A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Lu Tao, Lu Tao is the best!”

“Fight on, Leng Hui!”

The emcee had nothing more to say since Wei Shaoyin’s answer was just too good. There was no way she could say that Lu Tao and Leng Hui were not the main focus without disappointing the fans, right?

A show should be entertaining and sensational indeed, but it was taboo for the emcee to classify participants and artistes according to their popularity. Hence, even if everybody knew that Ye Xingling was more important than Lu Tao’s duo, it was not in the emcee’s place to be explicit about it.

She smiled professionally and added some fillers before getting the other music producers to flip their cards. A few of them had gotten the people they had in mind, and the last to flip his card was Feng Kun.

He walked to the center of the stage and stood by the wooden tray, scanning the few singers’ names on it.

Whose should he flip?

In fact, the outcome of this round was pre-determined every year — the producer and the singer would have liaised beforehand. This time Imperial Entertainment had decided to work with the major celebrity singer, Zheng Chenhao, who was as popular and renowned as Bai Murong. With him on Feng Kun’s team, half the battle would have been won.

But now Feng Kun was hesitant.

His eyes lay on a small card with the name “Ye Xingling” on it.

Should he pick her?

On the screen behind him, tens of name cards were projected, and a close-up of Feng Kun’s expression was screened as well, his thoughtful look stirring many emotions and expectations among the audience.

“Let’s see, who would Feng Kun pick?” The emcee assumed that Feng Kun was simply feigning hesitation to create some hype in the audience when the decision was already made earlier. She smiled. “Feng Kun seems to be hesitating. Is he in a dilemma because all of these singers are just way too good?”

Back in the makeup room.

Xia Ling and many other singers were watching the live stream.

The way Feng Kun knitted his brows made her unsettled. Surely he would not pick her? Ye Xingling’s status and his were worlds apart, they were practically strangers through and through… If he did pick her, it could only mean that he was beginning to get suspicious about her.

Xia Ling’s wrapped her slender fingers around the titanium ring pendant worn around her neck as if the little “LY” carving could give her immense strength.

“Who exactly will Feng Kun pick?” The emcee was still building the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Feng Kun had snapped to his senses after deep consideration. He looked up towards the camera and easily picked up the card with the name “Zheng Chenhao.””Of course it’s the heavenly king of Imperial Entertainment.” He raised the card as he addressed the crowd.

He had thought through a lot while making that decision.

In any sense, it would not have been appropriate for him to pick Ye Xingling. They were too different in terms of reputation and status, age and music genre, were not from the same company, and did not have much interaction usually — there was no reason he could offer for anyone to believe that his choosing her was not out of personal bias. His personal bias, however, was merely to find out how Ye Xingling and Xia Ling were related.

If he chose Ye Xingling and it turned out that she was completely unrelated to Xia Ling, it would be alright. But if she were indeed related to Xia Ling in any way, she would definitely guard herself against him from then on.

Furthermore, Chu Chen would also get suspicious and alert Pei Ziheng about it, and once it got to Pei Ziheng, even Feng Kun would not be able to help her. If this caused Xiao Ling harm, or anyone related to her… the outcome would be disastrous.

Hence, after going through all these considerations, he still chose the predetermined singer.

As for Ye Xingling’s identity? He would investigate it without alerting anyone.

Seeing his choice, Xia Ling heaved a sigh of relief. Good thing he had not recognized her. A moment later she shook her head and smiled to herself. How would Feng Kun manage to think about something as incredible and strange as reviving into another person’s body?

Her mood improved once she stopped worrying, and she joyfully watched the rest of the show. The six singers had been chosen, and the rest of them would be picked by random using an online generator to decide the sequence of the performances.

The results were out very quickly as the tens of names were projected on the screen in number order.

Xia Ling was placed 43rd, somewhere in the front of the second half. It was considered the best position — the producers would have had a rough idea of the overall standards by then and would have picked a few but also left vacancies for upcoming singers. With neither the fluster in the beginning nor the bore in the end, she was placed exactly when the producers were the calmest and clear-headed.

Sister Mai Na, Bai Murong, and Xie Linlang went forward to take a look.

“Not bad at all, Xiao Ling. You’re lucky,” said Xie Linlang with some envy before revealing a smile and taking a shot of Xia Ling. She was genuinely happy for Xia Ling. In Skyart Entertainment, the relationship between artistes was good, probably because their Boss Li Lei gave them a lot of freedom in the workplace, and every artiste was able to find their place in the company and help one another with it. Hence, there was close to no rivalry among them.

Xia Ling smiled. “Yup, my luck’s not too bad. How are yours?”

Everybody shared their positions.

Xie Linlang and Bai Murong were closer to the front, followed by Shu Wanyi who was in the middle, and Xia Ling who was performing last.

“Anyone wants to exchange their position?” asked Shu Wanyi.

To make things all the more interesting, singers were allowed to exchange their positions with one another after the generated ones were screened. Each singer was entitled to only one exchange.

At this point, the emcee had also announced this rule.

Xia Ling said, “I’m fine with anything.” Though she was considered a newbie, she had the talent and potential of a Diva and was confident that she would get her desired outcome regardless of when her performance was.

Xie Linlang and Shu Wanyi added, “We’re fine with anything too.”

Bai Murong looked toward Xia Ling. “We’ll be in the same team. If my turn is before yours, then you’ll have to choose the team that I’m already in, which might be difficult. How about this, let’s switch it around. You’ll go first and I’ll join the team that you’ve picked.” He was a heavenly king in this industry, and though he had not been explicit, what he meant to say was simply this: the teams that accepted him might not accept a newbie like Xia Ling, but the teams that accepted Xia Ling would more than likely want him on the team as well.