For the next few days, Hazel has been sticking around Edith in school.
The little girl had refused to be around her other friends and would only talk to her best friend, Megan. The children had smiles on their faces as they did their rehearsal on stage, but Hazel's face remained expressionless as if nothing interests her.
Looking at the way where Hazel had almost return to the way she was after her parents' death, Edith could not help but worry.
She could still remember the little girl's attitude on the first week she had returned to kindergarten. Hazel would stay at the corner and ignored everyone else.
It took her a while to coax Hazel to mix in with her friends and joined in the class activities. But now, she had almost reverted to the way she was. Although Hazel had said that she was alright, Edith knew that she was still upset.
Which child will not be sad to be called a bad luck bringer and caused their parents to die?
Edith could only coax Hazel not to mind Cindy's words, but everything would depend on Hazel. Although Edith had faced almost the same situation, in the end, she and Hazel was not the same person.
As she watched Hazel walked over to the corner after the rehearsal ended, Edith heaved a sigh.
She had convinced Neil to pretend that he knew nothing, but Edith was still worried whether she was making the right decision. She wanted to protect Hazel, but as her teacher, there were not many things that she can do.
However because she had promised Hazel, Edith can only let Neil pretend that he knew nothing.
Edith was worried that once Hazel knew that she had broken her promise, that little girl will have a hard time trusting another person. Hazel was fragile at this moment and Edith did not want to harm her.
In the eyes of the other, it might not matter if she told Neil this secret. After all, Neil was her blood-related uncle and guardian. However, this matter might be very important to Hazel.
Right now, Edith was the closest person to Hazel, and the little girl would share with her almost everything. Edith did not want this thing to change. At least not until Hazel no longer needed her by her side and find another person that she can trust.
Once the rehearsal ended, Edith returned to her class and resumed the lesson.
When the class ended, Hazel sat at a corner with a storybook in her hand as she waited until her teacher clock out of her work so that the two can return to the house together.
The student left one by one as their parents came and pick them up. After a long time, only Hazel and Alex were left in the classroom.
Alex was playing with Lego and had constructed a robot with it as he waited for his mother to come. When he looked up again, he noticed that everyone had left. His gaze stopped towards the girl at the corner and a slight frown appeared on his face.
He was getting used to having Hazel following him around and asked him to teach her how to build a robot. But these past few days, Alex realized that the little girl has stopped following him. After pondering for a while, Alex stood up and walked over to Hazel.
"I will give this to you," Alex spoke as he stretched his hand with the robot in his hand.
Hazel lifted her head to look at him, but after a few seconds, she turned to look at her book again.
"Hazel Mo." Alex sat down beside her. "Have I done something wrong? Why won't you talk to me anymore? Is it because you think that building robots are no longer an interesting thing?"
The girl lifted her head again and there was a hint of surprise in her eyes. Hazel shifted her gaze towards the robot in Alex's hand and spoke in a whispering voice, "That's not it."
"Then why?"
Alex knew that because of his interest in robot and his quiet personality, he did not have many friends. It was rare that he found someone with the same interest. In front of Hazel, he could talk about robots and the girl would look at him in admiration. Having someone to look at him that way made him very happy. But these days, the cheery look in Hazel's eyes had faded and Alex was not too happy to see it.
Hazel retracted her gaze again. "Didn't you know? I'm bringing bad luck. Aren't you afraid that I might implicate you if I talk to you?"
Although she had told her teacher that she did not mind Cindy's words, Hazel was still keeping the words in her heart.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Alex stared back at her. "My dad said there is no such thing about bad luck. As long as you think of everything on the bright side, you will always be lucky."
Hazel's eyes flickered upon hearing that Alex did not think that she was a bringer of bad luck. "Your dad said so?"
Alex nodded. "Just like yesterday when I played Gashapon and won myself a Gundam key chain."
Hazel listened to Alex's story about how he stayed positive and in the end, won the thing he wanted the most, and her lips formed into a slight smile.
"Later when you come to my house again, I will show you," Alex said.
At this time, Edith walked into the class. "Alex, your mother is here."
The little boy hurriedly stood up and went to get his bag.
"Hazel," Edith called. "Pack up, we should head back too."
The three of them walked over to the entrance where Lily Zhao was waiting and Edith made a stop at the guard hut to speak with Guard Dan.
Alex quickly walked over to his mother. "Mummy, when will Auntie Edith come over to our place with Hazel again? I wanted to show her that robot I got yesterday!"
"Why do you ask me?" Lily frowned. "Go and ask your Auntie Edith when will she come again."
Hearing his mother's answer, Alex turned around and jogged towards her teacher who was still at the guard hut, leaving his mother and Hazel alone.
Lily looked at the little girl and smiled. She had noticed the slight change in Hazel's expression when her son had referred to Edith as Auntie Edith.
She recalled Hazel's confusion the first time she had heard Alex called their teacher Auntie Edith and a smile curled on her lips. Lily squatted and stared at Hazel with a mischievous smile on her face.
Lily glanced at her friend and son who was still at the guard hut and whispered, "Hazel."
"Mrs. He?"
"Do you want to be able to call Teacher Qian Auntie Edith just like Alex?"
Hazel nodded and the smile on Lily's face widened.
"I can tell you how," Lily said. She waved her hand, motioning the little girl to come closer, and whispered, "Teacher Qian is single, and your uncle is single. Hazel, if the two of them got together, Teacher Qian will be your auntie and you will have the right to call her auntie."
Of course, Lily was intending to tease Hazel when she said those words and did not think that Hazel will take those words to heart.