Neil continued to press the ice pack to his knuckle as he eyed Edith with the corner of his eyes. After a minute, his knuckles were starting to feel a bit numb from the cold.
"Just continue to press that ice pack to your hand," Edith said. "Or else, if Hazel sees that bruise in the morning, she will worry."
A helpless sigh escaped him as Neil thought of his niece. Although he enjoyed Hazel's care and reprimand, Neil did not want the little girl to worry. In the end, he could only listen to Edith's suggestion and obediently applied the ice to his hand.
His gaze stayed at the redness on his knuckle and his eyes turned darker as he recalled his conversation with Edward Xiao at the police station earlier.
Neil wished that he could give harsher punishment to Edward Xiao for his attempt to harm his little girl.
Before he left the police station, Neil had reached an agreement with Edward Xiao. What the man needed was a job to support his life and family, while Neil needed him to be a witness and testify against those greedy directors and stockholders for him for the time to come.
Edward had caused a disturbance in front of MH Headquarters and this action will surely catch the attention of those who have been watching them.
Thus, Neil was planning to give Edward a chance and send that man away from L City and keep him hidden until it was time for him to come out. With Edward's attitude and this arrangement, the people who have been keeping their eyes on them will not find that it was strange if Edward was suddenly missing.
Neil retracted his gaze, grabbed that can of beer on the kitchen counter, and swallowed a few mouthfuls of them. His expression then changed as the drink went through his throat and he realized that he was drinking beer instead of the usual hard alcohol he would drink.
His gaze then moved to Edith who was staring silently at the can of beer in front of her. At this time, Neil was glad that this girl had not asked him any question about his bruised knuckles.
"Why were you here, drinking alone?" Neil asked. He had offered her a few drinks he had kept in the house and each time, she would decline his offer. After a few times, he had stopped asking her if she wanted some drink.
Perhaps, she was someone who would prefer beer over any other alcoholic drinks?
"I just thought that I could use some drinks after too much excitement today."
Of course, there were a few other things that she was worried about.
For example, if Neil was planning to ax her from her job as Hazel's caretaker after he had seen the way she acted in the afternoon. Then, she wanted to bid goodbye to her romance that will have no chance to bloom.
As those thoughts came to her mind, Edith took another swig from her drink.
"I thought you were someone who would not drink alcoholic drinks," Neil said and he was suddenly reminded of his friend who was in Y City with her husband and two children.
Edith flashed him a smile and there was a long silence between them. When she glanced at Neil again, the man had already pulled a stool and sat down.
From the look of it, he was not going to leave anytime soon and Edith was getting worried that she might accidentally do or say something stupid. She was not drunk, but when she was nervous, she tended to make a fool of herself.
Edith continued to drink until she realized that she had emptied a can. After casting another glance at the man beside her, a butterfly started to appear in her stomach and her throat felt dry. Absentmindedly, she walked over to the fridge and pulled out another can of beer, and took a few mouthfuls of drink.
It was clear that she had already forgotten Lily's reminder.
"President Mo," Edith spoke after a long silence.
"What is it?"
Edith turned and stared at the man in a daze for a few seconds. "Am I getting fired from my job as Hazel's caretaker?"
His movement froze and he turned to Edith with a puzzled gaze. "Teacher Qian, why would you think that I would fire you?"
"Are you not?" Edith cocked her head to a side. "Earlier you don't seem like you're alright with me taking down the kidnapper. Aren't you going to fire me because I'm too… aggressive?"
A chuckle escaped him. Neil placed the can back on the counter and asked, "Teacher Qian, are you… drunk?"
Edith waved her hand. "I'm not drunk. This is only my second drink. I won't get drunk that easily."
Neil shifted his gaze towards the cans in front of her. There were three emptied cans on the counter and she had just opened her fourth can a minute ago.
Initially, he was impressed as he watched her walk over to the refrigerator to take the third, and then, fourth cans. He had thought that Edith was someone who could hold her drink, so Neil was not expecting Edith to get drunk this quick.
"Teacher Qian, rest assured. I am not going to fire you because you are—"
Neil paused and suddenly he did not know if he wanted to use the word aggressive to describe her. She was lively and good at self-defense. Sometimes, Edith can be a little weird and humorous, but she was definitely not aggressive.
"Anyway, you are great with Hazel and that little girl liked you very much. It would be stupid of me if I fired you. Hazel will be angry if I did that. And," He cleared his throat. "I was not mad at you. I was just worried about your safety."
"Really?" Edith propped her head up on an elbow and looked at Neil with a lazy gaze.
"Next time, please don't do anything dangerous."
"I know. I won't do it again." Edith buried her face in her arms and let out a long exhale of relief, knowing that she did not have to leave this temporary job. When she looked up again, there was a silly smile on her face.
His lips tilted into a slight smile. The woman in front of him was really drunk.
"Actually, it is a good thing that you know self-defense, Teacher Qian," Neil said. "At least I know that Hazel will be safe as long as she's with you."
"That's right," Edith slapped her hand on the kitchen counter. Then, she put a hand on her chest and raised the other to shoulder level. "President Mo! You can be assured that as long as I'm with Hazel, I will make her safe. I promise."
Neil raised the can in his hand. "I'm glad that I can trust Hazel's safety with you."
Edith held her cheeks with both hands and the silly smile on her face stretched up until her eyes turned into a crescent.
Seeing the silly look on her face, Neil immediately. "Teacher Qian, it's late. You should return to your room." Neil finished his drink, flattened the can, and threw it into the bin. "Go ahead. I'll clean this up."