Li Zong"s face was still bland. "Zhen Ni will spar with all female applicants during the interview. You might think differently of her after that."

He Yu fell speechless.

She was nearly reduced to tears with anger. "Why is Li Zong so insensitive to a girl"s feelings?!" Qiao Peiyu gave her a gentle pull, signaling her to say no more.

Forehead covered with beads of cold sweat, He Changchun hurriedly bobbed his head. "Hha. Supt. Li, you must be joking. They were just trying to lighten the atmosphere. Women are ignorant, you know. Don"t take their words seriously."

Li Zong cast a bland glance at He Changchun. "If this reaches the ears of anybody else, it might compromise the reputation of your family."

He Changchun nodded and expressed his agreement repeatedly.

He Yu kept sobbing, head down, eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears, which brought the dinner into an embarra.s.sing mood.

He Zheng gave a sneer. Though Li Zong"s coming to his support was beyond his expectation, his heart was filled with the satisfaction of getting his revenge. Seeing that He Jin was consumed with anger and seemed eager to splash juice on him, He Zheng grew increasingly impatient to see what was going to happen next. "Will it drive He Jin crazy with rage?" he wondered.

"Master, there"s a visitor outside requesting the presence of Young Master Jin." A nursemaid hurried into the dining room, looking fl.u.s.tered. Sensing that the atmosphere was not quite right, she involuntarily lowered her voice.

In a fit of anger, He Jin replied roughly, "I"m not going."

He Changchun was anxious to keep up appearances. For fear that Li Zong might deem He Jin unbecoming to a member of He family if he refused to receive a visitor, He Changchun asked, "Who is the visitor? Apologize to them and tell them that we have guests here and it"s an inconvenient time."

The nursemaid was a local in Coastal City who spoke in a soft voice. "It"s a girl. She"s weeping loud. I don"t know what it"s about." He Qin and Qiao Peiyu knitted their eyebrows at the same time, feeling that the circ.u.mstances were somewhat suspicious.

"Ha!" He Zheng let out a laugh and pointedly poked Li Zong. "You hear that? A girl. What kind of girl visits a man in this way? Maybe He Jin knocked her up and she"s here to look for the father of her child."

"Bulls.h.i.t!" He Jin had always been very anxious to see He Zheng dead. Since all his previous attempts to kill He Zheng had failed, anger had been bubbling inside him all along. The last remark of He Zheng instantly jogged his memories of the time when Qiao Peiyu, pregnant, entered He family and was ridiculed by everybody. Though he had not been born yet at that time, he had grown up to those slanderous gossip, and hatred had long ago deeply rooted in his heart.

This was He Jin"s Achilles heel, and he always took leave of his senses whenever somebody brought this up.

"He Jin! Sit down!" He Changchun"s face darkened with sheer rage.

"Go and invite her in. We"ll find out exactly what it"s about."

The nursemaid hurriedly left.

He Changchun turned around. Since there had been several occasions when He Zheng showed total disregard for his feelings, He Changchun had no choice but to warn him, "He Zheng, He Jin is your elder brother, and He Yu your younger sister. You and Li Zong... What made you think that you and your younger sister and younger brother are not family?"

He Zheng gave a sneer, intending to ask his old man how he had the nerve to say this. A younger sister who was anxious to see him dead, a younger brother who had been plotting to kill him all the time, and a stepmother who refused to let his deceased natural mother rest in peace –which one of these people had ever treated him like family? He Zheng didn"t even bother to utter a word. He just darted his old man a dirty look.

At this time, the nursemaid brought that girl into the dining room.

The girl was wearing light makeup and looked pretty, but her eyes were red, swollen and filled with tears, which made her a pitiful sight.

A faint sneer flashed across the bottom of He Zheng"s eyes. On walking into the dining room, the girl pointed at He Jin and reprimanded in a tearful voice, "He Jin, you are so cold-blooded."

The moment the girl arrived, He Jin"s face changed. She was Jing, a girl he had hooked up with not long ago.

Qiao Peiyu was very familiar with all kinds of artifice. On hearing the first remark of the girl, she came to realize that things were about to go awry. Her heart involuntarily sank, but her voice grew even gentler. "Good evening, Miss. I"m He Jin"s mother. You see, today we have guests here. Would you please be so kind as to wait until we finish dinner to talk about your matter?"

Having made a deal with somebody, Jing knew very well how to handle this request. She refused and instantly dissolved into yells. "No! No! It is an explanation that I came here for!"

She burst into tears and screeched, "He Jin! You are such a love rat! You not only knocked me up but also two-timed me and my bestie. Have you no shame?!"

He Jin had hooked up with Jing only a couple of days ago, and he had not slept with her yet. In the realization that this was a badger game, he went furious and snapped, "Are you out of your mind? I didn"t even touch you. Your pregnancy has nothing to do with me! Stop slinging mud at me!"

He Jin was indeed not as intelligent as Qiao Peiyu. He easily let slip his relationship with this girl. His remarks suggested that at least he knew this girl and they were pretty close to each other.

Extreme sullenness sprang to the faces of Qiao Peiyu and He Changchun at the same time. He Yu was just about to rebuke Jing when He Qin stopped her. He Zheng gave a smile. Surprisingly, except for the two interested parties, he was the only one who spoke. "No girl will come here with tearing eyes for no good reason. He Jin, always remember to clean up your own mess. Look at what you have done. Shame on you."

"You!" He Jin"s eyes went red with fury. "It must be you! You hired this girl! This is your ruse!"

He abruptly hurled up to He Zheng. He Zheng remained still. Li Zong slightly raised his hand and the magical Fu (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune) conjured by He Jin fell aflame in mid-air. A faint puff of black Qi flashed across the flames and Li Zong squinted his eyes. That magical Fu disappeared into thin air. He Jin"s blow was also easily parried by Li Zong.

Li Zong"s eyes were icy cold. "You want to hurt He Zheng right in front of me?"

All people felt that the temperature in the dining room instantly dropped by several degrees. Beneath Li Zong"s gaze which was powerful enough to scare common demons away, He Jin"s whole body went stiff and he was at a loss what to do next.

"Su–Supt. Li, please calm down." In a sorry plight, He Changchun hurriedly walked forward to stop Li Zong.

He Zheng sneered, "A cornered dog just tried to leap over a wall."

"Shut your mouth!" He Changchun thundered.

That girl wept even louder, a.s.serting emphatically that He Jin was a love rat and dallied her. This was exactly what He Zheng wanted to see. Seeing that n.o.body was in the mood for resuming the dinner, he pretended to be angered by He Changchun"s scolding and left.

On his way out, he impa.s.sively flicked an unnoticeable glance at the girl who was weeping loudly, and slightly curved the corners of his mouth. He Changchun and others were left wondering how to pick up the pieces.