Back in China, it was already past midnight and yet more and more people were foregoing sleep to tune in to the livestream of the Sommet International Film Festival's opening night. Around half of the original 200 viewers of the livestream were made up of the Black Stars. Some of them were assigned to watch the red carpet event's livestream right from the beginning and then alert the other Black Stars once the casts and crews of the participating films started arriving.
Most of the Black Stars weren't very interested in watching the entire red carpet event. After all, they only cared about their Boss Iris.
For now, it was mostly the special guests who were arriving first on the red carpet. They knew that their Boss Iris wouldn't arrive until much later because her assistant and manager were posting live updates on her social media pages. The two wrote that she had just finished getting ready, and that they had only just left on their way to the venue.
They also posted teasers of her dress, not revealing her appearance yet in the photos. Her full look would only be revealed once she walked down the red carpet later tonight. But even though it was only a close up of the dress' fabric, the Black Stars already knew that their Boss Iris would look beautiful and glamorous. She always did. The Black Stars believed that even if she had to wear a sack of rice, she would still work it like a queen and look fabulous as always.
The rest of the Black Stars originally planned on watching the livestream not until much later, but they tuned in earlier than expected even when their boss hadn't appeared yet. It was because their comrades alerted them that their boss' mother, Wei Lan, had suddenly become a Spanish viscountess! They all wanted to see with their own eyes if it was really true.
Word of mouth about Wei Lan's appearance as a special guest on the film festival's red carpet soon spread. When photos of Iris Long and her mother shopping together in France were published online, people thought that Wei Lan was only able to attend because of her daughter. However, she just walked on the red carpet without her daughter. It seemed that she received a special invitation from the organizers themselves and not just as a tag along to her daughter.
The livestream's view count kept on increasing by the minute. At the moment, it had already reached more than 150,000 and the numbers was still growing. It didn't matter that it was already very late at night. Everyone was curious about Wei Lan, perhaps even more so than her daughter's participation in the film festival.
It wasn't only the Black Stars who were contributing to the increasing view count. The showbiz industry, especially the entertainment news media outlets, were also watching.
Of course, the news also reached the higher-ups of Bright Summit Entertainment Company. They immediately called Tang Yiyi who accompanied Iris Long to France. Tang Yiyi confirmed that Iris' mother, Wei Lan, had indeed become a Spanish viscountess.
"I'm sorry. I only learned about it during this trip. I was also as surprised as you all are and everyone else," Tang Yiyi told her bosses.
Bright Summit's higher-ups were currently having an impromptu video conference meeting so late at night while watching the livestream. They were already brainstorming various ways on how to rebrand Iris Long's image now that she had suddenly become the daughter of a member of Spanish nobility. Even though she didn't have a title herself, the higher-ups thought that the connection was already enough to exploit.
In addition to these people, the entire Chinese high society was also alerted and tuned in to the livestream. They didn't care that it was already past midnight. They had to watch. Wei Lan wasn't well-liked by many in the country's high society. Actually, she was hated by a lot. There were many madams who thought that their husbands had an affair with Wei Lan, although they didn't have any proof. Wei Lan's reputation was so bad in high society that she would be the first woman the madams blamed when they had suspicions that their husbands were cheating on them.
And now they discovered that the gold digging, social climbing slut had become a Spanish viscountess? This bombshell that Wei Lan dropped was too explosive! They couldn't believe it! Wei Lan, a viscountess? And it was even a real, existing title!
Many were filled with envy and even more hatred towards her.
"So she married a Spanish viscount this time? She's indeed a certified gold digger and social climber. A tiger truly can't change its stripes. She'll never change! A truly disgusting woman!"
Some, however, were extremely impressed by her achievement.
"Ah, she has truly outdone herself this time. Imagine, marrying a viscount? And a real viscount at that! The title still exists today, not like the long lost noble title that the Longs, her ex-husband's family are so proud of. I wonder how the Longs will react once they know about this. They'll probably have an apoplexy! Who knew that Wei Lan could still catch a bigger fish than Long Tengfei years later? This Spanish viscount is probably the biggest fish that she could ever hope to catch in her lifetime…and she did! Wei Lan's methods may be questionable, but nobody could deny that she knows how to effectively use what she has in order to ascend in life. We should befriend her once she returns to the country. I don't care about what kind of a person she is. It will certainly be beneficial to us if we connect ourselves to her, viscountess!"
The reactions were mixed among these people. Many hated her for what they called her "ill-gotten success, wealth and status", while others were already making plans on how to get close to her and exploit her new status.