My Mother-in-Law and I Became the Internet’s Hottest Power Couple
Author: NovelFire
Chapter 23
Lu Yicheng was exceptionally smooth when saying "I'm sorry."
Jiang Lan couldnât help but wonderâhad it been like this many times before, with Lu Yicheng always being the first to apologize?
When Lu Yicheng said he wouldnât argue with her and would let her have her way, he probably meant it. Jiang Lan thought it was normal for couples to fight; no two people were perfectly compatible from the start, and it wasnât as if just looking at Lu Yichengâs handsome face or his well-built physique would magically dissolve her anger.
Two people adjusting to each other required someone to yield first.
What would their arguments even look like?
But even if Jiang Lan was curious, she wouldnât ask. Sheâd hold back and keep it to herself.
Yu Wanqiu handed her the menu. "Order whatever you wantâmy treat today."
Well, in that case, she wouldnât hold back.
Since it was that time of the month, spicy food was off the table, so they opted for tomato and mushroom broth hotpot. They ordered two plates of meat, though Jiang Lan worried it might be too much and go to waste.
She also added shrimp paste and fish balls before passing the menu back to Yu Wanqiu. "You choose, Yu-laoshi."
Yu Wanqiu added two plates of vegetables. "Anything else?"
Jiang Lan shook her head. Her appetite wasnât great today, and she wasnât particularly hungry.
The hotpot restaurant was owned by someone in the entertainment industry, and the food was decent. The owner was also a friend of Yu Wanqiuâs.
Yu Wanqiu noticed Jiang Lan really wasnât feeling well todayânormally, sheâd never eat so little.
"You should see a traditional Chinese doctor for some regimen. Girls tend to have weaker constitutions," Yu Wanqiu said. "I know an experienced physician. Whether itâs acupuncture or herbal medicine, a bit of recuperation will help ease the pain."
"Thank you, Yu-laoshi," Jiang Lan said.
To Yu Wanqiu, this was just a small favor, hardly worth mentioning. Of course, she wouldnât bother doing this for just anyone.
After dinner, Yu Wanqiu asked, "Do you want to stay out a bit longer or head back?"
Jiang Lan chose to go back. She just wanted to lie down.
It was Tuesday, and the third episode would air on Fridayâthree days away. By tomorrow, Jiang Lan would probably feel better.
Zhang Tian found this segment rather heartwarming. He didnât really understand menstrual painâhaving never experienced it himself, he used to think the term was exaggerated.
But seeing Jiang Lan like this, it was clear she was genuinely suffering. If she werenât, why would someone usually lively look so pale?
And wasnât this basically sweet moments? It had to be. Yu Wanqiu brewing brown sugar ginger tea for her, keeping her company while binge-watching shows and eating togetherâjust the two of them, the atmosphere was effortlessly cozy.
What also surprised Zhang Tian was that Yu Wanqiu would snack alongside Jiang Lan. He never wouldâve expected thatâYu Wanqiu didnât seem like someone whoâd touch junk food.
Now, Zhang Tian followed two fan communities under a pseudonym: one for "Lanzhou Lamian" (Jiang Lan & Yu Wanqiu) and another for "Irreplaceable" (Jiang Lan & Lu Yicheng).
The "Lanzhou Lamian" fandom had over 600,000 fans, filled with screenshots of their subtle interactions. There were even rumors that during the first episodeâs filming, when an unnamed actress mistook Jiang Lan for an assistant and tried to provoke her, Yu Wanqiu stepped in and even had Jiang Lan play the cello.
Whether this was true remained unverifiedâthe scene wasnât in the aired episode, and no one knew which production team it was. But damn, the idea alone was thrilling.
Imagine: the unnamed actress thought Yu Wanqiu disliked Jiang Lan, so she tried to bully her, dreaming of taking her place and marrying into the Lu family. But then Yu Wanqiu turned around and publicly defended Jiang Lanâback when theyâd just met in the first episode.
*"Sheâs mine. I can mess with her all I wantâwho the hell are you?"*
The sheer dominance was suffocating.
Zhang Tian left a comment under his alt account:
*[Yeah, she just shielded her like thatâinstant protection mode!]*
After indulging in some sweet content, he returned to the "Irreplaceable" community. Since Lu Yicheng had only appeared briefly once and was rarely mentioned in the showâcombined with the traffic diversion from "Lanzhou Lamian"âthis fan group felt a bit deserted.
*[Seriously, donât we have any skilled video editors here? Even amateurs would doâjust produce some content!]*
...
*[Ugh, canât make bricks without straw. Weâve got, what, a grand total of one minute of Lu Yichengâs face time? How are we supposed to edit that? Should we just have Xie Zheng play him again?]*
*[Xie Zheng: Thanks, I hate it.]*
*[So hard to dig up material. The manâs practically a ghost.]*
Even with the equation, knowing the result doesnât help when both variables are missing. Iâve bitten into so many fake sweet moments, my teeth hurt.
The fan group had decent numbers, but with so little content to work with, members pounced on anyone claiming to be Jiang Lanâs roommate, classmate, or Lu Yichengâs friend.
Theyâd already endured every imaginable scenarioâLu Yicheng confessing on campus, public declarations of love, love triangles, even n-sided polygons. They were numb.
The only verified moment was Jiang Lan giving him roses on the sports field. But then some idiot had to ruin it by claiming she bought them from a Pinduoduo livestream sale!
Zhang Tian rubbed his nose.
Well, livestream or not, it was the thought that counted. But compared to Yu Wanqiuâs gesturesâlike Jiang Lan personally carrying packages to arrange and care for flowersâit just... paled.
Besides, who couldâve predicted people would ship Jiang Lan and Yu Wanqiu? Probably not even Lu Yicheng saw that coming.
With Yu Wanqiu around, no one would dare mess with Jiang Lan. But now, the one causing trouble was Yu Wanqiu herself.
The earlier claims that Yu Wanqiu would nitpick had backfiredâeveryone was too busy shipping them.
Zhang Tian could only imagine Lu Yichengâs reaction if he stumbled upon that fan community. Painful to think about.
But the fans had a point: you canât make something out of nothing. The "Lanzhou Lamian" hype mainly thrived because Yu Wanqiu had an extensive filmography.
Ancient, modern, futuristicâBilibili editors had endless material to remix: *Love Across a Millennium*, *I Came from the Republic Era*, *Waiting for You in the Future*...
Even if it was all fabricated, the sheer volume of videos made "Lanzhou Lamian" explode in popularity. But Lu Yichengâs content? Hard to come by. Fans had to fact-check every crumb.
*[From now on, if anyone claims insider info, provide proof. Otherwise, it's fake. Letâs keep this community clean.]*
No panicking. Worst case, we send that video to Luyuan Groupâs chairman. Guaranteed victory.
*[Since when does money dictate what we ship? Who does he think he is?]*
*[Pretty sure OPâs from the "Lanzhou Lamian" fandom...]*
*[Nah, I meanâLu Shuangchen doesnât have that kind of power. This plan wonât work.]*
*[Check my profile for proof. Iâm the girlfriend of Lu Yichengâs roommate. Got one tidbitânot sure if it counts as sweet content.]*
*[Wait, youâre actually from Qinghua University?! Talk, weâre listening!]*
*[Whereâd they go?!]*
I'm typing slowly, sorry. It might not be sweet, but it's about them fighting. I used to think that having a boyfriend as hot as Lu or a girlfriend as pretty as Jiang Lan would mean that just looking at them would calm you down. That's not the case.
Freshman year, they were gaming at night. When bedtime rolled around, Jiang Lan said she was logging off to sleep. But Lu apparently stayed onlineâexcept Jiang Lan hadnât hidden her match history.
Sheâd been carrying some girl in ranked from 11 PM to 3 AM.]*
(*Honor of Kings* has a stealth mode, so friends canât see you onlineâbut if you donât hide your match history, the timestamps remain visible.)
*[WHY NOT PLAY WITH LU YICHENG?! Was it really a girl or just some random dude?!]*
*[So Lu Yicheng didnât sleep until 3 AM?]*
*[3 AM? My betâs on him pulling an all-nighter.]*
ãThat girl is probably Jiang Lan's roommate. Why doesnât she play? Probably because couples tend to argue when gaming together. Jiang Lan keeps her distance from guysâshe prefers hanging out with girls... Iâve played with her before, and sheâs seriously good.ã
The comment about couples arguing over games was phrased diplomatically. To put it bluntly, Lu Yicheng is just really bad at gaming.
ãCough, I donât know what to say, but I canât help laughing.ã
ãUh⦠I can just picture Lu Yicheng staying up all night, staring at Jiang Lanâs match history.ã
ãCome on, thatâs taking it too far. Seriously, too far.ã
ãNo wonder she has a side account. Adding Lu Yichengâs name to it is true love.ã
ãOh, itâs just a little game between couplesânot really an argument.ã
ãThen what happened next?ã
ãAfter that, Jiang Lan never played with any other girls again.ã
ãSo Yu Wanqiu is the first one, huh? Hehehe, thatâs so sweet.ã
ãWhy does our fandom always have these other shippers? So annoying.ã
After browsing around, Zhang Tian headed over to Bilibili and searched for "Lanzhou Lamian." The first result wasnât a recipe but a fan-made CP compilation video.
It had over 5 million viewsâthe origin of the "Lanzhou Lamian" CPâs popularity: [I Have a Crush on My Sonâs Girlfriend].
There were plenty more videos belowâlong princesses, assassins, swordsmenâtons of edits.
Returning to the homepage, Zhang Tian stumbled upon another video titled: [I Want to Be Jiang Lanâs Boyfriend].
Who on earth was this daring soul, trying to become Jiang Lanâs boyfriend? Clicking in, the video had a black background with the creator narrating.
Zhang Tian turned up the volume.
"Last night, I binge-watched two episodes of Mother-in-Law Is Coming and caught up on the livestreams. Even though Iâve got dark circles under my eyes now, Jiang Lan completely won me over. I dreamed about itâhow amazing itâd be to have a girlfriend like her.
No one with a higher education than her plays as many instruments. No one who plays more instruments is as good at gaming. No one better at gaming is as romantic. And no one more romantic is as beautiful. Sorry, but I think my wife is the prettiest.
I racked my brainâhow could I become Jiang Lanâs boyfriend? Well, Iâd at least have to be better than her current boyfriend to have a shot at stealing her away.
Hmm, I checked Lu Yichengâs college entrance exam score: 732. ConclusionâJiang Lan likes guys who are smart. So I can work hardâjust score higher than him, right?
Next, Lu Yicheng is ridiculously handsome. Liking good-looking people is normalâI like pretty faces too. But this part canât be fixed with effort. Maybe sheâll get tired of his looks? Thereâs still a chance for me.
Then thereâs Lu Yichengâs familyâhis momâs an actress, his dadâs loaded. But when I think about it, is that really a plus? More like a downside. Jiang Lan orders takeout, hangs out at snack streets, and her most expensive outfit (already sold out) was only 300 bucks. Her priciest possession is her instrument. That proves itâsheâs not into rich guys.
So now, all I need is to score over 732 on the exam and wait for Jiang Lan to get bored of Lu Yicheng. Then, my springtime will come.
Given Lu Yichengâs face, sheâll probably need another century to tire of him. A hundred years is long, but for my wife, I can wait.
Hereâs to hoping they stay locked together for a century.
Now I finally understand what âirreplaceableâ means. Test scores, looks, talents, family backgroundâthose things can be matched. But the person? No substitute.
Jiang Lan might not be rich, but she still prepares birthday surprises for Lu Yicheng. Lu Yicheng might be loaded, but heâll still wear a mascot costume just to see his girlfriend.
There are no pluses or minusesâjust them. I also believe that social norms and class arenât barriers to love. Time tells the truth. And a huge shoutout to Yu Wanqiuâyour CP with Jiang Lan is absolutely addictive!"
...
ãAt first glance: Do I need to sharpen my blade? Halfway through: Sorry, friendly fire! By the end: Nope, still gotta kill this guy!ã
Jiang Lan couldnât help but wonderâhad it been like this many times before, with Lu Yicheng always being the first to apologize?
When Lu Yicheng said he wouldnât argue with her and would let her have her way, he probably meant it. Jiang Lan thought it was normal for couples to fight; no two people were perfectly compatible from the start, and it wasnât as if just looking at Lu Yichengâs handsome face or his well-built physique would magically dissolve her anger.
Two people adjusting to each other required someone to yield first.
What would their arguments even look like?
But even if Jiang Lan was curious, she wouldnât ask. Sheâd hold back and keep it to herself.
Yu Wanqiu handed her the menu. "Order whatever you wantâmy treat today."
Well, in that case, she wouldnât hold back.
Since it was that time of the month, spicy food was off the table, so they opted for tomato and mushroom broth hotpot. They ordered two plates of meat, though Jiang Lan worried it might be too much and go to waste.
She also added shrimp paste and fish balls before passing the menu back to Yu Wanqiu. "You choose, Yu-laoshi."
Yu Wanqiu added two plates of vegetables. "Anything else?"
Jiang Lan shook her head. Her appetite wasnât great today, and she wasnât particularly hungry.
The hotpot restaurant was owned by someone in the entertainment industry, and the food was decent. The owner was also a friend of Yu Wanqiuâs.
Yu Wanqiu noticed Jiang Lan really wasnât feeling well todayânormally, sheâd never eat so little.
"You should see a traditional Chinese doctor for some regimen. Girls tend to have weaker constitutions," Yu Wanqiu said. "I know an experienced physician. Whether itâs acupuncture or herbal medicine, a bit of recuperation will help ease the pain."
"Thank you, Yu-laoshi," Jiang Lan said.
To Yu Wanqiu, this was just a small favor, hardly worth mentioning. Of course, she wouldnât bother doing this for just anyone.
After dinner, Yu Wanqiu asked, "Do you want to stay out a bit longer or head back?"
Jiang Lan chose to go back. She just wanted to lie down.
It was Tuesday, and the third episode would air on Fridayâthree days away. By tomorrow, Jiang Lan would probably feel better.
Zhang Tian found this segment rather heartwarming. He didnât really understand menstrual painâhaving never experienced it himself, he used to think the term was exaggerated.
But seeing Jiang Lan like this, it was clear she was genuinely suffering. If she werenât, why would someone usually lively look so pale?
And wasnât this basically sweet moments? It had to be. Yu Wanqiu brewing brown sugar ginger tea for her, keeping her company while binge-watching shows and eating togetherâjust the two of them, the atmosphere was effortlessly cozy.
What also surprised Zhang Tian was that Yu Wanqiu would snack alongside Jiang Lan. He never wouldâve expected thatâYu Wanqiu didnât seem like someone whoâd touch junk food.
Now, Zhang Tian followed two fan communities under a pseudonym: one for "Lanzhou Lamian" (Jiang Lan & Yu Wanqiu) and another for "Irreplaceable" (Jiang Lan & Lu Yicheng).
The "Lanzhou Lamian" fandom had over 600,000 fans, filled with screenshots of their subtle interactions. There were even rumors that during the first episodeâs filming, when an unnamed actress mistook Jiang Lan for an assistant and tried to provoke her, Yu Wanqiu stepped in and even had Jiang Lan play the cello.
Whether this was true remained unverifiedâthe scene wasnât in the aired episode, and no one knew which production team it was. But damn, the idea alone was thrilling.
Imagine: the unnamed actress thought Yu Wanqiu disliked Jiang Lan, so she tried to bully her, dreaming of taking her place and marrying into the Lu family. But then Yu Wanqiu turned around and publicly defended Jiang Lanâback when theyâd just met in the first episode.
*"Sheâs mine. I can mess with her all I wantâwho the hell are you?"*
The sheer dominance was suffocating.
Zhang Tian left a comment under his alt account:
*[Yeah, she just shielded her like thatâinstant protection mode!]*
After indulging in some sweet content, he returned to the "Irreplaceable" community. Since Lu Yicheng had only appeared briefly once and was rarely mentioned in the showâcombined with the traffic diversion from "Lanzhou Lamian"âthis fan group felt a bit deserted.
*[Seriously, donât we have any skilled video editors here? Even amateurs would doâjust produce some content!]*
...
*[Ugh, canât make bricks without straw. Weâve got, what, a grand total of one minute of Lu Yichengâs face time? How are we supposed to edit that? Should we just have Xie Zheng play him again?]*
*[Xie Zheng: Thanks, I hate it.]*
*[So hard to dig up material. The manâs practically a ghost.]*
Even with the equation, knowing the result doesnât help when both variables are missing. Iâve bitten into so many fake sweet moments, my teeth hurt.
The fan group had decent numbers, but with so little content to work with, members pounced on anyone claiming to be Jiang Lanâs roommate, classmate, or Lu Yichengâs friend.
Theyâd already endured every imaginable scenarioâLu Yicheng confessing on campus, public declarations of love, love triangles, even n-sided polygons. They were numb.
The only verified moment was Jiang Lan giving him roses on the sports field. But then some idiot had to ruin it by claiming she bought them from a Pinduoduo livestream sale!
Zhang Tian rubbed his nose.
Well, livestream or not, it was the thought that counted. But compared to Yu Wanqiuâs gesturesâlike Jiang Lan personally carrying packages to arrange and care for flowersâit just... paled.
Besides, who couldâve predicted people would ship Jiang Lan and Yu Wanqiu? Probably not even Lu Yicheng saw that coming.
With Yu Wanqiu around, no one would dare mess with Jiang Lan. But now, the one causing trouble was Yu Wanqiu herself.
The earlier claims that Yu Wanqiu would nitpick had backfiredâeveryone was too busy shipping them.
Zhang Tian could only imagine Lu Yichengâs reaction if he stumbled upon that fan community. Painful to think about.
But the fans had a point: you canât make something out of nothing. The "Lanzhou Lamian" hype mainly thrived because Yu Wanqiu had an extensive filmography.
Ancient, modern, futuristicâBilibili editors had endless material to remix: *Love Across a Millennium*, *I Came from the Republic Era*, *Waiting for You in the Future*...
Even if it was all fabricated, the sheer volume of videos made "Lanzhou Lamian" explode in popularity. But Lu Yichengâs content? Hard to come by. Fans had to fact-check every crumb.
*[From now on, if anyone claims insider info, provide proof. Otherwise, it's fake. Letâs keep this community clean.]*
No panicking. Worst case, we send that video to Luyuan Groupâs chairman. Guaranteed victory.
*[Since when does money dictate what we ship? Who does he think he is?]*
*[Pretty sure OPâs from the "Lanzhou Lamian" fandom...]*
*[Nah, I meanâLu Shuangchen doesnât have that kind of power. This plan wonât work.]*
*[Check my profile for proof. Iâm the girlfriend of Lu Yichengâs roommate. Got one tidbitânot sure if it counts as sweet content.]*
*[Wait, youâre actually from Qinghua University?! Talk, weâre listening!]*
*[Whereâd they go?!]*
I'm typing slowly, sorry. It might not be sweet, but it's about them fighting. I used to think that having a boyfriend as hot as Lu or a girlfriend as pretty as Jiang Lan would mean that just looking at them would calm you down. That's not the case.
Freshman year, they were gaming at night. When bedtime rolled around, Jiang Lan said she was logging off to sleep. But Lu apparently stayed onlineâexcept Jiang Lan hadnât hidden her match history.
Sheâd been carrying some girl in ranked from 11 PM to 3 AM.]*
(*Honor of Kings* has a stealth mode, so friends canât see you onlineâbut if you donât hide your match history, the timestamps remain visible.)
*[WHY NOT PLAY WITH LU YICHENG?! Was it really a girl or just some random dude?!]*
*[So Lu Yicheng didnât sleep until 3 AM?]*
*[3 AM? My betâs on him pulling an all-nighter.]*
ãThat girl is probably Jiang Lan's roommate. Why doesnât she play? Probably because couples tend to argue when gaming together. Jiang Lan keeps her distance from guysâshe prefers hanging out with girls... Iâve played with her before, and sheâs seriously good.ã
The comment about couples arguing over games was phrased diplomatically. To put it bluntly, Lu Yicheng is just really bad at gaming.
ãCough, I donât know what to say, but I canât help laughing.ã
ãUh⦠I can just picture Lu Yicheng staying up all night, staring at Jiang Lanâs match history.ã
ãCome on, thatâs taking it too far. Seriously, too far.ã
ãNo wonder she has a side account. Adding Lu Yichengâs name to it is true love.ã
ãOh, itâs just a little game between couplesânot really an argument.ã
ãThen what happened next?ã
ãAfter that, Jiang Lan never played with any other girls again.ã
ãSo Yu Wanqiu is the first one, huh? Hehehe, thatâs so sweet.ã
ãWhy does our fandom always have these other shippers? So annoying.ã
After browsing around, Zhang Tian headed over to Bilibili and searched for "Lanzhou Lamian." The first result wasnât a recipe but a fan-made CP compilation video.
It had over 5 million viewsâthe origin of the "Lanzhou Lamian" CPâs popularity: [I Have a Crush on My Sonâs Girlfriend].
There were plenty more videos belowâlong princesses, assassins, swordsmenâtons of edits.
Returning to the homepage, Zhang Tian stumbled upon another video titled: [I Want to Be Jiang Lanâs Boyfriend].
Who on earth was this daring soul, trying to become Jiang Lanâs boyfriend? Clicking in, the video had a black background with the creator narrating.
Zhang Tian turned up the volume.
"Last night, I binge-watched two episodes of Mother-in-Law Is Coming and caught up on the livestreams. Even though Iâve got dark circles under my eyes now, Jiang Lan completely won me over. I dreamed about itâhow amazing itâd be to have a girlfriend like her.
No one with a higher education than her plays as many instruments. No one who plays more instruments is as good at gaming. No one better at gaming is as romantic. And no one more romantic is as beautiful. Sorry, but I think my wife is the prettiest.
I racked my brainâhow could I become Jiang Lanâs boyfriend? Well, Iâd at least have to be better than her current boyfriend to have a shot at stealing her away.
Hmm, I checked Lu Yichengâs college entrance exam score: 732. ConclusionâJiang Lan likes guys who are smart. So I can work hardâjust score higher than him, right?
Next, Lu Yicheng is ridiculously handsome. Liking good-looking people is normalâI like pretty faces too. But this part canât be fixed with effort. Maybe sheâll get tired of his looks? Thereâs still a chance for me.
Then thereâs Lu Yichengâs familyâhis momâs an actress, his dadâs loaded. But when I think about it, is that really a plus? More like a downside. Jiang Lan orders takeout, hangs out at snack streets, and her most expensive outfit (already sold out) was only 300 bucks. Her priciest possession is her instrument. That proves itâsheâs not into rich guys.
So now, all I need is to score over 732 on the exam and wait for Jiang Lan to get bored of Lu Yicheng. Then, my springtime will come.
Given Lu Yichengâs face, sheâll probably need another century to tire of him. A hundred years is long, but for my wife, I can wait.
Hereâs to hoping they stay locked together for a century.
Now I finally understand what âirreplaceableâ means. Test scores, looks, talents, family backgroundâthose things can be matched. But the person? No substitute.
Jiang Lan might not be rich, but she still prepares birthday surprises for Lu Yicheng. Lu Yicheng might be loaded, but heâll still wear a mascot costume just to see his girlfriend.
There are no pluses or minusesâjust them. I also believe that social norms and class arenât barriers to love. Time tells the truth. And a huge shoutout to Yu Wanqiuâyour CP with Jiang Lan is absolutely addictive!"
...
ãAt first glance: Do I need to sharpen my blade? Halfway through: Sorry, friendly fire! By the end: Nope, still gotta kill this guy!ã