A light flashed in Edith's eyes as she heard Alex's words. "What do you mean missing?" She tried to hide her anxiousness and calm down before the kids. "Alex, tell me what happened exactly."
"I don't know what happened," Alex said. "I saw Hazel running away from the playground towards the back of the kindergarten. When I ran after her, I could not find her. I tried to look around but she was no longer there."
Alex was playing with his best friend, Tyler Lu at the playground when he saw Hazel ran away with an aggrieved face. Recently, he was closer to the girl due to their interest in Gundam, and therefore, Alex was worried and had wanted to ask her what was wrong.
However, after searching for her, Alex could not see her and decided to look for their teacher.
Edith frowned.
"Teacher Qian, I know what happened!" Megan Xiao, Hazel's best friend spoke up. She glanced at the other kids and pointed at Cindy Bai. "It was Cindy's fault!"
"Megan Xiao! Don't simply accuse me." Cindy looked at the teachers with a resentful expression. "I did not do anything! I do not know anything."
"I heard what you said to Hazel," Megan said. She shot an angry look at Cindy and then, turned to her teacher. "Teacher Qian, Cindy told Hazel that she was unwanted and a bad luck bringer. That was why her parents passed away."
Edith shot a look towards Cindy and the girl took a step back. Cindy's expression showed as if she was going to cry anytime soon.
"Teacher Qian, I really didn't," Cindy said.
"It was true," Ian Huo spoke. He turned to Cindy with a displeased look and said, "I was there. I heard you said those words to Hazel and that was why she ran away with tears on her face."
Hearing Ian's words, Cindy looked at him with her watery eyes, and her face scrunched up before she started to cry. "Ian! I hate you!"
Edith looked at the group of kids and slightly understood why was this happening. Ian Huo was the handsome boy in the kindergarten and had a lot of admirers. Cindy Bai was one of them. However, Ian had always had his eyes on Hazel, even though that little girl was not paying attention to him.
Perhaps something happened between the kids and Cindy had unintentionally spoken those unpleasant words to Hazel.
However, to spoke those unkind words to her classmates… she was disappointed that Cindy would say such things.
Edith stood up quickly and turned to her colleague. "Teacher Shen, I have to ask you to inform Headmistress Fu about this. I will go out and ask the guards to keep their eyes on the kids and look for Hazel."
Once Teacher Shen nodded, Edith quickly went out. After asking Guard Dan to help her look through CCTV, Edith then ran around the school to look for Hazel. She recalled that Alex had said that Hazel was in the playground earlier and started to look there first.
When she arrived, the other kids were still playing around, but Hazel was nowhere to be seen.
Edith looked at every corner and spot where Hazel might hide. Her heart grew anxious when she could not see the little girl. She was worried about the little girl's mental state after being told of such hurtful words.
Back then, when Edith had lost her mother, a few of her schoolmates had spoken almost the same words. Later, she had beat the others as hard as she could to the point that her grandfather was called over by the headmaster and had to receive some punishment.
But Hazel was different.
Hazel was a gentle girl. Although she would always show herself as someone matured, the little girl was quite a sensitive girl. Edith could still remember the last time Hazel had hugged her knee close to her body and silently cried because she was missing her parents.
"Hazel!" Edith started to shout out her name. "Hazel Mo! Where are you?"
As she continued to look around, Teacher Shen went to her side and asked, "Teacher Qian, how was it?"
Edith shook her head.
"Do you think Hazel had gone out of school?" Teacher Shen asked.
"I don't think so," Edith said. "But Guard Dan and the others were looking at the CCTV. Hopefully, we will find Hazel soon."
"Then, I will continue to look for Hazel look over there," Teacher Shen said as she pointed at the opposite direction of where Edith was going.
"Hazel!" Edith called out again once Teacher Shen had turned around. She recalled Alex had mentioned that Hazel had run towards the back of the kindergarten and head over there quickly.
Almost ten minutes have passed, but Hazel was still missing. A few teachers and guards had joined her to look for the little girl, and Headmistress Fu had decided to call the police if they could not find the little girl in the next five minutes.
The good thing was that Guard Dan had confirmed that the little girl had not stepped out of the school premises. She was last seen running towards the back area, entered a blind spot, and she was not seen since.
What if she was kidnapped by someone else, but they have not realized it?
She should inform Neil Mo and the police right away!
Edith closed her eyes and stood under the hot sun. Her face reddened and she was sweating all over. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to calm down and think of where the little girl might hide.
Her surroundings were quiet. The only thing she was able to hear was the wind blowing and the rustling of the leaves.
Edith started to wonder if Hazel had gone inside the school building hid there. She took a deep breath and was about to turn around to find her inside when her ear caught a familiar muffled sound. Edith stood up still and tried to listen carefully.
Once she was able to pinpoint where the voice came from, Edith walked stealthily towards the direction. Her steps halted as she reached the big dumpster. The putrid smell assaulted her nose and Edith ignored the smell and walked around the dumpster.
A sigh of relief escaped her upon finding that the little girl was crouching not far away from the dumpster.
Because of the smell, no one had thought that Hazel was going to hide there and they almost could not find her.
"Hazel," Edith called out her name softly.
The little girl lifted her face and Edith has felt a tug in her heart upon seeing the girl's puffy eyes and tear-stained face. She quickly went over to Hazel and pulled the little girl into her embrace.
"Teacher Qian," Hazel spoke between her sob.
"It's alright," Edith patted at the little girl's back and kissed the top of her head. "It's alright. Don't cry. I'm here."
Thank you for your support~
Edith stayed by the little girl's side to calm her down. Meanwhile, she took out her phone and quickly texted the group of teachers that she had to find Hazel and that they will return soon.
Hazel wiped her face with the back of her hand and lowered her gaze. Whenever she recalled how she had run after hearing what Cindy Bai had said to her, Hazel was upset. She knew that her action had made things difficult for her teacher, and this had made her embarrassed.
Fortunately, Teacher Qian only accompanied her patted her back to coax her, and had not asked her why she was hiding behind the dumpster and cried. At this moment, Hazel did not know how she should explain and she did not want to make her teacher worry.
Edith breathed a sigh and smiled as she helped Hazel to tidy up her clothes. The two of them reek with the smell of trash, but none of them mentioned anything about it.
"Are you alright?" Edith asked. "Do you want to go now? The teachers and your friends are worried about you?"
Hazel tightened her grip at Edith's blouse and did not answer.
"Earlier, Alex and the others came to me and told me that you have gone missing. Everyone is worried about you and they are waiting for you in class," Edith spoke slowly. "Let's go back and see them or they would be anxious when you did not return for a long time."
It took her for a while to answer her with a nod.
Getting her response, Edith quickly took her back towards the building. However, just as they were about to reach, Hazel tugged at her hand again, forcing them to stop.
"What's wrong?" Edith asked.
"Teacher Qian," Hazel spoke. Her voice was slightly hoarse after crying. "Can you… can you not tell my uncle about this?"
Edith stared back at the little girl in surprise. "Why not?"
"I don't want him to worry." Hazel looked at her teacher with a pleading gaze.
No matter what, she did not want her uncle to know that she had cried at school. What if he ended up sending her to Z Town to live with her grandparents because he did not like it that she was bullied?
Edith stared at the little girl for a while and wonder how she should reply. The little girl's pleading gaze made her want to agree right away. However, Neil Mo was still Hazel's guardian and he should know of what happened to his niece.
After a brief pause, Edith spoke, "I will talk to Headmistress Fu about this, alright?"
Hazel nodded. Since Teacher Qian will talk to Headmistress Fu, she can only hope that the headmistress will not call her uncle over for this matter.
The other kids had long left the playground and head inside the school building. The two of them went into the building and went straight to Headmistress Fu's office.
Edith knocked her knuckles on the door and the two entered after getting the Headmistress's permission.
Megan, Hazel's best friend went over to her side the moment she saw Hazel walked in. "Hazel!" She stared at her friend's face and frowned. "Are you alright?"
Hazel answered her with a short nod but did not say anything else.
Noticing her friend's puffy eyes, Megan turned to Cindy with an angry look.
"Headmistress," Cindy hid behind the headmistress upon meeting Megan's gaze.
"Alright, you have all seen Hazel." Headmistress Fu clapped her hands twice and spoke again. "Everyone should return to your class now. Only Hazel and Cindy should stay in this room."
Megan frowned. She wanted to stay around with Hazel longer but had no other choice as the Headmistress had given her instruction. In the end, she can only follow Alex and the others out and returned to their class.
…
Because of Edith's previous suggestion, Neil has been trying to come home early to accompany Hazel and have dinner together. After a few days, Neil realized that dinnertime was the time that he could spend his time with Hazel together.
He would ask Hazel about school and the little girl would talk to him happily. However, this evening, Neil Mo had realized that there was something strange about his niece. Hazel did not talk as much as she used to and Neil was worried.
His relationship with Hazel was starting to get better and he did not want it to go awry in just a few days.
Neil watched as Hazel lowered her gaze and continued to eat her meal and turned to Edith with an inquiring gaze. Just before he could open his mouth and ask, Neil noticed the look on Edith's eyes and quickly shut his mouth.
The moment Hazel went upstairs to take a bath and prepare herself to sleep, Neil walked over to Edith who was drying the plates and leaned his body on the kitchen counter.
"What is wrong with Hazel?"
Edith's movement paused briefly. She looked over her shoulder to check on their surroundings and turned to Neil. "Something happened to Hazel at school today," she started.
His expression darkened and his anger rose as he continued to listen to what had happened to his niece. Hazel was his niece that was doted by everyone in the family, but someone had hurt her by saying those words.
"President Mo," Edith called once she finished telling him about what happened. She has been observing the man's expression all these while and had made her guess at what was on his mind. "May I ask, what are you planning to do?"
"That kid bullied Hazel. Of course, she cannot stay at the same kindergarten."
"Then, are you planning to withdraw Hazel from school?" Edith raised a brow. "Or are you going to make that student quit instead?"
Neil narrowed his eyes dangerously. The choice he was about to make was apparent, but before he could say them out loud, Edith had spoken again.
"I understand that you wanted to protect Hazel from getting hurt. But as a teacher, I don't recommend that," Edith said. "President Mo, please hear me out. Earlier, that student had apologized to Hazel and Hazel had accepted. I know that you don't think an apology is not enough. However, if we turn this matter into something big, Hazel might be uncomfortable. Recently, Hazel has been trying to get out of her comfort zone, play with other classmates, and joined in more class activities. I don't want her to be uncomfortable and went back to being alone. Moreover, that student," Edith paused as she thought of Cindy Bai. "She is a good kid, but when people get into an argument, sometimes they accidentally spoke of those hurtful words."
The frown on his face deepened. Neil had never dealt with such matters and did not know what was the right thing to do.
"Then, what can I do?"
"Hazel did not want you to know and she made me promised not to tell you," Edith said. "However, you are her guardian and you should know what happened. President Mo, I know that you care for Hazel. Therefore, I hope that you can pretend that you know nothing about this incident."
Thank you for your support~
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