A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

The appointment was not difficult. After all, the Li and Du families were friends. However, in order not to make Du Zheng suspicious, Xia Yingluo did not ask him out directly. Instead, she asked his elder brother Li Shaohui to ask Du Zheng out to the Nanshan Horse Racing Club. Who asked Li Shaohui’s relationship with Du Zheng to be the best? And they both liked riding horses and would go for a few laps from time to time, so it would be seamless asking him out.

On the day itself, cicadas chirped in the summer, and the first lotus bloomed.

Together with Jin Ling’er, Xia Yingluo walked towards Li Shaohui and Du Zheng with a smile and called obediently. “Brother Du Zheng.”

Today, Du Zheng wore a decent riding outfit, which made his already erect figure even more sturdy. However, his expression was still serious. His gaze swept across Jin Ling’er and Xia Yingluo, then he glanced at Li Shaohui. “These are the friends you were talking about?”

Li Shaohui laughed harmlessly. “Ah, there were other friends, but my sister said it was too noisy and eliminated them.”

Du Zheng: “...”

He was not stupid and could see that Li Shaohui was lying with his eyes open. The situation in front of him showed that he had been accounted for and the siblings had already planned it. They wanted to bring him and Jin Ling’er together. He looked down at the girl who was walking towards them a few steps away. The girl with short, rusty golden hair looked a little uneasy at this time, her eyes flickering about, afraid of meeting his gaze. His heart ached a little at her apprehensive appearance.

She lowered her head and stood beside Xia Yingluo, twisting her fingers anxiously.

However, Xia Yingluo pushed her with a smile. “Ling’er, haven’t you always said that you wanted to learn to ride horses? I have found a master for you! Brother Du Zheng has ridden horses since he was a kid, it’ll be the best to let him teach you.” She turned to look at Du Zheng again. “Isn’t that right, Du Zheng? Don’t disappoint my bragging, I boasted of you in front of Ling’er!”

Du Zheng glanced at her coldly. He could tell with his toes that this idea was this little girl’s.

Xia Yingluo was not afraid of him, unknowingly held up her brother’s hand, and said with a smile, “Let’s go pick a horse.”

They bounced forward.

Looking at the two of them, Jin Ling’er felt even more embarrassed. Although she had vowed to pursue Du Zheng when she was at home, she was at a loss now that he was in front of her. She didn’t speak, and Du Zheng didn’t speak either. He just stood by and looked at her.

Jin Ling’er managed to summon up her courage. “Let’s go, let’s go pick a horse.”

Du Zheng said, “Ms. Jin...”

“Let’s go! Yingluo is already gone!” Jin Ling’er was afraid that he would say something bad and quickly interrupted him. She rushed to the place where Xia Yingluo and Li Shaohui headed.

Du Zheng looked at her back with his eyes dim. Finally, he said nothing and followed silently.

The place to pick the horses was on the mountainside.

There were two rows of stables with some good breeds of horses for short-term use by members.

When Jin Ling’er and Du Zheng arrived, Xia Yingluo had already picked a whole-body snow-white mare. The mare’s eyes were docile and standing beside Xia Yingluo, they complemented each other like a moving landscape.

Jin Ling’er’s eyes lit up. “Wow, it’s so pretty.”

Xia Yingluo smiled proudly. “Pretty, right? The horse I picked is of course beautiful. However, since I have already selected it, you can only choose another one. Brother Du Zheng, let Ling’er give the task of picking a horse to you. She came here for the first time and doesn’t understand anything, so you should pick her a good one.” Her face was radiant.

Du Zheng gave her a cold look again. “Can’t you pick for your friend?”

As soon as this sentence came out, there was an imperceptible look of hurt on Jin Ling’er’s face.

Xia Yingluo was not fooled by him and smiled. “I walked a long way and spent a lot of energy picking my horse, so I’m exhausted. I want to go over there and drink some plum juice.” She stretched out her fingers and pointed at a small gazebo a few steps away. “Come and find me after you’ve picked.”

She took her brother away with a smile.

Du Zheng’s expression was even colder. This brother and sister! They were the same!

In the summer sun, Jin Ling’er bit her lip and said, “There’s no need to trouble yourself, Mr. Du. I will pick the horse myself.” She was also human and had her self-esteem. It would be ridiculous if she didn’t notice how reluctant he looked.

Thinking of it this way, her eyes reddened, and she reached a hand into her pocket to hold the hairpin that Xia Yingluo had given her unconsciously.

That time on the set, she was framed by a female star and accidentally hit him. Her hair caught on his shirt button, and it took a long time to be untied. In the end, her hairpin was broken. With last time’s incident and this time’s happening, would he see her as a scheming woman, wanting to marry into a wealthy family at all costs?

Jin Ling’er suddenly regretted it. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so reckless to ask him out.

She lowered her head and hurriedly walked into the stable. She didn’t want him to see her depressed look. She pointed her finger at a horse that didn’t look very tall and said to the staff on the side, “I want this horse.”

The staff responded and reached out to help her ride the horse.

“Wait.” He was stopped by Du Zheng.

Jin Ling’er looked back at him.

There was still no expression on Du Zheng’s face. “This horse has a strong temper. Change it.” He had better eyes at picking horses than Jin Ling’er, so he could tell the nature of the horse at one glance. Beginners wouldn’t be able to control it at all.

Jin Ling’er gave him a complex look and stopped talking.

He took her around the stables, and the more he walked, the worse his expression got. Finally, he asked the staff on the side, “You don’t have any meek horses here?”

Seeing his face covered with dark clouds, the staff’s heart palpitated and he carefully answered, “How could we not? A club like ours would definitely prepare horses for riders of all levels. Unfortunately, today, a large number of horses were pulled for medical examinations... If you want a gentle one, the most docile one is the one Ms. Xia just picked, ‘Snowy Jade’.”

He didn’t know what happened, but someone came to pull all the tame horses early in the morning. Only the big white horse was left, and they said that it was booked by Ms. Xia Yingluo already. He also told him that if someone asked for a gentle horse, he should answer like that.

Du Zheng snorted softly.

Jin Ling’er watched him uneasily. “I, I can ride other horses, I’ll just be careful...”

“You don’t have to do that to look for death.” Looking at her careful eyes, his irritability grew even worse. “You have no training at all, what can you ride?”