The Epoch of Miyu

In the afternoon, Xue Rui went downstairs to the lobby to collect documents delivered from the company on Ji Feng's behalf.

After retrieving the files, he didn't rush back upstairs. Instead, he went to the café to buy a cup of coffee, then walked toward the front desk while drinking it.

One of the front desk attendants on duty today was someone he recognized—Lu Xiaoyan, a delicate-looking girl who never minced her words. He also knew that Lu Xiaoyan, delivery guy Li Kunlun, and a housekeeping staff member were close gossip buddies who often hung out together. When he occasionally couldn't catch Li Kunlun, he would go to Lu Xiaoyan to fish for interesting hotel gossip.

Being naturally chatty and deliberately employing conversation skills, he had, after several interactions, made both Li Kunlun and Lu Xiaoyan drop their cautious deference toward him as a VIP staff member from the top floor. They now enthusiastically shared all kinds of rumors with him.

He needed to grasp everything happening in the hotel—big or small, good or bad, internal or external, glamorous or behind-the-scenes—and report it all to Ji Feng.

Holding his paper coffee cup, he approached Lu Xiaoyan. He first asked a few random questions about hotel stays and made some trivial requests.

Then he casually inquired, "Did anything interesting happen in the housekeeping department yesterday?"

Lu Xiaoyan's expression instantly shifted from a standardized service smile to something vivid and animated.

She turned to her colleague beside her and said, "The top-floor VIP has some questions for me. I'll take him to the booth for a detailed discussion. The front desk isn't too busy now—can you keep an eye on it?"

Then she led Xue Rui to a booth and began chatting openly about idle matters.

Lu Xiaoyan excitedly told Xue Rui that she indeed knew what had happened in the housekeeping department yesterday—he had come to the right person.

She quickly recounted how a female guest had given the staff a hard time, accusing them of stealing a diamond ring, and then vividly described how the staff member counterattacked, exposing the guest's malicious intent to frame them.

Xue Rui found himself drawn into the story.

But he couldn't help wondering and asked Lu Xiaoyan how she knew the details so thoroughly, as if she had witnessed it firsthand.

Lu Xiaoyan told him, "I wasn't there, but someone else was. When it happened, an executive level attendant happened to be passing by that room and hid to eavesdrop. She then told what she heard to my good friend in housekeeping, Ke Wenxue. Once Ke Wenxue knew, of course, I found out too."

Xue Rui thought to himself, it didn't stop there. She knew, you knew, Li Kunlun knew—that practically meant the whole hotel knew.

Amused by the thought, he heard Lu Xiaoyan's voice again: "This Sister Xu from the executive level is quite a remarkable person. She usually seems unremarkable—thin and sickly, looking completely harmless—but who would have thought she'd stand her ground at a critical moment!"

Xue Rui thought to himself, indeed. This Xu Miyu was truly a bit surprising.

After finishing their chat, Xue Rui went up to the top floor. Returning to the suite, he went straight to the study and handed the retrieved documents to Ji Feng.Ji Feng looked up from his desk, casting a lukewarm glance at Xue Rui before speaking to him in a tone that was neither salty nor bland: "I asked you to fetch a document—a task that should take two minutes at most. Yet you spent a full twenty minutes. What, did you go to a paper mill to manufacture the file for me on the spot?"

Xue Rui dreaded it most when Ji Feng appeared unruffled on the surface but laced every word with sarcasm.

He hurriedly defended himself: "Boss, I took the opportunity while fetching the document to gather some internal hotel information for you."

Ji Feng raised an eyebrow and let out an "Oh." "Then you've truly worked hard. Tell me, what information did you manage to gather for me just now?"

He emphasized the words "for me," pushing the sarcasm to a frightening peak.

Xue Rui swallowed, took a deep breath, and tentatively dangled a suspenseful hook: "Boss, we all misjudged her—that housekeeper Xu Miyu... that woman. She actually didn’t get fired yesterday. Not only was she not fired, but she also shut down that female guest who accused her of stealing the diamond ring. The woman ended up slinking away in disgrace!"

He noticed Ji Feng’s eyebrow twitch almost imperceptibly.

It was an expression of slight surprise.

Xue Rui caught it and grew a bit bolder, quickly recounting how Xu Miyu had counterattacked the female guest who falsely accused her the previous afternoon.

After finishing the story, he saw Ji Feng lean back in his chair, his brow lifting slightly again.

"She’s not as spineless as she looks."

Hearing Ji Feng actually voice an opinion, Xue Rui immediately perked up: "Exactly! Not only is she not spineless, she seems quite resourceful. I heard there’s an old long-term guest on their executive level who’s notoriously difficult—even harder to deal with than our penthouse. Every housekeeper who’s served him ended up in tears. But this Xu... this sister not only didn’t cry, she even earned praise from the old man in the end. It really goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover, right, Boss?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Ji Feng leaning back in his leather chair, glaring at him coldly.

All his earlier excitement instantly evaporated into cold sweat.

He heard Ji Feng’s voice, cold and tinged with accusation: "What do you mean, 'even harder to deal with than our penthouse'? Who are you referring to with 'penthouse'—me?"

Xue Rui shuddered and hastily tried to cover up: "I meant President Duan and the others..."

Ji Feng let him off this time but immediately launched into another round of cold interrogation: "Also, didn’t I explicitly tell you not to mention this woman’s affairs in front of me again? Xue Rui, if you don’t want that loose tongue of yours anymore, sew it shut. If you don’t want to work here, you can leave right now."

"..." You did say not to bring her up, but every time I did, you never actually stopped me—you still listened to the whole story, didn’t you...

Xue Rui had never felt more wronged than at this moment.

Thankfully, that afternoon, the difficult, white-haired, red-faced old man finally checked out. Xu Miyu breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The next morning, the housekeeping department supervisor came to hold the daily meeting. During the session, the supervisor specifically commended the housekeeper who had served Mr. Cui the previous day."This Mr. Cui is a regular guest at our hotel. To be honest, he has always set quite high standards for service. Every time he stayed with us before, he would leave dissatisfied feedback on the questionnaire. This has been quite a headache for both me and your team leader. We’ve tried to strengthen your training, hoping to turn his dissatisfaction into satisfaction."

Ke Wenxue was sitting next to Xu Miyu. Hearing this, she muttered under her breath:

"High standards? More like impossibly high standards!"

"He doesn’t just give one person a bad rating—he practically goes out of his way to make every hotel staff member miserable and marks them all as unsatisfactory!"

"Trying to satisfy that old man? Don’t even joke about it. That old guy is just deliberately picking fights because he has nothing better to do. How could he ever be satisfied?"

Xu Miyu thought for a moment. Ke Wenxue had said so much, and if she didn’t respond at all, Ke Wenxue might feel awkward or ignored.

So she lowered her voice and replied, "That old man is probably just a bit lonely."

The lonelier someone is, the more they tend to make a fuss to draw attention.

She had been like that herself once. Unfortunately, Jiao Xiumei never fell for it. Every time she tried to act out for attention, she ended up with a sore backside.

Ke Wenxue waved her hand dismissively, disagreeing.

"Lonely? He’s way too good at causing trouble. How could he be lonely?"

Just then, the supervisor’s tone shifted. She said, "However, before checking out yesterday, Mr. Cui actually went out of his way to find the manager and praised the housekeeper who cleaned his room. He said the housekeeper was meticulous, patient, responsive to his requests, and polite. This is the first time he has ever praised one of our housekeeping staff! The manager was thrilled—we finally broke the streak of negative feedback from this regular guest. So, the manager has decided to award a bonus to this housekeeper!"

Hearing this, Ke Wenxue turned to Xu Miyu and asked, "Sister Xu, weren’t you the one who cleaned that old man’s room yesterday? Wow, you actually managed to get a good review from him—that’s amazing! You’re getting a bonus!"

The supervisor’s voice cut through hers.

The supervisor announced loudly, "I checked the room assignment sheet from yesterday’s work log. Mr. Cui’s room was assigned to Yin Xiang, right?"

Everyone’s eyes turned to Yin Xiang.

Xu Miyu also looked at Yin Xiang.

"...Yes."

Yin Xiang didn’t meet Xu Miyu’s gaze. She nodded at the supervisor in response.

Xu Miyu turned her head back and said nothing.

She felt that exposing in public that she had done the room on Yin Xiang’s behalf would embarrass Yin Xiang terribly.

She simply couldn’t bring herself to embarrass others, just as she couldn’t refuse people’s requests. Both situations made her feel deeply uncomfortable.

She would rather suffer a loss herself—it made her feel more at ease.

Beside her, Ke Wenxue whispered, "Huh? Sister Xu, wasn’t that room yours? Did I get the wrong information?"

The supervisor announced to Yin Xiang, "Yin Xiang, well done! Keep up the good work. Go to the finance department to collect your bonus after you finish your rooms today. Alright, meeting dismissed."

After announcing the reward, the supervisor hurried off.

Ke Wenxue darted over to Yin Xiang, nudged her with an elbow, and teased, "Hey, you got some cash! Not bad! Now you can buy that dress you liked over the weekend without waiting for payday!"Yin Xiang gave her a playful pat, laughing and joking with her.

As they stepped out, Yin Xiang quickly glanced back at Xu Miyu.

Xu Miyu happened to catch that look.

Yin Xiang, meeting her gaze, flinched as if scalded and swiftly averted her eyes before hurrying out of the guest services department.

Xu Miyu thought to herself that Yin Xiang really didn’t need to act this way.

She had no intention of competing for the bonuses that could buy Yin Xiang pretty dresses. She was indifferent to awards and honors, and she had no desire for performance incentives or promotions.

All she wanted now was to be a numb living dead—free from joy or sorrow, devoid of desires. As long as she could eat and survive, that was enough.

After work that day, Yin Xiang went shopping for a dress with Ke Wenxue.

They returned to the dormitory a little after nine in the evening. Xu Miyu had already gone to bed early.

She was afraid of seeing Yin Xiang again and having their eyes meet, only for the other to look away uncomfortably. To spare others any awkwardness, she simply hid away early.

But the next morning, she inevitably ran into Yin Xiang.

As soon as she opened her bed curtain, the first thing she saw was Yin Xiang’s brand-new dress hanging by her bed.

Then, as she turned her head, Xu Miyu met Yin Xiang’s gaze.

She immediately held her breath inwardly.

This time, Yin Xiang didn’t avoid eye contact. Instead, she smiled and greeted Xu Miyu.

"Good morning, Sister Xu!"

Xu Miyu quickly smiled back and returned the greeting.

She breathed a sigh of relief inside.

At least no one felt awkward anymore.

At the hotel, after changing into their uniforms, everyone went to receive their work assignments from supervisor Zhang Cailu.

Just as Zhang Cailu was distributing room assignments, the manager walked in.

Her steps were hurried, and her expression was grave.

As soon as she entered, she began scanning the room with her eyes. When she spotted Yin Xiang, she pointed at her and said, "Yin Xiang, come here. I need to ask you something."

Yin Xiang hurried over.

It was the peak hour for staff arrivals, and the hallway was bustling with people. So instead of stepping outside, they moved to a corner at the far end of the room.

Although the manager tried to keep her voice low, the walls clearly bounced her words back into the ears of everyone else in the room.

"Yin Xiang, Mr. Cui, who checked out yesterday, called today to say he lost a watch. He claims he’s looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. He confirmed that aside from the housekeeping staff, he had no contact with anyone else, so he’s convinced the attendant who cleaned his room stole the watch."

Her tone was stern as she demanded an immediate explanation from Yin Xiang.

Yin Xiang instantly grew flustered.

"Manager, it wasn’t me! I didn’t take the guest’s watch, really! Actually, I wasn’t the one who cleaned the room yesterday!"

The manager raised her eyebrows. "It wasn’t you? But didn’t you go to accounting to collect the bonus yesterday? If it wasn’t you, why would you go claim the bonus? How could you have the nerve?"

Yin Xiang was overwhelmed with embarrassment and found herself at a loss for words. In a panic, she turned to look at Xu Miyu, her eyes filled with a plea for help.

Xu Miyu thought of the dress hanging opposite her bed that morning. Instinctively, she avoided that pleading gaze and closed her ears, pretending not to see or hear what was happening.Yin Xiang hurried over to her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her in front of the supervisor. Anxiously, she pleaded, "Sister Xu, I beg you, please put in a word for me. Just tell the supervisor that I really wasn’t the one who cleaned that room yesterday, okay?" She then turned to the supervisor and said, "Boss, I know it was wrong of me to take credit for someone else’s work, but I really didn’t clean that guest’s room, and I definitely didn’t take his watch! If you don’t believe me, you can check the surveillance footage! Once you check, you’ll see that I’m telling the truth!" By this point, Yin Xiang was so distraught that she had started crying.

Upon hearing this, Xu Miyu sighed inwardly.

Indeed, checking the surveillance footage would make everything clear and confirm that she was the one who had cleaned the room.

So she spoke up, telling the supervisor, "Supervisor, it really has nothing to do with Yin Xiang. I was the one who cleaned Mr. Cui’s room yesterday."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Yin Xiang abruptly turn and stare at her.

Yin Xiang’s eyes were wide open, filled with surprise and gratitude that Xu Miyu had actually spoken up for her.

The supervisor let out a puzzled "Huh?" and asked, "What kind of act are you two putting on? If Xu Miyu was the one who cleaned the room, why did one of you take credit for it and the other stay silent when I announced the reward yesterday? What kind of game are you playing?"

Yin Xiang hung her head low, not wanting anyone to see the shame on her face.

After assigning the rooms, the team leader Zhang Cailu distributed the work orders to everyone. Then she stood up and walked over to the supervisor, trying to smooth things over. "Boss, please calm down. They’re just close friends looking out for each other. So, what should we do about this situation now?"

The supervisor fixed her gaze on Xu Miyu’s face. "Since you say it was you who cleaned Mr. Cui’s room, well, I’ll tell you Mr. Cui’s decision now." She paused before continuing gravely, "Mr. Cui said his watch had been with him for a long time, and he’s very unhappy that it was quietly taken by a staff member. However, since you did serve him very well, he has magnanimously decided not to pursue the matter of the missing watch. But he insists on withdrawing the praise he gave you and recording an 'unsatisfactory' rating on your service evaluation form."

When Xu Miyu heard the word "unsatisfactory," her heart sank.

If this were added, she would have two unsatisfactory ratings during her probation period.

Just one more, and she would be fired.

Thinking this, she felt it necessary to explain the situation properly, even though Mr. Cui had already "magnanimously" decided not to pursue the matter.

But as soon as she started to speak, the supervisor cut her off. "I have a lot of things to attend to. If you have something to say, talk to your team leader first." With that, she hurried away.

Xu Miyu turned to look at Zhang Cailu.

Zhang Cailu told Yin Xiang, "Take your work order and hurry up to clean your assigned rooms." Then she raised her voice and addressed the others in the room, "Those of you who have received your room assignments, get to work now. Standing around like that—do you think you’ve been given too few rooms? Should I check if other floors need extra help and send you there?"

Everyone else in the room quickly left, except for Ke Wenxue and Luo Qingping, who remained standing. Ke Wenxue wanted to stay and listen to the drama. Luo Qingping simply had no intention of obeying Zhang Cailu’s authority.Seeing the two of them rooted to the spot like stubborn holdouts, Zhang Cailu's voice turned firmer: "What's the matter? Are you the supervisor or am I? Is my word no longer good enough?"

Noticing that she was indeed about to lose her temper, Ke Wenxue quickly said, "I don't want to be supervisor! Whoever wants the job, you take it up with them directly, Supervisor Zhang." Having said that, she hurried away.

Luo Qingping snorted, though it was unclear whether she was scoffing at Ke Wenxue's blunt honesty or at Zhang Cailu's display of authority. After her snort, she too left.

Zhang Cailu turned to Yin Xiang, her voice softening: "Xiao Xiang, you should get back to work too."

Yin Xiang glanced at Xu Miyu as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she left without a word.

With no one else around, Zhang Cailu asked Xu Miyu, "Sister Xu, did you have something to say to me? There's no one else here now, so go ahead!"

Xu Miyu first thanked Zhang Cailu for saving her face by sending the others away.

Then she pleaded with Zhang Cailu: "Supervisor, I haven't even seen what Mr. Cui's watch looks like, let alone taken it. So could you please give me Mr. Cui's contact information? I want to speak with him directly—maybe there's been some misunderstanding."

Zhang Cailu's face showed reluctance: "That won't do. Hotel policy forbids us from disclosing guests' private information."

For a moment, Xu Miyu felt lost, pondering what to do next.

Zhang Cailu looked at her, sighed, and spoke earnestly: "Sister Xu, if you trust me, you should let this matter go. Think about it—just a couple of days ago, you were accused of stealing a diamond ring. Even though you were proven innocent, now you're immediately facing another accusation about a watch. If you don't make a fuss, you'll just get an 'unsatisfactory service' mark. But if you stir things up, everyone will know that right after someone accused you of stealing a ring, another person is accusing you of stealing a watch. They'll say, why is it always you encountering these things while others don't? It must be that flies swarm around cracked eggs—you must have some flaw for people to keep saying this. They might even start doubting whether you were truly innocent in the diamond ring incident."

Listening to Zhang Cailu's words, Xu Miyu fell into deep thought.

Yes, Zhang Cailu was right. Why did these things keep happening to her?

Zhang Cailu's words almost made her doubt herself—she began to wonder if she had actually taken the guest's belongings during some daytime sleepwalking episode.

Observing Xu Miyu's expression, Zhang Cailu finally said: "It's alright, Sister Xu. Your probation period will be over soon. If you work hard and avoid any more 'unsatisfactory' ratings, you'll successfully become a regular employee. Keep your spirits up! If you encounter any difficult situations, I'll help you!"

Xu Miyu quickly thanked Zhang Cailu.

With so many things happening over the past couple of days, she was completely exhausted both physically and mentally. She no longer had the energy to confront Old Man Cui with the same determination she had mustered against the female customer. She thought it might be better to follow Zhang Cailu's advice—accept the unsatisfactory rating, and just be more careful and work harder from now on.

With a heavy heart, Xu Miyu spent the morning cleaning dirty rooms.

These past few days felt like one continuous bad dream to her—a nightmare she couldn't wake from, forced to endure wave after wave of misfortune.It seemed as if the heavens felt she had lived too comfortably during her years as a housewife and now was the time for her to experience the hardships of society.

Unable to find any other outlet, Xu Miyu could only attribute everything that had happened over the past few days to her own sheer bad luck.

People often say that when love fails, other areas of life will flourish. But for her, love had failed, finances had failed, and now even her job was failing. Everything was going wrong all at once. What else could this be if not bad luck?

By noon, she went to the cafeteria to eat.

Just as she was finishing her meal, she noticed a shadow fall over her tray.

Someone had come to stand beside her.

She turned her head and looked up—it was Yin Xiang.

Yin Xiang’s eyes were filled with guilt and inner conflict.

Xu Miyu set down her chopsticks and asked, “Is something wrong, Xiao Xiang?”

Yin Xiang lowered her eyes and pursed her lips, then looked up as if having made a decision and said to Xu Miyu, "Mi Yu, come out with me for a moment. I have something to tell you."

Xu Miyu stood up and followed Yin Xiang out.

Yin Xiang led her to a shaded spot some distance from the hotel's staff entrance. Xu Miyu noticed many cigarette butts on the ground and realized this was likely where employees sneaked out for smoke breaks during work hours.

Once they stopped, Yin Xiang immediately apologized to Xu Miyu.

"Mi Yu, I'm sorry! I was blinded by greed—I wanted that dress so badly I lost my head and took credit for your work. Then when trouble came today, I pushed you forward to save myself..." Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

Xu Miyu observed Yin Xiang and thought, This girl is just a bit opportunistic, but at her core she's kind-hearted. She genuinely feels ashamed and remorseful for her wrongdoings.

Xu Miyu smiled comfortingly. "Xiao Xiang, let it go. Don't dwell on it anymore. I'll just consider it a streak of bad luck—once it passes, everything will be fine."

Staring at Xu Miyu's gentle smile, Yin Xiang seemed momentarily dazed before her eyes welled up completely. "Mi Yu, why are you like this? Why do you have to be so nice? How can I keep taking advantage of you when you're like this!"

Xu Miyu chuckled and patted her shoulder like an affectionate older sister soothing a sulky younger sibling.

Yin Xiang bit her lip, sniffled, then steeled herself and told Xu Miyu, "Mi Yu, I can't take this anymore—I have to be honest with you. It's not bad luck; someone is targeting you, trying to get you fired during your probation period!"

Xu Miyu froze at these words.