Once they arrived home, Edith took everything she bought to the kitchen. She turned around, watched Neil placed the icebox on the table, and thanked him. She opened the box and the three of them peered into the box.
"Teacher Qian, that's a lot of fishes!" Hazel stared into the box with her eyes wide.
Edith heaved a sigh as she checked on the amount of seafood that her grandfather had sent to her. Fortunately, she had let Lily have half of them, or else, Edith did not know what she was going to do with them.
If she was living alone in her apartment, she would not be able to finish the amount of food.
"Hmm," Edith nodded. "I guess this amount of seafood would be enough for a week." She turned to Neil and smiled. "President Mo, you should go and do what you need to do. When everything is ready, I will let Hazel call you for dinner."
Hazel raised her hand high. "Teacher Qian, I want to stay and help!"
"Alright. You shall be my little helper for today."
Neil stayed at the kitchen to watch the two interactions for a while longer and felt the same tad of jealousy that his niece was closer to Edith than she was with him. The smile on Hazel's face right now was too dazzling.
Hazel inherited her good look from both her mother and father. Her smiling face was the cutest and Neil recalled seeing the same smile whenever she was around her mother. However, this smile quickly disappeared as soon as her parents passed away.
The first few weeks after her parents passed away, Hazel almost had no expression on her face. Neil had thought that his niece would never show the same smile again.
It was after returning to school that Hazel started to show various expressions again.
Neil was relieved, but he still wished that Hazel would have the same smile when she was with him. Looking at her now, Neil had wanted to stay in the kitchen and continue to look at his niece. However, the two of them were acting as if he was not present and Neil was starting to feel like an outsider.
In the end, he shifted out of the kitchen quietly and head over into his office to deal with his work matters.
…
Edith stepped backward to look at the little girl in front of her. "We don't have a child-size apron at this home, so you have to make do with that," she said as she adjusted the apron on Hazel's body. "Next time when we go out, we should get an apron that is suitable for you."
"Un," Hazel nodded enthusiastically. She went to her teacher's side and listened to her instruction as she was teaching her to wash vegetables. Then, she stood at the side and admired Edith's skill in cleaning the seafood with ease.
The sizzling sound caught Hazel's attention, and the aromatic smell of garlic and other seasoning wafted through her nose. Hazel watched Edith stirred in the seafood into the pan and was amazed at how the prawn turned pink.
Growing up, there was always an auntie who would cook at the house and her mother would always tell her not to enter the kitchen as it was dangerous for her. Therefore, to watch her teacher cooking up close was a new experience for her.
To see the ingredients turned into something delicious in the pan made Hazel fascinated with cooking.
At the end of it, Hazel looked at the seafood with pitiful eyes. The squid and crabs looked so different than they were at the beginning. Hazel poked her hand at Mr. Crab and whispered, "Poor Mister Crab." She stared at the crab for a while longer and continued, "But you're very delicious."
Edith stood at the side and smiled when caught the little girl's mutterings to the crab. "Hazel, would you like to visit the aquarium with me?"
"You're going to take me to the aquarium?"
"Un," Edith nodded. "I haven't been to the aquarium for a long time. If you would like to go with me, then I will ask your uncle to let us go. What do you think?"
The little girl's eyes brightened. "I'd love to."
"Then, we'll talk to your uncle and convince him to let us go, alright?"
…
Neil Mo walked down the stairs and was surprised to see the amount of food on the table. He lifted his gaze to Edith and spoke, "You made all these?"
"I helped!" Hazel raised her hand enthusiastically. "I helped Teacher Qian to wash the vegetables and stir the ingredients in the wok."
Seeing the excited look on Hazel's face as she talked to him startled Neil for a few seconds. He recovered quickly and patted the girl on her hair. "You did a good job. The noodles look delicious."
Hazel pulled her uncle's hand and made him sit down. "Then, you have to finish everything, alright?"
"Alright." A helpless sigh escaped from him as he saw Hazel's rare enthusiasm towards him.
Neil picked up the chopsticks and took a small bite at the noodle and was surprised at the fresh taste of the noodles and seafood. Though the noodle did not look very fancy, he was able to taste the sweetness and freshness of the seafood. It seemed that Edith was not lying when she told him that she was good at cooking seafood.
Edith watched as the uncle and niece ate the noodles quietly and recalled her conversation with Hazel in the kitchen. "President Mo?"
"Hmm?" Neil lifted his head and the chopstick in his hand stopped in midair.
"I was planning to take Hazel to the aquarium this Sunday if it is alright with you?"
Hazel put her chopstick down as she heard the word 'aquarium'. she looked at her uncle with an expectant gaze and spoke, "Uncle! I want to go! I've never been to an aquarium before."
The little girl's puppy dog eyes melted his heart and Neil nodded. "Alright."
Once dinner ended, Edith sent Hazel to shower while she went back to the kitchen to tidy up. She was storing the dry plates back into the cupboard when she noticed the tall man, leaning on the wall, watching her.
"President Mo, is there something wrong?" Edith asked as she wiped her hand on a clean towel.
"About your trip to the aquarium," Neil hesitated. "I-I want to come along."
The two adults stared at each other for a while before Edith broke the silence. "You… want to come along?"
Neil nodded. "Teacher Qian, you know that my relationship with Hazel is not very good. Therefore, I hope that you can help me to mend my relationship with my niece."