Chapter 380 - Attention Lapse
The next day, a crowd of Black Stars all wearing suits and some other curious rumourmongers, including the entertainment news media, flocked together near the conference centre. The Black Stars waved huge banners of their Boss Iris in support of her.
Police officers prevented them from getting anywhere near the entrance. At first, the officers were alarmed by the group of suits-wearing people. They thought that a triad group had come to terrorize the international business conference.
Fortunately, the Black Stars quickly explained that they were fans of the celebrity turned interpreter Iris Long, and that they usually wore suits to support her. Only when the police verified this information that the Black Stars were allowed to stay.
The entertainment news media tried to get media pa.s.ses, but the officials of the international business conference rejected their requests. Only approved business-related media outlets were allowed inside. So the entertainment news correspondents had to make do in standing and waiting outside with the rest of the Black Stars and rumourmongers.
Thankfully, the police didn"t drive them away. As long as they didn"t get too rowdy, didn"t create trouble or danger to the arriving delegates, and stayed at the spot the police indicated, they were allowed to stay. The police, however, tightly monitored them and kept them in control.
When the arriving delegates saw the crowd outside, their vehicles all slowed down in curiosity. Seeing the banners, the Chinese delegates immediately knew that the people came for Iris Long.
The foreign delegates had no idea what was going on. They thought that the people were protesters against the international business conference. Protests were not unheard of at important international events like this.
It was only when they were informed that the crowd came for the beautiful interpreter from yesterday that they were once again amazed. They heard from their Chinese counterparts that Iris Long was a celebrity, but it only hit them now seeing her fans and the media gathered outside for her.
Finally, a car stopped in front of the crowd. The rear window opened and Iris stuck her head out.
Loud screams and shrieks sounded as she waved at the crowd. The Black Stars waved their banners and jumped up and down in excitement while squealing.
"Kyaaaaah! Boss Iris, we love you so much!"
"You"re so beautiful, Boss Iris! You"re amazing!"
"Please do your best on interpreting today at the conference! We can"t wait to hear more about your awesomeness!"
"Say something in French, please!!! In English too!!! So cool, boss!!!"
All the cameras were pointed at her, snapping photos and filming, while the entertainment news correspondents shouted questions.
"Iris Long, are you planning to leave s...o...b..z and work as an interpreter instead?"
"How did you manage to become appointed as an official interpreter of the international business conference? Did your future grandfather-in-law, Sir Lu Jianhong, used his connections to get you this position?"
"You know English and French. What other languages do you know?"
The media people were starting to get disorderly, so the police officers immediately went on high alert and formed a tight encirclement around them.
Having the view of their boss partially obstructed by the police, the Black Stars glared at the media. Some of them even started arguing with the paparazzi. Fortunately, the acting leader quickly calmed her fellow Black Stars. She instructed them to form a separate group from the media. They distanced themselves to make it clear to the police that they intended to follow the rules unlike the media who were starting to get out of hand.
"I"m sorry, everyone! I can"t greet you properly right now. I have to go inside because I"m going to be late otherwise," Iris said from inside the car. "Thank you for coming! Please don"t stay out under the sun for too long. It"s very hot! Take care!"
"Please don"t mind us, Boss Iris! Hurry up and go inside! We don"t want to get you into trouble!"
"Don"t worry about us, boss! We just wanted to see you today! Now that we"ve seen you, we"re already happy!"
Iris gave them a blinding smile. "Thank you very much, everyone! I"ll work hard today!" She blew them a kiss before the window closed up and the car drove away.
"Uwah! I caught her kiss! I caught it!" A young female Black Star grabbed the imaginary kiss from the air and pressed it against her chest.
"No way! I was the one who caught it!"
Some of the police officers looked at the ridiculous argument between the fans in amus.e.m.e.nt. They started to relax when Iris was gone. However, they still kept a close watch on the crowd, especially the entertainment news media. Their kind, especially the paparazzi, were known to sneak inside without authorization just to doc.u.ment any juicy story.
The media were very unsatisfied that Iris left without answering even just one question from them. But they couldn"t do anything about it. Only business news correspondents were allowed inside.
Later, the second day of the international business conference officially started.
Iris attended the China-Malaysia conference in the morning as the official interpreter. Jin Corporation and Long Industries were also present.
It wasn"t like the opening ceremony and the China-France conference yesterday where she did consecutive interpretation, which was speaking after a speaker paused.
This time, the delegates requested for her to do a simultaneous interpretation instead. It meant that she had to translate while the speaker was still speaking. Her voice would be transmitted through headphones the delegates had to wear.
It was more comfortable for the speakers, especially the ones doing presentations, because they could talk without any interruptions. Simultaneous interpretations were also ideal for conferences like this for a more natural flow.
However, this method put a lot of strain on interpreters. Even though Iris insisted that she could do it for the entire duration of the conference, her two professors rejected the idea. They warned her that there were doc.u.mented interpreters who collapsed because they did simultaneous interpretations for more than an hour without rest.
It was actually very dangerous. As a result, Iris and Professor Hisakawa would take turns interpreting every thirty minutes for this conference.
Finally, the China-Malaysia business conference began. Iris and Professor Hisakawa sat together at their designated seats. She brought a tablet and a stylus for taking notes while Professor Hisakawa had a notebook and a pen.
The Malaysian language was something that she only recently learned, so she wasn"t as confident in using it compared to the languages she already knew in her past life. Fortunately, she had a talent in acquiring languages easily.
She interpreted in both Mandarin and Malaysian, taking turns with Professor Hisakawa throughout the entire conference.
There were Chinese Malaysian delegates in attendance, but they still needed an interpreter because of the differences in Standard Mandarin and Malaysian Mandarin.
Because Iris wasn"t very used to the Malaysian language, she encountered some difficulties while interpreting. Whether it was not so accurate translations or taking a couple seconds longer to provide the interpretation, things didn"t go as smoothly as yesterday.
After the conference, Iris sat back in her chair and released a big sigh. She also gulped water to soothe her throat.
"That was challenging," she whispered.
"Indeed," Professor Hisakawa replied. Then he looked at his notes. "Although the delegates think that you did well, your performance this morning is not up to Cross Academy standards. You made too many less than ideal translations and the hesitations are painful to listen to. This level is not much better than average interpreters. You get a C- from me for this conference. You need to improve on your Malay. Always aim for an A+."
"I understand, Professor."
"You noticed the difference between your performance and mine, right? Learn from how I interpreted and improve your own techniques."
"Yes, Professor. I will."
Iris felt disappointed in herself for her less than stellar performance. She was determined to do better next time.
Lunch time.
She didn"t speak much during this time to rest her vocal cords. She ate with the two professors and then reviewed for the next conference in the afternoon.
When she heard that there were still some Black Stars waiting for her outside, she became alarmed. It was a hot summer day. She asked someone to order some food and drinks for them and to encourage them to find some shade under the blazing sun. And even though she didn"t have very good feelings for the entertainment news media and the rumourmongers, she also instructed to give them food and drinks just because it was too hot outside.
The Black Stars were very touched by her thoughtfulness. Even the media felt more inclined to write good things about her because of the food.
After lunch, it was time for the China-j.a.pan conference.
Just like in the morning, the delegates requested for a simultaneous interpretation. Iris and Professor Hisakawa would take turns once again every thirty minutes or so.
Iris felt more confident about her j.a.panese language skills. During her past life as Evelina, she was actually more fluent in it than Mandarin.
When Jin Liwei stepped on the stage for his presentation, her interpretation was on point. The two actually rehea.r.s.ed together before. She had memorized his entire presentation and of course her interpretation for it as well. This was the only time that Professor Hisakawa allowed her to interpret the whole way.
Iris also couldn"t help but smile stupidly while watching her darling during his presentation. He looked so handsome that she almost ran to the stage to hug him.
"Concentrate!" Professor Hisakawa rebuked her when her voice started sounding giggly.
It instantly brought her back to earth. She blushed a little before clearing her head from anything besides her job as an interpreter.
"Good." Professor Hisakawa nodded when he saw that she returned to a focused state.
He would"ve given full marks to her performance in this China-j.a.pan conference if it wasn"t for this brief attention lapse.
"Oh well. She"s a woman in love," was all he could say to himself.
Finally, the China-j.a.pan conference ended, and so did the second day of the international business conference.
Iris Long"s reputation as a skilled interpreter was reinforced even further in the business industry. Many of the delegates, both Chinese and foreign, already put her in their top lists of preferred interpreters to hire.