As the teacher in charge announced that it was time for the princess race to start, Hazel went around the field to look for her teacher and dragged her towards the center.
"We're here!" Hazel raised her hand high in excitement. Once the teacher in charge had marked her attendance, the little girl immediately grabbed her uncle's in one hand and her teacher in another.
The three of them stood side by side with Hazel at the center looking like a family of three while waiting for the game to start.
Megan Xiao looked at her best friend and looked at the two grownups beside her. "Hazel, Teacher Qian will join your team in this race?"
"Un," Hazel nodded. "Teacher Sun said I can ask any adults to join my team. As long as I have enough people, then I am qualified."
"Hmm," Megan shifted her gaze to Neil and gave him a look over. Then, she pulled at Hazel closely and whispered, "This is your uncle?"
"Un."
"He doesn't resemble your dad," Megan commented. She could still remember Hazel's late father. The man would always have a smile on his face and it was as warm as sunshine. Hazel had inherited his smile and whenever Hazel was happy, Adam Mo's smile would show on her face.
"Really?" Hazel turned to look at her uncle and stared at her uncle's face for a while. "I think they look almost the same."
Her uncle might not smile as much as her father, but he shared a lot of features with her father. The two of them shared the same eyes and nose. Their resemblance was what help Hazel to be comfortable around her uncle quickly.
Megan stared at the tall man again and finally looked away when the man caught her staring. No matter what, Megan did not think that the two men resembled each other at all.
At this time, the teacher in charge called the contestants to gather up and get ready for the race.
Because of its name, Princess Race, only the girls had signed up for this race with their parents or guardians. The game was pretty simple. The child will have to run and pass the obstacle until they reached the first checkpoint. Then, the child will sit down on a blanket and one of the adults will be pulling the chariot, went past the obstacle, and reached the second checkpoint.
At this checkpoint, another adult will help the child to dress up nicely like a princess. Once the child was prettily dressed, the two grownups will have to create a two-handed seat and carry the child in this way towards the finishing line.
The referee will then judge the princess and see whether her dressing is completed before the team was to be announced as the winner.
Edith listened to the rules and silently muttered a few curses. She has been too weak against Hazel's cute attack and now she had to team up with Neil in this race.
The spectators who had noticed that the two will be joining hands stared at the trio with surprise. Some of them were looking at them in an envious gaze that the kindergarten teacher would have a chance to get close to President Mo. Of course, if they had the chance, they too would love to be on Hazel and President Mo's team!
Fortunately, none of them knew that the two of them were living in the same house and this living arrangement was only known to Headmistress Fu. Or else, Edith would face deep trouble.
The teacher finally finished explaining the games and instructed everyone to head over to their checkpoint.
Neil held on to Hazel's hand to bring her towards her checkpoint and paused after a few steps. He turned to Edith and nodded. "Teacher Qian, we'll be counting on you."
"Oh." Edith nodded and watched the uncle and niece turned to head over to their place. Tilting her head down, Edith stared at the princess's clothes and accessories with a resigned expression.
"Edith!"
At the side, Lily shouted her name out loud and waved. "Good luck."
On the other side, Hazel stared at the obstacle in front of her with a serious look on her expression. Once the referee blew the whistle, Hazel ran as fast as she could and reached the first obstacle, the tire run obstacle course. Once she finished the first obstacle, Hazel reached the second one, the balance beam. At the end of it, she had to throw five balls into the basket before she can run to her uncle at the first checkpoint.
Hazel was the third person to reach the first checkpoint. Seeing that a few of her friends and their father had led the race, Hazel quickly turned to her uncle with an anxious look on her face. She handed the blanket over and sat down quickly.
"Uncle, quickly go!" Hazel shouted out as she held on to the two sides blanket tightly so that she won't fall.
With his strength, Neil easily pulled the blanket and reached the second checkpoint where Edith was waiting for them.
Hazel glanced to her left and right and looked at her friends who were putting on their dress.
"Alright, stay still," Edith spoke. "I'm going to do this quickly. Hazel, raised both hands high."
The little girl did as she was instructed and the baby blue dress wrapped around her body in one attempt.
Edith moved to zip the dress and quickly styled her hair into a half-up twist braid knot. Then, she put on the sparkling crown on the little girl's hair and took a step back to check on her look.
"Okay, you're done." Edith nodded.
Hazel turned to her uncle and blinked.
"You look pretty," Neil commented and the little girl smiled happily.
"Let's go," Hazel shouted happily and the two adults looked at each other hesitantly.
"What should we do next?" Neil asked.
"Alright, let's crouch down," Edith instructed. Then she looked at Neil with a serious look on her face and Edith grabbed his left hand and placed his arms around her shoulder.
The man's eyes deepened upon realizing that Edith's face was too close to him. His nose caught the smell of shampoo on her hair and his body froze upon feeling a certain softness brushing against his sides...
Before he was able to say anything, Neil felt her arms around his shoulder as Edith was holding his right hand tightly. Or rather, his wrist.
This pose made it seem as if they were hugging.
"Hazel, quick! Come and sit down," Edith spoke again. "Then, we'll carry you to the finish line, alright?"
Hazel sat down between them and their hands held below Haze's knee securely.
Neil finally figured out that they were creating a two-handed seat and in this pose, they should carry Hazel towards the finishing line.
"Are you ready?" Edith asked Neil. "On the count of three! One. Two. Three."
The two of them stood up at the same time and Hazel quickly put her arms around the two adults' neck to balance herself. With Edith's guide, the two adults walked towards the finishing line while holding on to Hazel carefully.
Finally, they reached the line and the referee blew the whistle as a sign that the race has ended.