In fact, Hao Ren knew Hessiana was sneaking over. Had Vivian known that Hessiana was giving her a surprise visit, she would have gotten Hao Ren to send her to Mars two weeks in advance as part of her escape plan. Looking at the strange expression on Hessiana's face, Hao Ren could not help but say, "I don't mean to be judgmental, but there seems to be a problem with the way you get along with Vivian. Have you ever thought about it: how she can be so friendly with everyone, yet avoid you?"
Hessiana glanced at him resentfully. "I don't need you to lecture me on this."
Hao Ren spread out his hand. "I'm not lecturing you, just a friendly reminder. And to be honest, I do would like to see you get along well with Vivian. After all, your relationship with her is special, right?"
Hessiana slid him a suspicious glance. "Really?"
"Yeah," Hao Ren nodded very seriously. "And also I don't get it why you like to pick on me."
Hessiana swung her hair back and said, "I can't help it when a stranger man stays so close to her while I never get a chance."
Hao Ren forced a smile. "You're simply jealous."
Turcan and Kassandra looked on silently as the duo bickered. Turcan then whispered into Kassandra's ear. "There's a Chinese saying: the rain wets the bloom as the bride weds the groom; I guess that's how master feels right now."
Kassandra nodded repeatedly. "You've got a point there but I guess Master could hear you, she is glaring at you right now."
"Turcan!" Hessiana snapped. Her scream was ear shattering. Those within two metres radius of her had their ears ringing in pain, and glasses on the table shattered. Hao Ren quickly pointed at the broken glasses. "Well, you break, you pay. Two-fifteen each."
Hessiana banged the table, pointed at the broken glass on the table, and glared at Turcan. "Eat it!"
Turcan finally lost his blond rich kid composure, his face green. "Eat glass… again?"
Nangong was bringing out the food from the kitchen. She curiously asked, "Where are the glasses?"
Hessiana put on a stone face, placed ten yuan on the table, and pointed at Turcan. "This hick has never seen glasses, he wants to buy four from your souvenir."
Turcan laid his head on the table and nodded slowly. "What Master says… is right."
Nangong Wuyue was dumbfounded.
"Why wasting time here?" Hessiana was jabbing the food with chopsticks. She suddenly looked at Hao Ren in suspicion. "Can't I just go to your house and see Ma'am Vivian? Or do you have something to hide?"
"Am I?" Hao Ren turned to look at the sky outside; he was calculating in his mind the time Vivian and Lily took to finish cleaning up the house. "They were still busy when I left the house. Probably they still are. Let's try the food first before we head home."
Everyone started gobbling. Except Turcan, Hessiana and Kassandra were all thumbs-up for the food. Turcan could not really taste what he ate because his stomach felt sick after the glass meal. Hao Ren was taking the three visitors to surprise Vivian. He saw the expensive ride of Hessiana and felt a little emotional. "You seem to do well recently."
"Yeah. I am the patriarch of a family, and most surviving otherworldling families were wealth," Hessiana said as she pointed her nose skyward. "I have been asking Vivian to come to stay with me as I can afford it. But she seemed not too willing."
"She is afraid of jinxing you. You should appreciate that, she did care about you," Hao Ren said, pursing his lips. He knew that had he not had the divine support from above, he would not afford to keep the jinx in the house. "I'm surprised you could get out from the Athens sanctuary. Did you bump into any demon hunters? Anyone tailing you?"
Hessiana shot him a sideways look. "Who do you think I am? Or do you actually think we people in the sanctuary are rats in the gutters? Just get yourself into the car!"
This was the first time Hao Ren rode in a luxury car. He ran a little calculation in his mind and figured that if he had the money to buy the car, he could probably afford to buy any property, including the landmark old shopping mall in the town. He was in the front passenger seat, eyes curiously darting around the interior, as if those little creature comfort accessories besides him interested him. But in his mind, he began to find fault: the seat was too narrow, it lacked mind-activated control panel on the armrest, no holographic projection in front of the seat, the cabin was not big enough, and most importantly, there was no place for to snug a brick on the dashboard. Overall, it was not so use-friendly.
He was obviously comparing the car to the captain seat on board the Petrachelys
Hessiana did not notice what Hao Ren was doing. All she thought of was Vivian. Her heart racing in anticipation of seeing Vivian.
Hao Ren's house was just a block away from the restaurant. As the car pulled up in front of his house, Hao Ren pointed to the old building and said, "This is it."
Hessiana flung the door open and looked up at the mottled exterior of the two-story building and nearby old houses. She suddenly let out a sigh as if she was thinking of something. "Vivian lives here?"
Hao Ren came to the front door, and listened. But he heard no sound inside. He then beckoned Hessiana. "Come here, Vivian should be very happy to see you."
Hessiana mumbled, "You don't need to comfort me, I know she won't."
Hao Ren smiled as he took out his key to open the door. But before he could turn the knob, the door suddenly swung open. Vivian was standing right there, saying, "What take you so—"
Hessiana emerged from behind Hao Ren and waved at Vivian. "I am here to see you!"
Vivian froze for a while before she slammed the door shut.
Then, the door opened again. Vivian was still there with her stunned look.
Before she tried to shut the door again, Hao Ren stopped her. "Oh, come on, you've opened the right door. The girl has come all the way from the Athens sanctuary. She has found the clue of the origin of the magic book and come here to claim her reward and… you."
Hessiana could wait no more. She shoved Hao Ren to aside, lunged forward, opened her arms wide ready to embrace Vivian. "I miss you so much!" she said.
Vivian burst into a swarm of bats in the blink of an eye. The bats dispersed into various corners of the house, hiding. This was exactly the same reaction Vivian had when she first met Hessiana in the Athens sanctuary.
Hessiana tripped and almost fell face down. She quickly staggered to her feet and chase after the last little bats in the air. "Don't run, please don't run! I miss you! Let me hug you for a while…"
Hao Ren looked on, feeling headache. Probably that was how their relationship going to be and nothing could be done about it.
Hao Ren invited Turcan and Kassandra into the house. Vivian had disappeared but he knew she was in somewhere in some inconspicuous corner, watching nervously. He glanced at Hessiana. He pleaded Vivian helplessly. "Come out, Vivian, stop hiding. It's not like you don't know Hessiana, she won't stop until you come out."
A large swarm of bats suddenly came out from all over the house and gathered back into Vivian. Vivian's arms akimbo and looked at Hessiana albeit reluctantly. "Stop at where you are! And, be calm. Or else I'll run again!"
The delinquent child had really jittered Vivian.