Chapter 1544 Congratulatory Gifts (Part II)
There were still many congratulatory gifts. Iris pulled Jin Liwei, intending to check and appreciate each and every one of them.
LXC Studio sent a beautiful and elegant flower arrangement to congratulate not only Liberté but also all three celebrity amba.s.sadors—Iris Long, Jin Chonglin, and Yin Meixing.
Iris knew that her manager, Tang Yiyi, was the one who arranged this congratulatory gift.
She smiled when she saw one sent by the rock band, Pandemonium. Its members—Blaze, Eros, Night, and Thunder—were all thriving as one of the first artists signed under LXC Studio. She considered all of them like her little brothers, although they were mostly older than her.
Almost all the artists signed under LXC Studio sent separate flower baskets including the newly signed Ren Jiyu and his teammates from the national shooting team.
Bright Summit Entertainment Company, the former management company that handled her career and Jin Chonglin"s, also sent a lovely flower arrangement. Thanks to Jin Liwei"s backing, her and Jin Chonglin"s relations.h.i.+p with their former management company never soured. Bright Summit and LXC Studio continued to maintain a friendly cooperative relations.h.i.+p.
All of Iris" businesses—Orchidia, Planet Monkey, Gold Heights, and their mother company, Eve Holdings—also sent something to congratulate Liberté. These businesses were now all one family, after all.
Even Phantom Dragon Funds sent one but the flower basket had been deliberately separated from the others by Clover to prevent anyone from a.s.sociating it with Iris. For now, Iris wanted to keep Phantom Dragon Funds" owners.h.i.+p a secret for a little longer.
Her eyebrows raised when she saw a flower basket sent by Long Industries. Long Tengfei had already sent a personal one with his wife, Yang Jiahui.
"I don"t think that this is Long Tengfei"s idea," she murmured. "He"s not that thoughtful. I bet even the other flower basket was sent according to Aunt Jiahui"s instructions."
Jin Liwei examined the accompanying card. It was a standard congratulatory message.
"Maybe it"s Long Jian"s idea," he said. "You"ve mentioned to me several times before that he has helped you a lot in establis.h.i.+ng your influence in Long Industries."
"Maybe.
"
They didn"t talk much about Long Jian.
Jin Liwei understood Iris" complicated relations.h.i.+p with Long Jian. They had been hostile to each other before, then became allies, and now, they were essentially friends. Neither of them would admit it, though.
"Oh, there"s one from Elder Long Jufang," Iris said next.
Speaking of allies, Iris had a more utilitarian relations.h.i.+p with Elder Long Jufang than with Long Jian. They were just using each other for mutual benefits in the Longs" battle of succession.
Elder Long Jufang was a firm member of her camp, supporting her to become the next head of Long Industries and the Long clan. Although Iris was only interested in Long Industries for the sake of her G.o.dson, Little Jun, she wouldn"t reject the elder"s support. In fact, Elder Long Jufang was proving to be instrumental in helping Dragon Phantom Funds" acquisition of scattered Long Industries shares.
In exchange, Iris gave the elder many benefits including preferential treatment in her and her husband"s businesses. As long as Elder Long Jufang didn"t become too greedy, the couple would continue giving him many benefits for his tremendous help in supporting Iris Long in the Longs" battle of succession.
"Look, it"s from Mom and Grandma," Iris said, pulling her husband to a pair of simple yet elegant flower arrangements.
They were from Jin Liwei"s mother, Huang Yuyan, and grandmother, Li Zhiruo.
"Mom mentioned to me that she wanted to come with us here to Paris, but she suddenly caught a cold," Iris said with a sigh. "I wish Grandma Li could also come but her health is too worrying especially for long-haul flights."
Jin Liwei"s eyes softened. He loved that his wife was close to his birth family. In turn, his mother and grandmother also loved her very much.
"Let"s invite my mother to Orchidia Germany"s launch instead," he said.
"Okay. I hope that she could come. As for Grandma Li, it"s better to just let her stay in her mountain villa to rest. We"ll buy more souvenirs for her."
"En."
The couple moved on to the next gifts. There were a lot sent by Iris" acquaintances in s...o...b..z.
Director He of "MusicFest Tonight."
DJ Song, a popular radio host and JJ"s friend.
Feng Jiu, host of "A Closer Look with Feng Jiu" talk show. She was also Madame Feng Wan"s cousin but the public was unaware of this connection.
Guan Jintao, legendary blind Paralympian gold-medalist swimmer, whose mother"s life story became the basis of the award-winning indie film, "Strong Yet Broken".
Atty. Hong Shaoqiang, Iris" private lawyer.
Atty. Kang Huizhong, Jin Liwei"s corporate lawyer.
Even the Honourable Deng Gui sent a flower basket to congratulate Liberté. He was one of Grandpa Lu"s old friends who held a seat at the International Court of Justice before semi-retiring as a private lawyer. He had helped a lot in defending Jiang Ying Yue and Little Jun against Long Hui and his ex-wife, Mao Qiuyue. His involvement in the case alone had been a major advantage in turning the case in their favour.
Iris checked out the next flower arrangement and couldn"t help but chuckle. She showed it to her husband. The card was handwritten by Jasper Leung to represent WhiteTigress International Virtual a.s.sistants.
"Ketchup pestered Jasper Leung for several days to send a handwritten card directly from Singapore," Jin Liwei said, an amused smile on his face.
"That does sound like Ketchup." She placed the card back on the flower arrangement carefully.
Jasper Leung had been instrumental in organizing Black Stars Singapore and spreading Iris Long"s influence there. He also helped a lot in setting up Orchidia Singapore using the manpower from WhiteTigress International Virtual a.s.sistants. Although he was no longer involved in Orchidia Singapore, he was the one who chose the relevant figures to run the business.
Iris remembered Jasper Leung"s origins. He had been an employee at Jin Corporation"s Singapore branch but quit due to the Young family"s corrupt practices.