A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 964: The Distant Bliss

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Before Xia Ling said anything, Li Lei had already defended his wife. “We take care of each other.”

She was stunned for a while before breaking into a smile. This was her beloved man, the one who always did his best to protect her. He was there to shield her even before she got hurt.

What more could one expect of their man?

She looked at him tenderly.

Old Master took a few deep breaths to stop himself from whacking the ungrateful brat with his walking cane. How could this brat turn against his own people?!

“In any case, you’re on your own.” Old Master Li did not want to see them being affectionate with each other. Understanding the saying “out of sight, out of mind”, Old Master strode off slowly.

Li Lei watched Old Master as he disappeared out the door.

He looked at Xia Ling and said, “That’s just how Grandpa’s like, it’s been hard on you.”

“With you around, what does that little hardship even count for?” She smiled. “Once we’re out of the hospital, we’ll have space to ourselves. Moreover, we won’t be living together, there won’t be much conflict with each other.”

Li Lei nodded.

But deep inside he was still thinking—just what did it take for Grandpa and Xiao Ling to get along with each other? One was an elder who raised and nurtured him, the other was his beloved partner; he didn’t want them to be like this for the rest of the time.

As they got better day by day, the doctor finally gave them the green light for discharge.

Back in their new love nest in City S, Xia Ling said to Li Lei once they’d settled down, “I wish to see Pei Ziheng.”

“See Pei Ziheng?” Li Lei frowned slightly.

Xia Ling hesitated a little but decided to go on, “He did help us quite a bit during this incident, and I felt that there’s a need to thank him. Moreover...” Moreover, she went overboard the other day during the concert, Pei Ziheng must be very hurt by it.

“Moreover... what?”

“I owe him an apology.”

“Go ahead then,” Li Lei said. “Remember to bring along two trusted bodyguards. Beware of him.”

Xia Ling didn’t expect him to agree so readily. She looked at him gratefully and asked, “You’re not jealous?”

“Of course I am!” Li Lei showed some displeasure. “Do you think your husband is so magnanimous as to tolerate anything? Xiao Ling, I’m telling you, if you have an affair outside, I-I will...”

“You will...?” She blinked curiously.

He pulled her into his arms and snuggled at her ear. “I will... teach you a lesson.” With that, he fell onto the couch with her and they filled the room with joy and excitement.

Xia Ling swore to herself that she’d not ask Li Lei such a dumb question ever again. The aches lasted a full day and she could barely get herself off the bed. She postponed her meeting with Pei Ziheng and rested at home for a few more days until the red love marks had faded.

Pei Ziheng asked to meet by the beach.

Both of them liked this place a lot in her previous life. There was fine white sand all around, and the crashing of the waves against the shore felt almost like a couple’s affectionate banters.

Xia Ling was wearing floral overalls over her blouse and a short skirt as she stood before him. “Pei Ziheng, I’m sorry.” She looked into his eyes. “I shouldn’t have said such mean stuff to you that day.”

Having not seen him for a while, Pei Ziheng seemed to have gotten better. His skin did not appear as jaundiced as before, and he was slowly regaining some of his physique. He looked down at the petite girl before him; no, she was no longer a girl, she was already someone’s wife and mother. “I will recover from my illness, so it doesn’t really matter what you say about me.”

But, did he really feel that it didn’t matter?

He just didn’t want to appear weak before her.

Xia Ling still felt guilty about her doings, but upon hearing that he would recover, she cheered up a little. “Really?”

The sincere and genuine joy in her eyes made him feel better, and he toned down his voice. “You’re not dead yet, how could I possibly die? I’ll be by your side for the rest of your life.”

But she shook her head. “I don’t want you to be by my side for the rest of my life. Pei Ziheng, find a good girl and settle down with her. You’re so outstanding, and so many girls like you, you’ll definitely be able to find someone better than me.”

Pei Ziheng looked at her in agony. Deep inside, he asked, Xiao Ling, how is that possible? How could anyone in this world be better than you? After losing you, who else can I get together with...

But he didn’t verbalize any of it.

Seeing that he was keeping quiet, Xia Ling decided to be a little harsher with her words. “Pei Ziheng, let go, I already have Li Lei. Even if Li Lei dies, I’ll die with him! You don’t have a chance, you never will!”

He quietly said, “You actually care about whether I have a chance?”

“I don’t!” She rebuked. Her voice got softer. “I just... I just... Pei Ziheng, I’m very grateful for you, for getting me out of the orphanage and raising me. It was your credit that I managed to have a good education in music, and eventually turn out to be a Diva. D-Don’t make me worry, alright?”

Don’t make her worry.

Pei Ziheng’s originally indestructible mask seemed to crack a little.

He remembered how she had cried her heart out when she first found out about his cancer, and how she had run around trying to find him help despite being pregnant... even though she was now married to Li Lei, was there always a place for him in her heart?

Pei Ziheng’s heart warmed up a little.

“You’re worried about me?” He asked.

She looked into his eyes. “I’ve loved you and hated you, been grateful to you and afraid of you. Pei Ziheng, I don’t know what you mean to me anymore. Once, I’d tried to cut you out of my life entirely. I tried to not care about you at all, to have nothing to do with you in any way, but I couldn’t. Each time something happened to you, my heart still ached... don’t you think I’m just cheap? You were so mean to me, and you’d tried to hurt me and even my child.” She mocked herself and wondered if this was all a curse. She must’ve been cursed never to be able to forget him, cursed to still feel for everything that he did!

“Pei Ziheng, you’ve got to be blissful,” She said softly. “If you aren’t blissful, how am I supposed to live my life blissfully without guilt?”

He looked at her for a long long time, thoughts scrambling in his head.

Bliss...

What a distant word it was for him.

When she left his house with her luggage in her previous life, the bliss in his heart had already crumbled, dissipated, disintegrated into nothingness. For so many years, he tried so hard to bring his bliss home, but she kept getting further and further away from him, and now she was never coming back.

In this lifetime, how could he still be blissful?!