After My Kid's Variety Show Went Viral, I Became the Nation's Mom

[Two powerful leads, both devoted to each other] [Livestreamed variety show] [A story about raising a child]

The day Lin Xiaoman, a once-popular child star, was kicked off the set by her ex-boyfriend, an app called “Star Baby Guardian” suddenly appeared on her phone.

In a blurry video, a little girl she had never met smiled at her. “Mommy, will you come get me?”

She gritted her teeth and signed up for a parenting variety show, thinking it would be an easy way to make some quick money.

But as soon as her three-and-a-half-year-old “daughter” stepped onstage, she clung to the top-tier star's leg and called out, “Daddy!”

The whole internet exploded: “Lin Xiaoman is desperate to get famous!”

She held the little one close and burned three pots of porridge amid all the abuse. Then one night, her daughter wrapped her arms around her neck and said, “Mommy, you're the best mommy in the world.”

Later, the movie star said through red-rimmed eyes during a livestream watched by thousands: “I've lost my family once. I can't lose them a second time.”

Later still, standing onstage to accept an international Best Actress award, she choked up: “Thank you to my daughter for making me a mother.”

You think I'm the one raising her, but really, she's the one who healed me.

This is a story about “choices”

Blood ties have never been the only way to define a family.