In the next few days, Iris and Jin Chonglin busied themselves promoting their next single together and attended quite a number of interviews while doing so. It was unavoidable that the topic of the bomb incident would be broached in these interviews. Iris was asked the most about it because she was established early on as the main target of the attack.
“It has been revealed that Zhu Ning is the real mastermind behind the bomb incident. Many remember that she has threatened both you and your mother, the Viscountess Lan, in public before. It has also been reported that there is evidence proving her crimes of planning the attack with her alleged lover, Tian Kong, the bomber and main perpetrator of the bomb incident, against you. What’s your opinion about this, Iris?” a host asked her during one of the interviews.
Iris kept her expression and tone neutral, not revealing any of her real thoughts. “The investigations regarding the bomb incident and Madam Zhu Ning’s alleged involvement are still ongoing. I’ll wait for the results of the investigations first before making any final judgment,” she replied.
Although she said this, she had no intention of leaving everything up to the authorities to solve, especially right now that their systems hadn’t fully recovered yet from Ketchup’s crazy hacking attack. In addition, she made a deal with Long Jian. She wouldn’t badmouth his mother because of it.
Unsatisfied by her answer, the host tried urging her to say more but Iris used the interview-dodging skills Tang Yiyi repeatedly instilled in her during the past year. Although Iris still mostly retained her straightforward attitude during interviews, she began to realize that being too honest and straightforward might come back to bite her in the rear later. Not everyone appreciated honesty, especially from a popular celebrity like her. Tang Yiyi always lectured her that celebrities like her needed to learn how to pay lip service not only for her fans but also to the general public in order to maintain a peaceful career.
At first, Iris resisted, thinking that it was such a hassle. She also didn’t like how she needed to sacrifice her honesty.
“I don’t want to lie,” she told her manager.
“It’s technically not lying, Iris. It’s just evading the questions and redirecting the topic of conversation into a completely different one so that you don’t have to lie or tell the truth. That’s a skill we, the managers, want our artists to learn,” Tang Yiyi replied. “Just look at Jin Chonglin. He’s an expert at it. That’s why he lasted so long in this industry and reached his superstar status in our country.”
If this was in the past, Iris wouldn’t have given a whit about it but becoming engaged to Jin Liwei and also becoming the godmother to Little Jun gradually changed her mindset. Now she realized that anything that came out of her mouth would affect her loved ones whether she liked it or not.
She was now a popular celebrity. Period. Not only that. She was also a rising star in the country’s business world with the successful launch of Orchidia Beauty. The general public weren’t aware yet that she was also the owner of Planet Monkey and Gold Heights. She wanted to focus on making Orchidia Beauty synonymous with her image first before revealing her ownership of the other companies.
Iris didn’t want to give other people any reason to use her or anything that came out of her mouth to tarnish Jin Liwei’s reputation or hurt their godson.
She wasn’t the sheltered princess of the infamous Vetrov family anymore. She was now Long Xiulan, a.k.a. Iris Long, an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning musician, celebrity, businesswoman, and also Jin Liwei’s future wife. Maintaining a respectable image was a must in order to protect the family and life she was building with her lover.
Thus, she finally relented and began learning the interview-dodging skills Tang Yiyi always pushed on her.
Back to the interview, Jin Chonglin butted in and redirected the topic to a completely different one. He did it with such smoothness and expertise that the host only realized that she had been played after the interview was over. By that time, it was too late. Even Iris couldn’st help but admire his skills. He truly was a pro. It was no wonder that Tang Yiyi liked using him as an example to prove her points to Iris.
“You still have a long way to go to reach this prince’s level, Sister Xiulan,” Jin Chonglin teased Iris as they returned to their respective executive vans.
“I know,” Iris admitted. Indeed, she was still nowhere near Jin Chonglin’s level when it came to handling the media by herself. “But I’ll learn. Eventually. No, soon.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a monster of insanity.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It means that you learn way too fast that it’s insane. You’re a monster.”
“Iris, this way,” Tang Yiyi led her, Dom, and the rest of their entourage to their separate executive van. Their bodyguards surrounded the area, keeping eye of any potential dangers.
The two groups made their way to their next work commitment for the day. In the meantime, the makeup artist and hairstylist were busy retouching Iris and helping her change her outfit. She wouldn’t have time to do all of these at the radio station because of the heavy traffic.
Her phone rang. Dom answered it.
“Boss, it’s sir boss! Ehehehe.”
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[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]
