The following days were extremely busy for both Jin Liwei and Iris.
Jin Liwei was busy developing his company's newest business project and looking for a partner for it. There were many companies, both local and foreign, that were interested in partnering with Jin Corporation but he had to carefully choose the best fit for this project. Most business insiders were expecting the Fans to win the bid, not only because it was in their area of expertise but also because of their status as future in-laws to the Jins. This was why everyone was shocked when they heard that Jin Corporation rejected the Fans' bid proposal.
Right away, rumours started flying saying that the wedding between Jin Chonglin and Fan Luo was called off and must be the reason why the Fans' bid proposal to the business project was rejected. Those who were envious of the Fans for their close relationship to the Jins were gleeful. They didn't appreciate the Fans' recent aggressive business activities, using their connection to the Jins to win potentially lucrative deals. They thought that the Fans were getting too ahead of themselves, prancing about like the relatives of royalty, when their daughter wasn't even married to the Jins' Second Master yet. They wanted to see the Fans fall because they climbed too high up using borrowed ladder from the Jins and stepping on too many people in the process.
The rumours reached a point that the Fan family was forced to release an official statement saying that their daughter Fan Luo and Jin Chonglin were still very much in love with each other, and that their wedding would still happen at the right time. Their statement somewhat calmed the rumours, but the seed of doubt was already planted, especially since they hadn't heard anything from the Jins.
Everybody waited for a statement from the Jins to clarify this issue, but the Jins maintained their silence. No, it was more indifference than silence. Seeing the Jins' stance just made everyone speculate harder that all was not well between the Jins and the Fans.
The Fan family was, of course, upset about all of these. They demanded an explanation from the Jins. But who was the head of the Jin family? It was Jin Liwei. And who was Jin Liwei? The current most powerful man in the country's business world who was known for his cold, dispassionate and sometimes ruthless leadership. Even the Fans wouldn't directly dare offend him. So their only option was to ask Jin Liwei's mother for help. After all, it was through her first that the Fans had such close connection to the Jins.
As for Iris, Bright Summit finally allowed her to return to work after assuring them that she was recovered and healthy. On their end, Bright Summit's PR team somewhat successfully spun the launch party incident as solely the Alarm Girls' fault and that Iris Long beating them up was legitimate self-defence.
Of course, there were still many Iris Long haters who continued to accuse her of violence, calling for her punishment alongside the Alarm Girls. However, whenever they posted anything against Iris online, the Black Stars would immediately swarm over them. The Black Stars were very organized and thorough in defending their boss online. Whenever a negative comment about their boss Iris was posted anywhere online, it would only take them seconds to arrive and virtually beat the hater black and blue.
The most notorious division of the Black Stars was the Slippers Army led by the infamous iEatSlippers. They were extremely vicious, an army made up of trolls who didn't give a damn about netiquette. They were quickly becoming the most hated and frightening group on the web. Anyone they targeted would be completely decimated. No matter how many alt accounts the haters created, the Slippers Army had more alt accounts than them. The majority of them were experienced trolls after all.
The day before Iris returned to work.
CaptainBlackStar: "My fellow Black Stars, I have an important and exciting announcement to share with all of you. Thanks to the initiative of MrsLovePhantom, JJNumber1Fan, JJNumber2Fan and JJNumber3Fan, Bright Summit Entertainment Company has invited us for a meeting. I personally went with MrsLovePhantom and the three ladies to meet with our boss Iris' management. Guess what? We, the Black Stars, are finally recognized and certified as the official fan club of our boss Iris Long!!! We did it!"
The replies were instantaneous.
"!!!"
"Oh my god!"
"Uwah! I'm crying. I'm so happy. We did it!"
LittlePhoenix: "(squealing and jumping all around in excitement)"
"Wow! This is just so wow. Absolutely wow!"
iEatSlippers: "Comrades, this is all thanks to our mighty slippers of justice! Our heroic battles in the name of our boss are finally recognized!"
"All hail our mighty slippers of justice!"
iEatSlippers: "Bro Monkeyface, continue to direct us to our next online battlefields. Our mighty slippers of justice are still hungry for more whacking!"
"Yeah! Whack all those haters! How dare they bash our boss Iris?!"
The comments continued pouring from the Black Stars members, celebrating their new status as their boss Iris Long's official fan club.
However, they were soon interrupted when their website suddenly blacked out. They tried refreshing the website but to no avail. Zhou Mei'er (CaptainBlackStar) and Wu Chen (iEatSlippers) directly called Hou Liang (Monkeyface), asking him what was happening.
"Give me a few minutes to figure it out," he told them.
His fingers flew on his keyboard. His usual bored and exhausted expression was nowhere to be seen. At the moment, his eyes were bright and focused. However, he frowned after a minute. His expression turned bewildered when he failed to regain access to the website.
"It seems…our website is being hacked," he muttered to his headset.
"What? Hacked? Oh no!" Zhou Mei'er cried out.
"Dammit! It must be those haters that our Slippers Army have crushed. They must've hired a hacker to try and destroy our online headquarters! Vindictive bastards! They deserve more whacking from my mighty slippers!"
While he was busy tracing, the blacked out website finally showed some activity.
At first the black screen rippled until it brightened and showed a sleeker version of the website. It looked less cluttered yet more visually appealing. In fact, it looked easier to use than the previous design. When the members started exploring the new website, they were delighted at how fast and responsive it was. The features were also all improved.
Of course Hou Liang saw the new design. He pulled out the new website code and studied it. Indeed, it was so much better than his by several degrees.
The security was also tighter and less vulnerable to hackers and other breaches.
"Who are you?" he murmured, feeling very excited.