Shocked silence.
One second. Two seconds. Three sec—
The audience and home viewers started squealing. The LinRis shippers went out of control. They jumped up from their seats and almost vomited their own throats out from screaming so hard.
"LinRis! LinRis! LinRis!"
Their crazed chanting was infectious to the point that the entire arena started chanting along with them. Since this was a live telecast, the cameras focused on both Jin Chonglin and Iris' expressions.
The smile on Jin Chonglin's face was mischievous and flirty. As for Iris, the cameras recorded her confused expression before she was able to smooth it out with a polite smile.
Seeing that the cameras were still focusing on her, she smiled a bit more deeply. She ignored the teasing from the people around her.
"Thank you," she mouthed at Jin Chonglin.
She decided not to think too much about his unexpected action. Perhaps it was part of his performance. Besides, the man was her future brother-in-law. He was family. What was wrong about giving flowers to family members?
Jin Chonglin gave her a thumbs up and another wink. Then he and his back-up dancers bowed and waved at the audience.
Back in the audience, the people around Iris continued to tease her. She just smiled politely at them, not taking their words seriously.
"Iris, tell us the truth. Is Jin Chonglin your fiancé?" a female idol asked behind her.
Ears pricked to their direction, eager to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"No, he's not," Iris answered. "I already mentioned before that my fiancé is not from showbiz. He's a businessman."
They gave her a knowing look. The skepticism was clear in their eyes. It was obvious that they didn't believe her.
"You seem very close to Jin Chonglin," another commented.
"He's my senior and we work under the same management company. We're colleagues, that's all."
They were about to pry more about her and Jin Chonglin, but JJ glared at them. They had no choice but to stop, retreat, and laugh awkwardly. There were only a few people who dared to butt heads against the infamous hothead JJ. Unfortunately, they weren't included in that short list of brave people.
"Hmph! Just a simple bouquet toss and they're already acting like they saw a live sex show. Bunch of gossipmongers!" JJ complained.
Iris only chuckled with DJ Song at JJ's tirade. Before sitting down, she glanced at her darling's direction. The smile on her face froze when she saw Jin Liwei's dark and menacing expression. She immediately tossed the bouquet of red roses carelessly on her seat before smiling at him sweetly.
His expression improved seeing her charming smile but only slightly. He gave an imperceptible nod before turning around and sitting like a cold statue.
Only Iris caught his nod. She instantly recognized it as a reassurance. A big sigh of relief was released from her lips, knowing from his nod of reassurance that he wasn't angry at her. After opening her eyes to her own possessiveness towards him, she now had a better understanding of jealousy. She didn't want him to feel jealous because she now knew how ugly and unpleasant it felt like from experiencing it firsthand.
As she sat down, the bouquet got squished beside her on the seat. A strong urge to strangle Jin Chonglin suddenly consumed her. Because of his action, her darling now had to suffer from jealousy. Her mood plummeted.
"Iris, the world is watching. Don't treat the bouquet so roughly or Jin Chonglin's army of fans will tear you apart," DJ Song whispered the warning to her.
"Hmph! If you don't like it, just throw it in the garbage. Better yet, just burn it," JJ muttered under his breath.
"You—" DJ Song gave an exasperated sigh at his friend. "Old J, Iris is a sensible person unlike you. As her music producer, you should be advising her to protect her image."
When JJ opened his mouth to argue, Iris quickly spoke to prevent them from arguing.
"Thank you for the reminder, DJ Song," Iris said and then fished out the squished bouquet and tossed it on her lap.
'What are you so afraid of? He's your brother,' he pep-talked himself to prevent himself from chickening out and running backstage with his tail between his legs.
As soon as he sat down, the hostile aura emanating from his brother almost choked him, making it hard to breathe. It wasn't only him who had to suffer. The people sitting around them were shivering. They were confused and frightened, wondering why Jin Liwei looked so pissed.
"Big Bro, I can explain," Jin Chonglin whispered after gathering much courage.
"Speak." Jin Liwei's cold voice could freeze hell.
Jin Chonglin cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice to prevent others from hearing. "Because of the bombshell you dropped earlier on the red carpet, everyone is now hunting for your fiancée tonight. On the internet, they removed sister-in-law's name from their hunting list, but I heard some staff backstage accurately guessing sister-in-law's identity. They're already suspecting that the two of you might be engaged. A few of them are even examining your body shape on the cameras right now and comparing it to the photo sister-in-law shared of you and your cats during her interview with Madam Feng Jiu."
The hostile aura abated a little. Jin Liwei gave a side glance at his brother and said coldly, "Continue."
"Because you're wearing a suit tonight, they can't really see an accurate outline of your body. Also, there aren't a lot of photos showing you in regular clothing available to the public. The ones floating on the internet are from way back when you were younger in your early twenties. You were slimmer back then. Many of them are unsure whether you're the same person or not as the one in the photo sister-in-law shared. However, there are a couple of them who think that it might be you," Jin Chonglin explained.
Jin Liwei subconsciously rubbed his LX bangle around his wrist hidden underneath his long sleeve. If he pulled his sleeve up, it would expose him. The photo his baby girl shared to Madam Feng Jiu clearly showed him wearing it.
A strong temptation to let others see the bangle almost overcame him before he was able to control himself. As much as he wanted to shout proudly to the entire world that Long Xiulan, a.k.a. Iris Long, was his woman and future wife, he didn't want to do it without her approval. He didn't want to give her any reason to leave him again.