Iris and Jin Liwei interacted with their staff for a few minutes but stayed near the entrance away from the buffet tables due to the smell of the food. Yi Mei and the other staff from the penthouse came to greet them as well. Iris was happy to see them again.
Then the couple announced that everyone would receive additional holiday bonus as thanks for their loyalty and quality service. Everyone cheered and thanked their sir boss and lady boss.
The couple was satisfied after seeing their staff's happiness. Jin Liwei marvelled at the sight and the feeling. Before his wife came into his life, the mansion was like a necropolis. Everything was cold and lifeless. His staff never dared to express any emotions in front of him, much less openly celebrate like what they were doing now.
He didn't see anything wrong about it back then. Now, however, he was grateful for the existence of his wife in his life. Without her, he would still live in a colourless world devoid of warmth and true fulfillment like this.
Similarly, Iris had never experienced anything so festive like this in her past life as Evelina Vetrova. Most of the credit for teaching and showing her how to have fun on special occasions should go to her best friend and assistant, Dom. Without Dom's insistence, she wouldn't even bother celebrating these special occasions that she didn't think important enough to her own passions in life.
On the way back to the Christmas gathering with their own family and friends, the husband and wife were both preoccupied with their own thoughts of gratitude for the huge, positive changes in their lives.
Most of their guests were still mingling with each other while enjoying the food in the buffet hall when they returned. The kids and the cats already finished eating and were circling the presents spilling under the Christmas tree. Yes, even the lazy Ice Cream joined in the fun, perhaps because she had energy after eating.
"Mama, Papa!" Little Jun noticed their arrival and ran towards them.
Jin Liwei scooped up the toddler and carried him in his arms.
"Junjun pwesents!" Little Jun pointed at the presents.
Jiang Ying Yue reached them with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about this. He's getting impatient."
Iris waved her concern away before glancing at the time. "The kids will feel sleepy soon. I think we should distribute the children's presents ahead of time before they become too tired to stay awake."
Marjorie also reached them while carrying her own toddler on one hip. Her daughter was busy playing with the cats by the Christmas tree.
"Is it okay if we do that?" Marjorie asked. "My son isn't as well-behaved as Little Jun. I'm afraid that he might throw a tantrum if he doesn't get his presents soon. Such a brat."
"Of course, we can do that," Iris replied and glanced at her husband.
"En." Jin Liwei nodded.
Since the hosts of the Christmas gathering already gave their permission, Dom and Clover immediately made a show to hunt all the presents addressed to the children and cats from the large pile and distribute them accordingly.
Little Jun received the most presents but Marjorie's children still received a lot. Of course, Ice Cream and Popcorn weren't forgotten.
Children would still be children, though, and cats would be cats.
The two toddlers, Little Jun and Marjorie's son, quickly lost interest in their other presents after receiving robots and toy cars. As for the cats, they didn't care much about the contents but were having an absolute blast playing with the empty boxes and wrapping papers.
Only Marjorie's daughter was old enough to appreciate all of her presents. She burst into tears upon receiving a portable mobile gaming device complete with a variety of popular games appropriate for her age from Iris and Jin Liwei. She leaped to her feet with joy and hugged both Iris and Jin Liwei.
"Thank you so much, Auntie Xiulan and Uncle Liwei! You're the best! How did you know that this is what I wanted for Christmas?"
"You're welcome, sweetie," Iris told her with a smile. "Your Uncle Dom told us."
Jin Liwei patted her head. "Don't forget to study hard."
The girl nodded while beaming before skipping to her father, Paul Ferrer, to ask him how to set up and operate the gaming device.
Seeing the children so joyful in opening and playing with their presents, everyone was in a good mood.
Even René Alejandro who only met everyone today prepared something for Little Jun and the cats. He didn't know about Marjorie's children so he hadn't brought anything for the two beforehand. He asked Jin Chonglin and Yu Mo for advice and they helped him get some empty red packets from the butler. He filled them with money and handed them to the children.
Afterwards, he could feel that everyone's impression of him improved a great deal. This was proof that showing gentleness and kindness towards cute children and animals would earn good feelings from others.
He glanced at Jin Liwei and Iris to see their reactions. The husband and wife both had neutral expressions. He felt a little disappointed.
The door opened for the latecomers. René Alejandro watched as Iris became excited and moved to run to the new arrivals before Jin Liwei stopped her. The Spaniard also became excited upon seeing the new arrivals.
Finally.
His other main target, Lu Jianhong, had arrived. Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing followed behind the old man.
The place was soon filled with the boisterous, booming voice of the old man plus the loud, painful-sounding smacks he gave the men in the room. René Alejandro's eyes widened when even the legendary hitmaker, Enrique Valdez, was smacked in the back. What was even more amazing was that Enrique Valdez accepted it in good spirits.
Then the old man's eyes fell on him, René Alejandro.
"Oh? Who's this kid? Tell me, I want to know!"
Wei Lan squeezed her way forward and grabbed René Alejandro, introducing him to the old man as her beloved stepson, the one and only son of her viscount husband.
Lu Jianhong looked at him from head to toe and back up again. René Alejandro stayed still.. For some reason, he held his breath as faint panic rose inside him under the old man's sharp eyes.