Chapter 981 - CEO Jin’s Surprise Contest
The bombshell that the celebrity Iris Long and billionaire Jin Liwei dropped through À la Mode magazine about their secret wedding caused an uproar in the country. Aside from the Black Stars and people close to the couple, there weren't a lot of people who expected that the two would actually marry.
Many people were also very surprised that the couple would be so low-profile with their wedding that not a single clue about their preparations was exposed to the public. If another celebrity married a billionaire, most people would expect that the wedding celebration and banquet would be extremely extravagant with hundreds of high-profile guests attending the event. It also wouldn't surprise people if such a wedding was broadcast on national TV as if it was a royal marriage.
As soon as À la Mode released the issue featuring the newly-wedded couple Iris Long and Jin Liwei, the shocking revelation immediately occupied the headlines across the country. Netizens discussed it with great enthusiasm online.
"Wow! CEO Jin must've fallen deeply in love with Iris Long to marry her so quickly."
"Nah, maybe he just got her pregnant, that's why he had no choice but to marry her. Just look at Iris Long's showbiz career lately. She hasn't appeared in public for quite some time now. It's clear that she's hiding something, probably a baby bump!"
"That makes sense. If not for my regular Orchidia Beauty shopping sprees and hearing her songs on the radio now and then, I might've already forgotten about Iris Long now. She's making herself gradually disappear from the limelight."
"Maybe it's true that she'll permanently retire from showbiz after marrying CEO Jin so that she can focus on her duties and responsibilities as his wife and as the new madam of the Jin family."
"Hahaha! Iris Long has really married above her level. Congratulations, girl! Make sure to hold on to your husband's golden thigh tightly and try your hardest to spend as much of his billions before he loses interest in you and moves on to fresher meat. Let's be realistic here. This kind of severely imbalanced pairing won't last. It's already great that Iris Long got a heavenly man like CEO Jin to propose to her and marry her."
The Black Stars' infamous troll unit immediately swooped in at the slightest criticism against their beloved Boss Iris.
"Shit. The Slippers Army are at it again. These assholes!"
"Damn it. I just saw KittyBaby and PantherBaby. Nothing good ever happens when those two trolls are together. Their attack power is insane. Bye, I'm out!"
In contrast to these scenes, the Black Stars' internal forum was extremely festive.
"CaptainBlackStar: As the founder and president of the Black Stars, I would like to convey our entire fan club's sincerest congratulations and best wishes to our beautiful boss @IrisLong and her handsome husband @JinLiwei. I and a few members of our fan club (namely, @LittlePhoenix, @MonkeyFace, @iEatSlippers, @MrsLovePhantom, @JJNumber1Fan, @JJNumber2Fan and @JJNumber3Fan) had the amazing opportunity to personally attend our Boss Iris and CEO Jin's wedding. I can say with great confidence that it was one of the most memorable moments that I've ever experienced in my whole life."
All the members she tagged immediately liked her post. Comments started flooding from the other Black Stars.
"So proud that Boss Iris didn't forget to invite our Black Stars officers. She really cares about us! (tears of happiness sticker)"
"Captain, I saw you and the others' photos in À la Mode magazine! I'm going to frame the beautiful group photo! (shares photo)"
While they were happily chatting with each other, a new post appeared and was automatically stickied to the top of the forum because of the poster's special identity—@IrisLong, their boss! It was a simple video message but immediately sent all the Black Stars into a frenzy.
The video showed their Boss Iris and her new husband, CEO Jin Liwei, sitting together in what looked like a tropical place. The beautiful blue beach could be seen in the background behind them. Their Boss Iris looked blooming while even the usually cold-faced Jin Liwei had a faint smile on his lips. He barely looked at the camera but had his gentle eyes focused on his wife for almost the entire duration of the video message. It was obvious that the man loved their Boss Iris!
"Hello, my beloved Black Stars. I won't apologize for keeping my marriage with my husband a secret from you because we decided to keep this special occasion as intimate and as special as possible without all the piercing attention from the world. We only wanted to invite the people close to us and that's what we did. And yes, we consider the Black Stars officers close to us, hence why we invited them to witness our marriage because they've been my earliest and strongest supporters after my first showbiz comeback. To the rest of you, Jin Liwei and I are still immensely grateful for all of your tireless support despite my current partial break from showbiz."
Jin Liwei spoke next. Although he looked gentler than usual, many who were watching the video still found him quite intimidating.
"En. Thank you, Black Stars, for always supporting my wife. I hope that you'll continue to do so in the future. As a token of my gratitude and also as a celebration of our happy marriage, I will hold a contest to hand out various cash and other prizes exclusive to Black Stars only."
Iris' eyes widened as she turned to look at him, clearly not knowing about his plan. But she didn't say anything and allowed him to do what he wanted.
"The requirement is simple. Tell me in your own way how my wife is very amazing. Be it a heartfelt message, a poem, artwork, song—whatever method you choose, as long as it's legal and not a nuisance to public order, I will accept your entries and choose those that I like best as the winners. I'll include the written rules and list of prizes when my wife posts this video. I'm honeymooning with my wife so don't bother us."
Iris' amused and melodious chuckle was cut short when Jin Liwei decisively ended the video.