Chapter 1668: Tonight with Girl Abante (Part II)

Iris Long: "I would like to give credit to my sister, Long Jinjing, who’s the Chief Financial Officer of Orchidia, and our friend, Chen Fei, who’s the Chief Operating Officer. I recruited both of them even before setting up Orchidia Beauty. They’ve been there since the start. I’m able to grow Orchidia and expand internationally because the three of us have a great partnership."

Girl Abante: "By Chen Fei, do you mean your brother-in-law, superstar Jin Chonglin’s fiancée?"

Iris: "Yes."

Girl gestured for Iris to continue elaborating.

Iris: "I consider the three of us women as the three pillars of Orchidia. Without any one of us, I don’t think that we’ll have the Orchidia that we have today. Each of us handles different responsibilities, and we have our own style of doing things. We combine our own expertise and balance each other out. I, for one, am a risk-taker. Whenever I have any ideas, I want to act on them immediately. I dislike wasting time, especially when I know that my idea is the first of its kind. I would want to do it as soon as possible to prevent others from dominating the market first. Of course, as a businesswoman, I don’t jump into something without careful deliberation and thorough preparation. Chen Fei, on the other hand, is more orthodox. She prefers to be slow and steady."

Girl: "Since you and Chen Fei have very different styles, don’t you clash a lot?"

Iris chuckled. "Of course, we do. A lot, actually."

Girl: "Then how does that work? Who wins in the end?"

Iris: "There’s no winning or losing between the two of us. We’re all partners in making Orchidia successful. She’s as much invested in the company’s success as I am. If compromise is not possible, then we just have to make the decision on whose plan is the best for Orchidia. It’s that simple. Also, the good thing about Chen Fei and me is that we’re able to separate business from personal. Even if we argue about our business stances, we don’t let that affect our personal relationship."

Girl: "That’s good. I understand that you’re friends even before you became business colleagues?"

Iris: "Not really."

Girl: "What do you mean?"

Iris: "Chen Fei was my sister Long Jinjing’s best friend. Due to my own ignorance before, I was a spoiled brat and used to oppress my sister a lot back then. As my sister’s best friend, of course, Chen Fei would defend her. She would fight me, and I would fight back. It’s not far-fetched to say that we were enemies back then."

Girl: "Really?"

Iris nodded.

Girl: "Wow! Then how did you become friends and eventually business colleagues?"

Iris: "I grew up and matured a lot, especially after experiencing a life-and-death situation. When I decided to create Orchidia Beauty, I knew that I needed competent people. I learned that my sister, Long Jinjing, and her best friend, Chen Fei, were recent business school graduates back then. My sister was a Finance Major while Chen Fei was a Marketing Major. Both of them had excellent grades. They didn’t have any working experience in society yet, so I figured I should swoop in before anyone else. So I recruited them right from the start. Of course, they had their own reservations. But whenever I want to, I can be very persuasive. In the end, they joined me. And the rest is history."

Girl: "Amazing. I want to ask more about your sister, Long Jinjing. She’s the CFO, right? How’s your working relationship with her? And how does it affect your personal relationship with your sister?"

Iris: "Yes, she’s the CFO. I heard that our employees call her Orchidia’s treasure-hoarding dragon. It’s because she holds the money. Even I need to get her approval if I want funding for any projects that I want to implement. So she’s pretty powerful and high-up. She’s excellent at what she does and one of the biggest reasons why our company doesn’t experience any major financial issues like other new companies. As for our personal relationship, we’re closer now than ever before, especially after both of us became mothers. Like me, she gave birth to twins. Our children are more like siblings than cousins. In fact, she’s the one who’s taking care of my children right now. They’re at her house. I know that I can trust her with my children."

Girl: "Treasure-hoarding dragon? That’s the first time I heard that term. I’m having fun learning about you, your sister Long Jinjing, and Jin Chonglin’s fiancée Chen Fei."

Iris: "I’m also having fun speaking about them. They’re really instrumental to Orchidia."

Girl: "Where do you see Orchidia in the next five years?"

Without any hesitation, Iris answered, "The biggest and most profitable privately-owned retail company in Asia."

Before Girl could ask another question, Iris continued, "And in the next ten years or so, I want to expand that to the rest of the world."

Girl Abante was too stunned to speak. She heard that Iris Long was a daring and straightforward person, but her declaration of her vision for her own company was too audacious!

A couple of seconds later, however, she recovered.

This was it! She wanted this kind of boldness for the ratings!

Girl: "And how do you plan to accomplish that?"

Iris gave her a meaningful smile. "That’s confidential information. We don’t want our competitors knowing our game plan now, do we?"

Girl chuckled. "Of course, of course." Then she shifted tracks. "You mentioned that you want Orchidia to become the biggest and most profitable privately-owned retail company in Asia in five years. I seem to detect a keyword. ’Privately-owned’. Does that mean that you don’t have any plans for Orchidia to go public?"

Iris: "Not in the next ten to twenty years. I prefer to keep all my companies privately owned for now. I prefer it that way."

Girl: "But doesn’t that limit the growth of the company in the long run?"

Iris: "Not necessarily. I believe in the way I run my businesses. They won’t lag behind publicly traded companies. And I’ll have more control to keep my companies’ original missions, visions, and values."

Girl: "Are you aiming to make your companies bigger than your husband’s Jin Corporation?"

Once again, Iris replied without any hesitation. "Of course."

Girl Abante looked behind the cameras. "What do you say, CEO Liam Jin?"

Another camera zoomed in on Jin Liwei standing. There was a half-smile on his face. The pride in his eyes was clear as day.

"I’m looking forward to when my wife’s companies surpass Jin Corporation," he said.

Iris beamed at him.

Dom led everyone, including the show’s staff, into squealing.

Girl raised a sharp eyebrow, but there was a teasing glint in her sharp eyes. "No hard feelings when that happens?"

It was Jin Liwei’s turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why should I have hard feelings? Regardless of whose company is bigger, our family controls it."

Girl chuckled. "True."

The beginning of the interview focused more on Iris Long’s business endeavours. As fellow women, both tacitly agreed to highlight the image of a capable and successful female business leader.

Girl also asked the usual questions about her career as a musician and her life as a wife and a mother. Iris was already well-versed in answering these questions. No sweat.

Then Girl started asking questions that weren’t exactly off-limits, but they weren’t included in the sample questions her staff shared with Iris’ team either.

Dom’s smile was immediately erased. Any playful expression on his face was nowhere to be seen. He narrowed his eyes.

Not only him, but each and every member of Iris Long’s entourage, including her glam team and bodyguards, went into high alert.

The aura around Jin Liwei, however, was the most frightening. If before, he had been throwing dog food at everyone with his wife, the area around him had now become a freezing no-go zone.

The show staff immediately put some distance between him and them. They were quailing inside, but their loyalty was to the show. This was for the sake of their show’s ratings!

The two network executives became visibly nervous, but they tacitly remained silent. They wanted to observe the situation first before deciding whether to intervene or not. After all, Girl Abante had quite a solid influence and connections in the showbiz industry. What would they do if she decided to pack up and bring her show to another network? That wouldn’t do!

If not for Iris Long maintaining a composed smile and continuing to answer the questions without missing a beat, Jin Liwei would have already stormed to the front and left this place with his wife.

Iris looked at Girl Abante straight in the eyes. Her overall expression was smiling and pleasant, but coldness glinted in her eyes.

Girl remained unflappable.

This was a battle of wits.

Girl: "Your fan club is called the Black Stars. They are known for their loyalty and fierce support for you."

Iris: "That’s correct. I’m very grateful for them all the time. My career as a celebrity wouldn’t be what it is now if it weren’t for them. I’m determined to take them with me throughout this journey and see how much further I can take my success."

Girl: "There’s a subgroup of the Black Stars that have become quite...uh, notorious on the internet. It seems that they specialize in mobbing your critics, bashers, and detractors. There are those who speculate that there are hackers who are members of this subgroup. You know what I’m talking about, right?"

Iris: "You’re talking about the Slippers Army."

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