A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Lei did not know whether to cry or laugh. He only consoled her. “Ok, I’ll cook for you.”

Holding her hand, he was about to guide her out, but Xia Ling pulled him back. “Forget it, let the servant do it.” She could tell that he was troubled and did not want him to overwork himself. “I want to eat chicken porridge, cold mixed jellyfish salad, and steamed dumplings.”

Li Lei replied, “Ok.” He found a servant and gave him the instructions.

As such, she was happy and eagerly went to the dining area to wait for her meal.

This time, Li Lei stopped her. “Aren’t you going to eat with me?”

Xia Ling tilted her head and said, “Didn’t I disturb you just now? Just continue to think about your business and ignore me.” Just now when she asked if he were troubled, he changed the subject. Xia Ling guessed that it was probably company issues or something regarding the triad that she would not understand. The only thing she could do was not bother him.

However, Li Lei said, “You didn’t disturb me. Come over and let me hug you.” He took her into his arms, sat beside the small sofa near the window, and kissed her long hair. Her skin was smooth, her eyes were bright, and there was even a faint fragrance on her body that lingered after her bath. She obediently curled up in his arms like a quiet cat.

No matter who she was.

Right now, it was fine as long as she was here.

After what happened in the villa, both of them became more intimate.

During spring of the following year, Xia Ling’s solo album “Before Dawn” went on sale and made it to the top of the most prominent music chart after a week of sales. Lin Yunan, Wei Shaoyin, and others were pleased and especially held a celebratory party for her. They even organized a lot of media news conference and fan meets. The overwhelming response far exceeded their expectations. Ye Xingling became fully deserving of the title “Queen of Pop.”

Taking advantage of the hype, countless advertisers looked for her.

Lin Yunan was very busy every day helping her choose the appropriate advertisements and endorsements. After a few days, he showed her a phone advertisement. “I don’t recommend that you accept too many commercials. In the next year, this one is sufficient. This brand is blue blood in the phone world. It is not familiar to the public but is very well-known among a specific group of people. This commercial will only be played in places where famous people frequent. Of course, it will also be visible on your website, and it is enough for fans to talk about how noble you are.”

She wanted to be a Diva, so she accepted advertisements and endorsements not for money but as a way to elevate her status. Lin Yunan rejected all of the other advertisements, and it seemed that in the short-term, they lost many money-making opportunities. However, in the long run, her name would only be associated with luxury goods. With the halo effect, her status would far exceed any other female celebrity.

Xia Ling also understood his purpose and nodded.

The shooting location was on a mountain with a beautiful paragliding base.

The crew was expected to stay there for two days to take shots of her high-altitude paragliding. Initially, Xia Ling did not know how to paraglide. However, the team hired a professional coach to teach her paragliding for this shoot, and she trained hard for a month. Now, she was not very outstanding at paragliding, but she was able to do a few simple movements which were more than enough to complete the commercial.

The staff was very busy as they measured the wind speed and adjusted the equipment.

Xia Ling found a secluded shaded place in the trees to do warm-up exercises in preparation for paragliding.

Lin Yunan walked over and handed her a glass of water. “Xiao Ling, are you ok?” He had suggested that she use a substitute in the past, but she refused, so he was a little worried as paragliding was a type of extreme sport which could not guarantee her complete safety. In the event of an accident, his future plans would be ruined.

Xia Ling took the glass and gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

The trial run she did went well, and the wind direction today was not bad, so it was a good day for paragliding. Although she was a beginner, she had experienced many extreme sports in her past life and knew that these sports were virtually the same. They looked dangerous, but after mastering the techniques, they were actually quite easy.

However, this was the first time Lin Yunan took an artiste to film extreme sports. Thus, he was very nervous.

Before he could say anything else, the paragliding coach walked over. “Don’t be nervous, Mr. Lin. Xiao Ling’s sense of balance is great. Her sensitivity and stability are also excellent. I think she is very talented, and in time, she can even be a master at paragliding. Xiao Ling, if you ever stop being an artiste, would you go paragliding with me?”

“Sure.” Xia Ling agreed half-jokingly.

The coach smiled widely and patted her shoulders before saying to Lin Yunan, “Look, Mr. Lin. This girl doesn’t even know what it’s like to be afraid! Don’t underestimate her because she’s skinny and small. Her guts are not small at all!”

Lin Yunan was helpless. As they had already agreed to the shoot, there was nothing he could do about it. Since he was the manager of someone who wanted to rise to the top, he needed to accept her strange insistence on things. For example, some people liked to have lollipops in their pockets when they went out, and some people would only sit on red chairs. There were also some people like Xiao Ling who would rather die than use a substitute. Forget it, they were already here, so he should just let her do it.

He gave Xia Ling a few words of advice before leaving to settle other things.

The coach smiled as he looked at Xia Ling. “Oh yes, are you Li Lei’s girlfriend?”

“Huh?” Xia Ling did not expect that he would suddenly ask that question. She gave him a vague answer and then said, “I’m going to go over to see if the equipment is ready yet.” After that, she escaped.

She was unable to answer this question even though she and Li Lei’s relationship deepened after that charming night at the villa and they had gotten back together. Not only that, they frequently slept together…

However, she was unable to tell that to an outsider.

She was an artiste. When and how her relationship status should be announced were determined by her manager.

“Don’t pretend.” The fitness coach smiled breezily. “Do you know that Li Lei just arrived? Once he got off the helicopter, he immediately went to check your paragliding equipment from the rope to the parachute. In total, he checked it three times. I have never even seen him care so much about his equipment before.”

“Li Lei is here?” Xia Ling was rather shocked. A month ago, Li Lei went overseas again to settle some business and only returned last night. When he came back, he hugged her for a while before he fell asleep. Today when she left, he was still asleep. Now that she knew he was here, her eyes were full of joy.

She turned around and sure enough, a familiar figure was nearby squatting and busying himself near her paragliding equipment. He readjusted the rope and tested the strength of every buckle.

The soft sunlight enveloped his body.

As if noticing her gaze, Li Lei turned around and looked at her. He waved and let out a big smile.

Xia Ling also smiled as she waved back.

“How is he not your boyfriend?” The fitness coach teased her. “Anyone who is not blind can see it. If I knew that your relationship was so good, I would not have coached you. You could just directly look for him.”