The temperature within the dining hall immediately plummeted. Yang Jiahui and Meimei wanted to defend Iris but stopped themselves. If there was one person in the residence that they didn't want to offend, it would be Long Hui. He was, after all, the Long family's legitimate heir. If something ever happened to Long Tengfei, Long Hui would immediately take over as the head of the family and the business.
Iris was, of course, also a legitimate heiress but she wasn't expected to succeed Long Industries. The company was the family's lifeblood and the reason why the Longs were enjoying their current status as a prominent business family.
To all of the Longs, Long Hui was their crown prince and one of the most important figures in the family, second only to Long Tengfei himself. Compared to him, Iris' importance in the family was negligible except for the legitimacy of her birth, automatically labeling her as an heiress. As long as she wasn't officially disowned, she would inherit a large share whether the rest of the family liked it or not. And Long Tengfei had no intention of disowning any of his children, either legitimate or illegitimate. In short, her role was only that of a decorative princess who held no authority over the family.
"Son, your sister has greeted you properly," Long Tengfei's strict voice cut through the tense atmosphere. "Is that how you welcome her after not seeing her for so long?"
"My apologies. I was rude." Long Hui slightly bowed his head to Long Tengfei's direction before turning back to Iris. "Good to see you too, Little Sister."
Iris nodded, looking unruffled despite the tense atmosphere.
They ate a sumptuous meal of traditional Chinese cuisine. The aunt and niece continued to chat with Iris while eating. The father and son, on the other hand, ate in relative silence. They weren't the talkative type of people to begin with.
Perhaps due to the slight tension in the air, the aunt and niece did their best in maintaining the lighthearted conversation.
After dinner, they all headed to a living area connected to a veranda overlooking one of the beautiful gardens of the inner courtyard. It was a great place to relax while watching the moon and the stars in the night sky.
The five seated themselves and were served a light blend of hot osmanthus tea [1]. The women continued to chat with each other, while the two men sipped their tea, only speaking briefly when spoken to.
Moments later, a maid delivered a stack of Iris' album "Rebirth". There were 29 copies in CD format.
Long Tengfei coughed and then gave the maid a stern look. "I didn't say to bring them all out."
The maid blinked, confused. "Master, I didn't bring everything out. These are only a third of the CDs. There are still more of the DVDs, the Blu-rays―"
"Alright, enough!"
Long Tengfei's expression was cold, but Yang Jiahui noticed the tip of her husband's ears turning red. She laughed quietly to herself, not wanting to embarrass her husband in front of his daughter.
"Xiulan…my daughter, you don't have to sign all of them. You can sign just one…maybe two or three…or if it's not too tiring, sign ten of them. It's up to you, of course."
"It's fine, Father. I'll sign all of them."
"Good, good." Long Tengfei nodded, keeping his expression stoic when inside he was delighted.
"Ah! Wait, Xiulan! Let me grab my copy from my room first!" Meimei exclaimed before dashing off.
The maid handed a black marker to Iris. She wrote "Father" on the first one before signing it and then gave it to Long Tengfei. This time, he couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face.
Seeing this, Yang Jiahui also grabbed one of the CDs and handed it to Iris, smiling shyly.
Iris understood and signed "Aunt Jiahui".
"Thank you, Xiulan."
Iris smiled and continued signing the rest of the CDs.
Long Hui watched everything in silence, an indifferent expression on his face, sipping his tea.
Meimei finally returned and shoved her copy to Iris. Iris wrote "Meimei" and then signed it.
"Yay!" Meimei hugged the CD to her chest. "Wow. This feels like you're really a celebrity."
"I am a celebrity."
Meimei giggled. "I know." Then she took out her phone and sat beside Iris, taking a selfie of the two of them. "Now I have proof that I met a celebrity today."
Iris chuckled. She almost finished signing everything. She was about to reach for the last CD when someone beat her to it.
Long Hui grabbed the last copy, studying the CD carefully from the front to the back. Everyone looked at him, wondering what he was up to.
Meimei was displeased. Was he planning on provoking Xiulan again? She liked Xiulan and already considered her as her friend. Meimei was about to open her mouth and say something to Long Hui but Yang Jiahui hurriedly stopped her niece with a look. Meimei pouted but obeyed.
"Is something the matter, Elder Brother?" Iris asked in a calm tone.
"Long Hui," he said, handing the CD to her.
Iris didn't understand.
He sighed, looking like an adult who was being forced to explain something to a child who couldn't understand the meaning of his words.
"What I mean is give me an autograph. Write my name 'Long Hui' because I'm going to keep this CD. Now do you understand?"
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Footnotes:
[1] Osmanthus is a yellow-gold blossom grown in Southern China. The dried flowers can be steeped into pure tea or as part of an herbal tea blend with other teas. Osmanthus is also a popular ingredient used in Chinese desserts because of its uniquely sweet, buttery taste and fragrance.
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