A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Xia Ling was taken aback. “How did you find… No, how can I be Xia Ling?!”

Feng Kun continued smiling and reached for a recording pen on the table. He pressed down the play button, and the background music of the Moonlight Bar rang out, together with the rustling of the surrounding sounds and the sound of shattering glass. A gentle male voice asked —

“Were you scared when you fell off the tall stage?”

“I was scared… terrified… but… I would be free of Ziheng…”

Feng Kun switched off the recording pen and asked, “Do you want to hear more?”

Xia Ling looked at him like she was looking at a ghost. “What did I tell you… yesterday? And, why do you have a recording?” Oh my God, she didn’t remember having the habit of spouting the truth when she got drunk. Why did she get so drunk last night?

Had Feng Kun… found out the truth?

She stared at his face, trying to find the answer from there.

Feng Kun sighed. “You drank some wine yesterday and told me everything.” He threw her the recording pen. “If you don’t believe me, you can listen to this. After you listen to it, remember to delete the recording. You have to make sure that nobody else finds out about this big secret. Oh right… and don’t just drink any wine that people give you. How could you not know this bit of common sense for someone as old as you are already?”

Xia Ling reactively caught the recording pen. She processed what Feng Kun had said, and came to a sudden realization. “Don’t drink any wine… did you spike my drink to make me talk?!”

He gave her a look and admitted. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’ve long had my suspicions about you. When we first met, you were just too similar to Xia Ling… from your mannerisms to your singing, and also your handwriting. It was like you were from the exact same mold. However, the truth was simply too shocking and unbelievable… I needed to hear you say it yourself. So I could only look for a chance to invite you for a drink, and to find out the truth from you.”

She felt herself become a little dizzy. “Wait, wait… you mean to say that you planned for all this to happen when you brought me to the car yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“So, the wine… ”

“I got the bartender to increase the alcohol content, and spiked it with something.” He said calmly.

Xia Ling stared at him incredulously. The fact that he had planned all this made her shudder. “Feng Kun, you… you…” She repeated “you” several more times as her mind was in a jumble.

He got up and poured her a cup of tea. “This will help with your hangover.”

She took it from him and drank a considerable mouthful in frustration. It made her feel much better.

He said, “Xiao Ling, I’m not going to tell anyone about this, including Pei Ziheng. Don’t worry.”

She nodded as she felt herself calm down. She suddenly thought of something and became nervous again. “Pei… He… Can he tell?”

Feng Kun assured her that Pei Ziheng had not recognized her.

His words made her breathe a sigh of relief, and then feel at a loss.

She remembered that year in front of the plague, under the drizzle, Pei Ziheng had hugged her from behind and whispered that promise to be with her for three lifetimes. He said, “Xiao Ling, in your next life, no matter where you are and who you become… I will find you amidst the crowd and bring you back to my side.”

However, he had gone back on his promise.

Xia Ling lowered her head and sipped the water in her teacup, letting the steam from the cup cover her eyes.

Feng Kun said, “Xiao Ling, do you still love him? Even after he forced you to such drastic measures?”

Xia Ling curled her legs up under herself on the sofa opposite Feng Kun. “I don’t know…” She said. “… Ah Kun, I really don’t know… You don’t know what happened in that year, so perhaps I will never be able to know if I still love him… or…” She had just developed Stockholm Syndrome.

Perhaps Pei Ziheng had succeeded in making her continue to think of him despite all the pain and torture.

However, he also failed. She was never going to go back. She did not want to be plagued by that mental illness for the rest of her life and was not willing to become his slave.

Was it her undying love? Or was it Stockholm Syndrome?

She did not want to find out. She would just leave the past in the past and not turn back.

“I’m with Li Lei now. It’s great.” She replied.

Feng Kun was silent for a while before saying, “It’s unbelievable that you would fall for someone else. Then, you and Pei Ziheng were so close… you were an inseparable pair.”

Xia Ling felt a little bitter. They were very close, weren’t they? Nobody would understand what Pei Ziheng was to her. He was not just a lover, he was a God-like existence in her life, and she gave him utmost reverence.

It was him who saved her from the depths of despair.

The earliest of her memories in her past life was at the orphanage.

Then, Xia Ling was very young and was running in a long corridor. It was deep into the night, and her surroundings were dark and quiet. The shadows of the trees were like monsters in the night waving their claws at her, giving her hideous smiles as they prepared to eat her alive. She was crying and falling over things, trying to look for an adult to tell them that her sister, Xia Yu, was turning green. However, she did not meet a single person even after running for a long, long time. She was lost in that long corridor and could not get out…

She still remembered that terror and helplessness that she felt deep in her bones, which was what made up the bulk of her memories before she turned twelve.

Xia Ling was constantly worried about Xia Yu’s illness then. The doctors said that Xia Yu had severe congenital heart disease, and if she did not receive systematic surgery for it, she would not live long. However, the surgical costs were extremely high, and there was no way the sisters could afford it.

Xia Ling begged the orphanage for help, but the orphanage too was tight on finances. There was no way they could fork up the big sum for the surgery.

The head of the orphanage told her in a firm but kind tone, “Xiao Ling… I understand how you feel, but your sister’s illness is hard to treat, and the amount of money that needs to be spent is beyond your imagination. What’s more, there is no guarantee that she will be well even after we spend that money. Xiao Ling, it’s already difficult for us to care for you both as it is, and there are many other kids other than the both of you. You need to think of the other kids as well… If we use all the money to treat your sister, then what would happen to the other kids?”

“I don’t care about the other kids. I want to make Xia Yu well!” Xia Ling had thrown her temper at the head of the orphanage.

He said that she was being unreasonable, and locked her in isolation for three whole days so that she could not see Xia Yu.

When she was released, she ran to Xia Yu without washing up or changing her clothes. She pushed open the door and found four or five kids surrounding Xia Yu, laughing and prancing about, singing a song that they had created. “Ugly creep, short-lived monster, ugly creep, short-lived monster…”

Xia Yu, her weak little sister, was trying to curl herself into a small ball in the corner, closing her eyes and covering her ears, her body trembling and her shoulders shaking as she cried to herself.

Xia Ling felt a chord break in her head as she rushed forward to fight off that group of kids.

The fight was an intense one. Teachers came running over to pull them apart when they heard of the commotion, and all them were covered with blood. She struggled angrily in the arms of one of the teachers, shouting and screaming at the other kids, and trying to kick and lash out at the big kid closest to her. That big kid was stunned seeing her close to hysterics and sat down on the floor with terror in his eyes.

They needed several adults to calm Xia Ling down.

Xia Yu had walked over unsteadily in her weak body, holding a dirty handkerchief that someone had trampled upon while still crying. She carefully helped Xia Ling to wipe off the blood and tears on her face.

They had hugged each other and cried in each others’ arms.