Chapter 83: First Impressions Matter

Qin Wenhuo turned his head and introduced, “Mom, this is my wife, Fu Mingxue.”

“Mingxue, this is my mother.”

Fu Mingxue looked at her mother-in-law, who still looked quite young—like she was only in her thirties. Clearly, she took excellent care of herself.

“—Mom!” Mingxue greeted her gracefully, her expression natural and at ease.

Mother Qin smiled and walked over to Fu Mingxue, taking her hand warmly.

“Mingxue, I’d originally planned to visit you with Wenhuo this afternoon, but I didn’t expect both kids to get sick.”

Fu Mingxue asked with concern, “Mom, how are the children? Are they feeling any better?”

“The doctor gave them some medicine, but their fevers haven’t gone down yet. Hopefully, it’ll break soon, and they won’t relapse tonight.”

Mother Qin sighed. “Those poor kids are really suffering.”

Fu Mingxue nodded. “Yes, it’s tough on them—being so young and getting sick is really hard.”

Mother Qin thought to herself how important first impressions really are.

Just one look, and she already liked this new daughter-in-law.

“Oh, right, Mingxue, this is your eldest sister-in-law, and this is Aunt Li. Aunt Li looks after the children.”

Fu Mingxue glanced at the two women nearby and nodded politely. “Hello, Sister-in-law, Aunt Li!”

Aunt Li replied immediately, “Hello! Hello to you too!”

Lan Qingman snapped out of her surprise—she hadn’t expected her new sister-in-law to be so beautiful.

It was completely beyond her imagination.

She’d assumed that someone from a small town would be plain and unsophisticated.

And with a father who died young and a widowed mother—how good could her life have been?

Even if she looked decent, she’d probably be dark-skinned, or maybe timid and unpresentable.

But to her surprise, not only was this woman fair-skinned and beautiful, she had long legs—she was even taller than Lan Qingman herself.

Her figure was slim and graceful.

And from the moment she arrived, she hadn’t seemed the least bit timid.

She was so poised and confident...

Lan Qingman nodded, her expression a bit stiff. “Hello, sister-in-law.”

Then she said, “Mom, since our sister-in-law—the children’s mother—is here, why don’t we head back and let her stay here to look after them? She’s their mom, and it’s good for the kids to spend more time with her.”

With her younger daughter-in-law present, Mother Qin couldn’t openly scold her elder daughter-in-law.

“You go ahead and head back. I’ll stay here. Mingxue just got off the train today and must be tired—she should go home and get some rest.”

Lan Qingman realized her mother-in-law was a bit displeased, so she gave an awkward smile.

At that moment, Fu Mingxue spoke up, “Mom, I’m not tired. Both kids are sick—I can’t just go home and sleep. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. I’ll stay here and watch over them. You and Sister-in-law should go back and rest.”

Mother Qin wouldn’t hear of it. “No, you’ve been on the train for days—you need to rest. The wedding is in a few days, and you’ll be busy then. You need to take care of yourself.”

“Mom, I’m fine. I took the sleeper train, so I slept most of the way. Besides, I’m young—staying up a night is nothing. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at home anyway.”

The system had just given her a task:

Stay with the kids for one night, and she’d be rewarded with ten jin of meat and fifty yuan.

This was the first time she’d ever been rewarded with money.

Of course she had to stay.

But what did looking after the kids have to do with the “Tiger Mom” system?

She didn’t get it.

At this point, Qin Wenhuo spoke up, “Mom, why don’t you and Sister-in-law go home? I’ll stay here with my wife, and Aunt Li can help us.”

Hearing her son say this, Mother Qin could only nod. “Alright, but you all need to stay alert tonight. We’ll head back now.”

“Oh, and let Aunt Li come back with us for now. Have her bring dinner over later.”

(End of chapter)"