me every day and tell me everything that happens to Shaohui.”

This was exactly what Li Lei wanted. Satisfied, he agreed.

Xia Ling eventually left, albeit still worried.

At the event, everyone treated her like the goddess she was. She had really made it big, and her reputation was impeccable. If not for the generous appearance fee, she wouldn’t have simply arrived at any event.

She worked for three days, singing a song every day, and made earthshaking commentaries.

It was an easy job. The remaining time was spent on the phone with Li Lei.

Li Lei didn’t leave a single detail out in their conversations. He talked everything about the kid’s everyday life — the foods he liked, how his new teeth were starting to grow in, how the weather had been so nice that he managed to grow flowers in the hospital greenhouse.

And many other whimsical stories.

Xia Ling listened.

Both of them rarely had such long peaceful times. It almost felt like back then, before their relationship went cloudy, in the past where they had nothing to do in the beach villa, watching the tide go in and come out. It scared her, how easily she could slip into the facade, that they were a little family of three, just parents fussing over a child. Unfortunately, Shaohui’s blood type was O.

Shaohui’s blood type had been her biggest upset, admittedly.

She had been disappointed, having prayed for some miracle to happen, to return her the child that she had lost so many years ago. But then, the self-reproach washed in, before being replaced by a small celebration — it was fortunate that he had such a common blood type. He would always be safe.

How could she have ever prayed for Shaohui to have a rare blood type just for her own desire?

That was dangerous.

Her feelings were shaken again, but she nagged at Li Lei to look after her kid.

Hesitated but nagged at him to look after himself too. “You need to look after yourself too. Please don’t…” She wanted to say that he had a rare blood type. In the case that anything happened, he probably couldn’t get a transfusion in time. But it seemed too ominous, so she stopped.

But it seemed like he understood what she wanted to say and smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care too.”

She hung up.

At the event, the spectators were magnificent.

Outside the glass panels, the audience was questioning, “Where is Ye Xingling? I heard that she was going to perform? I brought a friend along just to watch her, I wonder when she will appear?”

In this complicated world, she only cared about one person’s wellbeing.

And of course, something had to happen.

She had just finished her first song when Wei Shaoyin called. She had just come back from resounding applause. “I’m outside your break room.”

And she was confused. Why was he here?