Even though Iris Long had an incredible winning streak at the music and film awards, she didn't take a break from work. On the contrary, she worked even harder after the Diamond Guild Film Awards. Interviews, guest appearances, performances, endorsement events, plus acting workshops and a whole slew of other things. Iris worked almost nonstop.
This was because she needed to take a break soon to prepare for the upcoming international business conference. Jin Liwei was extremely busy at work as well. He would also be participating in the business conference for Jin Corporation.
Both of them were extremely busy. There were days when they didn't see each other at all and nights when they didn't sleep together. These were the times when Iris had job commitments in other parts of the country.
Similarly, Jin Liwei sometimes had to sleep at Jin Corporation to finish some work. There were also times when he needed to attend business meetings out-of-town or even abroad for a few days.
They missed each other terribly during these times. There was a time when they didn't see each other for more than three days.
Surprisingly, it was Iris who couldn't bear it. She was at the penthouse, exhausted from her long day, but she couldn't sleep no matter how much she tried. She longed for Jin Liwei. So she flew to Singapore that same night using one of Jin Liwei's private jets just so they could be together for a few hours.
They were too exhausted to do anything other than cuddle and sleep together. Early the next morning, Iris almost didn't want to return home and leave him. She hugged his waist and buried her face against his chest.
"Love, I'll come home in two days. Although we'll still be too busy, at least we can sleep on the same bed every night." He kissed the top of her head. "Or if you want, you can cancel your schedule for today to stay here with me. Or maybe, I can cancel my meeting and come home with you. Which do you prefer?"
She was tempted, but she shook her head and sighed. "It's okay. I don't want either of us holding each other back when it comes to our work. Besides, this is only temporary. I'll take a break from my showbiz work soon for the international business conference. We could spend some quality time together again during our free time when we're not at the conference. I'll fly home in an hour. But give me two minutes…no, five minutes. I still want to cuddle with you."
He chuckled softly and smiled lovingly at his baby girl. He pulled her into his arms and embraced her more tightly.
It was very difficult, but they were able to survive these challenging times that they had to spend apart.
###
Dragon Palace Home #10.
Finally, Iris' took her much-awaited break from her busy showbiz schedule. She already started her intensive preparations with Professor Kalisha Schwarz, Professor Hisakawa Akio, and of course with Grandpa Lu as well.
During her free time in-between her preparations, she sneaked in some time for her three companies. In addition to this, she also worked on the theme song for an upcoming TV drama.
At the moment, she and Jin Liwei were at home. It was a weekend. They were still busy, but not as much compared to their insane schedules from before.
They were currently inside Iris' home music studio that Jin Liwei built for her. His expression was grim while she called someone on the phone.
"Hello? What's up?" a familiar male voice answered, sounding distracted.
"Brother Chonglin, where are you? Why aren't you here yet?" Iris asked, feeling a little annoyed. She glanced at her darling who looked more annoyed than her.
Jin Liwei's expression darkened. He extended his hand, gesturing for Iris to give him the phone. A big scowl was on his face. She gestured back at him to give her a few moments.
"Brother Chonglin, have you forgotten that we have an appointment to meet each other today? Didn't you agree that you'll sing the duet with me?"
"Oh shit! Our meeting is today?! Fuck! Hold on. I'll go get ready quickly!"
Iris could hear hurried, rustling sounds on the phone. Curious, she asked him, "What were you doing? Why did you forget about our meeting?"
"Ugh. Don't ask…"
Jin Liwei snatched the phone from her, and then barked at the phone, "Answer her."
"Big Bro!" Suddenly, they heard loud crashing sounds. "Ouch! Fuck! My toe!"
Iris and Jin Liwei, the merciless couple, didn't react at all when they heard Jin Chonglin get hurt. It was his fault anyway. Why did he have to be so careless? They just waited (a little impatiently) for him to answer their question.
Moments later, Jin Chonglin returned to the line. "Fine! I was playing a computer game, okay? This new game is just too damn addicting! It's called 'Supreme Ascension' and many celebrities are starting to get hooked into it. So don't blame me for being late. Blame this fucking game, okay?!"
The corner of Jin Liwei's lips also tugged upwards. However, he maintained the stern expression on his face. He also hugged his baby girl back with one arm while his other hand held the phone on loudspeaker.
"Go ahead and play more of that game since you like it so much. Your meeting with Xiulan can wait another day," Jin Liwei told him.
He was actually quite sincere and serious. His words were meant to be understood literally, but Jin Chonglin thought that he was angry and using reverse psychology on him.
"Big Bro! I'm sorry, okay? I'm not usually this unprofessional! It's this game's fault! I'm coming in half an hour. I promise! Wait for me a bit more!"
Then the call ended.
Iris still looked delighted. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Jin Liwei. "Darling, don't be too hard on your brother. He's a great customer for my gaming company. And did you hear about him saying that lots of celebrities are getting hooked on the game?"
"En." He was also pleased to her that "Supreme Ascension" was getting widely popular among gamers. Then he thought of something. "Let's have my brother write about it on his blog. It'll be a great advertisement for your game."
She tilted her head to the side. "Will he do that? I don't want to impose. Planet Monkey isn't at a stable state yet that we can afford to pay for endorsers, especially a big celebrity like Brother Chonglin."
"Love, he's your future brother-in-law. He should do this much for family. I told you before, use him in whatever way you need. Hmm. Don't worry. I'll be the one to tell him to write something about your game on his blog. He won't dare say no to me."
"Darling, you're so evil. I love it." Then she blinked her eyes up at him. "I love you," she whispered.
He smiled, pleased. Then he dipped his head and kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you more."
Poor Jin Chonglin. He hadn't even arrived yet but he was already doomed to be exploited by the opportunistic couple who was currently being lovey-dovey with each other.
About forty minutes later, Jin Chonglin finally arrived at the mansion. The butler led him to the music studio where Iris was singing a song to Jin Liwei while playing the keyboard. Before he could even greet them, Jin Liwei swept his frosty eyes at him.
"You're very late," Jin Liwei told him in a cold voice.
Jin Chonglin could only purse his lips and mumble "sorry".
Iris greeted him more warmly than his own brother. Then they started discussing about the love song they planned on singing together for the TV drama. At the moment, Iris opted on not informing the TV drama's production team that she was going to work with Jin Chonglin. They would surely go crazy once they learned about it. She didn't want it leaked to the public yet. She wanted it to be completely secret for now.
After the initial discussion, they tried singing it together. Nothing too formal. They just wanted to test out how they sounded together.
While they were working, Jin Liwei stayed in the music studio with them. His laptop and some documents were in front of him, as he finished up some of his work.
"Be good and do what Xiulan tells you." Jin Liwei, of course, sided with his baby girl.