After Neil had taken the initiative to have a chat with Hazel, the little girl would turn to him and pointed at everything that she found interesting to him. Having this rare chance where Hazel had talked to him with a bright smile on her face, of course, Neil was happy.
Seeing the expression on their face while they were together, Edith took this chance to snap a few more candid photos and had edited some of them to make them appear cuter. A soft sigh escaped her as she continued to stare at the photos.
The photos with Hazel and Neil both with cat whiskers were too adorable. She wanted to post it to her moments and share it with others, but this will only bring her a lot of trouble. Hazel might be able to appreciate this editing skill, but if her boss, Neil found out about this photo, Edith was sure that he would be furious.
In the end, Edith could only appreciate her photographing and editing skills by herself.
More patron filled in the aquarium as they stayed longer. As the announcer announced that the animal show will be starting soon, Assistant Shawn led them to the auditorium. The three of them were taken to the VVIP seat and he soon left.
Seeing that their Assistant Shawn was not joining them, Edith turned to Neil and looked at him inquiringly. "Assistant Shawn is not joining us?"
"Assistant Shawn had another matter to look after," Neil said.
Edith nodded and turned to chat with Hazel and asked her about her experience earlier.
It has been a while since Hazel had come out to visit a place like this and Hazel became very chattery as she talked to Edith.
Meanwhile, Neil was watching their interaction with a hint of jealousy. Though he had his chance with his niece earlier, this girl did not talk too much as she did with his teacher. As Neil was wondering when will the two of them became closer, a trainer walked on the stage and three sea lion swam in the water.
The crowd, especially the kids started to cheer out loud as the trainer and the sea lion did a little trick.
Because of where they were seated, some water splashed towards them as the sea lion did its trick. Although Hazel was happy about it, Neil's expression was very different than his niece. After all, because of his height, he had received most of the splash and protected Hazel from most of it.
As the show ended, Edith glanced at the man and laughed a little bit. She pulled out a small towel from her knapsack and handed it over to her boss. "President Mo, please, use this and help yourself."
Neil took a deep breath, accepted the towel, and started to wipe his face and some wet spot on his body. "Teacher Qian, do you always carrying a towel with you?"
"That's right," Edith nodded. "After being around kids for a long time, I feel that taking a small towel with me all the time was actually helpful."
Neil's movement paused.
Was her words implying that he was a small kid. After all, this was not the first time he was splashed with water and had to borrow her towel.
"You missed a spot," Edith said. She stretched her hand, took the towel from him, and helped to dab at a few spots just around his ear and hair. "You're done." She turned to Hazel who sat between them and asked, "Are you ready to leave now?"
"Un," Hazel nodded. She looked at her uncle and said, "I'm hungry."
Neil, who had turned stiff after Edith had wiped some water off his face snapped out of his trance. He looked at his niece and nodded. "Let's go and eat then."
Just as the three of them were about to leave, a young girl with a pink polaroid camera in her hand stopped them.
"Hello." The young girl shot a wary glance at Neil and smiled at both Edith and Hazel. "Just now, I was taking some pictures and saw your family's interaction." She paused and handed over a polaroid photograph and said. "It was a very cute moment and I could not resist pressing the button. The photo turned out good. Here, you can have this."
Edith stared at the photo where she was holding the small towel to dry Neil's face. Because she had thought that the situation was rather funny, there was a hint of a smile on her lips. Neil was looking at her with a slightly surprised look and Hazel, who was in the middle were looking at her happily.
It was a really nice photograph, except that… they were not a family ah!
Edith turned towards the young girl and saw that she had walked away. "Young girl!"
The girl turned around and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't charge you anything. Madam, you can have that photo."
Her breath hitched at the way the girl had addressed her. What madam? This was a misunderstanding! She was still unmarried! Edith raised her head to look at Neil's expression and was relieved to see that he was staring at his phone to avoid the awkwardness.
"Come on," Neil said as he glanced at the polaroid in Edith's hand. "Assistant Shawn is waiting for us outside."
"Oh," Edith nodded. She scratched at her head and finally decided to throw the polaroid picture into her knapsack before she went after Neil and Hazel.
Assistant Shawn was already waiting for them outside the auditorium. He exchanged a few words with Neil and led them to the cafe. He had booked a table for three just beside the large aquarium and Hazel was staring at the fishes in the large tank in excitement.
"Assistant Shawn, you will not be joining us?" Edith asked upon noticing the seating arrangement.
"Teacher Qian, I have had my meal earlier," Assistant Shawn admitted.
Just before Edith could say something else, the little girl beside her had already caught her attention and when she turned again, Assistant Shawn had left, and a waitress was standing beside her with a menu in her hand.
"Teacher Qian, just order for anything that you like," Neil said.
Edith browsed through the menu and called Hazel to look at them together. After a while, Edith had chosen a pan-fried fish and Hazel had chosen something from the kids' menu. She accompanied Hazel to look at the fishes in the aquarium.
Their food arrived and the grownups ate while continue to listen to Hazel's chattering about the fishes and sea creatures that she had seen.
"Don't just talk, eat your food," Neil said to Hazel. He watched her took a bite at her pasta and asked, "How was it? Good?"
Hazel raised her head and smiled at Edith. "It's good, but Teacher Qian made a better pasta."
Edith laughed. She patted at the little girl's hair and kissed her hair. "Then, next time, I'll make that seafood pasta for you again, alright?"
Hazel nodded happily and turned to her uncle. "Uncle, can we come here again? With you, Teacher Qian and me?"
Neil exchanged a glance with Edith and nodded to Hazel. "Alright. Next time, let's come again."
The little girl's eyes brightened. "Promise?"
Neil nodded. "I promise."