Another growl sounded, louder this time. It sounded like a grumpy lion.
“This old man is so hungry and can’t wait to eat breakfast!” Grandpa Lu announced without any shame while rubbing his stomach. “I’ve been waiting and waiting for the two of you to come out of your room but you’re taking so long so I dragged everyone here! Enrique came on time so I also dragged him here to wake you two up! What’s taking you so long? I want to know! Do you want this old man to die of starvation? Your beloved grandpa can’t die yet! You still haven’t given me great-grandbabies! When are you going to give me great-grandbabies? I want to know!”
“Oh, be quiet, you noisy old gorilla,” Grandma Li scolded him.
The two elders’ bickering made the atmosphere lighter. Everyone smiled and chuckled. Wei Lan and Yi Mei stopped being emotional.
Later, everyone was seated in the suite’s living room. The butler and some maids delivered a simple buffet-style breakfast because there wasn’t enough space for everyone to fit at the suite’s small table.
Little Jun wanted to sit on his mama’s lap but his mother wouldn’t allow him, so he plopped his butt on his papa’s lap instead, refusing to budge when his mother tried taking him. His papa sat close to his mama so sitting on his lap was the next best thing.
Jiang Ying Yue had no choice but to sit beside Jin Liwei to feed her son.
Everyone ate and chatted. The atmosphere was light and cheerful. They seemed to have reached a silent consensus not to talk about the bomb incident yesterday. However, Iris noticed the concern in their eyes every time they glanced at her injuries.
Dom informed Iris that his sister Clover, Long Jinjing and Chen Fei also came last night but they left early that morning to go to work at Orchidia Beauty. Meimei brought her equipment when she came and had been drawing her webtoon until the sun rose so she was still sleeping right now. As for Jin Chonglin, nobody saw him leaving his room so he must also be still sleeping.
“What about Big Brother? Where is he?” Iris asked.
Iris didn’t reply, going into deep thought instead. She suspected that her brother disappeared because he was doing his own investigations about the bomb incident. She sensed his dangerous fury when he arrived at the mall to check on her yesterday. He was already restraining his aura during that time because of the public place but the malevolence still seeped out, making her shudder a little. His outer shell might be that of Lu Zihao, Grandpa Lu’s grandson, but he was without a doubt her Big Brother Nikolai deep inside.
She glanced at Jin Liwei. He might be spending time beside her right now but she knew that he must have also commanded his subordinates to take action. Perhaps the two men were cooperating with each other.
Knowing that her man and her brother were doing all of these for her, she was also itching to conduct her own investigation. Even more important than this, she wanted to examine Ketchup and fix the cat AI. She had already gotten used to hearing the white cat’s cute and cheerful chatter every day that a sense of loss and panic was now pervading her heart. It felt like she had really lost her own child.
She couldn’t wait to fix Ketchup and then conduct her own investigation about the bomb incident but Jin Liwei and the others wouldn’t allow her right now because of her injuries. She could always defy them and insist on doing her own thing but chose not to do so. It wasn’t worth it to cause negative feelings between them when all they were doing was show their love and concern for her. She also had to admit that her body’s condition right now was very poor. It would only hinder her efficiency in accomplishing the tasks that she wanted to do. All she could do at the moment was wait until her body recovered enough.
Jin Liwei saw her sighing. He was watching her like a hawk.
“What’s wrong, love? Are you in pain?” he asked in a whisper.
“I’m…” She was about to say that she felt alright, don’t worry, but decided to be honest…to some extent. “Yes, a bit.” She actually felt like she had been run over by a truck.
His expression turned serious. He handed Little Jun to Jiang Ying Yue and headed to their bedroom. The others looked at him. They appeared to be chatting with each other but were actually eavesdropping on the couple’s conversation.
Moments later, Jin Liwei returned with Iris’ medications. After she had taken all of them, he pulled her close to his body, resting her head on his shoulder. All of his movements were gentle and careful.
The legendary hitmaker had been staying in the country since Orchidia Beauty’s launch party. He planned on a music collaboration with Iris but they hadn’t started yet. Iris was still extremely busy with her current work commitments with Orchidia Beauty and her second music collaboration with Jin Chonglin plus a slew of other things. Even though she and Bright Summit offered to rearrange her schedule to prioritize her collaboration with Enrique Valdez, he refused. He told them that he would travel the country first and enjoy the culture and cuisine. They could start working on their collaboration after he returned.
And that was what he had been doing. Bright Summit provided him with a local guide and a personal interpreter free of charge to accompany him to his tourist trips all over the country. No contract for a music collaboration had been signed yet but it was only a matter of time. As long as the legendary hitmaker retained his intention of collaborating with their artist Iris Long, Bright Summit would treat Enrique Valdez like a king and was even prepared to take financial loss. The most important thing for the entertainment company was the increase in prestige and reputation from collaborating with such a prominent and world-famous musician like Enrique Valdez. Who wouldn’t want to work with a living legend?
Bright Summit also offered to provide him with long-term high-class hotel accommodations but Iris was quicker. She leased him a penthouse unit from another Gold Heights Condominium building instead. Even though he was her music instructor, she didn’t give him any discount. The price she offered him was reasonable though, not too expensive but not too cheap either.
As a shameless businesswoman who learned the majority of her business smarts from Grandpa Lu, she would never allow herself to be on the losing end of a deal even to family and friends. Besides, Enrique Valdez was rich and famous. He could afford it. He didn’t bother negotiating with her about the price, immediately signing the residential lease agreement without even reading it. He trusted her not to cheat him.
Her shamelessness as a businesswoman kicked in after the signing of the agreement. Iris requested her music instructor to sign a huge portrait of him taken inside the penthouse unit. The fact that Enrique Valdez, the world-famous legendary hitmaker, lived in the penthouse was already a guarantee that the unit’s market price would soar several folds afterwards. Adding the signed portrait to the package would boost the penthouse’s value even more. Iris was already estimating the huge profits the penthouse unit would fetch her in the future, all thanks to Enrique Valdez and of course, her shamelessness.
Back to the present, Enrique Valdez was talking a bit more than usual. His concern for his student was obvious in his eyes.
“I’ve been in this industry for decades. I witnessed a lot of crazy fans. What you experienced yesterday is one of the scariest I’ve ever heard,” he told her in English.
The others stopped talking and listened to their conversation instead. They had been avoiding talking about the bomb incident. Enrique Valdez was the first one to open the topic.
###
