Building Trust

In the first round, it was decided that students will be the first to be blindfolded.

Neil Mo held the black cloth in his hand and carefully covered Hazel's eyes with it. Then, he looked at the little girl and asked, "Is this okay?" A frown appeared on his face. "Maybe I should loosen it a little bit."

"No." Hazel put her hand on her uncle's. "This is alright. If you didn't tie it tight, the cloth is going to slide down and fall during the game."

"Alright," Neil spoke after considering Hazel's words. He lifted his hand and waved in front of Hazel. "Can you see me?"

"I'm blindfolded. I cannot see you." Hazel turned towards her uncle's voice and her hand moved to grab his clothes.

Seeing the way Hazel was holding into him tightly, a small smile appeared on Neil's lips. He patted Hazel on her hair and spoke, "Later, you only need to follow my voice. Listen to me very carefully and I will lead you through the obstacle safely."

"Un," Hazel nodded. "I understand."

"Alright." Neil held Hazel's hand tightly and led her towards the starting line. Then he bent to her level again and spoke, "I will be at the other side giving you instructions."

Hazel nodded once again and Neil walked over to the other side and waited for the referee to start the games. Meanwhile, Edith watched the uncle and niece's interaction with an amused smile on her face.

Looking at Neil Mo's expression, he seemed to take this game very seriously and Edith was wondering how will the games turned out. Of course, what Edith was looking forward to was the second game that Hazel had signed up for. Just at the thought of how Neil, Assistant Shawn, and Hazel were going to pass the last obstacle brought a smile to her face.

"What are you smiling about?"

Someone appeared by her side and nudge her hard on her waist. It was not hard for Edith to guess that the culprit was no other than Lily. As this was the parents and child activity day, and her son was a student in the kindergarten, of course, Lily Zhao would appear here.

"Have your head turned silly after watching over those kids?"

Edith clicked her tongue at Lily's question. Then, she shifted her attention back to the field.

One of the teachers who was assigned as the referee blew on the whistle and the parents started to give their instruction to their child who was taking part in this activity.

Edith glanced at her friend who stood next to her and asked, "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to accompany your son with his activity?"

Lily waved her hand. "His father is around to entertain him. You know how it is. Whenever Ethan was around, Alex would prefer to stick close to his father." The expression on her face changed as she continued to watch the games in front of them.

The parents were shouting at their children to follow their instruction, but the shouting and noise created confusion among the children and they did not know which instruction to follow. The result was that the children ran into the chairs and the cones. Some of them fell on the ground and caused the balloon to popped.

In the end, some of the children on the field seemed lost as to which voice they should follow, while the parents seemed as if they have started to lose their sanity when their children did not follow their instructions.

The scene was hilarious for the spectator.

"Hazel seemed very concentrate," Lily commented as her gaze fell on the little girl.

Edith turned to her friend and chuckled. "Have you heard President Mo's tone and voice? With that kind of authority tone, how can one not follow his instruction?" She raised her hand and pointed towards the field. "If you look clearly, you will notice that the other kids were following his instruction instead."

"Hazel trusted President Mo," Lily commented. "Or else, she would not be able to follow his instruction this well."

"Hmm," Edith nodded. "This game is very good to build trust between the two of them."

After walking around the field and avoiding the obstacle, Hazel Mo became the first person to arrive at the finishing line. The spectators started to cheer and the other children started to panic once they heard that someone had won.

On the field, Neil helped Hazel to remove her blindfold, and then, Assistant Shawn helped to put the blindfold on his boss. Once he was sure that the blindfold was tight enough, Neil went over to Hazel and patted the little girl on her hair. After saying a few words to Hazel, the little girl went over to the other side to start giving her uncle her instruction.

"Now I'm scared," Lily said. "What if President Mo trip on something and fall? The kindergarten will really let President Mo lose his face by playing this game?"

"Hazel was the one who picked the game," Edith pointed out. She continued to watch the uncle and niece and noticed the careful way that Neil was taking. Each step was cautious but full of confidence. His posture was straight. Even though he was listening to Hazel's instruction, there was no trace of panic on Neil's face.

It could be seen that Neil was very calm, alert with his surrounding,s and was very focused on his task.

With his long legs, he quickly arrived by Hazel's side and the uncle and niece won the game.

As Neil took off the blindfold, Hazel lurched towards her uncle and gave him a tight hug, surprising Neil. The two of them were not close to each other before Hazel's parents' passed away a few months ago.

This was the first time that Hazel had initiated to hug him with that bright smile on her face. Of course, Neil was beyond thrilled. He had never thought that seeing the happy look on the little girl's face would make him happy too.

"Uncle! We won first place!" Hazel shouted out excitedly. Her little arms wrapped around Neil's neck and the smile on her face reached to her eyes.

"Hmm," Neil patted at her hair with a doting look on his face. "You did a great job, Hazel."

Hazel let out a giggle. "There's one more game that we're going to participate in."

"What are we going to do next?"

Hazel stood at the field and started to look around as if looking for someone. The expression on her face brightened again when she saw her favorite teacher not far away from where she was.

"Teacher Qian!" Little Hazel called as she ran over to her.

Edith smiled as Hazel reached to her side. "Hazel, I was watching your games just now. You did a very good job and won. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." A sheepish smile curled on her lips. Then Hazel raised her gaze again and spoke, "Teacher Qian, regarding the next games that I have chosen, can you join in my team?"

Edith stared back at the little girl with a puzzled look. "Me? Join your team?"