My Mother-in-Law and I Became the Internet's Hottest Power Couple-Chapter 37

Under this WeChat Moments post, a mix of industry insiders and outsiders left comments. Yu Wanqiu knew many people—veteran actors and actresses, retired seniors from the entertainment world, musicians, singers, screenwriters, directors, and cinematographers...

In the past, Yu Wanqiu would never have been this high-profile, but today she was simply too happy. Besides, she was only celebrating the nomination—it wasn’t as if she was certain she’d win.

Being nominated was already an official recognition worth celebrating. Yet, among all the comments, only Jiang Lan had sent her flowers—even though they were just bought online.

Among the flood of comments was one from Lu Shuangchen, a simple "Congratulations." There was no questioning why Yu Wanqiu had posted on Moments but hadn’t replied to his messages. Just a straightforward well-wishing for his wife.

Yu Wanqiu replied with a blanket "Thank you" to everyone.

As for Lu Shuangchen? She had no intention of responding.

Holding the bouquet, Yu Wanqiu felt both touched by Jiang Lan’s gesture and a little guilty about the expense. "Don’t spend money on these in the future. If you really want to, just get them from Pinduoduo," she said, bubbling with happiness.

Flowers from Pinduoduo were still flowers—they’d look just as nice in a vase, and they’d be cheaper and more plentiful.

Jiang Lan replied, "But this is a celebration! And the freesias have wilted anyway—let’s replace them with these."

Yu Wanqiu felt like Jiang Lan had monopolized her floral arrangements. Who didn’t love flowers?

Still, she had a soft spot for extravagant packaging. Someone who rarely took selfies now held the bouquet and snapped several photos.

"I hope this bunch lasts a long time."

The movie Deep Sea had already crossed 3 billion at the box office, and with half the summer vacation still left, conservative estimates put its final earnings at 5 billion.

Yu Wanqiu wasn’t just the female lead—she was also one of the investors. This was going to be a huge payday.

"Jiang Lan, let’s celebrate! My treat!"

Jiang Lan pulled out her phone. "Tonight or tomorrow? Takeout? Beer or cola? Should we get a cake? Can I have a big bowl of ice cream?"

Yu Wanqiu vetoed the ice cream. Delicious as it was, it was too cold—bad for the body, especially with the AC running. "We had barbecue yesterday. Let’s do it tomorrow. We can’t keep eating unhealthy food every day—we need to pace ourselves."

In Yu Wanqiu’s mind, takeout was inherently unhealthy. Even after trying it a few times, she couldn’t shake the belief.

Tasty? Sure. Healthy? No.

Besides, it was already past 10 PM. Eating now would mean extra pounds, and greasy food wasn’t good for the body.

Jiang Lan quietly put her phone away. "Then we’ll celebrate tomorrow. Yu-laoshi, how about we cook ourselves?"

If they made it themselves, surely it wouldn’t be "unhealthy," right?

They’d gone out on Saturday, visited Q City on Sunday, and now it was Tuesday. They’d been eating out for days. Jiang Lan was craving Yu Wanqiu’s sweet and sour pork ribs—they were that good.

Yu Wanqiu smiled and nodded. "For the celebration, you can pick a few more dishes. We’ll get up early tomorrow and have Little Xu deliver the ingredients. Think about what you want tonight."

Cooking together would be fun and delicious.

After saying goodnight to Jiang Lan, Yu Wanqiu carried her precious flowers into her room.

She carefully unwrapped the bouquet, dividing the blooms into vases. Yu Wanqiu had studied flower arranging—it was one of her hobbies. After arranging them, she took a few more photos.

Her chat history with Lu Shuangchen was still stuck on his "Congratulations."

That was just the kind of person he was—never reaching out unless there was a reason. When he did, it was always business. Unlike Jiang Lan and Lu Yicheng, who probably called each other all the time.

Yu Wanqiu and Lu Shuangchen spoke on the phone less often than she did with Lu Yicheng.

Maybe that was just how relationships were at their age.

If she didn’t reply to his messages...

Lu Shuangchen would just assume: She’s busy. She’s asleep. She’ll reply when she sees it.

He wouldn’t even notice if she posted on Moments but deliberately ignored him.

Yu Wanqiu shook her head, washed up, and got into bed. The faint scent of flowers lingered in the bedroom.

It was already August. The show had a little over a month left. Once filming ended, she’d need to start considering new scripts.

Which meant... she’d have to part ways with Jiang Lan.

Yu Wanqiu’s eyes snapped open.

The next day, Jiang Lan woke up at 7 AM. Yu Wanqiu emerged at the same time. An hour of yoga, an hour of piano practice—by 10 AM, they were done.

At 10, Little Xu arrived with two large bags of groceries. Earlier that morning, Yu Wanqiu had sent her a shopping list: barbecue seasoning, skewers, hotpot base, assorted meats and meatballs, sesame sauce, vegetables, chicken, ribs, wings, fish, shrimp, cola, two tubs of Häagen-Dazs, and two bags of chips—one tomato-flavored, one cucumber.

Ice cream and chips? Definitely not Yu Wanqiu’s usual purchases. She wouldn’t even glance at them.

No surprise—the moment Little Xu reached the fourth floor, Jiang Lan asked, "Did you get the ice cream and chips?"

Little Xu was closer to Jiang Lan, often accompanying her on outings. She’d known right away—no way Yu Wanqiu would eat that stuff.

As an outsider, Little Xu found their dynamic fascinating. She followed the show religiously, having watched the previous season too. Shen Xingyao and Du Wanzhou had the most equal, barrier-free mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship on the show. But in many ways, Shen Xingyao treated Du Wanzhou like her own mother, and Du Wanzhou treated her like a daughter.

A perfect example of "turning your mother-in-law into your mom."

Yu Wanqiu and Jiang Lan weren’t like that.

Jiang Lan never treated Yu Wanqiu as an elder or as a celebrated actress. It was like she had a filter—one that stripped away all pretenses.

If you didn’t know they were future in-laws, you’d think they were just close friends—besties, even.

"Got everything, including the ice cream and chips. Need any help, sis?" Little Xu was a jack-of-all-trades assistant.

Yu Wanqiu shook her head. "No, you can go. Jiang Lan, come help me prep—stop eyeing the ice cream."

Little Xu: Guess I’m not needed here.

The crew all knew about Yu Wanqiu’s nomination and had congratulated her. Shen Xingyao and Zhang Lin were the most excited—odd, since it wasn’t their award.

Maybe it was just seeing Yu Wanqiu like this—a lighthouse in their boundless panic, showing them the direction to strive for.

But Yu Wanqiu wasn’t planning to treat everyone to a meal. Staying low-key was better. Celebrating with Jiang Lan was enough.

The crew had an induction cooker and a grill, perfect for hotpot and barbecue. Add in Jiang Lan’s requested sweet and sour ribs, cola wings, a pot of mixed-grain rice, and some greens—that was their lunch.

Yu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‍Wanqiu had never made barbecue before, so she asked Lu Yicheng for help.

[How did you make that barbecue seasoning at the beach last time? Send me the recipe.]

[Lu Yicheng: Can’t you just Google it?]

[Asking you is a compliment. Hurry up and send it. Jiang Lan wants it.]

This was Yu Wanqiu’s way of borrowing flowers to offer as a gift. But Lu Yicheng was annoyed.

Those seasoning blends, those recipes—they weren’t priceless, but he’d put effort into finding them. Now Yu Wanqiu was taking them, cooking with them, and asking Jiang Lan how they tasted.

What did any of that have to do with him?

Many things Jiang Lan had forgotten. What if in the future, while eating the dishes he cooked, she suddenly asked, "Lu Yicheng, your cooking is really good... Did you learn it from Yu Wanqiu?"

Lu Yicheng: "…………"

He could already imagine the expression on his face at that moment.

What did she mean by "learned from Yu Wanqiu"? That time with the black pepper beef stir-fry, it was Yu Wanqiu who had asked him for advice.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

But Jiang Lan wanted to eat it.

So Lu Yicheng sent her the recipe.

Jiang Lan was in charge of washing and chopping vegetables, as well as marinating the meat and chicken wings, while Yu Wanqiu handled cooking the wings, ribs, and skewers.

"Jiang Lan, should we grill a couple of chicken wings?"

"Yes."

The barbecue spread included lamb skewers, grilled chicken wings, roasted oysters, garlic vermicelli with scallops, and grilled mushrooms and potatoes.

For hot pot, they had a split pot—one side clear broth, the other spicy—with thinly sliced lamb and beef, along with an assortment of meatballs.

In the end, they skipped the cola chicken wings and sweet-and-sour ribs since the hot pot and barbecue were more than enough. Since they weren’t making the cola wings, they might as well drink the cola.

After chilling in the fridge for over an hour, condensation formed on the bottles.

Each of them had a bowl of rice, ready to drop meat into the boiling pot. Eating hot pot and barbecue in an air-conditioned room, washing it down with ice-cold cola, and finishing with ice cream—it was pure bliss.

Yu Wanqiu said, "Just pour me a little. I don’t really like this stuff. You should drink less of it too—it’s not good for you."

Carbonated drinks? Yu Wanqiu had never taken a single sip. And according to the internet, they corroded teeth.

Milk tea would be better.

Jiang Lan gave an indifferent "Oh" and poured Yu Wanqiu just half a glass, while filling her own to the brim. Once the pot boiled again, the meat would be ready.

"First toast—congratulations to Yu Wanqiu for her film’s Golden Bear nomination! May she keep striving and achieve even greater success!"

Yu Wanqiu gave a dignified hum and took a tiny sip. Just that small taste sent a tingling sensation through her tongue.

The chilled drink was already icy, and that one sip sent a shock of refreshing coolness straight to her brain.

It felt a bit like beer, but much sweeter.

Some people called cola "the nectar of couch potatoes," and the name was well-earned.

They had a split hot pot—one side mild, the other spicy. Jiang Lan ate from the spicy side, and whenever the heat became too much, she took a big gulp of cola, instantly revitalized.

Yu Wanqiu tried a few bites from the mild side but found it unsatisfying, so she reached for the spicy pot instead. When her mouth went numb, she took a big swig of cola—but she only had half a glass, which was gone in three sips.

Jiang Lan had noticed long ago. "Yu Wanqiu, you’re right. Cola isn’t healthy. And they say carbonated drinks ruin your teeth—drink too much, and they’ll all fall out."

Yu Wanqiu: "………The internet isn’t always reliable. Beer has bubbles too, and plenty of people drink it without losing their teeth."

"But this is sweet. Drinking it will definitely make you gain weight. Not good, not good."

Yu Wanqiu was too embarrassed to pour herself more. "...It’s not like we drink it often. Once in a while won’t hurt."

Jiang Lan asked, "Really?"

"Of course it’s— Jiang Lan, are you teasing me on purpose? You can tell I want more, and you’re saying all this!" Yu Wanqiu couldn’t back down now, but she was parched. "Fine, I’ll get it myself."

Jiang Lan laughed. "Just messing with you! You’re always going on about what’s unhealthy and what’s not. Go ahead, drink up."

Yu Wanqiu: "It really isn’t that healthy."

She took another sip, then flipped the skewers on the grill.

Yu Wanqiu used to think Jiang Lan was lazy and unmotivated, wasting her youth with her eyes closed.

But she couldn’t deny that Jiang Lan worked hard when it came to practicing the violin—day after day, year after year. Even the most beautiful passion could turn monotonous.

Jiang Lan wasn’t just about having fun; she knew when to play and when to focus.

Yu Wanqiu asked, "What do you plan to do after graduation?"

Once the show wrapped up, Jiang Lan would likely earn twenty million—that was in the contract. Then she had one more year of university.

After graduation, Jiang Lan wanted...

"I want to join the National Symphony Orchestra and play the violin for the rest of my life."