Review Detail of trick_or_treat in The Useless Stepmom Brings Her Kids to Reality TV Shows to Photograph Them

Update (mtl: ch1-ch25): I just started to mtl this novel, and we learned some interesting information abt the ml and orig body without having to read +50 chapters lol rn as I‘m writing this I‘m at ch25 Status: ongoing (currently 290ch, last updates on 2022-09-24) MC: - Lin Wan - previous life: famous desert/food anchor -> many wanted to have a taste of her craft, then transmigrated into a novel - takes care of skin MAY be important to her (not mentioned often, just an assumption but I mtled it so 🤷‍♀️) - "lazy" from what I understood, she worked hours in her previous life that she wants to take a break - has no information abt the orig body‘s owner, only the knowledge from the novel (and many experienced readers should know how "reliable" this is lmao) - previous life: parents divorced, so got thrown to her grandparents or rather grandmother, who later died. She had to take care of herself after that, and her "parents" seemed to have "forgotten“ her as they lived their own life with their new family - can play a lil guitar - "Although she is in her twenties, she has a feeling of being in her fifties." (Ch1) -> seems to love to drink goji berries tea Orig body mc transmigrated in: - Lin Wan - someone with no meaning in life -> tried to commit suicide before - reason: maybe bc her only family she relied on, her father, died (reason mentioned in ML‘s info) - the above is from the POV of the ML, and the info he gathered etc. - 28 y. old - seems like they have the same name 🤔 - Stepmother, very low existence in orig plot ML: - Li Yanchen(?) (in his thirties) - business elite - "widowed", after 7 years of being alone he remarried the orig body - for some a "boring" personality : work, work, work but the more you read you know that some things are not what you see (early on we as the readers see how his surroundings thinks of him, like the kids having received materials from him but no father love), I assume: high IQ, low EQ (for now) - reliable - according to his sons a "clean freak" but from what I see, his will do and touch some things even if he doesn’t/can‘t, but so far I don’t remember any scenes where he "freaked" out 咸鱼后妈带崽在综艺当对照组 - took the position of the cook during the show, where he thought abt his mom who made noodles, so he tried to do it but failed lol - not a good "father" but early in the ch you know that he may really not be their real father: iirc in the early ch around 20, the ml thought that the oldest child is nearly 18, an adult, and his sister-in-law in heaven must be proud(?) of it AND maybe his brother will wake up soon!!! -> maybe a lil twist: like I mentioned, I mtled it, so there is a chance that the author meant sth else BUT assuming I understood it correctly, then we know now why the ml behaves as if they weren’t his only children, bc they aren’t. I also remember, where the ml said that he was forced to grow up, I assume bc of an accident leading to his brother & sister-in-law‘s mishap he was person to bear everything. - forced to grow up, and imo he must feel very tired mentally but maybe physically as well (hopefully we will get more info in future ch) - Fun fact (or not): the oldest child wanted to get praised by the ML, he called him dad/father, but the ML didn’t say anything (bc according to the author he thinks that there is no need to, not bc they aren’t his kids but kinda like a generation gap, the ML has a different "understanding" of some things. I don’t know how to phrase it, I recommend you to read it yourself it happens early bc as you can see, so far I only read til ch25). Once the oldest called him "uncle", he opened his mouth. Now that I think abt it… at first I didnt think much of this as I assumed that the oldest wanted to kinda ridicule his "father" by calling him uncle, but now that I read the scene where the ML thought abt his brother and sister-in-law… this may have been a subtle hint from the author 🤔 咸鱼后妈带崽在综艺当对照组 - married the orig body‘s owner bc he felt responsible bc her father died to save the 3 children -> the one she relied on left her alone, he brought her a home where she can live but she seemed to be abt to to commit suicide (mtl mentioned sth abt a roof, maybe she planned to jump from there 🤔) -> in short: he married her to take care(?) of her, but she has no obligation to take care of the children Sometimes we see the POV of the ML, which is good as we can get more information especially the ones the MC doesn’t have. I assume, the ML treated the orig body‘s owner like glass afraid that it will shatter if you don’t pay attention. She lived her own quiet life, doesn’t seem to have any friends (no contacts in her phonebook). I doubt he had any romantic feelings for her, only a sense of responsibility (maybe like taking care of another child, as he did, which his 3 nephews but it’s mtl so 🤷‍♀️) -> The funny or rather weird thing is that "his 3 children" don’t know abt that, to them he is their real father. Maybe he had to take care of the since they were little BUT it wouldn’t make sense bc of their different ages: 1st son: high school boy, iirc ~15-16 y. old 2nd son: iirc ~13 y. old 3rd son: iirc ~7(?) y. old Some things to pay attention to: 1. one of the sons mentioned that their second grandfather how his dad had such a good relationship with his mother 2. no one seems (kids, secretaries etc) to know that the ML is not their real dad, and their real dad seems to be sleeping/has not woken up yet (info from ML POV) 3. one of the sons mentioned that their dad is a "clean freak" but the ML didn’t show anything regarding that + he mentioned the time where his mom made him noodles (I think he is not afraid of any hardships at all, like taking care of cutting wood etc, bc of the way he grew up/how his mom raised him) => this makes us wonder, who the ML really is 🤔 his "secret/unknown" twin e.g his parents had 2 sons, but separated and each of them took one son to live with themselves Maybe someone contacted him after what happened to his brother, and told him to pretend to be his brother who knows 🤷‍♀️ Another thing to pay attention to: The ML mentioned the accident where the orig body‘s owner‘s dad saved the 3 kids 7(?) years ago, and if I recall the children‘s mother died 7(?) ago… 咸鱼后妈带崽在综艺当对照组 1st son: - Li Zexuan - apart of being a high schooler (~15-16y.), he "works" in the entertainment world - can play different instruments - cold, noble on the outside craving for his dad‘s attention or rather recognition, "gentle scum, noble as frost" (Ch1), I think cunning/scheming on the inside - the orig plot/novel‘s ML - the person who made his family participate in the family variety show -> he schemed to have his "dad" participate for attention despite knowing of his "love for cleanliness", he rejected sleeping in the village head‘s house and took the worst one to live in 2nd son: - Li Zexin (~13y.) - often visits internet cafés - lil troublemaker(?) 🤔 - wants to get his "dad‘s" love & attention 3rd son: - Li Zekai - lil troublemaker(?) 🤔 - wants to get his "dad‘s" love & attention