The police arrived soon after and the crowd parted to make ways for the authorities to apprehend the criminal. Edward Xiao who was pressed to the ground kept on yelling that he was innocent but was soon taken to the police station. The police spoke to Neil briefly and left after Neil had promised to come over and give his statement later.
Some of the passersby who had recorded the situation on the phone had cooperated with the authorities by handing over the videos as evidence.
Once the police were gone, Neil Mo stayed with Hazel to console her. The little girl had her arms wrapped around her uncle's neck as she continued to bury her face in his neck and cried aggrievedly. She had refused to leave his side as she was still too traumatized over what had happened.
Meanwhile, Edith sat at the stairs, watching everything in front of her as she buried her face in her hands.
Just now, she was too anxious as she watched that man grabbed Hazel in front of her eyes. After evaluating the situation, Edith decided to make her move and take down the man. When she looked up, Neil Mo was staring back at her with his eyes assessing her.
His gaze was frightening her.
She had worked hard to show up the gentle, well-mannered side of hers in front of Neil and everyone else ever since she got her job as the kindergarten teacher. But she had exposed that side of her to save Hazel.
Various thoughts went to her mind all at once.
What if Neil got scared by her violent side after he saw the way she had attacked the kidnapper? Then, she has to forget her idea of pursuing him. After all, men like Neil Mo would prefer a gentle and meek woman, right?
But, that was not the worst.
What Edith fear right now was that Neil was going to think that she was too rough and decided to ax her as Hazel's caretaker. Then, she will have no chance to get close to Neil Mo or stay with the cute little Hazel.
Oh, God. Her romance story has ended before it even had the chance to begin.
As the thought crossed her mind, Edith took a deep breath and groaned.
The sound of footsteps approached. Edith lifted her head when she realized that someone was standing in front of her and immediately froze. "President Mo." Her heart jumped in fear as she watched the man's penetrating gaze.
The man was standing at the bottom of the stairs while she sat a few levels up. This situation allowed them to look at each other face to face.
"Teacher Qian," Hazel called as she appeared behind her uncle. Her tiny hands were gripping tightly on her uncle's trousers. She let go of Neil's trouser slowly and leaped into Edith's arms. "Thank you."
Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden impact and Edith felt Hazel tightening her hug around her neck.
"Are you alright?" Edith asked as she patted Hazel on her back.
"Un," Hazel snuggled into her teacher's embrace. "Teacher Qian, you saved me. You were awesome." Hazel released her embrace and smiled sweetly at her teacher. Then, she planted a kiss on Edith's cheek shyly.
"Yes, you were awesome." Henry Wu spoke as he appeared beside his friend. He looked at the girl with a glint of admiration in his eyes.
When he had seen Edith the first time at his friend's place, Henry had thought that this girl was a sweet, soft-spoken woman. Imagine his surprise when he watched how Edith made her attack on Edward Xiao!
"Teacher Qian, what were you thinking when you decided to make that move?" Neil asked. "You should know that with one wrong move, Hazel will be hurt."
Edith took a deep breath. "I know." She lifted her head with a firm gaze. "But I was able to see clearly that the thing that the man was holding was a pen and not a dangerous weapon. That was why I decided to make my move. President Mo, I would not make a move if I was not sure that Hazel would be safe. I would not jeopardize her safety. You can trust me on that."
Moreover, she was afraid of what that man would do once he realized that Neil was trying to stall for time. If he took Hazel into his vehicle and drive off, rescuing Hazel would be harder.
The little girl would be scared without her uncle by her side.
Neil frowned. His mouth opened to counter her words but found that he was unable to say a word upon meeting her gaze.
He was grateful that Edith had saved Hazel, but whenever he thought of what happened, Neil could not help but worry. If Edith miscalculated, not only will Hazel be in danger, but Edith might as well get hurt.
"Don't get mad." Henry nudged at Neil with his elbow. "Miss Qian did save Hazel." He turned to Edith and smiled.
"I am not mad." Neil heaved a long sigh. He looked at Edith and said, "Teacher Qian, I am thankful that you had saved Hazel, but I don't wish for you to put yourself in danger. The situation was risky. I don't want you or anyone to get hurt. If something happened to you, I would not be at ease."
"I know." Edith lowered her gaze and bit her smile. Her heart bloomed at Neil's concern.
"Miss Qian, I saw the way you moved against that man. You were great," Henry spoke as he gave her two thumbs up. "Not only that you were quite skilled in self-defense, you were also quick to analyze the situation. Miss Qian, tell me honestly. Were you trained?"
Edith twisted her fingers at his questions. She peeked at Neil's expression with worry. "My grandfather was a cop. He taught me a thing or two."
Whenever Auntie Li was unable to look after her, Edith would spend her time with her grandfather at the police station.
Her grandfather and his men had taught her how to defend herself as well as some survival skills. The thugs who thought it was amusing to see a little girl hanging out at the station had taught her some fighting tricks and some other stuff that her grandfather wish she knew nothing about.
Henry muttered a curse. "So that's why." He took out his name card from his wallet and handed it over to Edith. "Miss Qian, in case if you decided to change your line of career, you can always find me."
Edith took the card and frowned.
Henry Wu, the CEO of the Iron Hawk Security.
"I owned a security and private investigation company," Henry said. "We often received requests to provide female bodyguards. If you're interested, you can always find me. I will give you the job."
Edith let out a nervous laugh at his offer. Her grandfather would probably murder her if she ever decided to move into that line of career.
"No!" Hazel's tiny voice was heard.
Suddenly, Hazel moved to block her teacher from the two men's eyes. Her eyes were staring at Henry angrily and her hands were holding on Edith's tightly.
"Teacher Qian is my teacher," Hazel said. "Uncle Henry, you cannot take her."
There was a brief silence before Edith broke the silence with her laugh.
Her little Hazel was just too adorable.
Edith pulled the little girl into her arms and rained her kisses on Hazel's cheek. "Alright. I am your teacher. I won't leave your side. At least not until you graduated kindergarten."
"Un." Hazel nodded. "Teacher Qian, you promised."