Transmigrated as a Wealthy Family's Stepmother and Going on a Variety Show with My Stepson

Yu Lan, a 21st-century university student and fashion design major, transmigrates into a novel as the malicious ex-wife of Gu Yi, a wealthy billionaire. She inhabits the body of Yu Lan, a nouveau riche woman who married Gu Yi out of obsession, only to be neglected and driven to torment his illegitimate son, Gu Sui’an. The original character’s abuse leads to her eventual imprisonment and death. Bound by a “sheep-shearing system” that forces her to extract money from the wealthy to donate to orphans or face forced plot progression, Yu Lan initially attempts to live a lazy, luxurious life while completing tasks through cunning means. She avoids the original plot’s cruelty toward Gu Sui’an, instead treating him with a pragmatic detachment that confuses the reborn teenager.

Gu Sui’an, who has also transmigrated back to his thirteenth year, expects the familiar abuse but encounters a stepmother who demands only three hundred yuan for a broken perfume bottle and later forces him to carry shopping bags. This unexpected shift disrupts his trauma responses, leading him to observe her with growing curiosity. Yu Lan’s actions, such as buying him clothes and picking him up from school, deviate from the original narrative, causing ripples in the Gu family dynamics. The Gu family elders, particularly the Old Madam, view Yu Lan with suspicion due to her lack of social standing and perceived incompatibility with the family’s traditions, while Gu Yi remains distant and indifferent.

A key turning point occurs during the Old Madam’s birthday banquet when Yu Lan learns that in the original story, Gu Sui’an was locked in a cabinet by the protagonist. Realizing the original Yu Lan did not commit this act, she becomes determined to prevent the tragedy. The system issues a new task requiring her to extract one thousand yuan within twenty-four hours. Desperate to complete the task without resorting to the original plot’s abuse, Yu Lan searches for Gu Sui’an, only to discover he has gone missing. Drawing on her knowledge of the novel, she deduces he is trapped in the storage room cabinet, suffering from claustrophobia.

Yu Lan rushes to the storage room and rescues Gu Sui’an, an act that defies the system’s warnings against breaking character. This intervention alters the timeline, sparing Gu Sui’an from the psychological damage that defined his previous life. The system acknowledges the deviation but allows the task to proceed as Yu Lan finds alternative ways to meet the financial requirements. Her relationship with Gu Sui’an begins to shift from hostility to a tentative, unspoken understanding, while Gu Yi remains unaware of the changes unfolding in his household. The story moves toward a new trajectory where Yu Lan navigates the constraints of the system and the Gu family’s expectations while protecting the boy who once despised her.