A chorus of “I support” sounded from around three-quarter of the meeting’s participants—some readily, some reluctantly. A small number like Long Meng who were Long Hui’s biggest supporters in the battle of succession voiced out their opposition to the proposal because they didn’t want Iris taking centre stage in solving the company’s current crisis as much as possible. The remaining people kept silent, still undecided.
Long Tengfei glanced at his fellow executives. Almost all of them supported the proposal just like the COO. He nodded and announced, “The majority has spoken. Xiulan, I expect you to perform your duty as the company’s brand ambassador well.”
She smiled. “Yes, Father. I will.”
“Deputy COO Long Jian. Since this was your idea, you’ll be in charge of it. I want you to work closely together with the PR and Marketing Departments on how to best use your sister’s celebrity status to improve our company’s image. I want results within one month. Great results. We can’t afford to lose any more of our stocks’ value for longer than that. If your plan doesn’t work, we’ll immediately move on to a contingency plan.”
“Understood, President. Leave it to me. One month is more than enough,” Long Jian replied with a smile before glancing at Long Hui who looked like he swallowed a whole frog.
“Deputy CFO Long Hui,” Long Tengfei said next.
“Yes, President?” Long Hui managed to hide the anger in his voice.
“It’s your carelessness which landed our company in this predicament, so you need to bear responsibility for it. But for now, we’ll attempt Deputy COO Long Jian’s plan of using your sister’s celebrity status first and see how it goes. Recovering our company’s stock prices takes priority over anything else, so I’ll delay your punishment. You’ll be in charge of devising our contingency plan in case Deputy COO Long Jian’s plan doesn’t work in a month. I expect a solid plan from you. Don’t disappoint me anymore.”
Long Hui’s lips pressed hard together into a thin line at the reminder of his punishment. He didn’t know how his father would punish him, but he hoped it wouldn’t be too harsh. But at least, he wasn’t being fired so this was good news. This was a chance to redeem himself! Determination shone in his eyes.
“Understood, President. I’ll start devising several contingency plans right away,” he promised.
The meeting continued for an additional half an hour before Long Tengfei signalled its end and dismissed everyone. Long Hui and Long Meng left first before anyone could speak with either of them. Iris chatted with some people who were curious about her, including Long Jufang and especially the Black Stars who could barely maintain their professional composure in front of her.
[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]
After signing autographs and taking pictures with her two fans, she followed Long Jian who led her to his office so that they could begin devising their strategy to use her status as a celebrity brand ambassador to recover the company’s image and stock prices. But before that, they talked about Long Hui.
“I’m very disappointed that Long Hui wasn’t fired or forced to resign or even punished,” Long Jian said.
Iris sat on the couch opposite him and sipped the hot tea his assistant served them a few moments ago. “Father said that his punishment is only delayed. He’ll be punished in due time.”
“I know but still, I was expecting him to suffer more from today’s meeting. Instead, he got off scot-free. Father is being too lenient on him.”
“Of course Father will be lenient on him. What do you expect? That’s his first son and the one he had been grooming to become his successor since his birth. It’s only now when Father has aged and married Aunt Jiahui that he has given all of us siblings a fair chance to prove ourselves as potential successors. In the end, it’s only the three of us who are competing because Big Sister Jinjing is perfectly happy working at my own company, Orchidia Beauty.”
Long Jian clicked his tongue. “Jinjing is a very sensible girl. How about you? Why are you even joining in the battle of succession, anyway? I can sense that you’re not as hungry for Long Industries as I am or Long Hui. You should be like our sister Jinjing instead and be satisfied with your own company. It’s doing well, anyway. Extremely well. Why don’t you leave us alone?”
Iris shrugged, choosing not to reply and sipped her tea instead. She had her own reasons that he didn’t need to know. Long Jian didn’t mind that she refused to answer. Each of them had their own secrets, their own personal plans. They were only allies for now, after all. There was no need to act like the best of friends all of a sudden and spill everything to each other. Once they achieved their goal of kicking out their biggest competitor in the battle of succession, Long Hui, then their alliance would naturally dissolve. By then, they would revert back to being opponents going head to head against each other.
“Chocolates? Are you still a kid or what?” Long Jian said in a mocking tone but still rummaged through a drawer and tossed her a few coin-shaped chocolates.
“Thanks!” She quickly opened one and popped it inside her mouth, chewing in bliss. “You know, don’t be so disappointed that Long Hui got away ‘scot-free’ today as you put it. As they say, the higher someone soars, the deeper the fall. This is only the beginning. His image and reputation will only worsen. Remember that he has a pending defamation lawsuit filed against him by my fiancé’s sworn brother.”
“Ah, right. The agricultural tycoon, Lin Yehan. He doesn’t look all that impressive.”
She narrowed her eyes at him while popping another chocolate into her mouth. “Don’t underestimate any of my fiancé’s brothers.”
