Iris blinked, not recognizing the woman who spoke to her, nor the other two women accompanying her.
Meimei stepped out from behind Iris and exclaimed, "Long Jinjing! It's me, Yang Mei!"
"Oh, Yang Mei. You're here, too?"
After hearing the woman's name, the original Iris' memories flooded her mind. Only then did Iris recognize the woman to be Long Jinjing. She was Long Tengfei's illegitimate daughter with a former mistress. Meaning, she was Iris Long's older half-sister.
She didn't recognize her right away because for some reason, there was a bit of a repelling force surrounding the original Iris' memories about Long Jinjing. Then she understood why.
The original Iris absolutely hated Long Jinjing, feeling jealous of her especially when it came to their father's attention. She also felt threatened by her older half-sister because Long Jinjing was smart, lady-like, and admired by many. The Long elders might discriminate against her because of her illegitimacy, but the younger members of the family and the servants adored her.
They always compared the original Iris to Long Jinjing, expressing their disappointment that Iris was the legitimate daughter and not Long Jinjing who they thought would have been the perfect young lady of the Long family. The original Iris heard them saying that Long Jinjing was many times better than her.
All of these made the original Iris develop an inferiority complex towards Long Jinjing. It made her hate her older half-sister, treating her like a mortal enemy.
Iris couldn't sense any hostility from Long Jinjing directed at her at the moment. But even if she was hostile, Iris wouldn't be surprised based on the memories of the original Iris currently flooding her mind. Fortunately, Long Jinjing was acting very nice to her.
There was no reason for Iris to be rude, so she greeted her, "Big Sister Jinjing, lovely to see you."
Pretty and dainty. These were the first words that would pop in one's mind to describe Long Jinjing. She was a petite woman—a head shorter than Iris—and looked fragile. She was the kind of woman who at first glance would make most people want to protect her. Although she didn't have Iris' stunning beauty, Long Jinjing was attractive in a pretty way.
"How have you been, Little Sister Xiulan?" she asked. Her voice was surprisingly deep and firm in contrast to her petite and fragile appearance. "I watched the Harmony Music Awards. Your performance was amazing. Also congratulations on your many award wins, especially on the special award."
"Thank you, Big Sister Jinjing," Iris replied politely.
Then they made small talk. Long Jinjing mentioned that she would be graduating in about a couple of months and would start working at a small branch division of Long Industries. Then she suddenly looked worried after realizing what she just said. It was as if she was afraid that Iris would think that she was bragging. When Iris didn't react negatively, she looked visibly relieved.
Then one of her companions began tugging her arm, silently asking Long Jinjing to introduce her to Iris. The two groups began formal introductions. Long Jinjing and Meimei were already acquainted with each other. They met several times at Long family reunion dinners or when Long Jinjing visited Long Tengfei at the ancestral residence by herself. The two were rather friendly to each other.
One of Long Jinjing's friends was almost trembling in excitement as she greeted Iris. She looked very star-struck and couldn't make herself call Iris as Xiulan.
"Uhm…can I…I mean, please give me your autograph!"
"Of course," Iris replied.
Iris signed an autograph for Long Jinjing's friend and also posed together for a photo with her. In contrast, the other friend accompanying them kept her distance. Her name was Chen Fei. She was polite and answered when asked but didn't initiate any of the conversations.
Iris didn't mind the slightly hostile attitude of Chen Fei towards her. It was understandable. In fact, Iris even admired her for still acting civil despite their past feuds.
Finally, the two groups said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways.
"Boss, your sister seems nice," Dom commented once they were inside the executive van.
"Yeah, Long Jinjing is nice and kind. She's also very humble. Totally unlike most of the Longs," Meimei said. Then she realized what she just said and added in a hurry, "Of course, Xiulan is also very nice, kind and humble. The two of you are the best among the Longs. Even Uncle Tengfei and Big Brother Hui can be snooty sometimes." Then she paused when she thought about something. "Well, actually, sometimes you're not humble at all, Xiulan. But in a nice, non-snooty way! Perhaps it's because you're such a straightforward person that you never deny or devalue any of your achievements when others praise you. It's not bragging. It's more like you're confident of your own abilities and achievements."
"Of course! That's because boss is the best!" Dom declared.
Jiang Ying Yue nodded in agreement.
"It's weird because I heard that the two of you are not in good terms," Meimei said. "I was afraid that you'll get into a fight with her earlier, but you two acted really friendly to each other. What's up with that? Oh. Is it like when you used to bully my Auntie Jiahui before? Did you bully Long Jinjing too?"
Iris nodded.
"Wow. You were such a b*tch, Xiulan," Meimei said. "I'm glad I didn't meet you back then or I would most likely hate you."
Meimei rolled her eyes. "Duh. That's what I said."
"That Chen Fei has some ill feelings against you, Xiulan," Jiang Ying Yue observed.
"Really?" Both Dom and Meimei didn't notice.
While the three chattered about their encounter with Long Jinjing's group, Iris inwardly prodded some of the original Iris' memories. She sank into deep thought because she discovered that on some of the memories regarding specific people like Long Jinjing, emotions that weren't hers began bubbling inside her.
Her eyes darkened with suspicion at this implication.