After eating her sandwich, Chen Fei brought the conversation back to business.
"Two of the factories that we're trying to buy out changed their initial asking price," she said. "They want more money after seeing that we sold out all our current Orchidia Mommy and Orchidia Baby inventory."
"Leave them," Iris replied with a cold expression. "They're not the only factories in the country. If time isn't so tight, we don't have to buy out ready-made factories and just focus on building our own from the ground up. Building from scratch takes longer but we can design the factory according to our exact specifications. It's important to own our factories to limit counterfeit products and also to have full power when it comes to management, quality control and things like that."
The others nodded in agreement.
"We'll still go ahead and build our own factory," Iris continued saying. "In the meantime, we have to buy out other factories to fill up our current inventories. If we're having trouble with domestic factories, we can explore the possibility of opening up a factory in the Philippines."
Dom's eyes lit up after hearing a mention of his mother country.
"Linda Chua is already working on opening up our Orchidia Filipino branch anyway. I'm sure that if we really wanted to, she can find a way to open up a factory for us, too."
Dom was quick to reassure Iris. "Don't worry, boss! My second sister won't let you down! If you want to open a factory, my sister will open one for you!"
Chen Fei pursed her lips and thought about it before nodding. "That's something we need to think more about carefully. The Philippines has different legal requirements for foreign businesses after all."
"I'll consult with Liwei about that," Iris replied. "He has some experience working with Filipino partners before."
"What about the funding?" Long Jinjing asked next.
"Eve Holdings will take care of Orchidia's current expansion in the international market so don't worry about that. Just take care of the domestic funding for now."
"Okay, I understand." Long Jinjing looked relieved that she didn't need to readjust the company budget once again.
They talked about business for a little longer before finishing up. Dom helped Iris up while Chen Fei supported Long Jinjing.
"Fucking hell, you two look like you're about to pop!" Chen Fei exclaimed.
"What do you expect?" Iris replied. "We're both expecting twins."
"You're truly sisters," Chen Fei mumbled.
Iris only smiled at Chen Fei's comment. In her mind, she didn't think that the twins came about due to her being sisters with Long Jinjing. There had been no precedent of having twins in the Long genealogy.
Although it might be a fantastical idea, Iris was keen to believe that her and Long Jinjing becoming pregnant with twins wasn't due to them being sisters but more on the fact that she and Lu Zihao had been siblings in their past life.
Madam Vetrova, their mother in their past life, came from a family that produced a number of twins.
Iris glanced at Long Jinjing. Her sister of the flesh had been impregnated by her brother of the soul.
Long Jinjing caressed her huge belly. Unlike Iris, Long Jinjing's pregnancy was rather smooth-sailing. She didn't experience any difficult morning sickness. She just felt sleepy, fatigued, and of course, hungry all the time.
In fact, she developed like other normal pregnant women. She gained a lot of weight and became quite chubby. As a result, she no longer looked smaller than Iris but bigger instead.
Just by comparing their sizes alone, others might conclude that Long Jinjing was the one who got pregnant first than Iris.
At first, Long Jinjing was bummed out and worried that Lu Zihao might disdain her new fatter self. She only gained more confidence when he reassured her that he liked her with more meat. She was softer to hold. He especially loved her bigger boobs.
She couldn't stop the pink tinge from spreading on her cheeks upon remembering how her fiancé used his actions in bed to reassure her.
"Uuuuuuuuy~ I bet Big Sis Jing is thinking about something naughty! Ehehehe," Dom teased.
Long Jinjing covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.
"So both of you are having all boys?" Chen Fei asked.
Iris and Long Jinjing nodded.
"My gosh!" Chen Fei then patted both of them in the back and said in a serious tone, "Good luck."
Before the pregnant women could thank her, Chen Fei added, "I hope your sons don't take after their fathers."
Iris frowned.
"What do you mean by that?" Long Jinjing asked.
"One is too cold and domineering, the other is a muscle-headed brute."
Iris scowled.
"Hey!" Long Jinjing felt offended for her man.
Chen Fei ignored their obvious protests and continued, "Imagine four mini Jin Liweis and Lu Zihaos. Ugh! That's, like, having four mini devils running around and wreaking havoc everywhere. It's gonna be worse if they inherited their fathers' possessive nature towards their mothers."
She hugged herself and shivered.
Iris and Long Jinjing fell silent. The image that Chen Fei described played inside their own heads.
"That…uhm, that's actually possible," Long Jinjing admitted.
She glanced at her belly and started to worry.
Iris shrugged her shoulders. "If they become mini devils, then so be it. Be it devils or not, they're still going to be our children."
"That's right!" Dom agreed.
"Che, always acting so cool," Chen Fei stopped acting and rolled her eyes at Iris who seemed unaffected.
Iris chuckled.
To be honest, Iris still felt terrified at failing as a mother. It was only thanks to her husband's constant encouragement that she had grown more confident in raising their children. She wasn't alone. Jin Liwei was there to help her and vice versa.
There were also their loved ones who would surely be there to shower their children with additional love and care. Her fear was still ever-present, but as long as she trusted in her husband and their loved ones, then she would surely be able to correct herself in time if she ever went down the road of becoming a bad mother.
Even if she couldn't trust in herself, she trusted in Jin Liwei.
This was why she didn't mind if her sons became mini devils.. Their father would surely discipline them.
