A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 1305: How Should She Thank Him

Xia Yingluo smiled. “I’ve been with you for a day, I should leave now. Brother Du Zheng, please accompany Ling’er for dinner. She’s still sick and needs someone to take care of her.”

Not many people in this entire world dared to get Du Zheng to care for a patient, but Xia Yingluo happened to be one of them. Jin Ling’er didn’t feel at ease. “No, I’m all right...”

But Du Zheng said, “Sure.”

Xia Yingluo smiled and took her leave with Wei Lingnan.

Jin Ling’er and Du Zheng were left in the quiet ward. Du Zheng was dressed very prim, making his presence rather suffocating. Jin Ling’er didn’t feel comfortable with him around and simply smiled while trying to make conversation. “Um, Chairman Du, thank you for coming to see me.”

Du Zheng was calm as usual. “You’re an artiste under our firm, it’s only right that I come to visit you.”

Jin Ling’er did not know how to continue the conversation. They did not know each other well and it was indeed difficult to find common topics.

Du Zheng probably felt the awkwardness too. He asked, “So, how are you feeling?”

“Way better than when I was sent to the hospital. I’ll try my best to recover quickly and get discharged as soon as possible.” On that note, she recalled that Du Zheng spent a lot of money to delay the filming, and added, “Chairman Du, I’m so sorry, the production team has to bear so much losses because of me.” She knew that given her popularity and performance level, the production team was making a loss this time.

Du Zheng was unfazed. “This is my choice, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Jin Ling’er quietly lowered her head.

She knew very well that if it wasn’t for Xia Yingluo, he wouldn’t have seen anything in her.

Outside the ward, the nurse was wheeling a tray to deliver dinner.

Du Zheng took her lunchbox to get her some porridge and softer foods and then brought it to her on the tray.

Jin Ling’er said, “This is too much of an inconvenience to you, Chairman Du. How could I let you take care of me? How about this, you can just leave first.”

“I gave Yingluo my word,” Du Zheng said. “I’ll leave when you’re done eating.”

Since he was so insistent, there wasn’t much more that Jin Ling’er could say, so she picked up her spoon to start eating. The nutritious meals in the hospital were awful, and with someone as serious as Du Zheng watching her, she found it hard to swallow her food. Eventually, she couldn’t take the atmosphere in the ward and her suppressed feelings. She looked up at Du Zheng and said, “Chairman Du, you really don’t have to listen to what Yingluo says. Whether it’s spending money to delay the filming, or accompanying me as I eat, Yingluo is simply too worried for me, but I’m not so fragile and delicate. You’re a busy man, there’s no need to spend so much time on me.”

Du Zheng was slightly stunned that she was being so serious. He looked at her quietly.

Since he was young, countless girls had tried to get close to him and create opportunities to interact with him privately. He’d never seen a girl like her who’d chase him away when she could’ve made good use of this time together. This girl had given him too many surprises, ever since their first encounter—she’d looked so pathetic but was ferociously trying to defend her friend. She was so stubborn, so headstrong and so brave, he had kept his eyes on her.

This time in the ward, it was yet another surprise.

“You don’t like seeing me?” He asked.

“No, no.” Jin Ling’er was about to get incoherent. How could she not like seeing him? No... she actually really didn’t like seeing him. This man had such a suffocating presence, one that was different from Yingluo’s rather mysterious boyfriend. This Du Zheng before her had a different presence, one that was serious and made her sit up straight whenever he was around.

She wasn’t quite used to it.

Du Zheng did not understand what she was thinking.

He furrowed his brows slightly.

Jin Ling’er thought that he was angry and hurriedly said, “Really, I don’t dislike seeing you! It’s just, I don’t want to rely on Yingluo for everything. You have no choice but to take care of me because Yingluo got you to, and that makes me feel... very useless.” She was visibly upset as she said this.

So that was the case.

Du Zheng was surprised by her mindset—most other people would likely fight for their best interests if they could be good friends with Yingluo.

Seemed like Yingluo had good judgement.

“Putting your relationship with Yingluo aside, you’re an artiste under me too.” Du Zheng calmly explained, “I personally invited you to join our firm, and personally instructed the production crew not to make things difficult for you. What they’ve done now not only shows that they’re deliberately being mean to you, but more importantly, that they’re defying me. I’m here to visit you so they know that you’re not just anyone they can trample on. Let the filming be delayed for a bit and have the profit sink a little. The director needs to be taught a lesson, anyway.”

That seemed like a high-sounding excuse.

Jin Ling’er was slightly skeptical. Was this really the case?

Wouldn’t they treat her better only because they were afraid of him?

She was processing all of this in her head as she looked up at Du Zheng cautiously. This man’s expression was unreadable. Forget it, there was no way he would leave now, so she might as well try and enjoy his company. Jin Ling’er smiled. “Chairman Du, you haven’t eaten dinner too, right? Shall we eat together? The nutritious meal in here is awful, let’s eat outside, okay?”

The sudden uplift in her mood surprised him, but all he said was, “Not okay.”

Jin Ling’er’s smile was left frozen on her face.

“You’re a patient, you need the nutritious meal.” Du Zheng saw her face crumble. “The food outside isn’t so healthy, tomorrow I’ll bring you some food cooked by the Du family chef.”

“Huh, you’re coming again tomorrow?” Jin Ling’er was taken aback.

Du Zheng was also surprised by his words, but since he’d already said it, he went along and nodded solemnly. “As I said, you’re an artiste under me. I should take care of you.”

Jin Ling’er was speechless. Would any big boss treat his insignificant employee this way?! It must’ve been Yingluo’s instruction!

Both of them were in their own bubble as they spent the evening together.

Perhaps it was the meticulous care on the hospital’s end, or maybe it was Du Zheng’s company, but Jin Ling’er’s condition improved in just a few days. She went back to filming as soon as she was discharged.

This time, it was Du Zheng who sent her to the filming location. When they appeared together, everyone went silent and knew exactly what it meant—the big boss was here as a backing for this small artiste. Tang Yuan seemed pretty unhappy to see this. Xia Yingluo might be the daughter of Li Lei from Skyart, but it was Du Zheng who had full control of how many scenes she got in her film, and how much resources she was allocated for publicity. Seeing the warning look in his eye, Tang Yuan dared not cause more trouble.

The subsequent filming went on well without hiccups.

Xia Yingluo was happy to see that Jin Ling’er’s filming was going smoothly, and it hit her that Wei Lingnan had put in much effort into this. She felt that she owed him a thank-you.

How should she thank him...

She thought about it for a while...

Oh right, didn’t she mention making him something personally? She could prepare some desserts.

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