At first, it was very difficult for Jin Liwei's employees to get used to seeing their President being followed around by kittens and cat sitters everywhere. He even brought them to important meetings. His employees began to wonder if their President finally snapped and went cuckoo in the head after the scandal with the Fans.
However, like so many generations of humans before them, they became utterly charmed and enslaved by the irresistible power of feline cuteness. They began taking sneak photos of the kittens when their President wasn't looking. Some even ran outside to buy some treats to try tempting the kittens and earn brownie points from them.
They also started calling the kittens "Young Miss Ice Cream" and "Young Master Popcorn". They thought it was hilarious at first, but they began to feel like it was just right. Of course the kittens of someone like their President Jin Liwei needed to be treated in a special way.
Popcorn ran around everywhere, curious at everything. His poor cat sitter huffed and puffed chasing after him all day. On the other hand, Ice Cream just stayed with her Daddy, either laying on his lap or on his desk while he worked.
She was very well-behaved, except when female employees tried to go near Jin Liwei. Then she would transform into a little tigress, hissing and baring her claws in a threatening manner, warning the female pests to stay away from her Daddy. Daddy only belonged to Mommy! She and Popcorn were given permission by their Mommy to scratch the faces off of anyone who dared steal away their Daddy! Until Mommy returned, she would safeguard Daddy!
Spending time with the kittens somewhat helped ease Jin Liwei's heartache as he continued longing for his baby girl. He still wasn't able to contact her. He had no idea where she was, but he trusted Grandpa Lu to keep her safe.
Besides running Jin Corporation, Jin Liwei partnered with Long Tengfei to help the other victims of Fan Luo and also the families of those unfortunate ones who lost their lives from her schemes. Based on the timeline, Iris was the eighth among the fourteen women harmed by Fan Luo.
Most of the women who survived Fan Luo's evil machinations became disabled because of their injuries. As a result, they couldn't find decent jobs, becoming burdens to their families instead. The ones who recovered well from their injuries only discovered now that the reason why they were blacklisted from their previous work was because of Fan Luo.
Learning about the truth of who caused their suffering ignited the hatred within their hearts.
"I hope that evil b*tch Fan Luo dies!"
"I'm very thankful for the one who kidnapped and tortured that evil woman. However, I wish he killed her instead of letting her go alive! I'm lucky that I only became paraplegic, but what about the other women who died because of her? She deserves death!"
It wasn't widely reported in the news, but it was briefly included in the exposé about Fan Luo that she ordered a hit on the people she paid to harm the fourteen women. So it wasn't only the families of the dead women who hated Fan Luo, but also the families of the ones she hired to harm the women. Yes, technically, they were also criminals but it didn't change the fact that they were still killed on the orders of Fan Luo after she used them.
Her evil knew no bounds.
These families stormed the hospital where Fan Luo was lying in coma and attempted to kill her themselves. However, her room was surrounded by police officers so they couldn't accomplish their objective.
Jin Liwei and Long Tengfei's offer of help somewhat mollified their desire for revenge. Both Jin Liwei and Long Tengfei gave the women and the families financial aid in the name of their fellow victim, Iris Long. They helped them secure good jobs based on their skill levels. They also paid the tuition fees of those who wanted to go back to school or get a certificate from a training institution with a promise of good jobs waiting for them after they finished their studies.
All of these were arranged in secret, but the information was still leaked to the media by the women and the families themselves.
"Iris Long Helps Fellow Victims to Start a New Life!"
"Generous Act of Musician Iris Long Earns Gratitude From the Other Survivors & the Families of the Deceased Victims of Fan Luo"
"Where is Iris Long? Everyone Still Waiting to Hear From Her"
There was still no word from Iris Long herself. Her social media accounts weren't updated for many days now. The Black Stars were reassured by Bright Summit's official statement that she was alright and recuperating at a hospital in another country. However, they still worried about her and wanted to know how she was doing from her own words.
Unlike her silence, Jin Chonglin released an official statement through a video played in all media outlets. He looked hot as usual, but there was an unmistakable weariness on his expression.
"I, Jin Chonglin, would like to officially announce that I will be taking a hiatus for an indefinite period of time. This wasn't originally in my plans. I didn't want to take a break. I wanted to continue working. But because of the shocking revelations regarding…regarding that evil woman…Fan Luo…who used to be my…my fiancée, I decided that I need some time to digest everything and to deal with the emotional shock."
He paused for a few moments. There was an obvious disgust when he said Fan Luo's name. He took some deep breaths before he continued speaking while looking directly at the camera.
"I don't know how long this hiatus will last. Maybe only for a few weeks or maybe months…perhaps even years. I don't know. It will depend on how ready I feel to face the world again after what happened. I apologize to my fans. I hope that you understand my current situation. Thank you very much for your support! I also would like to extend my support for Iris Long for what she's going through right now. I'm so sorry for what happened to her. My thoughts are with her. Please get well soon, Junior Iris! And I sincerely hope that we can work together in the future."
An outpouring of support flooded Jin Chonglin, not only from his army of fans, but also from the Black Stars. It was at this moment that the two fan clubs became closer to each other and treated each other as allies.
There were even some of them who started shipping Jin Chonglin and Iris Long, referring to them as LinRis.