Chương 67: Please Pretend You Know Nothing

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."