A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Xia Ling had been making “ow” sounds all the way into Wei Shaoyin’s recording studio.

Wei Shaoyin was recording music, and Xia Ling knew better than to disturb him. She found her way to the bed and laid down, soon falling fast asleep.

In her sleep, she suddenly felt an odd, painful sensation on her face.

She reached for that spot and felt a hand.

She immediately woke up in shock and saw Wei Shaoyin looking at her with a cold look. He was in a full white outfit, and everything about him—down to the very last button on his top—was prim and proper. He was pinching her cheek with such force that Xia Ling could feel a bruise forming.

She mumbled, almost in tears, “Let go of me.”

Wei Shaoyin actually released his fingers. “Do you take this place for a hotel? You didn’t even come and say hi to me before taking a nap.”

Xia Ling was speechless. Was this not a hotel? Her wound had opened, and she was not planning to engage in an activity like singing to exert herself. She was just finding a place to past her time so that Li Lei wouldn’t get suspicious.

Wei Shaoyin asked, “Why the silence? Cat got your tongue?”

Xia Ling looked up at him meekly. Worried that he would fly into a rage, she quietly said, “I… I saw that you were recording music… so…”

“I was just making some edits to your previous song! Don’t you know you should greet me first when you come!” Wei Shaoyin was used to being revered by the rest, and would not take this lying down.

Xia Ling was in a fix. He used to tell everyone not to bother him when he was at work!

She dared not tell him that to his face. So, she simply admitted her mistake. “It’s my fault, my fault.”

What she did not know was that Wei Shaoyin had not actually changed his “rules.” Even now, nobody was allowed to disturb him at all as long as he was working in the recording studio. This time was an exception because he simply missed Xia Ling too much, having not seen her for a long time.

Wei Shaoyin sized her up with squinted eyes. This girl was just awoken by him and still had a sleepy, dazy look on her face—she was a pig! Only a pig could sleep so soundly in the afternoon!

Ah Wei looked at how small her stature was and got even more agitated. “Does Li Lei not feed you well? Why are you still so skinny?!”

Xia Ling looked down at her own body. She was already trying her best to put on some weight, and Li Lei was also putting in tons of effort to prepare food for her every day. In fact, she had already gained a little weight recently. Her body simply had not fully recovered from the chronic stress she faced when at Pei Ziheng’s place.

But she would not tell Wei Shaoyin this, for fear that he would worry.

She looked at him and smiled goofily. “Skinny? I think I’m a little fat actually. I’m afraid I won’t look good on screen.”

“Won’t look good?!” Wei Shaoyin almost hit her head with the songsheet. “You’d better eat your meals well! You’re a singer! Your looks aren’t that important, okay?! If you hurt your body and can’t sing well, you’ll regret then!”

Xia Ling quietly nodded her head.

Wei Shaoyin then said, “Remember the last time you called me and said you were at the reception downstairs and wanted to look for me? I got somebody to hand you the entry pass, but you didn’t come.”

He was referring to the day she returned to Skyart and got stopped by Su Tang at the front door.

The other day, Xia Ling had had a conflict with Su Tang. After Li Lei came to take her away, she completely forgot about Wei Shaoyin. If she told Wei Shaoyin that she had forgotten, she definitely would not hear the end of it.

She thought for a while before saying, “I was too busy that day and had to rush off to the hospital after that.”

Wei Shaoyin let her off on that account. When he asked what the trip to the hospital was for, Xia Ling simply explained the wound on her abdomen. “I accidentally hurt the wound yesterday when I was practicing with Bai Murong. But don’t tell Li Lei that, I’m here to nurse the wound secretly.”

Wei Shaoyin turned serious all of a sudden. “Are you alright?”

Xia Ling said, “It’s not a big issue, I should be fine in a couple of days. I’ll be able to make it for the opening of the Heavenly Voice Music Festival.” The performance was a week away, she had more than enough time.

Wei Shaoyin was relieved to hear that and told her, “I’ll be helping you with the preparation for the music festival. You haven’t shown yourself in such an arena in a year, you’ve got to make a comeback and regain your popularity. Once the music festival is over, I’ll plan for your personal concert.”

In the three years since she came back to life, she had never once held a personal concert.

She almost forgot what it felt like to have one.

Now that Wei Shaoyin mentioned it, her eyes sparkled. “Yes. Oh right, my goal this time is to thumb Xia Yu down.”

“You’re not even on the same level, to begin with.” Wei Shaoyin smirked. “What’s the point of thumbing her down? You’re just stooping to her level.”

Xia Ling said, “We have something against each other.” Remembering her poor child, her expression faded.

Wei Shaoyin was no longer laughing as he tapped his fingers on the table absentmindedly. “You can thumb her down if you want. She’ll be taking part in the head-to-head competition this year, you can beat her directly. In fact, you’re in a more passive state this year due to your absence, while she has been gathering support. So, in the public’s eye, both of you are of roughly equal standard.” With that, he could not help but tell her off. “You’re so silly! You worked so hard in the first two years to garner so much support, and in the third year, you squandered it. You could’ve used the news of marrying into a rich family to your advantage, but now you’re making the headlines with your divorce! Your good name has become a bad one!”

Xia Ling found it a pity too.

This was not something she could control. She was fortunate enough to be able to leave Pei Ziheng’s side, did it really matter whether that damaged her reputation or not?

“Let Xia Yu be your stepping stone.” Wei Shaoyin made a point. “This time, you must beat her convincingly and let everyone see the difference in your abilities. It’d be best if you could beat a Diva or a Heavenly King. This way, the public’s impression of you would skyrocket, and nobody would bother about how messy your private life once was. A beautiful, skillful voice and a relationship that has become the talk of the town—these are practically necessary conditions for being a Diva. By the time you hold your concert, there’d be tons of people dying to attend it.”

Xia Ling was speechless. How did her “bad image” turn into something to her advantage?

“We’ll see how we can package this.” Wei Shaoyin said, “This is so simple, really. Oh, Bai Murong’s crew has passed the message. He says he hopes to sing a duet with you for the song ‘Powerful Opponent.’ Sister Mai Na came to discuss this with me, and I’ve agreed on your behalf.”