In the western part of Z Town.
Sophie Huang and her husband Lucas Mo was looking at the picture that their son had sent them earlier. As they browsed through them, the smile on their face widened and there was gentleness on their expression.
Hazel Mo was their only grandchild that they doted on her very much. They had wanted to let her stay by their side to raise her, but the little girl had chosen to live with her uncle who she was never close with.
These days, they can only look at their precious grandchild through her photos.
Although they were initially worried about the living arrangement with the uncle and niece, it looked like everything was going on smoothly for the two of them.
"You look here," Sophie pointed at her husband. "This photo of Hazel with the turtles looks especially cute." She could only pray that her son, Adam, and her daughter-in-law, Claire would see that their daughter was living well under Neil's care.
"Hmm," Lucas nodded. They continued to browse through the photos and he looked up upon hearing his wife's long sigh.
"I'm glad that we gave both of them a chance to live together," Sophie said. "You look at your son. Did you not notice? Neil's expression became gentler when he was with Hazel. How long have we have not seen this kind of expression from him."
Lucas stared at the photo and sighed. "Well, our son had suffered a lot under the old master's teaching. In the end, one of them became expressionless, and another one always put on a smile to hide their emotion."
Sophie let out another long sigh as she recalled how her father-in-law had raised her two sons under his strict guidance. Her sons might be successful, respected, and became influential in L City despite their young age, however, as their mother, she hoped that her sons will be able to enjoy their life like others.
Fortunately, her second son, Adam found someone he liked at a very young age, married her, and had a daughter. However, regarding her older son, Sophie was still worried about it.
A lot of madame had approached her to introduce their daughter to enter Mo's family through marriage, however, Sophie was determined to let her two sons chose the woman they were going to marry themselves. Growing up, her sons were not given the chance to make their choice. Therefore, regarding their marriage, Sophie wanted to let them decide.
Just that… looking at her Neil's personality, Sophie was wondering if there would be any woman who could get along with him well.
Lucas stared at his wife's longing face and spoke, "The next time we went back to L City for my routine check-up, let's stay at the city a while longer and accompany Hazel, alright?"
…
After playing around in the aquarium with her uncle and teacher, Hazel was too tired and had gone back to her room and had fallen asleep earlier. Her eyes closed and she was holding tightly at the bunny plushy that her late mother had gifted her. At the head of her bed, there was the new dolphin and octopus plushy that Neil had bought for her.
Edith looked at the girl's steady breathing and closed the door before she headed downstairs to drink some water before going to bed. The moment she walked into the kitchen, her gaze met with Neil's Mo. She froze momentarily and quickly regained her composure.
"President Mo," she greeted. She saw that he replied to her with a nod and her eyes shifted towards his hands that was handling the coffee machine.
It was nighttime. The only reason why he would need a cup of coffee was that he was planning to stay up and work.
Her lips tilted into a smile at the thought that Neil had wanted to spend his time with his niece despite having a pile of work waiting for him.
Edith went to a side, pick up a glass, and pour herself some water. Just as she was about to bring the glass to her lips, Edith heard the man called out her name. She turned to Neil and gave him an inquiring gaze.
Neil had noticed her presence the moment she descended the stairs and had wanted to speak to her for a while. He continued to look at the person in front of him and noticed that the end of her hair was slightly wet.
"Thank you for today," Neil said and looked away.
"You're welcome," she nodded and smiled. She watched as he turned away to press some button on the coffee machine and weigh her decision whether to initiate a conversation with him or not. After a few seconds, Edith spoke, "I hope that you are making some progress with Hazel today."
Recently, Neil began to notice that the two of them would always have their chat in the kitchen.
"Hmm," Neil nodded. He was reminded of Hazel's happy face and a gentle smile curled on his lips. "I sent those photos you took to Hazel's grandparents. They were very happy to see that Hazel is very happy here."
The coffee he prepared poured out from the machine into his cup and the smell of coffee wafted in the room.
"Well accompanying her and doing some activities with her together will help you get close to Hazel," Edith said. She thought for a while and spoke again, "Well, this is merely a suggestion, but President Mo, if you are not too busy, you should come home early and have dinner with Hazel. Didn't they say that a family that eats together stays together? Besides, eating together as a family will help in Hazel's growth as well."
Neil stared at her for a long without saying a word. Then slowly, he nodded. "I will try."
Hearing his answer, Edith smiled again.
"Teacher Qian?" he called again.
"Hmm?"
"It has been a week since you moved in with us. I hope you're adjusting yourself well," Neil said.
"I am," Edith smiled.
In fact, she was not the only one who had to adjust to this living arrangement. Neil had never shared his place with another woman before. The only reason why Edith was able to enter his place was that she was good with Hazel.
Neil was grateful that Edith was someone who was not frightened to speak to him or someone who wanted to get close to him because of who he was. Although she might have some side that she wanted to hide from him, Neil thought that it was good that she was lively and would try to be herself.
He had thought that the only reason he was able to adjust to this living arrangement quickly was that... the person was Edith. If it was switched to someone else, perhaps he would not be able to adjust this quick.
"That's good to hear," Neil retract his gaze, picked up the freshly brewed coffee mug, and took a sip. The bitterness spread through his mouth but his expression did not show that he was despising the taste.
Edith waited for him to say something else, but when he stood silently with his coffee mug Edith turned to walk out. Her step halted as she reached the end. "President Mo?" She waited for him to turn to her and spoke, "Don't stay up too late. Good night."