A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Wei Shaoyin was still agitated.

Xia Ling said, “I’ll send you the full lyrics sheet in a few days.”

He nodded his head meekly. Just a while ago, he acted like he was lecturing a grandchild, and now, he played the other role of paying respects to his ancestors. He dutifully walked her out of the recording studio and to Lei’s car.

Li Lei drove her home.

She entered the apartment first and was greeted with Er Mao holding the kitten in its mouth, its mouth and chest filled with blood.

“Er Mao, what are you doing!” Xia Ling got a fright and rushed toward them even before removing her shoes. She wanted to grab the kitten away from Er Mao’s mouth.

With the kitten still in its mouth, Er Mao turned away and avoided her.

Xia Ling feared for it with all her heart as she kept her eyes locked on the little one. It appeared limp and restless, and she was not sure whether it was dead or alive. “Er Mao, you can’t eat it!” She called out and rushed forward once again.

“Xiao Ling!” Li Lei grabbed hold of her.

“Let go of me!” Xia Ling shouted in anger.

Li Lei turned her around such that he was facing her, and spoke to her seriously, “You tried to take something away from a beast’s mouth, are you insane!” Even though Er Mao was his leopard, and that he could trust it with his life, Xiao Ling was a different matter altogether. He could not let her take any risk.

Before he knew it, Xia Ling had given him a hard slap on the face.

Li Lei’s head swung sideward.

“Look at this leopard you’ve raised!” She was fuming as blood rushed to her head. “Like owner, like pet! You promised me you’d take good care of it, but what happened! I bet you’re happy since both of you enjoy bullying the weak! You beasts!”

Li Lei listened to her rant in silence.

Every word was a stab to his heart.

“So, this is what you think of me.” He murmured.

“What did you think!” Her eyes were red from anger. She turned to look for Er Mao and the kitten, wondering if those few moments were all it took for the kitten to be devoured by Er Mao. No… The kitten was already bitten to death even before that, that explained all the blood on Er Mao…

Xia Ling was about to cry.

But then, her eyes landed on the corner of the living room.

Er Mao in its beautiful coat of white fur had carefully and gently placed the kitten on the carpet before licking the blood stains off the kitten. The little one flinched a little and let out a meow.

Xia Ling was stunned.

What happened next surprised her further — the kitten had turned toward the big creature and apprehensively took a small step forward. It then licked Er Mao’s paw.

Wh-What was going on here!

Er Mao turned around and looked at Xia Ling, and then at Li Lei, before striding off slowly.

Xia Ling dashed forward to check on the kitten and found that its fur was clean and it was generally unscathed, except for a little issue with its hind leg. It dragged its hind leg along as it moved, and she saw that there was a deep wound in it.

Her first thought was that Er Mao had bitten it there.

But the cut was too neat, almost like it was cut open with a fruit knife and not torn apart with jaws. And there was not much bleeding from there, there was no way it could dye Er Mao’s mouth and chest such a horrifying red.

How did the blood on Er Mao come about?

Xia Ling followed the blood trail on the floor and arrived at the crime scene — a pile of shattered glass was on the floor, and not too far away from it was another pile of smaller shards and fragments, most of which were stained with quite a bit of blood on the edges.

She guessed what had happened but found it hard to believe. She went on to look for Er Mao.

Er Mao was quietly lying on the balcony, licking the blood stains on itself. Cats just had to keep themselves clean; despite its injury, it tried its best to uphold its dignified image.

Xia Ling squatted before it.

“Er Mao, let me take a look at your mouth,” she spoke gently.

Er Mao did not seem interested in entertaining her. It bared its teeth and let out a low growl. Injured beasts did not like others to come close to them when they were injured. Although this person was its owner’s woman, and that it restrained itself from attacking her, it did not hide its frustration. This woman and the kitten put together were not enough for his meal anyway.

Er Mao decided not to stoop to her level.

But Xia Ling was sharp and had seen the wounds when it bared its teeth. Its injuries were way more serious than the kitten’s, which was why it bled so much! She had another scenario formulated — could it be that the kitten had been pinned down by the pile of glass fragments and Er Mao had come forward to remove the fragments with its mouth in order to rescue the kitten?

If that was the case…

Gosh, wasn’t she accusing Li Lei wrongfully when she slapped him?

She intuitively went to look for Li Lei, but it seemed that he had left.

Xia Ling felt uneasy. Although he appeared to be smiling indolently all the time and did not seem to give a care about anything, he was definitely one of the proudest people she knew. His pride was an inherent trait, so much so that he could not even be bothered to display it. Now that he had been slapped by her for no good reason, how would he feel?

She felt guilty and did not know what to do.

Er Mao was still licking its wound on the balcony.

The kitten was also licking its hind leg once in a while.

How about Li Lei? Was he also healing his wounds all alone?

For some reason, her heart ached at the thought of it. She knew better than anybody what it felt like to be accused. In her last life, she was misunderstood to be a murderer by her most beloved and was on the brink of breaking down. Now, how could she accuse someone else so easily?

Xia Ling clenched her fist. She had to apologize to Li Lei.

She opened the contacts list on her phone and wanted to give Li Lei a call, but could not find his number anywhere. That was when she realized that she had deleted it when they broke up.

She stood rooted for a few moments before mustering her courage to go to the adjacent apartment and knock on his door.

She knocked for a while, but there was no response.

Could he be out? Xia Ling wondered. She slowly put her hand down and turned away.

She took a few steps.

The door opened behind her.

“Hey,” It was a male’s voice, “You’re giving up after only a few knocks? Is that all the patience you have?”

Xia Ling was a little shocked. She turned around and saw Li Lei standing by the door, his features flawless under the corridor lights. The only lacking aspect was the red mark she left on his cheek.