The next day, Iris Long's name and photos of her in a fiery red dress were all over the newspapers, TV and several websites. For now, they still didn't know much about her. All they knew was that she was a popular musician in China.
Most of the music critics praised her interpretation of the two pieces she performed last night. There were a couple who didn't like her playing, but these particular critics were anti-fans of Maestro De Luca in the first place. Because Iris performed at the maestro's concert, they were already biased against her. Overall, people raved about her performances, even going as far as to call her a rising star in the world of classical music.
In addition to her prowess on the piano, everyone was also talking about her red dress. Her photos wearing it topped several best-dressed lists. Many fashionistas, celebrities and socialites wanted to know who designed it, hoping that they could also wear the same dress.
Then an art collector posted a photo of a painting on his blog. It was an oil painting of a fierce woman rising from the mouth of a volcano, lava covering her body. The image looked extremely similar to Iris' red dress. The painting was titled "Forged in Fire" by the artist Ashandra Knightson.
Some people, especially Ashandra's fans, started accusing Iris of plagiarism. But before the situation escalated, the art collector made another post.
"Ash and I are good friends," the art collector wrote on his blog. "So I called her and spoke to her about this issue. To my surprise, Ash said that she was the one who designed the dress based on her own painting. Some of you may not know but Ash also dabbles in fashion design. She also told me that she and the pianist Iris Long are friends. I've also been tasked by Ash to let everyone know that she made the fiery red dress exclusively for her friend. She won't make the same dress for other people. That's all. So stop attacking my friend's friend. Iris Long didn't plagiarize."
The art collector's blog posts quickly went viral. Now people became even more curious about Iris Long.
Who was this young woman that she was friends with the artist Ashandra Knightson? Not only that, she was also seen with a group of impressive people during the concert.
After watching her piano performance, nobody doubted her connection to Maestro De Luca who valued talent and potential in young classical musicians.
But why did she also seem to be close to Enrique Valdez? The legendary hitmaker wasn't a classical musician. Tabloids claimed that according to "insiders", Iris Long was the hitmaker's latest lover. He never married but was known to have a string of lovers. Each fling never lasted for more than a few months.
It was just the nature of the media. A relationship with the famous hitmaker Enrique Valdez sounded more exciting, more scandalous especially in the West. Jin Liwei and Iris' relationship would only become big news if it was revealed in China.
Jin Liwei already took steps to control the flow of information so that the news about him and Iris wouldn't reach China. Although he wanted to shout out their relationship to the whole world, he knew that doing so would only make it harder for her to prove herself in her career. They would naturally reveal their relationship to everyone in the right time.
Several European media outlets reached out to her, inviting her for interviews. However, she declined all of them. She didn't have time for interviews. She had a more important matter she needed to do at the moment.
The siblings Alona and Alric Bauer met with Iris in the hotel suite's living room. Alona was the one who sold the skincare products to Iris at the street market a few days ago. Her brother, Alric, was a gangling man with hair as blonde as his sister.
Iris noticed that both the siblings' skin looked smooth and clear, making them look younger than their actual age. They were older than Jin Liwei, but they looked about the same age as Iris.
Grandpa Lu and Jin Liwei observed the meeting but didn't interfere. Iris also didn't plan on asking for their opinions. She knew that Grandpa Lu was treating this as a test on how she would apply the things she learned from him.
"Are you interested in mass producing your products and selling it to a wider consumer market?" she asked.
Alona was still dazed, especially after recognizing Iris on the news. Who could've expected that her previous customer would become so popular after only a few days?
Since his sister wasn't speaking, Alric had no choice but to answer the question himself. He had a mumbling voice, making it difficult for most people to understand him. Fortunately, Iris had great ears so she understood what he was saying.
"I see. I'm not surprised. Well, I like your products. However, I have some issues with them." Iris told him about the short shelf life and some of the products not working well on her skin. "Can you improve the formula?"
"Of course," he said.
Then he talked about having several ideas on how to improve the issues she mentioned plus other issues he noticed himself. It became apparent that he was the true brain behind the skincare products.
He told Iris he needed several specific equipment that didn't exist yet. He knew how they would work, but didn't know how to build them. He also already developed some new compounds all made from natural ingredients that may improve the products, but he needed an expert's opinion to verify whether he was on the right track or not.
'Amanpio can build the equipment. And I'm sure Theresa can verify the compounds easily,' Iris thought.
Making a decision, she looked at Alric straight in the eyes. "I'll provide you with whatever you need. Money, equipment, even experts…no problem. I want to build a company with your products. I'll also help you patent whatever technology you develop under your name, but you'll have to sign an exclusive license to my company for a number of agreed years. As the developer of the products, you're entitled to shares but of course, I'll still be the major share holder and the boss since I'll be financing everything."
Alric stared at her for a long time. She waited patiently, looking very calm when she was actually feeling nervous inside.
"You'll let me do what I want in terms of product development?"
"Yes."
"Wait!" Alona finally regained her senses. She pulled her brother. "Let's talk about the terms first."
"No need," he said. "Don't care about shares...just want to have the freedom and resources to develop my products...see them used by other people. As long as she treats us right, no complaints."
"But I want shares! I mean, we want shares!" Alona declared.
"No problem," Iris reassured her. "Do we have a deal then?"
"Yes."
After shaking hands with the siblings, Iris made plans with them.
"I'll be leaving soon, but I'll send some representatives to perform due diligence here with you. Hopefully we can sign a contract after that. Then you'll have to move to China. We'll build the company there."
Alric shrugged, not really caring about the location. His sister, Alona, was excited as she had never experienced riding a plane or leaving Europe before.
"It will take some time for your papers to be approved, but I'll start making preparations in China so that everything is ready when you come."
"I know that it's still too early but do we have a name for our company?" Alona asked. "My brother and I suck at naming so we just labelled our products 'Amazing Homemade Lotion' or 'Amazing Homemade Toner', and so on and so forth."
"Hmm…" Iris tilted her head to the side, thinking. Then her eyes lit up. "Our company will be called…Orchidia Beauty."