My Mother-in-Law and I Became the Internet's Hottest Power Couple-Chapter 57
Everyone hopes their child can have a happy and complete family, but Zhang Lin didn’t have a fortunate childhood.
Her mother passed away early, and her father was addicted to alcohol and gambling. She dropped out of high school and entered the entertainment industry at a young age to act—not just for the money, but because she genuinely loved performing.
Zhang Lin longed for a loving family—a doting husband and a mother-in-law who, even if she didn’t treat her like a daughter, wouldn’t be overly harsh.
Perhaps because she grew up deprived of affection, she mistook even the slightest attention for love.
No matter how poorly others treated her, Zhang Lin always found excuses for them.
If Xu Chaoyang had considered her feelings even a little, he wouldn’t have brought Xu Yi over these past few days.
A man who usually never bothered with childcare suddenly played the role of a devoted father.
Xu Chaoyang and Xu Yi were playing with toys in the living room. The boy’s eyes sparkled with joy as his father lifted a toy airplane, making it "fly" while Xu Yi chased after it, giggling uncontrollably.
Xu Chaoyang asked, "What else do you want to play, Xiao Yi? How about Daddy giving you a piggyback ride?"
Xu Yi shook his head. "No, I want to stay with Mom."
Xu Chaoyang smiled. "Then Daddy will stay with you and Mom."
Li Jia wasn’t in the living room. Zhang Lin sat on the sofa, her gaze tender as she watched Xu Yi. The boy had been visiting every afternoon these past few days—playing for a while, then talking to her.
His most frequent question was, "When will Mom finish filming? When can we go home?"
She wondered who had taught him to say that.
Xu Yi missed Zhang Lin terribly. "Mom, it’s been so long since I slept with you or heard you tell me a story."
Zhang Lin gently stroked his head. "Do you want to stay here tonight and sleep with Mom?"
Xu Yi looked up hopefully. "Can I?"
"We’ll have to ask Uncle Zhang Tian. If he says yes, then you can." Zhang Lin missed Xu Yi too, but her resentment toward Xu Chaoyang remained.
Why did he think bringing their son would make her forgive him? Their issues had nothing to do with Xu Yi.
Xu Chaoyang had failed as both a father and a husband.
Zhang Tian would undoubtedly agree to let Xu Yi stay. When Xu Chaoyang expressed his desire to spend the night as well, Zhang Tian had no grounds to refuse.
Zhang Lin said indifferently, "Let him stay if he wants."
Only then did Zhang Tian nod.
Xu Chaoyang trailed after Zhang Lin eagerly. "What can I do to help? Is it time for dinner? I ordered food—special meals for pregnant women. I read online that you should apply oil to prevent stretch marks. I bought some. Do you need help with that?"
Zhang Lin shook her head. "Just call your mother out for dinner."
Xu Chaoyang’s face lit up. If she was willing to eat together, it meant she wasn’t angry anymore. Overwhelmed, he stammered, "Xiao Lin, you’re not mad anymore? It’s all my fault. Don’t be upset—it’s not good for your health."
"I’ll go get the food. We can eat soon." Afraid she might change her mind, he hurried to knock on Li Jia’s door.
Li Jia emerged with a stern expression. Xu Chaoyang whispered, "Mom, please don’t make a scene. I finally managed to calm Xiao Lin down. She’s the mother of your grandchild. What good does causing trouble do?"
Li Jia wished she’d never given birth to such a son. But she hadn’t left her room in over a week, and her screen time in the last episode had been cut drastically. Even Xu Qian had called to ask what was wrong.
She couldn’t keep this up. Once filming ended, she’d deal with Zhang Lin properly.
"I know. I’ll apologize to her later. I was wrong before," Li Jia said dismissively. What was Zhang Lin after, if not money?
Xu Chaoyang was relieved. He fetched the food, and the family of four sat down to eat. Li Jia even placed a chicken wing in Zhang Lin’s bowl. "I was out of line earlier. Don’t take my words to heart."
Zhang Lin took a bite. Moments later, her face paled as she clutched her stomach. "My stomach hurts… take me to the hospital!"
Dinner descended into chaos. No one ate a thing. At the hospital, the doctors found nothing wrong but advised her to be cautious with her diet during pregnancy.
Xu Chaoyang’s mind was a mess. He ordered another meal for Zhang Lin. Xu Yi, frightened, fell asleep beside her, gripping her clothes tightly.
He was too young to understand much, but he knew Mom had gotten sick after eating Grandma’s food.
Xu Chaoyang wanted to know what Li Jia had done.
Why had one bite of that chicken wing caused such pain?
Li Jia scoffed, "The hospital said nothing was wrong. She was obviously faking. That woman is rotten to the core! I apologized, and she pulls this stunt? Who’s she trying to fool?"
"Faking? You think she’d fake stomach pain while pregnant? Mom, not everyone is like you!" Xu Chaoyang’s head throbbed. "Why would she pretend after forgiving me? Enough. I’m going to check on her."
Li Jia was furious. Couldn’t he see it was an act?
But Zhang Lin had learned from the best—Li Jia herself, who often feigned illness in the past. Xu Chaoyang had brought Xu Yi, leaving her no choice. The boy was her weakness; she couldn’t bear to see him hurt.
So what if she pretended? The Xu family had treated her far worse.
Divorce wasn’t easy, but the more Xu Chaoyang sided with her, the more Li Jia wanted them separated.
Bringing her food was the bare minimum a father should do. Yet he acted like it was some grand gesture.
If Xu Chaoyang made her life miserable, she’d return the favor.
Xu Yi woke after an hour and nuzzled Zhang Lin’s hand. "Mom, does it still hurt?"
Guilt gnawed at her for lying to him, but she had no other option. "No, it doesn’t. Don’t blame Grandma."
Xu Chaoyang sought out Zhang Tian, assuming one man would understand another. But while Zhang Tian understood men, he didn’t understand Xu Chaoyang.
Lighting a cigarette, Xu Chaoyang said, "Director Zhang, can you edit in some scenes of me and Zhang Lin? Maybe add filters…" to make their marriage look happier.
Online comments kept asking why even Lu Shuangchen had appeared, but he hadn’t.
Xu Chaoyang had visited multiple times, but if Zhang Tian didn’t include the footage, there was nothing he could do.
Zhang Tian replied, "If there’s anything interesting, I’ll definitely use it."
Xu Chaoyang scratched his head. "Director Zhang, have one…"
Zhang Tian declined—he didn’t smoke.
"They say it’s worse to break a marriage than to destroy ten temples. I’ll change, I promise…" Xu Chaoyang was stuck between Li Jia and Zhang Lin, and it was tearing him apart.
The next day, Xu Chaoyang took Xu Yi home. Zhang Lin kissed the boy’s forehead. Xu Yi, worried about leaving her, clung to her hand.
Zhang Lin reassured him, "It’s okay. Uncle Zhang Tian is here, along with many kind aunties and sisters. No one will bully Mom."
Xu Chaoyang hesitated before saying, "Mom didn’t mean it yesterday. She only touched the chicken wing. I bought the food myself. Please don’t be angry."
Zhang Lin, usually patient, now wanted to slap him.
But after enduring seven years, what was one more moment? "I know. She just doesn’t like me."
Xu Chaoyang said, "No... she doesn’t dislike it. I don’t know how to explain. After the show ends, we’ll move out and live separately."
Not wanting to live with Li Jia wasn’t an absolute necessity, but moving out seemed like a good idea.
Zhang Lin didn’t nod. She said goodbye to Xu Yi and watched her son leave.
Xu Yi kept looking back as he walked away. Though young, he could sense something was wrong between his parents—his mother wasn’t even acknowledging his father.
Between his mom and dad, he would always side with his mother.
Zhang Lin waved. The baby in her belly was six months along, with four more months until birth. She hoped for a girl. Xu Yi was still small, well-behaved, and sensible—he’d make a good older brother.
She didn’t want Xu Yi to grow up to be like Xu Chaoyang.
The endorsement deal could be filmed now. After taxes, the endorsement fee would net her over six million. Compared to the Xu family’s wealth, it was a drop in the bucket, but it was far more than Zhang Lin had ever saved before.
Add to that the fan donations from her livestreams and the earnings from her last ad shoot, and she had nearly ten million in total.
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If she couldn’t buy a house, she’d rent one. Baby formula and clothes would cost money.
Zhang Lin felt she had become a worse person—she wanted a divorce from Xu Chaoyang.
After the divorce, if Xu Chaoyang wanted to be the child’s father, fine, as long as he provided financial support. If he wanted to see her, that was fine too—just without any formal ties.
She thought the stupidest thing she’d ever done was staying unemployed for seven years after marriage without securing any financial safety net.
So many people assumed she’d married into luxury for a life of ease. Look how that turned out.
It was Tuesday, and Zhang Lin had a prenatal checkup. Li Jia wouldn’t accompany her, but Du Wanzhou did.
The villa’s atmosphere felt stifling, and Jiang Lan wanted to go out for a walk.
Yu Wanqiu was currently obsessed with planning trips. B City was vast, with many places she hadn’t explored. "How about visiting your old elementary, middle, and high schools, then ending at Qinghua University? It’d be a meaningful little tour."
Jiang Lan liked the idea, but she also wanted to know where she’d attended elementary and middle school.
High school was easy—she and Lu Yicheng had gone to the same one.
But what about elementary and middle school? Even Lu Yicheng might not know.
Xie Yunzhen would definitely know, but asking her would probably make her think Jiang Lan had lost her mind.
So Jiang Lan asked Lu Yicheng instead.
He sent her a location.
Generally, Lu Yicheng knew most things about Jiang Lan. As a couple, they’d naturally been curious about whether they’d crossed paths before meeting.
He’d once asked if they’d attended the same elementary or middle school, but unfortunately, they hadn’t.
Their high school was called Jinhua No.1 High School. Jiang Lan had attended its affiliated middle school, and before that, its elementary school. Essentially, Xie Yunzhen had kept an eye on her from childhood.
Nearly all her homeroom and subject teachers knew her mother was a high school teacher.
Lu Yicheng, however, had only transferred to Jinhua No.1 High School for high school.
Luckily, the elementary, middle, and high schools were all in the same location, so they wouldn’t have to travel to three separate places.
Jiang Lan called Xie Yunzhen to ask if they could film inside the school—it’d be good publicity.
Xie Yunzhen checked with the principal, who agreed but requested they film the honor roll and merit student displays. It’d be even better if the 2017 college entrance exam top scorer could make an appearance.
Jiang Lan was baffled. "Who was the 2017 top scorer?"
Xie Yunzhen: "...Are you joking? It was Lu Yicheng."
Jiang Lan: "…………"
Was Lu Yicheng made of gold? She couldn’t even revisit her alma mater without his influence. "I’ll ask, but even if he doesn’t promote it, Teacher Yu and I can still go, right?"
Xie Yunzhen replied over the phone, "Yes. The elementary and middle schools haven’t started classes yet, so you can visit the classrooms and playground. The high school seniors are in session, but you can eat in the cafeteria at noon. If Lu Yicheng doesn’t come, you can invite Teacher Yu to our place for a meal. I have classes all morning and won’t have time to show you around."
Jiang Lan thought eating in the cafeteria sounded just fine. "Mom, I’ll grab your meal card then!"
Xie Yunzhen: "..."
Summer outings required hats, handheld fans, parasols, and water bottles. Yu Wanqiu wore the hat Jiang Lan had given her. Since they couldn’t dress too flashy for school, she wore a T-shirt and jeans, her hair tied in a high ponytail.
Jiang Lan changed into overalls. Neither wore makeup.
Zhang Tian thought visiting the school was meaningful—it’d add depth to the show while promoting the institution.
After over an hour’s drive, they finally arrived at Jinhua No.1 High School.
Only the soon-to-be high school seniors were attending summer classes. The sun scorched the brick pavement in front of the teaching building. The security guard let them in, and Jiang Lan led Yu Wanqiu straight to the honor roll display.
Behind clean glass panels were photos of the top ten students from the latest monthly exams, with past college entrance exam top scorers at the very front.
Lu Yicheng’s photo was first in the top row.
He was Jinhua High’s first and only provincial top scorer, and his picture remained there for underclassmen to admire.
In the photo, Lu Yicheng had a buzz cut and a stern expression, as if he never smiled.
Yu Wanqiu took a couple of pictures. "I never attended any of his parent-teacher meetings."
She regretted it now—regretted missing Lu Yicheng’s growth. She hadn’t attended a single one of his elementary, middle, or high school meetings. Lu Shuangchen hadn’t either.
Both parents claimed to be too busy, so they’d sent assistants instead.
Jiang Lan also snapped a photo. The Lu Yicheng in the picture seemed lonely, but undeniably handsome, with an academic halo around him.
The cameraman focused on the honor roll before Jiang Lan took Yu Wanqiu to the elementary and middle school sections.
The classrooms looked just as they had before summer break—chairs tucked under desks, floors spotless, handmade posters lining the walls outside.
Jiang Lan even found her old classroom. Though she didn’t remember it, the familiarity lingered.
Yu Wanqiu asked which classes Jiang Lan had been in and took plenty of photos—these were memories they could revisit later, perhaps even include in a wedding video.
She wanted Jiang Lan to have everything when she married—past recollections, photos with Lu Yicheng, every little detail preserved.
Jiang Lan didn’t grasp Yu Wanqiu’s intentions, assuming she just enjoyed taking pictures. After touring the classrooms, they headed to the playground and finally the cafeteria.
Jiang Lan borrowed Xie Yunzhen’s meal card. The faculty cafeteria’s food was better than the students’—more variety, cheaper, and tastier. Jiang Lan and Yu Wanqiu ate there.
To Jiang Lan, the meal tasted like home. She probably used to eat here often.
Yu Wanqiu agreed. "The food really is good, and affordable."
They spent just ten yuan on two chicken drumsticks, three dishes—braised pork, stir-fried cabbage, spicy shredded potatoes—and a portion of rice.
Jiang Lan said, "This is the faculty cafeteria, but even the student cafeteria is cheap. Same with university—girls can eat well for just over twenty yuan a day."
Yu Wanqiu had dropped out of college to act and barely remembered what university life was like. "Then let’s visit Qinghua University this afternoon."
Qinghua was one of B City’s tourist attractions, a historic institution.
Its walls draped in ivy, weathered brick pathways, and antiquated dormitories were iconic.
The dorms at Qinghua were legendary—eight-person rooms, bunk beds with metal frames, and washbasin stands straight out of a grandmother’s era.
Jiang Lan took Yu Wanqiu to see the dorms. Some students stayed over summer break, and a quick check in the dorm group chat told her exactly where to go.
Yu Wanqiu watched the passersby with a hint of envy—students hurried along, many clutching books as they walked.
She said, "Jiang Lan, do you think it's too late for me to get a university degree now?"
The opportunity to study had been hard to come by. Back then, Yu Wanqiu had chosen acting over education, and even if given the choice again, she would have made the same decision. But now that she had the time and energy, why not complete her university studies?
Jiang Lan still had a year left in school. If Yu Wanqiu wanted to pursue higher education, she would have to retake the college entrance exam, meaning she couldn’t start until next year. She’d need to prepare this year, and no matter what, she wouldn’t graduate alongside Jiang Lan.
Back in the day, she had scored over 700 on the exam. But twenty years had passed—what if her results were lower now? How embarrassing would that be?
The thought had just crossed her mind, impulsive and impractical.
"Never mind, I was just talking," Yu Wanqiu said with a laugh. "I’m too old for this. Just kidding."
Jiang Lan replied, "If you really want to study, Teacher Yu, I support you. You memorize thick scripts for your roles, which proves your memory is sharp. If you’ve forgotten any science subjects, you can ask Lu Yicheng—he loves tutoring people. English won’t be a problem, and my mom, Xie Yunzhen, can find teachers for the other subjects."
Jiang Lan carefully analyzed the feasibility of Yu Wanqiu returning to school and found it entirely possible. "I don’t think it’s too late. If you want it, it’s never too late."
