"I wish that I can go and visit Z Town. It has been a long time since I went there," Lily Zhao spoke as she took the small paper bag from her friend, Edith.
The sun has begun to come out and at this time, Alex He was the first to arrive at the kindergarten.
As Edith had got back from her hometown yesterday, she had brought some local snacks for her friend. The Zhao's family had a villa in the west part of the Z Town and when she was younger, Lily would often visit the beach with her family. It was at this town that she became an acquaintance with Edith.
"How is your grandfather?"
Edith let out a loud sigh at the mention of her grandfather. "Don't mention him. This morning, he called to let me know that he will be heading to the sea with a few of his friends to test some new fishing rod he bought. It seemed that I will not be able to contact him for the next few weeks."
"Maybe he's just bored after retirement. It's good that he's indulging himself in a hobby. At least he was not wasting away money with drinking and gambling."
"But the fishing equipment was not that cheap!" Edith spoke with a hint of frustration.
During her grandfather's last birthday, Edith had thought about giving her grandfather fishing equipment and was surprised upon seeing the price tags. She did not expect the equipment to be so expensive. Some of them cost higher than her monthly salary!
Lily laughed as she looked at her friend's expression.
At this time, another teacher walked by to greet the students. Seeing that a few students had started to come and it was almost time for her friend to get busy, Lily waved his son goodbye and left. Her steps halted upon encountering President Mo near her car and the two exchanged a nod as a form of greetings.
"Alex's mother, hello!" Hazel's voice was heard.
Lily shifted her gaze to the little girl and her lips curled up to an amused smile upon seeing the girl's crooked pigtail hair. "Hello, Hazel. Alex has already entered the classroom not too long ago."
The little girl's eyes brightened. She had wanted to tell Alex how she had met their teacher in Z Town and thus, started to tug at her uncle's hand to hasten their move.
Once the two arrived at the gate, the teachers greeted the parents and students before they were ushered inside. Edith was watching a student and her mother at the side when Hazel's sweet voice greeted her.
"Hazel, hello!" Edith smiled at her student and lifted her head to meet her President Mo's gaze. "Good morning."
"Good morning," Neil replied to her with a nod and extended his arms as he handed her a bag. "Thank you for lending me the towel the last time."
His voice was low and therefore, the teachers around them were not able to eavesdrop. However, they were still able to see that President Mo was handing Edith something and suddenly, their heart was itching to gossip.
"I will let Grandpa Tang pick you up after school, alright?" Neil crouched down to Hazel's height spoke to her. He watched her nodded and smiled. "Nanny Ann won't be around to look after you, so Grandpa Tang will bring you over to my company after that."
"Un," Hazel nodded. "Uncle, you have told me these this morning. Don't worry, I know"
Neil patted at his niece's head with a helpless gaze upon noticing that his niece was too eager to enter her classroom and leave. After saying a few more words, the uncle and niece said their goodbyes.
Once Hazel had entered the door and Neil had turned around to head over to his car, the teachers began to surround Edith.
"Teacher Qian, what is that?" The short-haired Teacher Shen asked. "Did President Mo bestowed you a gift?"
Edith shot her friend a helpless look upon hearing her choice of words. "What bestowing gift?"
"Is it to thank you for looking after his niece?" Another teacher quipped.
Every one of them has heard how Edith had stayed behind in school until it was very late as President Mo often late to pick up his niece from the kindergarten. It was not impossible if President Mo had prepared a gift to thank her for staying at the kindergarten past her working hours.
Facing her co-workers' intense gaze, Edith started to flinch. "You guys are thinking too much," she said after a while. "Last week, I let Hazel borrowed my towel when she got wet and President Mo only returned my things today." Her lips curled into a tight smile as she told her co-workers a lie.
One of the teachers peeked into the bag and let out a sigh upon seeing that there was indeed a towel inside the bag. Although the towel was properly folded, one would be able to tell that it was not something that was recently bought and has been used a few times. As the mystery behind the gift was unveiled, the others began to disperse with disappointment on their faces.
…
As Neil Mo arrived at the headquarter, his assistant, Shawn Zhong greeted him at the lobby and the two of them head over to the elevator together. The phone in Assistant Shawn's hand vibrated and upon answering the short phone call, the assistant's face began to pale.
Neil glanced at his assistant as they entered the elevator and noticed the agitated look on his assistant's face.
"What's wrong? Speak."
Assistant Shawn shifted the weight on his feet and answered, "President Mo, there is a trouble. I received news from the construction manager. It seemed that there is a problem with the construction site on the north side of the city."
Neil frowned as he thought of the projects. "The north side, you mean the hospital construction?"
"Correct. I don't know what really happened, but the construction workers refused to continue to work and they were holding a demonstration asking MH Group to pay their salary. It seemed that a few reporters had received the news and they were heading over to the site to get their scoop."
Neil Mo's eyes darkened upon hearing the matter. "Call out the managers who were involved in this matter. I wanted everyone to show up at the construction site within half an hour."