Chapter 1567 Always Choose the Family
Chapter 1567 Always Choose the Family
Jin Liwei was thankful every single day that his wife felt settled with their family now, and that she always had to think twice before doing something tireless that might risk her health.
"Don't worry, love," he said. "If you're still too worried about Ashandra, I'll hire others to help with the investigations instead. My connections might not be as effective as you or Bacon, but they're better than nothing. I also know that you prefer not to let Nikolai make a move to prevent his group from being exposed, so I won't bother him either."
Iris still looked reluctant. She was really curious about why Ketchup and Bacon failed to recover the stolen footage. This alone was enough to ignite her competitive spirit.
It reminded her of her past life as Evelina Vetrova. Whenever she encountered a situation where an excellent hacker might have a hand, she would always want to check the other party out as Fantom. She had interfered in a lot of cyber operations in her past life and became a thorn in other hackers' eyes, but she enjoyed every single minute of it.
Now that she couldn't do any of that, she felt extremely reluctant. In the end, however, she still chose to restrain her impulses this time. She now had a beautiful family. Her babies were still very young.
If the choice were between testing an excellent hacker and prioritizing her current family, she would always, always, ALWAYS choose her family. There wasn't even a need to question it.
With a sigh, Iris said, "Okay. I'll leave it to you."
Jin Liwei also released a mental sigh of relief. Although he knew that his wife would always prioritize their family from now on, there were times that he still felt insecure.
His genius wife was just too incredible a human being that he felt afraid she would disappear someday. Now that they were married and had children, he was able to control his possessive streak a lot better than before.
However, there were still times when he had the urge to tie his wife to himself so that she would never be able to leave him. He knew that she would never tolerate this kind of mad possessiveness from him, so he would always have to restrain himself.
Back to the present, the pilot made an announcement that they would be starting their descent very soon.
The husband and wife stopped their conversation and went to the main bedroom to check on their sons. The twins were still sleeping.
"Go back to your seats," Iris told the nannies. "We'll be landing soon."
"Yes, Madam."
Iris and Jin Liwei each took a baby before returning to their seats and strapping on their seatbelts.
As usual, Little Matcha remained fast asleep, not even stirring a little in his mommy's arms.
Little Mochi, on the other hand, started howling as soon as his daddy carried him. It took a lot of coaxing from both Iris and Jin Liwei before they could persuade the fussy baby to calm down.
Much later, LX Air finally landed in Munich, Germany.
A long line of private vehicles waited to pick them up. After everything was settled with customs and immigration, they all drove to a five-star hotel.
The hour was late, so most of the staff headed straight to their assigned bedrooms to settle for the night.
"Good night, kids!" Grandpa Lu said, waving at everyone. "This old man's bones aren't as young as they used to be. I'm going to sleep now, and you all should, too!"
"Good night, Grandpa Lu."
"Good night, Grandfather."
"Good night, Grandpa Boss!"
The others also wished the old man good night and to sleep tight.
The family's security team, however, immediately divided into smaller teams to secure the entire hotel and its perimeter. Iris and her family didn't enter the Presidential suite until their security gave them the green light.
Dom and the nannies would be staying in the same suite in their own bedrooms while Iris, Jin Liwei, and their twins would sleep in the suite's main bedroom.
The hotel staff had already set up a crib bed beside the main bed. It was smaller than what the babies were used to but it would do for now.
"Go to sleep now," Iris told Dom and the nannies.
Dom: "Okay, Boss! Good night!"
He also gave the twins a flying kiss each. They didn't notice it because they were already asleep, but Dom didn't mind. It was the thought that counted, not the actual kiss.
The nannies followed him out.
Jin Liwei stepped inside after taking a call from the balcony.
"Mom's coming?" Iris asked.
"En. She's about to take a jet with Alric Bauer. They'll be here by tomorrow."
Iris nodded. "Good. Alric should be looking forward to returning to his homeland and seeing his sister again after so long. As for Mom, I don't think we should tell her about what happened in Paris. She adores Ashandra and she might be too worried to enjoy Orchidia's launch here in Germany. I want Mom to enjoy the trip and not worry about anything else."
"En."
Iris took a shower first. Jin Liwei wanted to join in but remembered the hellish temperature his wife preferred, so he decided to shower after her instead.
Besides, all of them were exhausted. He wanted his wife to rest up, so he didn't bother her in bed tonight. He just cuddled her close to him and slept in peace.
###
The next morning, everyone except for Grandpa Lu went downstairs to the hotel buffet to eat breakfast together.
Alona Bauer also came to meet up first thing in the morning. The German woman appeared more sophisticated now than when Iris had met her for the first time.
"Xiulan!!!" The blonde immediately hugged Iris, squeezing her from side to side. "I missed you so much!"
Iris chuckled. "Alona, it's good to see you again."
Next, the German woman greeted Jin Liwei and the others. Then her eyes fell on the twins sitting on hotel-provided high chairs.
"Oh, my goodness! Are these Mochi and Matcha?! How come they're so big already?!"
Iris introduced Alona Bauer to her sons. "Mochi, Matcha. This is Auntie Alona. She's your Uncle Alric's sister."
The twins weren't familiar with the cheery blonde auntie in front of them.
Little Mochi was curious and smiled back. "Yah!" (Hello!)
Little Mochi, however, wasn't interested at all. The baby ignored the new person and focused on nibbling on a slice of soft bread dipped in milk. He even called for his daddy's attention to help him wipe his mouth and chin.
Alona laughed, finding the babies too adorable that she could die. "My brother is right. Your twins have completely different personalities from each other. How fun!"
"Sit down and eat with us, Alona," Iris said and gestured at the empty seat opposite hers.
The two women chatted with each other while eating.
"I can't wait to show you our Orchidia office here in Munich," Alona said. "It's already making waves here in Germany even before the launch. It's because many of our customers at the market back then knew that Orchidia would sell my brother's products. They can't wait for Orchidia's launch, knowing that most of the products had been developed by my brother."
"You have a lot of customers back then?" Iris asked.
"A lot by a street vendor's standards," Alona said with a chuckle. "Our old customers worked hard in spreading Orchidia's upcoming launch here in Munich to their friends and acquaintances. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. You'd expect that we, Germans, don't bother to gossip like that, but all aunties are the same everywhere."
They laughed.
Alona continued, "Our old customers have always remembered my brother's products and how effective they were. They told me that they had been so disappointed when my brother and I stopped coming to the market to sell homemade skincare products. Now that I told them that we'll be launching the improved versions of my brother's products soon, they couldn't wait to try them out. They also showed their loyalty by helping us out with the advertising through word of mouth. I saved the company a lot of marketing budget!"
"Excellent job, Alona," Iris said with a smile. "Alric will be coming with my mother-in-law later today. Do you want to come with us when we go pick them up at the airport?"
"Of course!"
The two women chatted again. Dom interjected now and then in English. But for the most part, only Iris and Alona chatted in German. Grandpa Lu could also speak German but the old man had been too tired from last night, so he didn't join everyone for breakfast this morning.
"The launch isn't until the weekend," Alona said. "So you should all relax and have fun. I also want to spend time with my brother when he arrives."
"I want to see the office first tomorrow," Iris said. "Just give me a quick tour. No need for anything too fancy. I just want to have a good understanding of Orchidia's actual situation here in Germany so far."
"Okay, no problem. My staff are also all so excited to meet you. I hired from all over Europe because we're going to serve most of the continent right here in Munich."
"Good. I'm looking forward to it."
They ate desserts while continuing to chat.
"After visiting the office tomorrow morning, I'm planning on taking out my mother-in-law to go shopping," Iris said. "Do you want to come with us?"
"Can I?"
"Of course."
"Then yes!" Alona wasn't the least bit shy. She already considered Iris and her family like her own.
Just like that, a shopping appointment was made.