A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Interesting development, how satisfying!

Sister Mai Na continued her story while beaming with joy, as Xia Ling sat quietly and listened. “Xia Yu can’t escape this time, with all those medical records, the evidence is irrefutable and she won’t have a chance to defend herself.”

She told Xia Ling that Imperial Entertainment did go forward to dispel the rumors, claiming that the medical records were fake and the company would pursue legal responsibility. However, the rumors were still intensifying and getting out of hand.

Several media representatives, including TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and magazines, all started to cancel Xia Yu’s shoots and refund her debut album. Even Ideal C Perfume terminated all her commercials. On the online entertainment forum, countless fans criticized and mocked her. Everyone likes to kick a man who is down, especially one who is down on their luck. All the insults she received were malicious and filled with hate, more so than those directed at Ye Xingling previously.

Several crazy die-hard fans who were indignant traveled a long distance to that hospital overseas for clarification. The hospital gave an official statement that they would not reveal anything to protect the privacy of their patients.

At once, Xia Yu’s fans became bold and asserted that since the hospital did not want to reveal anything, then the rumors circulating outside must be fake as they were not certified by the hospital.

However, it was barely a few days until the foreign media released a piece of news.

XX hospital stated that it was going to conduct a thorough investigation regarding a recent patient data breach.

When the locals heard about this piece of news, it caused an uproar. Although the hospital did not state explicitly what data was leaked, this piece of news seemingly made the truth more obvious and was sufficient to let everyone’s thoughts run wild.

Upon hearing this, Xia Ling’s heart was in her mouth as she asked Sister Mai Na if Boss was behind this.

Sister Mai Na laughed. “The Pei family does have a strong influence in the entertainment industry, however, the Li family is more prominent and recognized in other countries.” She paused before adding, “Our Boss may look amiable and nonchalant about everything, but if anyone crosses him, that person is doomed.”

Xia Ling was stunned for a while.

“A penny for your thoughts?” asked Sister Mai Na.

“Boss is too sly…” said Xia Ling.

“About time you realized.” Sister Mai Na rolled her eyes. “So be good and don’t make him angry, okay?”

“Okay.” Xia Ling nodded her head vigorously. After Xia Yu’s incident, Xia Ling came to the realization that when mind games were involved, she could not hold a candle to him.

“The best is yet to come.” Sister Mai Na patted her head. “After you return from your leave, I will help with your publicity. We wasted so much time on them, it’s time for our payback now.”

A few days later…

She brought Xia Ling to Skyart Entertainment’s film studio to put on makeup and have a photo shoot.

Photographer Ken seemed to know Sister Mai Na well and greeted her while setting up his equipment. “Hey beauty, it’s been so long. This is the little newcomer that you’ve brought?”

“She’s Ye Xingling. You can call her Xiao Ling.” Sister Mai Na drank beer while leaning against the wall. “Take two sets of still photos, and make it look natural to bring out her elegance. This will be for an exclusive for Star Entertainment Weekly.”

“An exclusive for Star Entertainment Weekly?” Ken commented as he adjusted the lighting and equipment. “It’s not easy for a newcomer to get featured in their exclusive section. Xiao Ling is pretty impressive.”

Xia Ling smiled politely at him.

Sister Mai Na did not mention anything about an exclusive with Star Entertainment Weekly to her at all, she was dragged here without a clue of what was happening.

Ken had finished adjusting his equipment and gestured for her to go to her position.

Xia Ling followed his instructions and stood facing the camera and soft lights. Bright lights shone on her from all directions, making her eyes squint. She got used to it soon, as she relaxed her body and adjusted her pose.

It was quiet in the studio, with Ken giving out orders and the staff moving the equipment occasionally. The white linen top she was wearing had a soft texture against her skin and carried a faint detergent smell.

It was a strange feeling as if she was dreaming, yet it felt familiar too.

She was dazed as it had been ages since she took still photos. Despite this, her body still reacted to the camera subconsciously. She only came out of her trance when Ken announced that the photo shoot was over.

“My beautiful sister, it seems like you have found a treasure.” Ken left his staff to tidy up the studio as he went to talk to Sister Mai Na. “This young lady is very sensitive to the camera, more so than any other famous celebrities that I’ve seen, even when she wasn’t focusing… Hey Xiao Ling, I’ll let you go this time, but don’t think that I haven’t noticed.” he turned and pointed at Xia Ling. “Although you look attractive with that distant look in your eyes, you have to focus when working, okay?”

Xia Ling nodded her head sheepishly.

Sister Mai Na glanced at her and patted her head. “Never mind, we want to present a realistic image of you to Star Entertainment Weekly anyway, it’s okay if you look a bit silly.”

It’s okay if you look a bit silly…

This phrase echoed in Xia Ling’s head as she stared accusingly at Sister Mai Na, Ken laughing hysterically at the side.

After a few days, Xia Ling finally knew why Sister Mai Na said that. In the newest edition of Star Entertainment Weekly, there was an exclusive article about her, with the still shots taken previously as the background. In the photo, the dim lighting gave her a classic look, as she wore a white linen top with aloof eyes.

The article had a very unique heading: Silence is a Virtue.

The author was Xu Fosheng, a renowned reporter in the entertainment industry.

Being trenchant as usual, she wrote about all the incidents that happened to Xia Ling since her debut, from how people suspected an uncanny relationship between Wei Shaoyin and her, to how “Glass Fingertips” amazed the world, and then the unhappy incident with Xia Yu…

Amongst all the incidents, she paid the most attention and detail to the last one.

Xu Fosheng wrote that the reason why Ye Xingling hit Xia Yu was to defend a small artiste. Xia Yu did not give an explanation for her actions even when she faced criticism and degradation from others, as she knew that another innocent girl would be hurt and shamed in front of the public if she did so.

Xu Fosheng expressed approval towards her actions, saying that Ye Xingling was very brave to face this situation alone. Her silence had protected another innocent individual, which made it the best virtue.

From the start to the end, the article merely praised Xia Ling and did not comment on others’ actions.

This was absurd as it was not Xu Fosheng’s style at all. One should know that Xu Fosheng was notorious for speaking her mind and not caring about offending others in the entertainment industry. All articles written by her in Star Entertainment Weekly were deep and insightful, and every article included something sarcastic towards an artiste in the industry. The things she wrote were accurate and irrefutable, thus everyone could only laugh it off despite being humiliated.

However, she did not make any unpleasant remarks about anyone this time.

That did not make sense.