A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Jin Ling’er smiled. “Joining Skyart is such a fantasy’s dream, some people don’t even dare to dream it. Only you would talk about joining Skyart as if it was a last resort and ‘if all goes wrong’. Wouldn’t your dad be mad at you if he found out?”

Xia Yingluo looked high and mighty. “In any case, as long as I want you there, you’ll definitely get a place.”

Jin Ling’er shook her head. “Yingluo, thank you for your kind intentions. I’m friends with you because I like you as a person, not because I’m eyeing your family background. I don’t want to trouble you too much, so let me handle this myself.”

Xia Yingluo realized that at this point, there was no way she could change Jin Ling’er’s mind. “So you’ve made your decision?”

“I’ve made my decision.” Jin Ling’er said, “Chairman Du is a nice person, joining his firm should be a pretty good choice. Moreover, my performance in the training camp is only average, it shouldn’t be difficult to transfer to the Dus’ firm.”

Xia Yingluo gave her blessings. “You’ll definitely rise to fame.”

Jin Ling’er smiled. “Yup, I will work hard to rise to fame.” To become a worthy friend.

She then asked Xia Yingluo, “How about you, what are your plans?”

Xia Yingluo thought for a while. “You’ll be going off anyway, there’s no point in me staying. I’ll get the withdrawal settled.” She’d joined the training camp for Zhao Yixuan initially, and had then stayed on to protect Jin Ling’er. Now that both of them were no longer around, it was time to leave.

Jin Ling’er was surprised. “Withdraw? Yingluo, don’t you wish to make your debut?”

“I don’t.” Xia Yingluo stretched her back. “I was here for an independent experience. Now that it’s over, I can go home and be the Missy I want to be. Hahaha, I’ll just be living my carefree days with my Second Bro. That’ll be pretty nice.”

Jin Ling’er laughed as she chided her. “Lazy bum. Are you going to spend the rest of your life this way?”

“It’s a far future, we’ll see when it comes.” She envied her mother, who’d found her passion at a young age—singing. Even though her mother had a perfect marriage and abundant wealth, she never gave up on singing, and would even release new songs once in a while. Meanwhile, she had no idea what she really loved or wanted, and it seemed like carefree days of playing and eating weren’t all bad.

“What a shame,” Jin Ling’er said. “Given your talent, you could rise to fame easily.”

Xia Yingluo casually said, “I don’t need to depend on this to be famous.”

Jin Ling’er nodded. “That’s true, you’re the Li family Miss, it doesn’t take much to shake the world.”

The following day, Xia Yingluo really went home and told her parents about her plans to withdraw.

Li Lei was obviously the happiest to hear that. He couldn’t be fully at peace knowing that his daughter was over at Imperial Entertainment. “You’ve finally come to your senses,” he said with a smile. “You’re doing the right thing. The people at Imperial Entertainment are all perverted, it’s best you stay away from them.”

“Yes, yes, yes, they’re all perverted.” Xia Yingluo knew how to win her father over.

As she guessed, Li Lei was happy to hear that. “I’ll give you your allowance this month.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Xia Yingluo grinned from ear to ear.

Li Lei happily got someone to handle his daughter’s withdrawal paperwork.

The principal of the training camp was in a fluster, he couldn’t be the one making the decision regarding the Li family’s daughter’s withdrawal. He hurriedly informed Pei Ziheng instead. Pei Ziheng’s secretary relayed the message and gave him the response to simply “act according to business”. As such, he came up with an evaluation for the withdrawal and termination fee, and it was an astronomical sum.

The one in charge of this case on Skyart’s side was the principal of their training camp too, and he’d known Imperial’s principal for many years. When he saw the sum, he took a deep breath to cool down, but it was impossible to keep calm... he had to speak to Imperial’s principal about it, “Old Li, you can’t be so mean. This is an exorbitant amount, you might as well rob a bank.”

The principal from Imperial Entertainment smiled insincerely. “Miss Xia is of high status and her potential is limitless. Based on our professional evaluation, if she remains in Imperial Entertainment and makes her debut with us, she’d be a super diva in the future, just like your Mrs. Li. Do you know how much a super diva is worth?”

Skyart’s principal could not rebut that.

While it was an astronomical sum, it couldn’t hold a finger to Xia Ling’s current valuation.

Should he be thanking this principal for asking for so little?

“You can’t evaluate it this way...” He cleared his throat and tried to argue his way. “Miss Xia is so lazy, she’s unwilling to go through tough training and she has no ambition, how could she be a super diva? She’s just an ordinary trainee.”

Imperial Entertainment’s principal held out his insincere smile. “Does your boss know you’re talking about your Miss this way?”

The principal from Skyart was speechless.

Skyart’s principal suffered a crushing defeat this time.

He went back and gave his boss a dreadful look. “Boss, they’re asking for an incredulous sum.”

“Imperial Entertainment is lacking funds, huh?” Seeing the amount they were asking for, Li Lei smiled menacingly. That amount of money could buy over several small firms!

The principal wiped off his sweat and thought, They might as well sell Miss to Imperial Entertainment instead.

Xia Yingluo was just walking in and had overheard their conversation. She fumed. “Imperial is a blood-sucking demon!”

“Dad will settle this for you.” Li Lei smiled even more deviously as he turned towards the principal. “Three times more, give it to them. Pei Ziheng is short of money, huh. I’ll pay them, forget the change.”

“Dad...” Xia Yingluo was exasperated. This was a lot of money, wouldn’t it be better if he gave it to her as an allowance? Was there a need to fight with Uncle Pei this way?

Li Lei tipped his chin up arrogantly. “I will crush him with money.”

... Alright, Dad, whatever makes you happy.

Xia Yingluo managed to get her withdrawal confirmation and Jin Ling’er transferred to the Dus’ firm for her debut.

Both of them played host as they invited the trainees of their cohort and the other cast members in the play to a meal.

“When you make it big next time, don’t you forget about us.” Zhu Zhu, Jiang Bilian and the rest teased.

“Of course not. Bilian, when you make your debut next time, just let me know. Don’t worry, I won’t treat you shabbily,” Xia Yingluo said. Their friendship had blossomed only after a rough start with each other. In the beginning, they were indeed a thorn in each other’s flesh, but as time went by, Jiang Bilian began helping her out quite a bit. It was only right to look out for her in the future.

Jiang Bilian and Zhu Zhu were delighted to hear that. “Here’s a toast to you, Yingluo, for what you just said.”

They had a whale of a time.

Soon enough, the media reported on the Li family’s daughter Xia Yingluo’s withdrawal from Imperial’s training camp. Tabloids spun up many different stories, including love and hate, a feud between two wealthy families... even issues regarding two generations. The public was more than happy to have enough to gossip about.