Light snow started to coat the city, as December welcomed another cold winter season. Malls, shops, restaurants and other commercial places began to have festive Christmas decorations. Shoppers swarmed the malls in droves, attracted by the Christmas-themed sales and limited edition products.
Both Iris and Jin Liwei didn't celebrate Christmas. In her past life as Evelina, Christmas was celebrated sometime in January. And even then, it wasn't a joyous family-oriented occasion. Her mother used it as an opportunity to review the organization's yearly performance.
Even now as Iris, she didn't think much of Christmas. It wasn't a public holiday in the country, so she planned on working as usual. JJ and the members of Pandemonium wanted to release the single next month, so she needed to whip them harder to finish it in time.
In addition to this, she also continued to study with Professor Kalisha Schwarz and Professor Hisakawa Akio who returned to the country just for her. Not to mention her business lessons with Grandpa Lu.
She was also preparing for the launch of her gaming company, Planet Monkey, with Hou Liang sometime next year. And also to finish preparations for when the Bauer siblings arrived from Germany to start working on her other company, Orchidia Beauty.
In short, she was very busy this December.
However, Dom begged her and Jin Liwei to decorate both the mansion and the penthouse for Christmas. She agreed, feeling a bit guilty of not allowing him to go home to the Philippines to celebrate Christmas and New Year with his family. She needed him because it was a very busy month.
Although Dom never complained, she knew that he must be feeling disappointed and missing his family. So she made a win-win decision for both of them.
"Dom, why don't you bring over your family here instead? You can celebrate Christmas and New Year here together."
For the first time ever, Dom was speechless. After the initial shock, he burst into tears. He continuously thanked Iris while sobbing in happiness.
Dom temporarily moved out of the mansion to spend time with his family at the penthouse. Of course, he travelled back to the mansion every morning to continue his work as Iris' assistant.
The ones who arrived were his mother (the undisputed boss of the family), father, older sister and her husband and their two children, his other older sister and younger sister. It seemed that his aunts, uncles and numerous cousins also wanted to go but he and his mother shot them down because they didn't want to be seen as taking advantage of Iris and Jin Liwei's hospitality.
His mother told them that if they wanted to go, they should buy their own plane tickets and book their own hotel rooms. When his mother spoke, it was the end of discussion. Nobody dared to face against this terrifying mother dragon.
The family visited the mansion the next day to have dinner with Iris and Jin Liwei. They all thanked them, especially Iris, for being good to Dom and for being so generous to them. They also brought a lot of souvenirs from the Philippines.
Afterwards, they visited the main branch of the Cao family. The Chua family was the Filipino branch of the Caos. Dom's father was a distant cousin to Cao Guang, Long Tengfei's assistant.
Despite all the excitement with the arrival of Dom's family, Iris continued to work hard. Dom's twenty two-year old younger sister named Clover accompanied Dom and Iris while they worked. Clover's exuberant personality was very similar to her brother. She also started calling Iris boss and Jin Liwei sir boss. The siblings both fangirled over Iris and Jin Liwei.
24th of December.
Even though Iris and Jin Liwei wouldn't normally celebrate Christmas, they ordered a Christmas Eve dinner at the mansion for the Chua family. Little Jun, Jiang Ying Yue, Yi Mei and all the household staff from the penthouse came over to the mansion to celebrate with them. Meimei also came, immediately getting along with Dom's younger sister. The twins Dom and Meimei became triplets with the addition of Clover.
Iris invited her big brother Lu Zihao, but he declined saying that he was busy. She was disappointed but didn't force him to come.
Before dinner, Dom's father connected a home karaoke system they brought from the Philippines. Iris was very entertained by the family because they all sang with gusto. Even when their singing voices weren't all that pleasing to the ears, it was still fun watching them because of their enthusiasm. They seemed happy all the time.
"Boss, please sing. We want to hear you sing live," Clover begged Iris. She spoke in English so that her family members could understand.
The only ones in their family who were proficient in Mandarin were Dom, Clover and their father. That was why both Iris and Jin Liwei also spoke English to communicate with them.
"Alright."
Iris wasn't shy. She took the mic and then started singing a classic song in English. Jin Liwei whipped out his phone and started recording his baby girl on video.
When everyone heard the opening tune, all the Chuas cheered. They stood up and started sway-dancing to the music.
"Left a good job in the city
Workin' for the man ev'ry night and day…"
The beat started to change. The Chuas' booties also started shaking and their bodies shimmying. Meimei joined them, copying their dance movies. Even Little Jun started bouncing in delight as he danced with her new playmates, Dom's 10-year old niece and 2-year old nephew.
"Big wheel keep on turnin'
Proud Mary keep on burnin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river…"
Everyone gave a loud applause when the song ended. Iris gave her small private audience a fancy curtsy bow.
"The best version of 'Proud Mary' I've ever heard in my life!" Dom's father declared, giving two thumbs up to Iris.
"Thank you, Uncle Domingo," she replied.
After their fun karaoke session, they finally ate a hearty Christmas Eve dinner. It was in buffet style, so everyone enjoyed the food at the same time, including the penthouse and the mansion's household staff.
Everything was delicious. Jin Liwei and Meimei ate more than usual, liking the taste of authentic Filipino food. Iris had to watch her figure as a celebrity, so she only ate the same amount as usual.
Jin Liwei's butler and other household staff couldn't believe how much the mansion had changed ever since Iris came to live with their master. It was warmer and felt more like a place where a family lived. They also felt more appreciated as employees. Like right now, they never would've imagined that they would be eating and chatting with their master and mistress and their guests like equals.
During dinner, Iris asked about Dom's sisters. The youngest, Clover, was going to graduate with a Business Administration degree in a few months.
"Do you already know where you're going to work after you graduate?" Iris asked Clover.
"Not yet. I'm eyeing a few companies in the Philippines but the competition among new graduates is fierce. Only a small number of us will get hired."
Clover's eyes lit up. "Oh! I would love to work here! That's why I did my best to learn Mandarin."
"Good. Come work for me then, if you want. I plan on creating a beauty company in the near future. You can help me set it up," Iris told her.
"YES!"