The applause was so deafening that the entire arena seemed to visibly vibrate from the force of its sound waves.
At first, Iris automatically clapped her hands like everyone else. It took a few moments before the words registered in her brain. She gasped in surprise and turned her head to JJ. She had no idea that she was going to receive this award tonight. Based on JJ’s expression, he appeared to have already known about it beforehand.
“Stop spacing out, brat! Go back to the stage and make history! Ahahaha!” JJ looked proud and ecstatic, as if he was the one receiving the special award himself.
Iris nodded and made her way back to the stage. She couldn’t determine exactly what she was feeling at the moment. This special award appeared to be very important because the President of the Harmony Music Awards, the Minister of Arts and Culture, and an official from the biggest international association of musicians in the world were personally presenting it to her.
It felt a little weird that she was receiving such an award for an achievement that she didn’t really think was very important. The three new musical techniques were just something she utilized to achieve her musical vision when creating the song “Monster of Insanity”.
She never deliberately planned on creating them. In fact, she didn’t even know that they didn’t exist before using them! For her, they were very minor elements of the song. That was why she felt perplexed that she was receiving an award for them. And with so much fanfare too!
The Minister of Arts and Culture handed her a big, glass plaque. The words “Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in Music” stood out the most with her name “Iris Long” below it.
“Congratulations, Miss Long. Be careful, it’s heavy,” the minister told her.
And indeed, it was heavier than the golden treble trophies she received earlier. After thanking the minister and the others, she stood once again in front of the mic for another speech. The audience continued to give her a loud standing ovation.
She had no idea what to say. “Thank you” seemed too casual, especially since she repeated it so many times in her previous speeches. Her eyes found Jin Liwei in the front row, silently asking him for help.
After reading his lips, a big smile lit up her face. People gasped at her blinding beauty.
Iris stepped away from the microphone, confusing many. She hugged the big, heavy plaque with one arm close to her body and swept her other arm up in the air. Then her body folded into an elegant and graceful curtsy bow. It was so deep that she was almost sitting on the floor.
The audience gave her an even louder standing ovation this time.
“Iris! Iris! Iris!”
So what if she didn’t give a speech? They were already tired listening to what felt like endless speeches earlier. Iris’ deep curtsy bow felt more sincere and refreshing than an overly emotional speech.
‘You don’t have to say anything if you don’t have any words. Just do whatever you want, love. You are you.’
These were Jin Liwei’s silent words to her earlier. It not only calmed her down but also reminded her to be herself. This heavy award was indeed heavy. It was heavy with people’s expectations of her.
She realized that for a moment, she allowed herself to feel pressured by all the awards she received tonight. Fortunately, Jin Liwei reminded her that she was her own person. It was her choice to feel pressured. And in the same way, it was also her choice to just be herself. She could choose not to burden herself with other people’s expectations of her.
This was her own path of freedom, her own path of independence. And walking that path together with her was her darling, Jin Liwei.
As she straightened her body, she looked straight in the eyes of her man and blew him a sweet kiss filled with love and gratitude.
###
The Harmony Music Awards finally ended.
It was an event filled with many highlights. The majority of the people agreed that Iris Long shone the brightest tonight.
If not for her presence, Jin Chonglin would surely have been the brightest star. Unfortunately, his normally impressive number of wins was overshadowed by Iris Long’s insane winning streak. His army of fans were a little disappointed, but they couldn’t hate Iris Long because they also felt that she deserved all of the awards the she won.
After the winners’ interviews with the media, the celebrities and the VIP guests headed to the after-party. The venue was in a grand ballroom hall at a five-star hotel.
Iris went with JJ and DJ Song in a limousine. The Jin brothers went together in another limo.
Throughout the party, Iris stayed with JJ and DJ Song. She didn’t need to go around greeting others because they came to her themselves to congratulate her. Many of them invited her to dance, but one glare at JJ and they scurried away.
“Hmph! Do they think that we’re blind or stupid? It’s so obvious from their perverted eyes that they’re already undressing you inside their minds. If you dance with them, I’m 100% sure that they’ll start pawing you on the dance floor!” JJ said. He looked disgusted at the males, many of them celebrities, who directly tried to hit on Iris.
“Thank you very much, Mr. JJ and DJ Song. I’ll be careful,” Iris said.
JJ and DJ Song stayed with her at the beginning, but as they drank more and more alcohol, they left to talk and party with other people. It wasn’t very bad because she never ran out of people to talk to, as she was the most popular figure of the night. She actually rather enjoyed chatting with the other musicians and celebrities.
However, the men trying to hit on her just kept on increasing. She had to drive them away by herself until Feng Wan and her three posh friends found their way to her. They were like her gatekeepers keeping the annoying flies away from her.
Despite this, there was a heavily intoxicated veteran singer who forced his way into their group. He was around the same age as Long Tengfei. He shamelessly flirted with all of them, making them very uncomfortable.
At first, they were polite in rejecting his advances but when he refused to leave them, Feng Wan couldn’t hold it anymore. She directly told the man to leave them alone.
“What did you say to me, you b*tch?! Don’t you know who I am?!” the veteran singer shouted in fury. “Whatever I want, I get!” Then he turned to Iris with a lewd expression on his face. He even licked his lips. “You—hic—so beautiful, so young yet already so sexy… Ignore th-these—hic—aunties and come t-talk to me instead. Let me show you—hic—the r-ropes in the music industry…”
The four posh ladies looked absolutely scandalized. Iris’ eyes turned cold. Her fingers tightened around a fork, ready to stab the perverted man if he continued to harass them.
“W-wait…Let me—hic—write my h-hotel room number for you…”
“How dare you? You’re such a repulsive man! Get away from us or we’ll call the police!” Si Xinyue said. She was the wife of the Police Chief.
He ignored the four posh ladies and pounced on Iris, reaching for her. She was about to stab his arm with the fork when someone pulled him back and punched him in the face.
