First Watch.

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"Girl, how can you say it’s a matter of course..." Mr. Liu looked seriously at Zhao Qihui, "It’s my wife and I who should be taking care of him..."

"Dad, Mom, this is Qihui, whom I mentioned in my letter..." Seizing the opportunity, Liu Lianbao quickly took over the conversation to introduce her to his parents, "She’s your future daughter-in-law."

"Good, good..." Mr. Liu rubbed his hands in excitement, "Your mom and I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Finally, we can be at ease. Good girl, truly a good girl..." He turned to see his wife still holding Chuxia’s hand in a daze, and his brows furrowed, "Dear, have you lost your mind?"

Mrs. Liu awkwardly smiled at Chuxia, released her hand, and walked over to Zhao Qihui with a look of unease: "Girl... Girl, I... I... I really don’t know what to say."

"Huh?" Slightly taken aback, Zhao Qihui quickly smiled and held Mrs. Liu’s hand, "Auntie, I’m the junior here; you can say whatever you want."

"Your... your uncle is right, I’ve been waiting for this day, really waiting for a long time, kids his age already have children in primary school, and he’s still single, just wandering around, and his father and I are so worried..." Mrs. Liu said as she tightly held Zhao Qihui’s hand, "Girl, you... you can’t go back on your word and deceive us, we’re too old to handle it..."

Zhao Qihui looked at Liu Lianbao in confusion, wondering what the old lady meant by saying she would deceive them.

"You old woman, what nonsense are you talking about?" Mr. Liu said angrily, pushing the old lady and apologetically looking at Zhao Qihui, "Girl, don’t mind her, she’s just so happy she’s talking nonsense, you get to know her, and you’ll see, she’s simple-minded, not a bad person."

Mrs. Liu also nodded repeatedly: "Girl, if I said something wrong, don’t take it to heart. Rest assured, as long as you marry into our Liu family, your uncle and I will definitely treat you well, everything will be in your favor..."

What kind of mess is this... Zhao Qihui helplessly interrupted Mrs. Liu: "Auntie, let me and Liu Lianbao continue to date, when the time is right, we’ll get married.

As for what you just said, I guess it’s because every time you thought a daughter-in-law was coming, it didn’t work out, so now you can’t believe it, right?"

"Yes... that’s a bit of it..." Mrs. Liu’s face turned crimson, "Girl, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s... happened several times, I’m really scared, my mind went blank just now, so forgive my nonsense, I know you’re different from those people, I can see it, really, auntie believes in you!"

Zhao Qihui smiled and said: "Auntie, to be honest with you, as long as Liu Lianbao and I don’t have completely incompatible personalities, we won’t break up, now, can you finally rest assured?"

"Yes... yes yes yes..." Mrs. Liu repeatedly agreed, so excited her face was quivering, Chuxia finally understood why Mrs. Liu ignored Zhao Qihui earlier—it wasn’t intentional, she was just so nervous she didn’t know what to do...

Liu Lianbao also secretly let out a sigh of relief. Earlier, when his mother didn’t acknowledge Zhao Qihui, he had guessed the reason and therefore didn’t say anything, but he was still anxious, fearing he guessed wrong. Now that he was finally relieved, he looked at Chuxia: "Sister-in-law, don’t worry, our family will never treat Huihui poorly."

"I know." Chuxia nodded with a smile. She understood the explanation was because of her earlier look, though Mrs. Liu’s behavior was indeed misleading at the time.

She even thought, if Mrs. Liu was indeed that utilitarian, would Zhao Qihui still want to be with Liu Lianbao—something that needed careful observation.

Though children don’t always take after their parents, there are often intrinsic traits that are similar. Now it seems this is truly an honest family.

Thinking of this, she somewhat regretted Li Aiyuan’s early departure, otherwise, they could have met Liu Lianbao’s parents to get to know each other better and see if they were compatible.

"Huihui, you’ve been up all night taking care of me, now that Dad and Mom are here, hurry back and rest, don’t come tomorrow, just go to school, and come during the weekend when you have a break." Glancing at the time, Liu Lianbao gave the order to leave.

Mrs. Liu immediately chimed in: "Yes, yes, Huihui, go back and rest, we have your uncle here, rest assured, we will definitely take good care of Baobao."

This was already discussed, so Zhao Qihui didn’t insist and agreed to it. With Secretary Li there, there was no need for her to help Mr. Liu and Mrs. Liu get familiar with the hospital, so after exchanging a few pleasantries, she left with Chuxia.

"Sis, once you start, there’s no turning back..." As they exited the hospital, Chuxia looked at her seriously, "Are you sure you’ve made up your mind?"

"Hmm." Zhao Qihui nodded, "Xia, I’m different from you. You’re young, pretty, and smart, which is why talents like Division Commander Zhou are interested in you.

Your sister here, well, I’m older, average-looking, and while I’m not dumb, I’m not particularly smart either. Otherwise, I wouldn’t keep being disappointed time after time.

So, I’ve realized that the man I need to find must be honest, responsible, and willing to treasure me, even if he’s not as accomplished as I am, it doesn’t matter.

Seeing Liu Lianbao’s parents now, I’m even more reassured. Actually, when his mom ignored me at first, I thought she was going to act like a typical mother-in-law. Honestly, if she had done that, no matter how good Liu Lianbao was, I wouldn’t be with him.

You might say I’m extreme, but once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of the rope, not to mention I’ve been bitten by snakes twice. If I don’t learn my lesson, I might as well chop my head off and use it as a soccer ball.

Now, I’ve met his parents, and I’ve seen his sincerity, so there’s really nothing to hesitate about. As for whether he’s uncouth or not, I don’t care."

"Sis..." Chuxia just smiled at Zhao Qihui, "It seems Commander Liu hasn’t told you something yet. It’s good news, do you want to know now?"

"Playing coy?" Zhao Qihui pushed her in urgency, "Getting me all interested and then playing coy, are you really this bad?"

"Just guess..." Chuxia said with a smile, "Think about what you said earlier, and what I’ve hinted at, you should be able to guess."

"How am I supposed to guess with your attitude?" Zhao Qihui frowned, thought for a while, and uncertainly looked at Chuxia, "Do you mean he’s going to school too?"

"That’s right." Chuxia nodded, "And it’s GF University, which isn’t just for anyone. The future prospects after coming out are limitless, so the only concern you had is gone."

"Who’s concerned..." Zhao Qihui blushed and pushed Chuxia again, "I’m just saying others might laugh at me, not that I care. But I really didn’t expect him to have such an opportunity, it’s...it’s just too surprising! When your eldest uncle and aunt hear this, they’ll definitely be thrilled, I must write to them when I get home!"

"Come on, just laugh it out if you’re happy. No need to hold it in until your face turns red pretending..." Chuxia laughed at her, "Besides, being happy about such things isn’t shameful. It’s normal for people to seek higher ground. Let me use a simple example, everyone says when choosing a partner, they don’t ask for much, just a good feeling and suitability.

But what really counts as a good feeling? Truly poor, unable to eat or clothe, and even uglier than a toad, who could possibly find a good feeling there? Material achievements sometimes indicate someone’s efforts, so being happy about such progress is normal."

Zhao Qihui laughed shyly, "Honestly, just now I was really happy, yet felt a bit guilty, thinking I was a materialistic woman. But after hearing what you said, I feel it’s okay to be like this. Xia, you sure know how to counsel people. Seems like I’ll need to talk to you about my problems in the future."

"See, now you realize I’m a wise person in life, huh?" Chuxia raised her eyebrows proudly, "You’ll have plenty to learn from me from now on."

"Xia, you sure have thick skin now."

"I’m just speaking the truth, how is it thick-skinned? Don’t forget, I’m a mother of two now. When you get pregnant and have kids, won’t you seek advice from me?"

Only now did Zhao Qihui realize this and quickly yielded, "Alright, alright, my fault, my fault, okay?"

Back home, talking about Liu Father and Mother’s personality made Zhao Yulan, Lin Baohe, and Old Master Zhao and Old Lady Zhao very happy. The group even discussed inviting Liu Lianbao’s parents over for a meal to get to know each other once he’s better.

Of course, before that, they would visit Liu Father and Mother in the hospital. Though traditionally in their hometown, the girl’s elders don’t show too much enthusiasm before the boy’s family visits first, they decided to disregard such formalities under these circumstances.

The next morning, after Chuxia and Zhao Qihui went to school, Zhao Yulan, Lin Baohe, Old Master Zhao, and Old Lady Zhao headed to the hospital. Meanwhile, Nannan and Beibei were watched by Sister-in-law Yin and Elder Aunt Qi.

By noon when Chuxia returned home, the elders weren’t back yet. Elder Aunt Qi was rocking the baby carriage, entertaining the two little ones. Seeing Chuxia, she happily waved at her, "Come here, come quick, both babies are hungry."

"Aunt..." Chuxia looked at her speechlessly, thinking there was something urgent she wanted to say...(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)