Chapter 568 - Ulterior Motives

Not everyone in Long Industries was onboard for Iris Long’s appointment as the company’s brand ambassador. Long Tengfei and the COO worked together to persuade the other executives and the board of directors about the idea.

The COO had a great impression of Iris when she first presented Orchidia Beauty at Long Industries, bringing the Bauer siblings, Amanpio Kileksky and Qiao Yu with her. He couldn’t forget the amazement he felt at her professionalism and shamelessness in negotiating. Orchidia Beauty was only at the beginning stages that time but look at it now. It had instantly become a hit brand selling out all of its products in seconds. Also according to business hearsay, it was apparently now a company worth millions in RMB and perhaps even in US dollars.

As a result, Long Tengfei didn’t need to ask him to support Iris for her appointment as brand ambassador to Long Industries. The COO gave his support on his own volition.

In the end, the two of them were able to persuade their fellow executives and the board of directors. Orchidia Beauty’s successful launch played a critical part in changing their minds, prompting them to vote in favour of her appointment as brand ambassador.

They might have been persuaded but it didn’t mean that they were 100% accepting of her. Iris Long’s past reputation in Long Industries and the clan weren’t so easily erased. It was deeply entrenched in the Long clan and Long Industries. After all, she was the Longs’ prodigal daughter. It also didn’t help that she distanced herself from them after waking up from coma.

Now that she was appointed as brand ambassador, it signaled to everyone that she was ready to finally involve herself with the company’s matters, and in extension, of the clan as well. Critical eyes watched her every move, waiting for her to make a mistake.

Iris could sense all of these as she smiled at everyone in the party. Only Dom accompanied her this time. Tang Yiyi was busy managing her other artists, reporting to Iris earlier that the rude business news anchor was suspended from the program. Iris didn’t care about the man, tossing the news as something unimportant.

As for Jin Liwei and Grandpa Lu, they wanted to attend the inauguration party but she discouraged them. Her darling was extremely busy at work right now. She didn’t want her trivial matters to distract him, especially if she could handle them by herself.

Grandpa Lu’s primary reason for wanting to attend the party was because he felt bored. Iris didn’t mind him attending, but she wanted the entire focus to be on her in the party. She was well aware that her reputation in Long Industries stank, making it difficult for her to buy shares and become involved in the company. She wanted to demonstrate to everyone that she could handle being the brand ambassador by herself without the powerful influence of either Jin Liwei or Grandpa Lu. Fortunately, Little Jun was able to divert the old man’s attention from the party. The great-grandfather and grandson pair were currently spending time together in the mansion’s indoor forest.

The inauguration party was very short and simple. Some speeches, official inauguration of Iris as brand ambassador, a press conference, and then dinner.

During dinner, Long Jufang approached Iris with a big smile on his face.

"Congratulations on so many things, Xiulan. Your successes since the year started, your awards, your hit songs, Orchidia Beauty, and now on becoming brand ambassador of our company!" He acted like they were close. His tone was fawning, as if he never criticized and insulted her in the past.

"Thank you, Granduncle Jufang."

Long Jufang tried several times to establish contact with her but she never responded. Now, however, she didn’t reject him even if his fake smile was making her skin crawl. Dom’s presence beside her made her feel a bit more comfortable.

The original Iris had never bothered with clan affairs. When she woke up from coma as the new Iris, she didn’t change this, thereby making her completely unaware of insider news within the clan. Not all information could be gathered by hacking, especially with an old family like the Longs.

Most of its members still retained their traditional practices, preferring to write things on paper and meeting each other in person instead of leaving electronic traces. In addition, the main family and the important branch families lived in ancient residences. Only a few had security cameras installed in the properties. All of these made it quite challenging for Iris to glean private information within the clan, especially when concerning the older generation. It was easier to snoop around the younger generation because they favoured the convenience of modern technology, carelessly leaving traces online which she could exploit.

This was why even though Iris didn’t give a whit about Long Jufang and had no interest in befriending him, she put on a smile and chatted with him. He wanted to act closer to her, so she would do the same. She knew that he had ulterior motives for wanting to be close to her. So did she. She needed him in order to glean insider information within the clan.

Thanks to her earlier acting classes, she was able to hide her distaste for Long Jufang with a smile on her face.

Moments later, they saw Long Hui and Long Meng heading towards them.

Long Jufang leaned towards her and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "Long Meng has been going around the clan trying to discredit and defame you. She’s your elder brother’s biggest supporter and hates it whenever you overshadow your brother. Don’t trust her."

It took great effort for Iris not to cringe at his proximity to her.

’I don’t trust her. I don’t trust you either,’ she thought to herself before replying to him, "I understand Granduncle. Thank you for your warning."

"You’re welcome, Xiulan. I’m on your side. You can count on me."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, nodding instead. Seeing Dom also fighting hard not to make faces of disgust, she gave him warning glare. He nodded and smoothed out his expression.

"Little Sister," Long Hui greeted when he arrived with Long Meng.

"Deputy CFO," she greeted back with a nod, not bothering to call him ’Elder Brother’.

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