Rebirth of a Nation's Darling – Prince Charming

This was the first time Zhao Limei was meeting the gloomy-faced Si Zhihan. She was just about to make tea when Si Huang stopped her. “You can go home now, Auntie Zhao. You don’t have to come over in the afternoon either.”

“Okay.” Zhao Limei packed up and quietly left.

Si Huang and Si Zhihan were the only ones left in the living room.

This was the first time Si Huang was meeting Si Zhihan in person since her return.

Si Zhihan was turning 40 years old this year, but he looked more like a man in his 30s. He had the face of a handsome, cultured man. Time had no effect on his charm. Si Zhihan, who had been sitting in a high position for many years, carried himself with a kind of maturity that no young man could ever have—the charm of a successful man.

Si Huang had to admit that even though she had inherited most of her blessed good looks from Li Lisi, she carried a hint of Si Zhihan’s shadow too.

While Si Huang was lost in contemplation, Si Zhihan stared at his “son”, whom he hadn’t seen for a few days. His last memory of Si Huang was the aftermath of beating “him” until he had collapsed and started twitching in agony. He felt momentarily distracted by this. Was this elegant youth sitting gracefully in front of him really his “son”?

Of course, this bout of absent-mindedness was gone in a flash. Si Huang’s eyes, which looked so much like Li Lisi’s, served as a reminder for Si Zhihan. This was his biological “son”... Oh, that was not right, this was his daughter!

Si Zhihan frowned. He couldn’t believe that he had actually been mystified by Si Huang’s looks.

“Why won’t you come home?” He was in a bad mood, so his tone naturally didn’t come off any better.

Si Huang took note of his demeanor. She had especially noticed him scrutinizing his surroundings with disgust from time to time as if he had noticed some particularly repulsive object.

She smiled. Of course Si Zhihan would be repulsed by this place. After all, it had belonged to Li Lisi. Coming here would remind him of his disgusting hypocrisy and the fact that he had once used a woman’s feelings and manipulated her into gaining everything that he now owned.

“I don’t feel like going home,” Si Huang answered as she leisurely poured herself a glass of water.

This careless attitude angered Si Zhihan. However, he felt strangely compelled to control his temper when he saw how dazzling Si Huang was. His eyes glimmered calculatingly.

It would seem that he had underestimated his child’s value.

The possibility of making profit from this face and body made Si Zhihan regret beating Si Huang up that day. “Is your back feeling better?” He paused. Then, realizing the havoc wrecked by his powerful beating, he spoke again. “I’ll have my secretary get the best scabbing medicine. Hopefully, you won’t end up with a scar.”

‘Long ago, I would have thought that Si Zhihan was worried about me. But now?’ Si Huang thought. A cold light flashed across her eyes. Her gaze quickly went back to normal when she looked up. “Okay.” She nodded at Si Zhihan.

The pair fell silent again. Si Huang might have been able to stay calm, but Si Zhihan could not. He wasn’t interested in beating around the bush anymore. “I know that you’ve been cast in Director Liu’s television series. Give the role to Si Hua. You’ve never dabbled in professional acting anyway, yet you’ve somehow managed to get the part by some random fluke. If you fail, you won’t be the only one implicated…”

Si Zhihan rarely ever bothered providing such a long explanation, but Si Huang cut him off anyway. “No.”

“What?”

“Even if I did give this role away, I’d never give it to Si Hua.”

“What the hell are you saying?” Si Zhihan slammed his hand on the desk and rose to his feet.

“I’m speaking English,” Si Huang slowly replied.

Si Zhihan lifted his hand, then stopped halfway. He glared icily at Si Huang’s fearless, indifferent face. “Fine, if you want the role, all legal documents will be handled by Prime Entertainment.”

Si Huang shook her head. “I have no intention of signing a contract with Prime Entertainment. This is my career.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” Si Zhihan was deadly calm despite feeling flustered. “You’ll never be able to break away from the Si Family or Prime Entertainment with your… status!”

“You can do whatever you want,” Si Huang replied as if she had not noticed his threatening tone. “I’ll do what I want too.”

Si Zhihan was beginning to wonder if the person in front of him was a changeling. After some thought, he turned around. “I am your legal guardian. You can’t do anything unless I say so!” This underage kid could pull all the tricks she wanted, but she could forget about kicking up a storm as long as he was around.

Si Huang showed no signs of fear even when Si Zhihan angrily slammed the door shut.

A profound light flickered in her eyes. Suddenly, she downed the glass of water and sprinted to the door.

Si Huang’s lonely little villa was situated in a more secluded part of Fragrant View Societal Homes. One rarely saw anyone else around, and Si Zhihan had parked his car in a temporary garage quite some distance away from the villa. He walked slowly and certainly didn’t notice Si Huang’s shadow slowly creeping up on him from behind.

Si Huang silently quickened her pace when she turned a corner, swiftly leaping behind Si Zhihan like a bolt of lightning. Then, she put the paper bag that she had brought with her from home over Si Zhihan’s head.

“Mmph! Mmph! Who are you?”

Si Huang quickly tied the bag around his neck, pulled him by the collar of his suit, and dragged him to a nearby forest.

As his vision was shrouded in darkness, Si Zhihan was filled with a mixture of shock and anger. He realized that the person who had kidnapped him was terrifyingly strong. He couldn’t even struggle.

As for Si Huang, she began beating him to a pulp after throwing him to the ground. Her face was devoid of any emotion. Only her eyes shone darkly in the most threatening manner.

“Cough. Who the hell are you? What do you want?”

“Who are you working for? How much are they paying you? UGH!”

“How did you know that I’d be here? Have you been planning to attack me? ARRGGHH!”

Si Huang remained completely silent no matter what Si Zhihan said. She made sure that every blow would cause him agony but would not be enough to kill him.

Finally, when Si Zhihan lost the strength to speak and was left groaning through gritted teeth, Si Huang pushed the hair on her forehead away, turned around, and left gleefully.

“Your Highness?” Wu Bao’s voice carefully echoed in her mind.

“Mm?” she answered with a high-pitched tone.

Wu Bao relaxed. “Why didn’t you just kill him?” it asked.

“Why should I kill him?” Si Huang asked with a smile. “It’d be pretty troublesome if he died now, and it would be too easy on Si Hua. Besides, a death like that would be too good for him.”

“I thought…” Wu Bao trailed off. It was frightening whenever Si Huang had that expressionless face and that look in her eyes.