A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Li Rui was stunned, so it was just because of that?

Older brother... what did that really mean?

He remembered how his mom had told him through clenched teeth that Ye Xingling’s son Shaohui couldn’t be any good. They were all out to get him!

But...

When he was about to be beaten to death by his mom, it was his older brother Shaohui who saved him...

“Brother...” he said subconsciously.

Little Shaohui was shocked for a second, then he responded with a radiant smile, “Hey, Brother.” This was the first time anyone addressed him Brother. It felt... really nice. He looked towards his brother and gave a silly smile. From now on, he had responsibilities to fulfill—he would take good care of his younger brother and protect him. He would be the best older brother in the world.

After that smile, he got a little worried. Why were Mom and Dad not back yet? Were they alright?

Was Mom... in any trouble?

He couldn’t help but press the emergency button again to get the doctor. “Is my mom alright?”

The doctor smiled. “Don’t worry, Little Young Master. Madam is fine, Mr. Li is accompanying her to do some tests.”

Little Shaohui blinked his eyes in confusion. Fine? If she was fine, why would she be doing tests? The doctor added, “Little Young Master, please rest and recuperate well. Mr. Li said that they would visit both of you tomorrow, and there’ll be a surprise.”

“What surprise?” Little Shaohui gave an adorable expression, in the hope that he’d get the answer.

The doctor said, “For such surprises, we have to wait for Mr. Li and Madam to tell you personally. I can’t be the one saying it. Little Young Master, please rest well. Madam doesn’t know that you’re injured yet, she’ll be sad and worried if she sees you like that, and it won’t be good for her. Mr. Li said...”

The doctor smiled sympathetically at him as he got to it. “If you don’t rest well and you still look... half dead tomorrow, he’d punch you.”

Huh?!

Since when did Dad become so ruthless?

Li Rui looked at the doctor defensively. “Don’t punch my brother!” His impression of a punch was something scary and painful. Ever since Shaohui saved him, he had instantly considered Shaohui as family and was afraid that something would happen to him.

But it was Shaohui who comforted him. “It’s alright, Xiao Rui. Dad is just scaring me, he’s never ever hit me.” Although that’s what he said, he wasn’t completely sure of it. Dad definitely wasn’t one to hit him for other reasons, but if it involved getting Mom hurt... who knew whether Dad would bring himself to do it?

Little Shaohui was worried.

Li Rui readily said, “I don’t care! If anyone hits you, I’ll hit them back!” He had not received much parental love since he was young and hence, treasured his relationship with Shaohui very dearly. He would be nice to whoever was nice to him, simple as that.

Little Shaohui wasn’t so worried anymore. He smiled. “Yup! When brothers unite, we can take anyone down!”

“Brothers unite, take everyone down!”

The two little lads got excited.

The doctor shook his head and smiled as he left the ward. He thought, No matter how united the both of you are, you still won’t be able to defeat your dad, a black triad gang leader...

After leaving the children’s ward, he went to take a look at Su Tang before finally arriving back at Xia Ling’s VIP ward. The ward was more than 100 square meters large and was decorated with plants all around. It was quiet and peaceful and even had a faint fragrance.

Li Lei was peeling an orange by Xia Ling’s bedside. The full length of an orange peel fell through his fingers perfectly, a wondrous artistic sight. “They said cravings for sour food means it’s a boy, and cravings for spicy food means it’s a girl. You like sour food so much now, it has to be a boy again.”

Yes, Xia Ling was pregnant again.

This child came so quietly. She did not have morning sickness at all and didn’t even realize she was pregnant despite being two months into it. If not for Su Tang’s push, which induced her anemic symptoms and got Li Lei all worried, they would not have gone for the tests. Who knew when she’d have realized it, then?

When he heard that she was expecting, Li Lei was so happy he spun three rounds with her in his arms.

Back then when she was expecting Shaohui, too much had happened. They had to live apart and stay away from each other, and he spent all that time thinking the child was Pei Ziheng’s... With all those obstacles, Li Lei never got the chance to experience the joy of being a father-to-be. But this time was different. They were married, Xiao Ling was by his side, and the child would be born after months of anticipation and love. He was going to make up for all the suffering she had had to go through before.

“This time, I won’t let you suffer.” Li Lei kissed her on the forehead and asked for the best ward so that she could rest in a peaceful environment. The doctor said that her progesterone levels were low and she was at risk of a miscarriage, and hence, adviced her to rest and recuperate well for a period. Li Lei was so anxious that he stayed by her side the whole time.

He only ever left for a few minutes in between.

That was when the doctor asked to talk to him personally about Su Tang hitting Little Shaohui and Li Rui.

Although Su Tang was his benefactor, her actions were making him increasingly put off by her. It was bad enough that she hit her child, and now she was going after Little Shaohui as well? And at such a crucial time when Xiao Ling was pregnant?

Did she know how hard it was for them to have this child?!

Xiao Ling had gone through so much pain; in order to maintain her chastity with Pei Ziheng, she had stabbed herself in the abdomen with a knife and was devastated when she thought that she would never be able to get pregnant again. If not for the medicine from Wei Lingnan, it would be practically impossible for her to have another child.

Now that they had managed to expect a child against all odds, he was not going to let anything affect her!

“Tell Shaohui to rest and recuperate well,” Li Lei told the doctor. “He has to appear as mildly injured as he can tomorrow when Xia Ling sees him. Otherwise...” he smiled deviously. “I’ll beat him to death.”

What a tragedy.

When the doctor said “otherwise... he’d punch you”, he was already sugarcoating it.

The actual words were—otherwise, he’d punch you to death!

Poor Little Shaohui, he had turned into a child no longer loved by his parents. Even Xia Ling had almost forgotten about him. Besides casually asking where he was and then getting an answer that he was “playing with his little brother Li Rui”, she never showed any other concern...

All she thought about was the child inside her.

“I want a daughter, though,” she said as stroked her belly and smiled sweetly. “We already have two sons, it’d be nice if this one was a daughter.”

“Two sons?”

“Yup. Xiao Rui,” Xia Ling said gently. “Since you already acknowledged him as your son, he’s my son too.” Ever since she got pregnant, her maternal instincts had been glowing from the inside out.