"Who is it?" Jin Liwei asked.
"It's Grandpa Long! Meow~"
The couple went silent after learning who ordered the removal of the negative content about Long Hui in the media.
Iris sighed. "To be honest, I can't say that I'm surprised. On the contrary, I kind of expected Father to help out Long Hui in some way. He is still Father's eldest son, after all."
Jin Liwei didn't speak but the cold expression on his face prompted Xu Tian to quickly make an escape from his office while carrying the empty lunch boxes.
"Father also helped remove negative content about me in the media before, even when we weren't on speaking terms that time," Iris said. She was aware that Long Tengfei secretly helped clean her name in the media when she just woke up from coma. She also discovered at that time that Long Tengfei did the same thing many times before for the previous Iris Long who had no idea about the various things her father did for her in the shadows. "It doesn't feel good that Long Hui's retribution in the media is so short-lived but I can't really blame Father for wanting to protect his son."
Jin Liwei remained silent.
"Then what should Ketchup do next, Mommy? Still awaiting further instructions. Meow~"
"For now, don't interfere—hm? Sorry, darling and Ketchup. I need to go. The director wants to talk to us right now. I'll talk to you later. Bye!"
Jin Liwei and their virtual kitty baby bid her goodbye before Iris hung up in a rush. Although the call ended, Ketchup continued talking to him.
"Mommy says 'don't interfere', so Ketchup won't interfere and let Grandpa Long clean up for that good-for-nothing scum. Is Ketchup correct, Daddy? Meow~"
"No. Go and interfere," Jin Liwei said in a cold voice.
"Meow? But Mommy said—"
"Your mom has a kind heart. She may be fine with letting Long Hui off the hook in this situation because of your Grandfather Long but not me. I can never forgive the insults he threw at your mom and at your Grandmother Lan, and of course, the way he mistreated your Aunt Ying Yue while trying to take your Cousin Jun away from us. Long Hui needs to pay for how he hurt them. Even if it's my father-in-law, your Grandfather Long, who's helping him out, I still won't let him off the hook."
"Ketchup understands. Daddy, please give Ketchup specific instructions on what to do next. Meow~"
"Allow your grandfather to remove the worst content about Long Hui from the biggest and most popular media outlets, but don't let him touch the ones from the smaller and less popular sources. The intensity will decrease but at least it won't completely disappear. Make sure to keep the negative publicity going."
"Aye aye, Daddy! Meow~"
The virtual white cat immediately went to work while Jin Liwei remained standing in front of the glass windows. He looked at the view outside with cold, unseeing eyes, as his mind remembered all the horrible and hurtful things Long Hui said to his baby girl and about his mother-in-law. His eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened, and his hands clenched into tight fists. He stood there like a tall, formidable mountain while emitting a dense and heavy aura of cold fury.
Behind him, the door to the office opened and Xu Tian peeked inside with great caution. The poor assistant immediately felt the stifling atmosphere and withdrew, closing the door once again, not daring to enter at this time.
'Is the President still drowning in vinegar because of Second Master Chonglin?' he wondered.
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[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It's very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]
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The next few days saw a sharp decrease in the negative headlines about Long Hui while at the same time, Iris Long's actions as Long Industries' celebrity brand ambassador became more visible to the general public. Tang Yiyi and Bright Summit didn't hold her back, allowing her to spend a lot of time for Long Industries because it was also contributing to her own popularity. Her ads and commercials were almost everywhere in the country.
As a result, the stock prices of Long Industries started recovering at a great rate. They were almost about 75% back to their former value before the crash and it hadn't been a month yet. It had only been less than two weeks since then.
Long Jian and Iris' team insisted that the stock prices were recovering because of their efforts. However, there were others claiming that it was due to the improving name and reputation of Long Hui in the media. Although there was still some nasty content about him circulating out there, the worst ones had already disappeared. Both sides—Long Jian-Iris Long duo and Long Hui—were fighting for the credit of rescuing the company's stock prices.
Inside Long Jian's office at Long Industries.
Long Jian sneered. "He didn't even do a damn thing. It was Father who secretly saved him from the media and wiped his ass. And he has the gall to steal the credit from us? Shameless!"
Iris popped a mini-mochi inside her mouth. Every time she worked with Long Jian, she would always ask him for treats, prompting him to ridicule her for acting like a kid which she always ignored. Today, he bought her mochi after they finished attending a PR event.
"What do you expect? Long Hui is desperate," she said with a shrug, eating another mochi. "He has been waiting for the two of us to fail, underestimating my impact in the business world. He never expected that a simple campaign from me as a brand ambassador would be so effective in recovering the company's stock prices."
Long Jian snorted in disdain as he looked at her pigging out on mochi. "To be honest, I also didn't expect that you'll be so effective. Before our team could even contact the stations, they were already airing your commercials." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Did you ask for CEO Jin's help?"
"I didn't ask Liwei but he did lend a hand on his own accord," she said in a nonchalant tone.
"Ah. So that's why." He nodded in understanding.