Lin Weiw An's Everyday Life: Half-Sweet, Extra Ice

Amid the concrete and steel jungle of the city, architectural designer Lin Weiwang lives by the motto, “My territory, my rules.” She likes her life precise, efficient, and stylish. Then she marries Shen Mo, a man whose name and personality are equally suited to staying “silent” and keeping to the middle ground. Along with him comes his mother, Mrs. Zhang Ailan, a retired neighborhood committee director who could talk a pressure cooker into exploding and firmly believes, “I do it all for your own good.”

An unexpected “surprise inspection” of her home kicks off the war between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. From the “unhealthy” takeout containers to the “tacky” sofa covers; from the cosmic question of whether to have children to the century-defining financial battle over who should hold the salary card, Lin Weiwang's elegant life is turned upside down.

When an independent woman who believes “distance makes the heart grow fonder” meets a Chinese-style mother-in-law who believes “getting involved is how you show love,” one hilarious family showdown after another ensues. Her husband, Shen Mo, is like a referee with a tug-of-war rope tied around his waist, pulled this way and that as he tries to maintain a fragile peace.

This isn't a black-and-white battle, but a slice-of-life comedy full of everyday warmth, served half-sweet and over ice. Watch Lin Weiwang apply her “design thinking” to the chaos of daily life, redraw the boundaries of her marriage and home, and build a happy space that may not be perfect, but is strong enough to last.