Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li’s eyes widened after hearing that most of the souvenirs came from Wei Lan.
“Please say thank you to Madam Wei Lan,” Huang Yuyan said. “Oh, I should probably start calling her Vizcondesa Lan now!”
Someone from the branch families snorted in derision. Just as how Iris Long was unpopular to them, her mother Wei Lan was also thought of badly by many people among high society.
Both Grandma Li and Jin Liwei looked at their direction with cold eyes. Their expressions were almost identical. Indeed, they were grandmother and grandson.
Iris pretended that she didn’t hear the rude sound. Although her expression remained generally pleasant, her eyes narrowed and turned cold as well.
Grandma Li gave a cold glare at the branch families before smiling warmly at Iris.
“We’ve already met your father and Madam Yang Jiahui but not your mother. Yuyan my dear, how about we invite the viscountess for a meal?”
“Mother, that would be lovely!”
Iris smiled at the two older women. “I’m sure my mother would be delighted.”
After the eventful greetings and tense introductions in the front hall, they all headed to the dining area for lunch.
“Oh, he’s supposed to come but he called early this morning to say that he wouldn’t be able to because of schedule issues. It looks like his work today got delayed,” Huang Yuyan explained.
“We’ll be able to see that boy tomorrow. Don’t worry, Xiulan my dear. If that boy doesn’t attend the grand launch tomorrow, I’ll make sure to lecture him well and teach him a lesson. Leave everything to Grandma, alright?” Grandma Li assured.
“Thank you, Grandma Li,” Iris replied.
Lunch was even more awkward and tense than during the introductions earlier. Huang Yuyan was a good host and tried to make the weird atmosphere more pleasant even though she felt displeased by the branch families unexpected presence. As for Grandma Li, she completely ignored them. The matriarch focused on chatting with Iris and Jin Liwei instead.
Thus, it felt like everyone was eating in two different places because of the clear division between the two groups. The main family plus Iris on one side while the branch families on another side.
This made the branch families resent Iris even more.
Iris just ignored them and temporarily erased their existence from her mind. She and Jin Liwei visited the old house to eat lunch with Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li, not with them.
After lunch, everyone headed to the nearest lounge area to drink some digestive tea.
This time, Jin Chenggong and the others ones who worked for Jin Corporation pulled Jin Liwei to speak about some business matters.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
She nodded.
“If you want to leave, just tell me anytime. Okay, love?”
“Okay. Now go.”
Jin Liwei left and followed Jin Chenggong and the others to another room to speak business in private.
In the meantime, Iris shared her experiences during the Sommet International Film Festival with Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li. The two were fascinated about the prestigious event, especially knowing that Iris won an award from there.
“I’m so proud of you, my dear,” Grandma Li told Iris.
“I watched your acceptance speech. It was so romantic of you to bring my son to the stage with you,” Huang Yuyan said. Her eyes reddened and she began wiping her teary eyes. “Oh, I’m getting emotional just remembering it.”
Iris held Huang Yuyan’s hand. “Auntie, thank you for giving birth to Liwei. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t have met him.”
Grandma Li comforted her daughter-in-law while nodding approvingly at Iris’ words.
Later, Iris excused herself to go to the nearest powder room. After relieving herself and refreshing her appearance, she exited and found several people waiting for her outside in the hallway.
Jin Jiali and her female cousins immediately surrounded Iris, cornering her to the wall.
“Hello, everyone. Do you need to pee, too? Go ahead. There’s no one inside now. I’ll just go ahead,” Iris said in an overly pleasant voice. Her eyes, however, were completely cold.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Jin Jiali announced.
Her cohorts blocked Iris’ way, preventing her from leaving. One of them even tried to push Iris hard, intending to make her stumble to the floor, but Iris deftly avoided the movement by stepping away. The girl’s hands missed, making her look stupid. This angered many of them.
“Don’t think too highly of yourself, Iris Long!” Jin Jiali said. “Just because Elder Brother Liwei, Aunt Yuyan and Grandmother Li all accept you doesn’t mean that the rest of the Jin clan do!”
The other girls nodded. They were just the echo to her main voice.
“Big Sister Rose Young is many times more suitable for Elder Brother Liwei than you! She’s the CMO of Jin Corporation. Do you know what CMO means? I bet you don’t because you’re STUPID! You don’t know anything about business, unlike Big Sis Rose who’s a super smart businesswoman.”
Jin Jiali continued, “Since you’re STUPID, I’ll tell you what CMO means because I bet you don’t know. CMO means…Chief Ma…Chief M-, uh, Chief Manager Officer! Yes, that’s what it means!”
“You’re so smart, Jia’er!”
“Chief Manager Officer! It sounds so impressive!”
Her sidekicks did their job and praised Jin Jiali, feeding her inflated ego and her desire to bully Iris.
Iris tilted her head to the side and said in a rather lazy manner, “Actually, that’s incorrect. CMO means Chief Marketing Officer. At least, that’s the most common meaning. In other companies or organizations, CMO can also mean Chief Maintenance Officer or Chief Medical Officer. There are many variations to it. But I’ve never heard of a Chief Manager Officer before. That’s a first. Maybe you mean Chief Management Officer? That’s uncommon too, but it’s a more correct term than Chief Manager Officer.”
Iris explained all of these terms with such ease that the other girls couldn’t help but feel impressed.
However, Jin Jiali felt humiliated that Iris pointed out her error. Pride made her refuse to accept that she made a mistake.
“No, you’re wrong. I’m right. CMO really means Chief Manager Officer!” she insisted. “It’s a unique position in Jin Corporation because my family’s company is the best in the country and in entire Asia!”
Iris pretended to widen her eyes in surprise. “Your family’s company? Jin Corporation?”
“Hmmm. That’s not how a business works,” Iris murmured, tapping her a finger on her chin. “Business ownership depends on how much shares of the company you own under your own name. Just because you have the same surname as the majority owner or a shareholder doesn’t mean that you automatically own the company too. It’s like saying that the children and relatives of a country’s president also deserve to be president just because they have the same surname as the political head. Besides, it’s not only the Jins who own Jin Corporation. Grandpa—I mean, Grandfather Lu Jianhong also owns exactly half of it. He never gave away or sold any of his shares ever since he founded the company with Liwei’s grandfather.”
