Once the door behind them closed, Neil Mo felt his niece's grip on his hand started to loosen. He glanced at her and saw that her expression was no longer as tense.
The quiet surrounding snapped Hazel off her trance and she suddenly found that she was back inside the building. Now that she did not have to face the adult's inquiring gaze, Hazel felt more at ease.
Just now… when the adults were surrounding her, watching her, Hazel felt as if she was back to the day after her parents had passed away.
She was at the hospital with her grandmother when a group of adults suddenly surrounded them. The flash from cameras and their constant question frightened her to the point that she had frozen in place, unable to react. It was only when someone had helped her out of the situation that she was able to react again.
Later, during her parents' funeral, Hazel had chosen to sit in the corner away from the adults. Fortunately, none of those adults with flashing cameras and the large microphone was allowed to enter the hall and she was left alone.
"Hazel?"
The little girl turned around and blinked as she saw her uncle staring back at her with a worried expression. "Uncle, why are you here to pick me up instead of Grandpa Tang?"
Neil raised a brow. "You don't like it?"
"No. It's not that. I like it," Hazel spoke quickly. "But you always asked Grandpa Tang to pick me up. Didn't you always wait in the car?"
Neil Mo tightened his hand into a fist. Then he forced a smile as he looked at his niece. "Nanny Ann had a fever, so Grandpa Tang took her to back to her home to let her rest."
Hazel seemed as if she was unable to respond and she continued to stare at her uncle in a daze.
Nanny Ann was not feeling well?
At this time, Edith Qian stepped up and spoke, "President Mo, I'll take you to the waiting area and you can sit there for a while. Once the parents had left, I will let you know. Then, you can leave with Hazel."
He nodded. "Thank you."
A helpless smile appeared on her lips. Edith had always heard how President Mo of MH Group was someone with a cold demeanor. However, she had found that this man was not stingy with his gratitude words.
She turned around and lead the uncle and niece to the waiting area. Then, she went over to the kitchen and came back with small bottles of drinking water.
"Please, have a drink." Edith placed the bottle on the table and hesitated. "Or, would you like to have something else?"
"No, this is fine," he took the bottle, unscrew the cap, and took a sip. Neil blew a sigh as he watched the kindergarten teacher left to check on the situation outside. He turned to his niece who was sitting beside him and saw that the girl was still staring at him. "What is it?"
"Uncle, is Nanny Ann alright?" Hazel asked.
Neil Mo turned around and met with the little girl's gaze. Then he said, "Nanny Ann will be alright after some rest." He thought about Auntie Ann's broken legs and knew that he should come up with an excuse. "Hazel, Nanny Ann won't be around to look after you for a few months."
Hazel's expression changed. Her eyes widened as she looked at her uncle. "Why not?" Suddenly, she was worried that her Nanny's illness was worst than just a fever.
"Just now, Grandpa Tang took her back to her son's place," Neil came up with an excuse. "It has been a while since Nanny Ann spend her time with her grandchild. She told me that she wanted to spend her time with her grandchild for a while."
Hazel's eyes softened upon hearing her uncle's words. She bit on her lips and nodded. "I understand. But Uncle, can I call and talk to Nanny Ann later if I missed her?"
Neil patted at the girl's head. "Of course." Seeing the smile on her face, Neil was more at ease. "Do you like going to this school?"
"En," Hazel nodded. "I like it here. Everyone here is very nice to me. And I learned a lot of stuff and played a lot of games."
The corner of his lips tilted up as Neil continued to listen to his niece, chattering about what she liked about her kindergarten. He then realized that this was the first time that his niece had spoken a lot with him.
Usually, Hazel would only answer back to him with a short answer. It seemed that she really liked attending kindergarten. At this time, Neil was relieved that he had not acted rashly and offended the other parents. Or else, he might have to let his niece transfer to another school.
"The other day, Alex taught me how to build a robot!"
"Alex?" To hear her classmate's name from his niece made Neil think that this person might be a good friend of hers.
"En," Hazel nodded again. "Uncle. Do you know about the Gundam model?"
Neil stiffened as a thought crossed his mind.
Gundam? Was that not something that a boy would enjoy?
"Hazel, tell me, is Alex a boy?"
"En," Hazel nodded again. She stared at her uncle and hesitated for a few seconds. "Uncle, can I get one of them? I wanted to try building them as well."
Neil Mo felt the corner of his lips started to twitch. "Why do you want to play with them? Aren't they… something that a boy would play with?"
"Of course not," Hazel frowned. "Teacher Qian is very good at building them as well. The other day, she had helped me and Alex to build one. But it was not yet completed. Teacher Qian said that anyone could build robots and it was not necessarily something that only a boy can play with."
Neil noticed how the little girl's face would brighten up whenever she was talking about her teacher. "You keep praising Teacher Qian. You must really like her a lot."
A shy look appeared on the little girl's face. "Of course. Teacher Qian treated me the best."
The corner of his lips turned up and Neil stretched his hand to pat at his niece's head.
After waiting for almost ten minutes, Edith appeared and announced that the parents got too tired after waiting for too long and had left the kindergarten.
Hearing the news, Neil stood up and led his niece outside. He thanked the kindergarten teacher for her help again and watched as his niece waved her hand to bid goodbye.
Just as Neil slid into the driver's seat, the phone in his pocket started to vibrate. He stared at the caller ID for a few seconds and answered the call.
"Neil, I'm heading over to your place later, is that alright?" His friend, Henry Wu's voice could be heard from the other line.