A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 48 - You May Cut Your Debut

This chapter has been translated by Atlas Studios. All credits belong to them.

The next morning, Xia Ling woke up under the weather.

Her head was heavy and groggy; probably a cold she caught the previous night. She reached for two tablets in the drawer and swallowed them before heading to the dance studio with the rest of the team to start the practice for the day. However, she felt drained and weak after a few rounds and had to sit out in the rest area, quietly hydrating herself as she watched the rest of them practice.

Some of them came over to strike up a conversation every once in a while.

What happened the previous day had already spread to the entire training camp, and it was said that the video had been uploaded on the internal forum — everyone knew how interesting her singing of "Sea Demon" was. Several of them crowded around her to make small talk, expressing their goodwill, as if past ostracization of the quiet and low-profile Ye Xingling had never happened.

Some of them even asked her for singing tips. She patiently answered each and every question posed to her.

During the afternoon break, Tan Ying called her to the office.

He frowned the moment he saw her.

"Ye Xingling," He put his coffee and documents down. "were you out robbing a bank last night? Why do you look so tired? Please don't tell me that you didn't catch a wink because you were excitedly celebrating about getting it through the assessment committee."

It would have been fine if he did not say a thing, but he did, thus Xia Ling was now angered.

"Chairman Tan," she said. "if it wasn't thanks to you, why would Boss Li Lei call me at one in the morning and cause me to catch a cold and lose my sleep for the rest of the night?"

"What, Boss called you so late at night?" Tan Ying was very shocked.

It just occurred to Xia Ling that she was a little impetuous and could have caused him to misunderstand. She hurried to clarify. "He sounded drunk when he called me after seeing the video you sent to him."

"What did he say?" Tan Ying sounded very concerned.

Xia Ling frowned. "Some drunken gibberish."

Tan Ying did not probe further and instead went into deep thought.

After a few moments, he said, "Yesterday, one of Boss's men who had been under him for many years betrayed him. He was extremely hurt and in a very bad mood. After all these years, this is the first time he's been so badly betrayed."

She was shocked. Was this an explanation to her? But she did not think that Li Lei was all that hurt. If he was, how could he have called her in the middle of the night to tease her, and even induce and tempt her to become his woman? In any case, she did not need Tan Ying to explain things on his behalf. She was nobody to him, and could not even be considered his pillow buddy. In fact, she was considerably distant from him and was neither in a position to comfort him nor to express any opinion.

So she said, "Okay."

Tan Ying shook his head. "Ye Xingling, you're really cold."

She said, "When you people decided to sell me away the last time, you weren't just cold, but also heartless."

Tan Ying looked at her deeply and did not say another word.

Xia Ling was left on her own as she watched him settle his business while drinking coffee. The sunlight was shining abundantly through the window onto his wooden office desk, the documents piled like mountains.