A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Eventually, she became completely worn out, and the singing stopped.

She was still rested against his chest, her lashes quivering as tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before his finger suddenly twitched. She was so caught up in her misery that she didn’t even notice it. Meanwhile, those standing outside were getting agitated from what they’d just witnessed through the glass pane. “It moved! Li Lei’s finger moved! Get the doctor, quick!”

The doctor and nurses rushed into the ward immediately.

Xia Ling was looking in shock at the hustle around her and had no idea what was going on. All of a sudden, she heard a hoarse voice calling, “Xiao Ling.”

She thought she was hallucinating

She slowly and apprehensively turned to look down at his face. Only then did she realize that he had opened his eyes and was now looking at her weakly. Li Lei...”Li Lei!” She called out and embraced him tightly. “You’re awake? You’re really awake?!” She was laughing and crying all at once.

Li Lei tried to lift his hand and wipe her tears away, but did not have the strength to.

“It’s alright now...” He said hoarsely. “Xiao Ling, I’ll always be with you...”

“Mm, okay!” She nodded her head vehemently and grabbed his hand, at a loss for words.

The doctors conducted thorough check-ups on Li Lei. Under the care and treatment of a specialist group, he recovered day by day. All this while, Xia Ling made sure to be by his side at every moment. The hospital even set up a bed beside his so that they could undergo treatment and recuperate together, while their families took turns to visit them.

After yet another close call with death, they began opening up about the incident slowly.

After piecing together all the information, they realized that Li Feng had been sadistic since he was a child. He was more familiar with the prison in the headquarters than anyone else was, and had even dug up a secret path a long time ago so he could commit those shameful sins without being found out. After he escaped, he stalked Xia Ling and planned to rob her from Li Lei, since he’d figured out that such a loss would cause the greatest blow to him. As such, when Li Lei accompanied her to visit Pei Ziheng, Li Feng’s chance came.

He took advantage of Chu Chen’s consideration for Pei Ziheng and his desire to drive Li Lei away. Once Li Lei had left, he abducted Xia Ling as soon as he could and set a trap in the snake’s nest, luring Li Lei into it.

Fortunately, Xia Ling had given Li Lei some hints with the moss, allowing him to be on the offensive as he entered the den beforehand.

Otherwise, once Li Feng set up his elaborate trap, it was possible that none of them would’ve been able to escape.

“Li Feng is dead,” Xia Ling told Li Lei. “Pei Ziheng cut him up alive before Er Mao tore him apart further and tossed him into the pit.”

Li Lei kept quiet for a long time after hearing how his brother had died.

Xia Ling looked at him, a little worried. “Are you... very sad?”

Li Lei kept quiet for a while more before saying, “I grew up with Brother. He was very mean to me when we were younger. During winter, he hid snakes in my blanket; in the middle of the night, those hibernating snakes would wake from the warmth and bite me. I reared a little rabbit, and he skinned the rabbit alive before hanging it on my bedroom door while still dripping with blood. He even pushed me into deep waters and tried to kill me... But, I don’t know why. I just feel that...” He appeared especially sentimental today. After pausing for a long moment, he went on, “I just felt that he was very lonely.”

Xia Ling found it hard to believe that a pervert like him could feel loneliness too. She mumbled, “Unbelievable.”

Li Lei shook his head and comforted her instead. “Maybe I’m overthinking this. He’s a tough nut to crack, who’d know what he really thought? Maybe he was truly happy. Xiao Ling, although I’m upset by his death, I feel a sense of relief too—at least I know that there’s one less person who poses a threat to you now. I really don’t understand why he kept finding trouble with you.” He could understand that Old Master Li found trouble with her out of his love for his grandson. He also understood that Su Tang found trouble with her because of jealousy of a love rival. But Li Feng?

It was a tough riddle.

“The last person who spoke to him was Pei Ziheng. Maybe Pei Ziheng would know something,” Xia Ling said.

Li Lei nodded his head but said, “Forget it. Since he’s already dead, there’s no point talking about it. Whatever Pei Ziheng knows, let it be gone with the wind. From now on, we’ll not bring Brother’s name up in front of the children.” That horrid man was practically the opposite of a good role model.

Xia Ling agreed with his take on this.

On his cheek, the scar that Li Feng left with a dagger years back was still visible. How painful that must have felt...

She reached out and stroked that scar. “We’ve got to keep a lookout for Shaohui and Xiao Rui, and make sure they don’t turn out like Li Feng.” Indeed, parenting and nurturing started from a young age.

Li Lei smiled. “Shaohui is a good boy. Xiao Rui will also learn to be more sensible now that they’re hanging out together.”

She smiled in consolation as well, and they carried on chit-chatting.

A while later, there was a knock on the door.

They raised their heads and saw Old Master Li enter.

Old Master was looking better and more energetic lately. It seemed like his grandson’s recovery had brought some radiance to his once haggard face. He gave a deliberate cough before trudging towards the bed. “How are you feeling today?”

“Pretty good. Thank you for asking, Grandpa.” Li Lei was grinning. Although Old Master Li was no longer the head of the household, he had brought Li Lei up and Li Lei respected him a lot. He did not want these obstacles to become a barrier between them.

Seeing that he looked well, Old Master Li felt content too.

But when his eyes shifted to Xia Ling, he gave another cough out of awkwardness.

Xia Ling calmly greeted him. “Grandpa.” She was the Li family’s granddaughter-in-law now, and there was no way to deny the kinship she shared with Old Master, whether they liked it or not. Moreover, she did not want things to be difficult for Li Lei.

Old Master shared her sentiment and gave a solemn nod. “Rest well. You need to be well too before being able to take good care of Xiao Lei.” After this incident, he’d figured out that this grandson and granddaughter-in-law were inseparable—if one of them got into any trouble, the other would follow in life or in death. So what if he got uptight over it? The only thing he could do now was hope for the best for them.

Maybe this was what The Preceptor meant when he said “Bound Destinies”.

Old Master was a little helpless now—as much as he didn’t like her, there was no other choice but to accept her. At the very least, Li Lei’s accident showed him that she wasn’t an ingrate who’d turn away when he was in trouble. Then again, that was all that comforted him.

With a commanding eye and an upright stance, he looked down at