Long Tengfei was the first one to recover. He cleared his throat and nodded stiffly.
"CEO Jin, welcome to our home," he said. "Thank you for coming today with my daughter to join us for dinner."
"Father-in-law, please call me Liwei. I already told you before that there's no need to be so formal between us," Jin Liwei said smoothly.
Iris tugged at his arm. "Liwei, why are you calling my father 'Father-in-law'? I don't think that's right."
"Hm? We're boyfriend and girlfriend. It's normal for a boyfriend to call his girlfriend's family like this. So don't think too much about the literal meaning. Okay, baby?"
She tilted her head to the side. "Really? This is normal?"
"Of course, baby. It's very normal," Jin Liwei told her seriously.
"Oh. Okay, then."
Hearing their conversation, the people around them were shouting in their minds, 'No, it's not! Young Miss, your boyfriend is acting too forward! You're not married yet! Don't believe him!' However, they didn't have the courage to say their thoughts out loud because the boyfriend in question was Jin Liwei. Even their Master Long Tengfei was respectful to him as fellow businessmen.
Long Tengfei's emotions at the moment were rather complicated. On one hand, he personally approved of Jin Liwei. He thought that his daughter couldn't ask for anyone better for a boyfriend (and perhaps later as a husband). If the two really married, his daughter would become the next Madam of Jin Corporation, automatically placing her at the top of the hierarchy in their social circles. This was already more than he could hope for when it came to this daughter of his.
Long Tengfei had the strongest urge to tell Jin Liwei off from his daughter and maybe even throw a punch or two at his cold, handsome face. He never thought that he would experience this kind of situation with his daughter Xiulan—that of a father feeling threatened by a wild man taking his precious daughter away.
Noticing her husband's discomfort, Yang Jiahui patted his lower back. The atmosphere was very awkward, so she hurriedly thought of a way to lighten it. Her eyes landed on the toddler laying his little head on Jin Liwei's shoulder.
"Oh my! What a cute baby!" she exclaimed.
Both Iris and Jin Liwei's expressions softened, though it was hard to notice the difference on the latter's expression if one didn't know him enough.
"Yes, he's cute. His name is Little Jun," Iris replied. Then she gave a meaningful look at the still frozen and stupefied Long Hui. She tried several times to silently give him the chance to introduce his own son himself, but Long Hui was still staring like a stupid idiot at Jin Liwei. 'How useless,' she thought, pursing her lips.
She gently tapped the toddler. "Little Jun, come and meet your Grandpa and Grandma."
Little Jun immediately straightened, but wrapped his little arms tightly around Jin Liwei's neck. He looked over at Long Tengfei and Yang Jiahui warily, pressing his little body closer to Jin Liwei. Although he seemed to recognize his father, Long Hui was standing too far away that he wasn't sure whether it was really his Dada. Besides, he felt safer with his Papa and Mama.
"Oh! So his name is Little Jun? How adorable!" Yang Jiahui said.
"Little Jun, say hello to Grandpa and Grandma," Iris said.
"Mama!"
Iris chuckled. "Good job, Little Jun."
Then Little Jun looked at Jin Liwei. "Papa?"
"En. Good job," Jin Liwei said.
Little Jun giggled and clapped his little hands.
Everyone around them, excluding Dom and Meimei, were shocked. Long Tengfei looked confused, while Yang Jiahui covered her open mouth with her hand. Suddenly they heard Long Hui's voice. He finally regained sense from his frozen state.
"What Papa?!" he roared. "Why is my son calling you Papa?! You're not his Papa! I am!"
The servants standing close by, especially the maids, all gasped when they heard their Young Master's words.
Long Hui marched angrily towards Iris and Jin Liwei. He intended to snatch Little Jun away from Jin Liwei's arms, but when Little Jun saw his angry face, he got scared and started wailing. Long Hui immediately stopped in his tracks, unsure of what to do. He turned to Iris and gave her a 'do something' look.
She started rocking him. "You're okay, Little Jun. Don't be scared anymore. That's your Daddy. See? Look."
Little Jun buried his crying face against Iris' neck, refusing to open his eyes and look at anyone. Dom and Meimei hurried over and tried their best to coax the child out of his fright.
Long Hui felt guilty and anxious that he made his son cry. He felt a painful pinch within his chest seeing his own son refusing to look at him. Then he turned to Jin Liwei with an accusing expression.
At first, Long Hui felt thoroughly shocked that his little sister introduced the President-CEO of Jin Corporation as her boyfriend. He never expected this kind of development, but the evidence was in front of him. As the current top businessman (except when the legendary business genius Lu Jianhong was in the country), Jin Liwei was someone Long Hui admired and wanted to be like.
However, when he heard his own beloved son refer to Jin Liwei as "Papa", he just couldn't accept it. His son was his son! If Jin Liwei wanted a son, he should make his own!
Jin Liwei noticed that Long Hui was glaring at him. He frowned, not liking it.
As everyone focused on comforting Little Jun, the two grown men who the child referred to as his "Papa" and "Dada" looked like they were going to fight at any second.