Hazel Mo's Classroom Teacher

Once she heard the news that the headmistress was looking for her, Edith Qian asked her fellow colleagues to look after the other kids before she went straight to the headmistress's office.

Edith held up her hand and was about to knock on the door when the door suddenly opened from the inside. Her knuckles paused at mid-air. She tilted up her head and her eyes met with a man's piercing, deep gaze.

"Sorry," Edith said as she moved aside to let the man walk past.

The man's gaze fell on her face for a few seconds longer before he looked away. He nodded without looking at her and closed the door behind him with his phone pressed against his ears. "Neil Mo speaking."

Edith frowned as she watched the man walked past her and an inaudible sigh escaped her lips.

After working at the kindergarten for the upper-class for a while, Edith was used to seeing all sorts of parents. Some of them would come over to kindergarten with full understanding and cooperation. Some of them would come with a nasty temper and would always try to find fault with her or her colleagues for their child.

But, at least that man did not try to find fault with her despite his cold expression.

Edith 's gaze followed the man and she watched him disappeared behind the wall. She tilted her head sideways and a frown appeared on her face as a few thoughts crossed her mind.

She had never seen him around kindergarten before and was sure that he was not one of the student's parents, but why does she felt like she had seen his face before?

Edith quickly snapped out of her thoughts, knowing that the headmistress was looking for her urgently.

Ignoring her thoughts, Edith straightened her clothes before she knocked on the door and walked in once she heard the headmistress's voice with permission her to come in.

The headmistress greeted her politely when she walked in.

Edith scanned her surroundings and saw an elderly woman sitting beside Headmistress Fu. The woman gave her a look over before she met her gaze with a kind smile on her face.

It did not take her too long to guess that the headmistress had called her over to discuss something regarding this elderly woman.

Edith gave the woman a polite nod and turned to the Headmistress. "Headmistress Fu. I heard that you were looking for me?"

Headmistress Fu smiled as she waved her hand for her to come closer. "Teacher Qian, come in." she pointed at an empty seat next to her. "Come. Come. You sit here."

Edith smiled at the elderly woman again before she sat down next to the headmistress. It was then that she saw the small silhouette that she has not seen for almost a month sitting next to the elderly woman.

Seeing the color on the little girl's face, Edith was relieved. She has been worried about the little girl after she heard the news that her parents both passed away from an accident.

Back then, the headmistress had explained to her that Hazel Mo was going to take a few weeks of leaves to deal with the funeral process and such.

Hazel nodded politely when she saw her classroom teacher. "Good evening, Teacher Qian."

"Hazel! Good evening."

"Teacher Qian," the headmistress called before she could continue to converse with Hazel. "Let me introduce you." Headmistress Fu turned to the elderly woman and continued, "This is Hazel Mo's grandmother, Sophie Huang."

"Hello Teacher Qian, you can call me Mrs. Mo." the elderly woman said with a smile.

"Mrs. Mo. Hello. I'm Edith Qian, Hazel Mo's classroom teacher." Edith glanced at Hazel as she spoke and noticed that the little girl was not like her old self.

Although she might look healthy and there were colors on her cheek, Hazel's body was thinner and she was not as talkative as she used to.

Before this, Hazel would always run and greeted her cheerily whenever she saw her or anyone.

Hazel Mo was a happy-go-lucky child.

Seeing Hazel's state right now, Edith knew that the little girl was coping with her grief after losing her parents.

"Mrs. Mo came here to discuss Hazel return to the kindergarten," the headmistress said. "You know that Hazel has been absent for a month now."

Edith nodded, then she turned to Sophie. "Mrs. Mo, you can tell me or ask me anything. I will try to help you in any way that I can."

Hearing her answer, both Headmistress Fu and Sophie exchanged a glance.

"Hazel," the headmistress called. She held out her hand and smiled at the little girl. "You haven't been to school for a while. Would you like to walk around with me around the school?"

Hazel turned to her grandmother as if asking for her opinion. When Sophie gave her a nod, Hazel slid off the chair and took the headmistress's hand.

Edith quickly understood that the headmistress was giving them space to discuss Hazel's condition.

A lot of different situation came to her mind as Edith wondered what Sophie was going to tell her during this private chat.

"I'm sure you have heard about what happened to Hazel's parents," Sophie said as the headmistress left with her granddaughter and closed the door behind them.

"I have," Edith Qian put on a somber expression. "My condolences for your loss Mrs. Mo."

Sophie replied with a light smile. She lifted the teacup on the side table and took a sip. "As you probably notice from that short interaction, Hazel hasn't been her old self since her parents died."

Edith thought of how the little girl and nodded.

"The reason why I asked Hearmistress Fu to arrange this meeting was for me to explain Hazel's situation to you. That little girl... although she has not been showing it, she is grieving for his parent's sudden death."

Edith hesitated before she asked, "How did Hazel take it if you don't mind me asking?"