A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Li Lei rubbed his fists and palms. “When Xiao Ling and I are done with our honeymoon, we’ll arrive with a box to take our pick.”

Du Yunfeng’s eyelids twitched. A box? Who was treating the other as an outsider now? He smiled stiffly and said, “Well, your wife and my godnephew can keep in contact with me. As for you, we can forget about it.”

Li Lei scoffed at him for being petty before telling his wife to pick the most valuable item on his behalf.

They joked and teased in the sea breeze as the pearls and seashells studded on Xia Ling’s gown glistened in the sun. All of a sudden, someone yelled—

“Look, a pirate ship!”

Everyone swung their heads towards the sea and saw that a cluster of pirate ships had emerged across the blue horizon. All the ships had huge sails and were equipped with canons. They got into formation and approached the wedding cruise at high speed.

“So many pirates!” said a voice full of fear.

Everyone on the deck began panicking. Most of them grew up in a wealthy family and were sheltered and protected throughout their lives, who would have ever encountered true pirates? Yet, their upbringing was put to good use now—as worried as they were, they did not scream in shock or act evidently flustered, even with their pale faces.

However, the emcee was in a panic. Seeing the approaching ships, his voice trembled as he reported, “Pirates! Oh my, why are there pirates in this area of the sea?! This logo... Somali! These are the notorious Somali pirates! How did they end up here?! I’ve never known them to venture into open seas so far from their homeland! Do they have something against Li Lei?!”

The emcee sped through his report as he tried not to tremble.

Many of the television viewers dropped whatever was in their hands when they witnessed this scene. Gosh, were they real pirates?! The ships were getting closer and everyone could see the cold, ruthless expressions on each pirate. They looked like they were out to kill, it was too real for any actor to portray!

“Oh my gosh!” The fans started to get worried. “Will Xiao Ling be alright?!”

Li Lei kept this pirate-themed wedding from everyone, including Shaohui. Everybody expected this to be a usual cruise wedding, not something so horrifying!

Back at Skyart’s training camp, the trainees were huddled together to watch the live stream.

When the pirates appeared, a girl named Liu Li grabbed Ye Xingfei’s arm and said in a shaky voice, “Gosh, there are actually pirates?! Will Xiao Ling and the rest be alright?”

Ye Xingfei was a little pale as well as she focused on the progression on television.

Liu Li said, “What if something really happens to Xiao Ling? I really like her!”

Ye Xingfei snapped out of her worries and remembered that that woman was no longer her sister. She coldly said, “Even if something happens, she deserves it. She was the one who turned against her biological parents for money and luxury. This is her retribution! The pirates should just take her away!”

“How could you say this?!” Liu Li glared at her with eyes wide open. “Xiao Ling is the incarnation of Xia Ling, it makes perfect sense for her to return to the Xia family. Moreover, she’s been forking out most of the money for your medical bills and school fees—she’s done a lot for you!” As her friend, Liu Li knew quite a bit about the Ye family. She knew that they could not possibly afford these, and hence, Xia Ling had been offering help this whole time.

Ye Xingfei was even more frustrated now. “Don’t talk to me about this!”

The medical bills and school fees had always been a sore point for her. She hated this woman so much, and yet could not deny that she had received much help from her before, such that she could not go against her as an ingrate. Ye Xingfei had told herself that once she was successful, she would earn more than enough money to return to Xia Ling!

Liu Li stopped talking.

She knew what her good friend was like. Ye Xingfei was a nice person, but she just had something against her sister. But what could she do? Nobody else could talk her out of it, she had to think it through herself. Liu Li turned back to the screen and kept her eyes on it. “The pirates got on board!”

In the time they spent talking, the pirates had surrounded them all on the cruise and the rest made their way up. They pointed their guns at the guests and yelled in English, “Don’t move!”

Shrill screams filled the air.

The photographer shook from fear and the equipment slung over his shoulder almost fell. But a scarred-face pirate shouted at him, “Hold your equipment up and continue filming!”

With that, he pointed a long sword at his face.

The photographer picked the equipment up with shaking hands and continued filming silently. However, the camera was shaking as his body trembled, and the viewers could sense his immense fear from the footage. A few other photographers faced the same situation but went on filming, afraid that their survival would be compromised if they did not abide by them.

On the deck, Li Lei shielded Xia Ling.

He looked at the pirate captain and said, “Jack, the Li family has no grudges with you, what’s the meaning of this?” Others were genuinely frightened, but he was just going according to the script. He even found it interesting and thought about how fun it must be to be an actor.

The pirate captain laughed out loud, enjoying the performance as well. “When the Somali pirates want somebody, do you think we even need a grudge as a reason? Li Lei, I heard you’re getting married. My brothers and I are happy for you, we wish to be a part of this!”

Right after those words were uttered, a few pirates dashed towards Xia Ling!

In his dashing suit, Li Lei smashed a wine glass on a pirate’s shoulder while kicking another off, stalling three of them at a go. Even so, it was impossible for him to tackle so many of them at once. A few other pirates sped forward and pounced on Xia Ling!

Du Yunfeng intuitively fended one off. He did not know that this was staged, but he was clear that he couldn’t let his buddy’s wife get injured, and decided to give his all.

The photographers shook uncontrollably but tried their best to point the cameras in their direction. They had to capture such heroic moments for the viewers.

“Li Lei is so suave! I want to marry him!” A girl shouted before the television.

“Silly, he’s married!”

“Then I want to marry Du Yunfeng!”

This conversation was common across the different households.

Although it was said to be a live stream, the program on television actually had a five-minute delay. The overall director was one of Li Lei’s men and was one of the very few who knew about this idea. He was to edit the footage such that only the faces of those who appeared calm and fearless were captured for the audience, while those crying, wetting themselves, or whose image was in any way damaged were to be kept off-screen.