The Epoch of Miyu

Both Ji Feng and Xue Rui believed it wouldn’t be long before Xu Miyu buckled under the pressure and went home.

There was simply no other possible outcome.

But after some time had passed, Xue Rui felt Xu Miyu had reached her breaking point. While collecting a meal, he took the opportunity to ask Li Kunlun about the executive level. “Has there been any recent personnel changes on the executive level?” he inquired.

He assumed Li Kunlun would understand his implication without further explanation. Instead, Li Kunlun looked utterly confused. “Huh? What kind of personnel changes are you referring to?”

Xue Rui was momentarily taken aback—had Xu Miyu not been replaced?

“Has the executive level gotten a new team leader?” Xue Rui pressed.

Li Kunlun processed the question and let out a chuckle. “Ah, are you asking whether Xu Miyu, the team leader on the executive level, has been replaced?”

Xue Rui nodded eagerly.

“No, not at all. She’s doing really well now,” Li Kunlun replied.

Xue Rui was genuinely stunned.

She hadn’t been replaced?

And she was doing well?

So, she had actually endured it? She had persevered through the humiliation and ridicule, holding on despite everyone’s exclusion and mockery?

Just as Xue Rui was reeling from this revelation, Li Kunlun added another shock: “Everyone on the executive level is getting along harmoniously now. They all listen to Sister Xu.”

This time, Xue Rui wasn’t just stunned—he was completely thrown off balance.

He quickly grabbed Li Kunlun and urged him to explain what had happened between Xu Miyu and the others on the executive level during this time.

Xue Rui listened to Li Kunlun’s account for so long that he eventually had to call the Food and Beverage Department personally. He informed the supervisor that he needed Li Kunlun’s assistance with something, effectively securing him a “gossip-sharing leave.”

Then, he took Li Kunlun to the Ji Feng Room in the executive lounge, where they talked for quite a while.

By the time Xue Rui returned to the penthouse suite and saw Ji Feng’s dark expression, his heart sank.

He had remembered to get leave for Li Kunlun but had forgotten to inform Ji Feng about his own absence.

After setting out the meal, he had gone straight down to the executive lounge, leaving his phone on the living room coffee table. Ji Feng had long finished eating, and with no response to his calls and the phone ringing unanswered in the suite, he was furious at his assistant’s unexplained disappearance.

The moment Xue Rui appeared, Ji Feng’s icy glare nearly pierced through him.

“Explain yourself. Where have you been all this time? If your reason is valid, you might keep your job. Otherwise, I’ll give you the afternoon to start sending out resumes.”

Xue Rui hurriedly replied, “Boss, I was gathering internal hotel information. Isn’t that part of my job? You’ve always told me to pay close attention to everything happening in the hotel, to dig up any information I can—insider secrets, gossip, anything that reveals internal issues.”

He delivered this explanation with an air of importance.

Ji Feng frowned and asked sarcastically, “Then tell me, what useful information did you gather this time?”

Xue Rui answered, “It’s about the executive level.”

Ji Feng raised an eyebrow. “Did that woman finally crack and leave?”

Xue Rui’s eyes lit up. “No! On the contrary, she not only endured it—she won them over!”Ji Feng didn't speak, but raised the corners of his eyes and eyebrows high.

Surprise was clearly written across his features.

Xue Rui rarely saw Ji Feng display such great astonishment and emotional shifts, and couldn't resist the urge to tease his boss.

"Boss, would you like to know what's been happening lately? How Xu Miyu managed to bounce back from rock bottom?"

Ji Feng shot him another icy glare that nearly struck Xue Rui dead on the spot.

"Have I been giving you too much freedom lately? Do I look like someone who'd be curious about that woman's affairs?"

Xue Rui immediately softened his stance, not daring to test his luck by teasing his boss any further.

"Speak."

After a pause, Ji Feng uttered a single word coldly.

Xue Rui couldn't help but cheer internally.

No matter how much this cold, domineering CEO pretended not to care about the process, he had ultimately lost his composure.

Xue Rui first brewed a cup of tea for Ji Feng, making sure his boss was comfortable before beginning to talk about the woman he disliked.

"Previously, this Xu Miyu would lose all sense of direction whenever someone praised or affirmed her. She'd start working blindly for others without principles. The executive level crowd took advantage of this trait to make her do their work while laughing at her behind her back," Xue Rui said.

Ji Feng took a sip of tea, pursing his lips without speaking.

But internally he thought: Yes, she's just a pushover, a fool, spineless and without self-respect.

"But actually, everyone underestimated her!"

Xue Rui delivered the twist with some excitement. Ji Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.

"She's actually not a pushover or a fool! On the contrary, she knows exactly what she's doing! While doing others' work, she quickly and comprehensively grasped the overall situation of the executive level housekeeping department, the skills required for each position, and even the key points and techniques for coordinating with other departments!"

Ji Feng's hand holding the teacup paused.

Though reluctant to admit it, this twist was indeed somewhat surprising.

"And that's not all!" Xue Rui continued, "Through her method of playing dumb while being clever, Xu Miyu not only endured humiliation to understand each job position's situation, but also took advantage of everyone letting their guard down while mocking her to discover what mistakes each person was prone to make in their respective positions! This way, she quickly identified everyone's weaknesses."

Ji Feng held his teacup for a long while, forgetting to drink.

"And then? Did she use these weaknesses to threaten those people?" Ji Feng asked.

Xue Rui's eyes lit up again as he replied: "I initially thought the same as you. But Li Kunlun said that Xu Miyu's final move was brilliant - after identifying others' mistakes, instead of punishing them, she had heart-to-heart conversations with everyone! This made people feel both ashamed and remorseful, yet also touched and comforted, so they all ended up respecting and obeying her!"

Xue Rui relayed to Ji Feng everything Li Kunlun had told him."Among the executive level housekeeping staff, there's one named Luo Qingping who has always wanted to become a supervisor. She always believed she would be the next supervisor. But then you appointed Xu Miyu as the supervisor directly, and Luo felt her position was stolen by Xu Miyu. Since then, she has held a strong grudge against Xu Miyu, openly and without hiding it, and has been rallying everyone to oppose Xu Miyu. The attitude of the other housekeeping staff toward Xu Miyu has largely been shaped by this Luo Qingping.

"While Xu Miyu appeared to be playing the fool who loves praise and doing others' work, she was actually figuring out Luo Qingping's character. Luo is quite selfish—she only sweeps the snow in front of her own door and never does any extra work. Sometimes she even slacks off on tasks she's supposed to do. When Luo tricked Xu Miyu into doing her work, Xu Miyu noticed that Luo only cleaned the visible areas thoroughly, while neglecting the unseen spots—corners, inner walls, behind the TV, inside the wardrobe, and so on. Luo generally wouldn't clean these places. Later, when Xu Miyu had gathered enough evidence and confronted her, she inspected the rooms Luo had cleaned in her capacity as supervisor. The results of such hygiene checks are usually recorded in each staff member's performance evaluation, which ties into their bonuses. When Xu Miyu checked Luo's rooms, she wore white gloves and wiped those neglected areas—immediately, the gloves turned black. These unsanitary blind spots, accumulating over time, could directly drag Luo's evaluation down to a failing grade! But in the end, Xu Miyu didn't actually record this result in the evaluation. She just wanted Luo to know that she had caught her mistakes.

"Then there's one named Yin Xiang, who initially seemed to have a good relationship with Xu Miyu. She even helped Xu Miyu come up with ideas to avoid being framed and driven out by the former supervisor. But when Xu Miyu suddenly became the new supervisor, Yin Xiang felt betrayed. Encouraged by Luo Qingping, she turned against Xu Miyu.

"Xu Miyu figured out this Yin Xiang—she has a preference for cleaning the rooms of wealthy guests. Sometimes after cleaning a rich person's room, Yin Xiang would tell everyone what luxury items the guest had, how expensive those things were, and estimate how wealthy the person must be. Later, when Xu Miyu was tricked by Yin Xiang into taking over her room cleaning, she noticed that the expensive items Yin Xiang mentioned weren't visible out in the open. She suspected that Yin Xiang might be secretly going through the guests' belongings when they weren't around. The next time Yin Xiang cleaned a room herself, Xu Miyu watched from the shadows and confirmed that Yin Xiang indeed couldn't resist the temptation—she would privately rummage through guests' things, even trying on their rings and bracelets when she saw them. After catching Yin Xiang in this wrongdoing, Xu Miyu similarly didn't report it but sternly advised her to correct this habit.

"And then there's Ke Wenxue, who gets along well with Li Kunlun, the one who often delivers meals to us. But they say she's a bit indecisive, like a fence-sitter, easily swayed by whatever everyone else says. Since everyone dislikes Xu Miyu, she also thinks Xu Miyu is detestable and has been hostile toward her. Oh, and she has another trait—she's very gossipy and loves to chat about rumors."

When he reached this point, Ji Feng let out a scoff and interjected with a comment: "Sounds just like you."Xue Rui choked for a moment before scrambling to justify himself: "Boss, the reason I'm always out gathering hotel gossip is because you told me to! You said I should dig up everything happening in this hotel—big or small, overt or covert, even what's crawling in the insect holes. I'm just dutifully gossiping under official orders!"

Ji Feng shot him a glance. "I said fewer than ten words, and you produced an entire essay in defense. If you're not gossipy, then no one is."

Xue Rui forcefully suppressed the urge to continue arguing with Ji Feng.

He told himself to let it go—competing with Ji Feng was a sure way to hurt his wallet. Though Ji Feng had a difficult temperament, a boss as generous as him was nearly impossible to find.

He returned to the earlier topic and continued.

"Xu Miyu figured out that Ke Wenxue loved gossiping and carefully calculated the time, discovering that if she handled the coordination with the Food and Beverage Department herself, it would take half an hour to an hour less than when Ke Wenxue did it. So the next time Ke Wenxue went to the F&B Department for coordination work, Xu Miyu quietly followed and confirmed on the spot that the extra half hour or even full hour was spent by Ke Wenxue gossiping with the F&B staff. Xu Miyu caught Ke Wenxue frequently wasting work hours on gossip, but again, she only kept this fault to herself and didn’t report it or record it in the employee evaluations.

"As for the others—Xiao Li, Xiao Zhao, Xiao Geng, Xiao Du, and so on—it wasn’t as if they had any deep-seated hatred for Xu Miyu. In the end, they were just following the crowd, disliking her because everyone else did.

"Then Xu Miyu gradually discovered that Xiao Li had a habit of taking small advantages. She often kept minor items left behind by guests during check-out—like alcohol, fruit, leftover cosmetics, or barely used new notebooks—without reporting them. Sometimes guests would come back looking for these items, and she would claim she hadn’t seen them. Since these were small, inexpensive things, guests usually didn’t press the issue. But Xu Miyu caught onto Xiao Li’s habit and held it over her.

"Then there was Xiao Zhao, who was rather careless. When coordinating with the Concierge to assist guests, she often made mistakes. Once, she mixed up the luggage of two important guests, nearly causing them to miss their flights. Xu Miyu kept this blunder to herself, not only refraining from recording it in the evaluations but even shielding Xiao Zhao from the guests’ displeasure."

"And there’s more…"

Xu Miyu held onto everyone’s mistakes and slip-ups but recorded none of them in the employee evaluations.

She didn’t seize the opportunity to lash out or seek revenge.

Instead, she spoke with everyone sincerely and heart-to-heart.

The day before their talk, she specifically bought some beef and, enduring the nagging of her sister-in-law, borrowed their kitchen to stew a large pot of meat.

The stewed meat turned out so fragrant that it tempted her sister-in-law, who insisted on taking a portion for herself.

Xu Miyu divided the remaining stewed meat into small portions and brought them back to the dormitory.

The next morning, after everyone had finished their tasks, she invited them all to gather in the Housekeeping Department to sit down and chat.She first distributed the marinated meat to everyone, saying, "This is the only skill I can proudly share. Please taste it and let me know if you like it. If you do, I’ll make it for you again in the future."

Then she began to open up and share her story with everyone.

She explained the truth behind the family matters they had once treated as jokes. For the first time, she bravely laid bare her wounded heart for all to see. She told them what she had endured in her marriage—her husband’s affair with her friend, and her decision to divorce. Having been a housewife all along, she had no income after the divorce. To support herself, she had no choice but to work hard.

Contrary to holding onto her unfaithful ex-husband and refusing to divorce, she had actually insisted on ending the marriage despite opposition and criticism from everyone around her.

Those around her blamed her, saying her husband had always treated her well—earning money to support her and giving her spending money. They argued that just one affair shouldn’t justify such a stubborn insistence on divorce, calling her willful. They warned that, as a divorced woman, she would be "devalued," never finding another man like her ex-husband, and would end up marrying some man over fifty.

Yet, despite this pressure, she held her ground and went through with the divorce. Afterward, to make ends meet, she started working. She cherished this job that allowed her to be self-reliant, and no matter how difficult it was, she was determined to persevere and do it well.

She also shared how, after the divorce, her ex-husband had brought the other woman to stay at the hotel. She described the humiliation she felt while cleaning their room.

It was from that moment that she began to reflect on her life. She realized she shouldn’t continue drifting aimlessly—she needed to pull herself together, live well, and become even better than before, so that her ex-husband and that woman could never humiliate her again.

Looking at everyone sincerely and emotionally, she said to them, "I don’t think I did anything wrong. I don’t feel ashamed that I had to start working after my divorce. The patriarchal family environment I grew up in wasn’t something I could control, and I’ve been doing my best to fight against these negative influences. So, do I deserve to be mocked for these things? If someone falls and scrapes their knee, would you think they deserved it and laugh at them? No, we’d all think it must hurt, feel sympathy, and call an ambulance for them. I know everyone here has been quietly feeding the stray cats behind the hotel. I know you’re all kind people."

Her words left all the girls present in silence.

As they listened, they began to recall why they had disliked this woman in the first place. They started to reflect on their own irrational, emotional aversion, questioning whether such unwarranted malice was justified.

"Women are inherently disadvantaged in this society. Why should we mock each other? Why let those awful men point at us and say, 'See, this is how women are—petty and always fighting among themselves'? But in truth, those who stand by and enjoy the spectacle with their gender-based prejudice are the worse ones. From now on, let’s not laugh at each other’s misfortunes. Instead, let’s laugh at those who stand by waiting to gloat. Wouldn’t that be much more satisfying?""In the future, I may have many shortcomings in my work, but I will do my best to become everyone's support and shoulder as many responsibilities as possible for you. As for personal matters, if you're curious about anything regarding me, feel free to ask directly—I will be honest with you. Alright, it's about time now. Everyone, hurry and go have lunch!"

She was afraid that if she didn't leave first, no one else would move. So she stepped out ahead of the others.

But in the housekeeping department, everyone remained still and silent for a long while.

After a moment, someone let out a soft sigh. It was as if a spell had been broken—the girls finally began to stir.

They headed to the cafeteria together for lunch.

After getting their meals and sitting down, they opened the braised beef that Xu Miyu had shared with them and took a bite.

They were instantly stunned by the flavor of the meat—it was so delicious they felt as if they might swallow their own tongues.

Excitedly, they started discussing among themselves: "Oh my, this meat is incredible! This skill is on par with our hotel's Chef Chen!"

"No! I think this stewed meat is even a bit better than Chef Chen's—the flavor is so delicate and layered. Goodness, it's so good it almost brings tears to my eyes!"

They chatted animatedly about their impressions after tasting the stewed meat.

As the conversation continued, one person reflected: "Actually, Xu Miyu is really kind. She overheard me gossiping about her and mocking her behind her back before, and she also knew about mistakes I made at work. But she didn't retaliate. Instead, when I caught a cold a couple of days ago, she even covered my cleaning duties. Now I feel like I've been a bit too harsh on her!" She took another bite of the braised beef and sincerely examined her own behavior.

"Your words make me feel a bit guilty too," another girl chimed in. "I've also caused her trouble more than once, and she knew about it. Later, one day, it was my turn to count the linens with the laundry collector. I don't know what went wrong that day, but I miscounted a few sets of bed sheets and couldn't get the numbers to match. I was afraid I'd be fined, so I stubbornly refused to admit it and even argued with the laundry collector. The collector threatened to report it to my supervisor. I was really panicking inside, but Xu Miyu stepped in, apologized to the collector on my behalf, and took responsibility for the issue. At the time, I didn't even thank her. Do you think she must have felt really hurt? I show warmth and care to the stray cats in the backyard, but I've shown no kindness to her. I must have hurt her, right?"

Another person, holding a piece of braised beef with her chopsticks, stared at it and began to blame herself as well: "And me—I accidentally broke a guest's item while cleaning one day because my hands slipped. The guest threatened to complain and demanded I pay double compensation. I was so worried—afraid of both the fine and the potential performance deduction if I got a complaint. But later, I realized no complaint was filed. I thought the guest was just bluffing to scare me. It wasn't until a few days later that I found out the guest had already complained to Xu Miyu. She apologized profusely and negotiated with the guest for a long time before they let me off. She never mentioned it to me directly, and at the time, I hardened my heart and pretended not to know. Because I thought, since everyone dislikes her, I didn't need to thank her either. Now, looking back, I was truly awful. How could I so shamelessly accept her help while mercilessly mocking her?"Ke Wenxue and Yin Xiang couldn't hold back either, each sighing with remorse as they reflected on how terribly they had treated Xu Miyu recently. They acknowledged that Xu Miyu was fully aware of their major work mistakes, yet she never seized the opportunity to retaliate against them. Instead, she had consistently stepped up as a responsible team leader, shielding them whenever trouble arose.

Ke Wenxue lamented self-reproachfully, "What's been wrong with me lately? Have I been possessed? Did I bully her just because she seemed meek and easy to push around? I realize now how awful I've been!"

Yin Xiang added, "Looking back, I feel like I haven't been acting like a decent person either!"

Their sentiments were echoed by a chorus of remorseful voices from others.

"Exactly, we never had any real grudge against her, yet she's always protected us and shown us utmost tolerance. Compared to her, we really haven't been behaving like proper human beings..."

"Thinking about it now, deliberately excluding her like that was truly inhuman behavior!"

"From now on, I'll handle my own tasks and stop taking advantage of good-hearted people!"

"Yes, me too!"

...

The girls started this lunch cheerfully but ended it with heavy hearts and guilt.

The next day, the girls discovered that the high-level mistress who had stolen Xu Miyu's ex-husband had returned to stay at the executive level of the hotel. The woman's belly was visibly swollen—clearly, she had come specifically to flaunt the scumbag's child.

Unlike before, none of the girls deliberately avoided the situation to force Xu Miyu to clean that room herself.

That day, all the girls rushed to take care of that room. They didn't want Xu Miyu to suffer the high-level mistress's arrogance again.

But the high-level mistress was truly difficult. No matter who went, she would chase them out of the room, insisting: "I want your supervisor to clean my room personally! Otherwise, I'll complain to your hotel about neglecting a pregnant woman!"

Her attitude was so irritating that someone couldn't resist pushing her.

That made it worse. The high-level mistress acted as if she had caught a fatal flaw, shouting: "Make your supervisor come apologize to me in person! Otherwise, with you laying hands on a pregnant woman, I'll make sure you never work here again!"

In the end, Xu Miyu rushed over upon hearing the news and humbly bowed her head to apologize to the woman.

The girls knew that Xu Miyu had never bowed to the mistress for her own sake. But to protect them, she had lowered her head.

"Boss, look—in the executive level housekeeping department now, the subordinates are protecting their supervisor, not wanting her to suffer bullying; the supervisor, in turn, is desperately shielding her subordinates, enduring any humiliation and bearing any grievance to keep them from losing their jobs. With superiors and subordinates protecting each other like this, how could they not be united? They've become tightly knit together!"

After recounting the whole story, Xue Rui sighed deeply from the heart.

"This Xu Miyu, she seems soft and weak, but who knew she'd be so resourceful and resilient! She even understands the tactic of balancing kindness and authority—holding others' mistakes to make them fear her, yet not acting on it, instead showing favor, instantly making everyone feel both guilty and moved. With this whole set of actions, she's firmly won everyone's hearts! This Sister Xu, I really underestimated her. She's truly full of surprises!"After his sigh, he glanced at Ji Feng."

He saw Ji Feng sitting on the sofa, holding a teacup motionless in one hand, his gaze lowered and fixed on the tea leaves in the cup, not blinking. Though not a still image, he maintained the effect of one.

His entire demeanor made Xue Rui suspect that he had fallen into a state best described as "stunned stiff."

So what part of the information had stunned him?

As Ji Feng listened to Xue Rui's account, he had been stunned ever since hearing that Xu Miyu was already divorced.

So she was actually divorced... and had insisted on it despite her family's opposition.

The foundation of his previous disgust toward her was, it turned out, unfounded.

She didn't need others to pity her misfortune or resent her lack of resistance—she had self-respect and self-love.

Suddenly, he remembered that time in the executive lounge, when they passed each other, and he had said to her: "Have you no self-respect? Do you have to live so cheaply?"

Ji Feng's hand twitched, and the tea in his cup splashed out, scalding his hand.He flung the teacup onto the coffee table and pulled out a few tissues to wipe his hands.

Then, with visible irritation, he tugged his tie loose from side to side and unfastened the top button of his shirt.

So damn annoying.

Why did her eyes, brimming with hurt, keep flashing before him again?