The journey from Xing City to Xu Miyu’s rural home was not a short one. The driver wasn’t the talkative type, and Xu Miyu remained silent as well. The prolonged quiet allowed the complex emotions in her heart to simmer and intensify.
No matter how unreasonable Jiao Xiumei had been before, no matter how much Xu Miyu had resented her for causing a scene at the hotel, hearing that her mother was critically ill had left her stunned and motionless.
She had considered cutting ties with Jiao Xiumei and putting an end to her mother’s constant demands for money. But she had never wished for Jiao Xiumei to die. After all, it was Jiao Xiumei who had given her the gift of life. At that moment, she couldn’t clearly define the emotions swirling inside her—they were so tangled and overwhelming that she felt numb.
Lost in these thoughts, she finally arrived home after night had fallen.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, she stepped inside. Before she could even finish saying, “I’m back,” she froze in place.
The entire family was there: her father, Xu Guangzong; her mother, Jiao Xiumei, who was supposedly lying critically ill in a hospital bed; her eldest sister, Xu Mizi; her second sister, Xu Minan; and the family’s only son, Xu Mibao. They were all waiting in the courtyard.
With her own arrival, the family was now complete and gathered together.
Xu Miyu’s heart sank heavily. She asked Jiao Xiumei, “What’s going on? Weren’t you supposed to be in the hospital?”
Jiao Xiumei let out a sharp laugh and signaled to her beloved son. “Go bolt the courtyard gate shut.” Then, turning to her two daughters, she ordered, “Drag this ungrateful wretch to the storage room. Today, I, as her mother, am going to have a proper talk with this miserable creature I brought into the world!”
As soon as Jiao Xiumei began speaking, Xu Miyu turned to run, but it was too late. Xu Mibao had already bolted the gate securely and stood blocking it. Her two sisters rushed over, grabbing her by the arms and dragging her into the storage room. The storage room was a small brick building constructed separately in the farmyard, typically used for storing food, vegetables, firewood, and coal—a place meant for objects, not for people.
As her sisters pulled her into the storage room, Xu Miyu’s heart turned cold with the stark realization of what was happening.
The story about her mother’s illness had been nothing but a lie. And it was a lie concocted by all of them—every single one of her so-called flesh-and-blood relatives—to lure her back home.
The storage room had no windows. It was dim, damp, and reeked of mildew and dust. Xu Miyu struggled to break free and rush out, but her sisters held her back with all their strength. Shocked, she demanded, “What are you doing? Are you planning to lock me in here? Have you all gone mad? This is illegal!”
Just then, Jiao Xiumei entered the storage room and stood blocking the doorway. She flicked a switch installed outside the door, and a dim 5-watt bulb struggled to light up the space.
In the faint glow, Xu Miyu stared in disbelief at Jiao Xiumei and her sisters. They had deceived her into returning, and now they were confining her against her will.
For a moment, she truly wondered if she had been adopted. If she were their biological daughter, why would her family treat her in such an outrageous manner? Was it simply because she was the only one in the family who refused to submit to their brainwashing?Although her elder and second sisters had always appeared strong while she seemed timid, they obediently followed their parents' every word and willingly embraced their fate as sibling supporters. In contrast, despite her timid and accommodating nature, she had always harbored a rebellious spirit that refused to accept her destiny—she resented being overlooked, she resented her parents' favoritism, and she tried every possible means to gain attention and validation, fighting relentlessly for the same opportunity to attend school as Xu Mibao.
Was this why, from childhood, her parents had disliked her so intensely? They constantly tried to brainwash her, manipulate her, and suppress her resistance, aiming to break her spirit until she became as docile as her elder and second sisters, content to live her life for her parents' family and her younger brother.
Yet the more they suppressed her, the fiercer her resistance grew, until she finally dared to break free from their control entirely. This was something they could not accept, and in their fury, they decided to go all out—luring her back home, confining her, and thoroughly "fixing" her rebellious spirit, grinding down her will to resist.
Xu Miyu's heart had grown so cold it lost all warmth.
Some children are their parents' treasures; others are merely puppets and tools brought into the world—forbidden to think, forbidden to resist, expected to obey dutifully and willingly let their younger brothers leech off them for a lifetime.
Xu Miyu tightened her grip on her handbag strap. At this moment, her resolve was firm: no matter what happened next, she would never give even a single cent to such a family again.
Xu Miyu and Xu Guangzong now entered the storage room.
Xu Miyu hadn't expected her "prestige" to be great enough to gather the entire Xu family so neatly in this shabby warehouse.
With everyone present, Jiao Xiumei summoned the elder and second sisters to her side, forming a five-against-one formation to confront Xu Miyu.
"Xu Miyu, you've really made it now, haven't you? Your wings have hardened—it takes special tactics to get you back home. How did you become such an ungrateful wretch? When I went to see you, you just stood by and let those hotel people bully your own mother. You used to be so filial and obedient—what's happened to you? Are you possessed or something?"
Xu Mibao whispered urgently beside her, "Mom, Mom, get to the point."
Jiao Xiumei responded with two quick "okays": "Mom knows, don't rush." Then she turned back to Xu Miyu and said, "I originally planned to scold you for half an hour to vent my anger, but you should thank your brother—today I'll skip the scolding and get straight to business."
Xu Miyu curled her lips in a sarcastic smile. She positioned herself as an observer, examining the Xu family dynamics. Such an obvious five-against-one setup, such blatant manipulation—being spared a scolding was supposed to make her grateful? How had she failed to see this before? How had she been trapped in these family relationships, desperately seeking attention, validation, love, and fairness?
"The last two times I went to your hotel, you teamed up with your colleagues to chase me away. That hurt me deeply, but I, Madam Jiao, am magnanimous—I'll set that aside for now. Since I can be generous with you, I hope you, as a child, will have a conscience and help share the family's burdens."
Xu Miyu thought with a cold laugh, just as expected—they lured her back for money.
"I have no money," she stated bluntly.Jiao Xiumei wouldn’t accept her response. “Don’t rush to say you have no money. Hear our family’s difficulties first, okay? If you have any conscience at all, you won’t keep lying to your own mother about having no money after listening.”
Xu Miyu thought that if the money she had been cheated out of hadn’t been recovered by the police, she truly would have no money. But her mother, in her eagerness to squeeze every drop from her, had unilaterally decided that she wasn’t allowed to be broke. How ridiculous.
“Third Daughter, this time you really have to help your brother. He got married recently—oh, right, since you kicked us out of your hotel back then, your brother, being so filial and unable to stand how you treated me, didn’t even tell you about his wedding. Just think—you didn’t even get to attend your own brother’s wedding. Don’t you feel any regret or guilt?”
Xu Miyu replied bluntly, “No regret, no guilt. If he gets another chance to marry in the future, even if he tells me, I still won’t attend.”
Xu Mibao exploded. “Who are you cursing? Who are you wishing to end up divorced like you?” He lunged forward as if to teach Xu Miyu a lesson.
Jiao Xiumei grabbed him and pulled him back. “Bao’er, Bao’er! Come back! Don’t be impulsive. Let Mom talk with your third sister. Be good!”
Xu Mibao stepped back to stand beside Jiao Xiumei.
Xu Miyu watched the mother-son duo with a cold, mocking laugh.
Surprisingly, Jiao Xiumei held her temper this time. She didn’t lose her cool and even managed to speak earnestly about the family’s hardships. “After your brother got married, he really matured and became more responsible. He realized he needed to earn money to support his family. So, he met someone, and they decided to go into business together. But starting a business requires capital—where could he find the money? Your eldest and second sisters emptied their savings to help, but it still wasn’t enough. We thought about asking you, but who wants to face your cold, heartless attitude? We have our pride and dignity, you know!”
Xu Miyu couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that.
She marveled at how Jiao Xiumei could say such things with a straight face, as if they were true.
Seeing her laugh, Jiao Xiumei almost lost her temper. But remembering that Xu Miyu responded better to softness than force, she suppressed her anger and continued gently, “In the end, with no other options, your brother had to mortgage his apartment to raise the capital. But who could’ve guessed? The so-called business partner turned out to be a swindler! He targeted your brother because he’s honest and kind-hearted—tricked him out of all his money! Now the money’s gone, the bank is about to seize his apartment, and your sister-in-law is threatening to abort the baby and divorce him. Third Daughter, no matter how much we argue or fight, we’re still family, bound by blood. You can’t just stand by and watch your brother lose his home and his wife leave him, can you? She’s carrying the Xu family’s heir! You’re a Xu too—you can’t just stand by and do nothing!”
Watching Jiao Xiumei’s masterful performance of familial affection, Xu Miyu no longer fell easily into the trap of emotional manipulation as she once had.
Both had been cheated out of money. Back when Xu Miyu was swindled, Jiao Xiumei had berated her day and night, even kicking her out of the house to earn money despite her high fever—all to pay Xu Mibao’s mortgage.
Now that it was Xu Mibao who had been cheated, this same Jiao Xiumei was going to great lengths to lure her back, determined to squeeze every last penny from her.Xu Miyu felt her heart grow utterly cold. She smiled faintly and responded to Jiao Xiumei's last remark: "I could even stop using the surname Xu. It's not that important to me."
This time, Xu Guangzong stepped forward in a rage: "You beast! Your surname was given to you by your father! What do you want to change it to? Go on, tell me! I'll break your legs!"
Jiao Xiumei held him back, then winked at her three children behind her and muttered something under her breath.
The next second, the eldest sister, second sister, and Xu Mibao worked seamlessly together, rushing to Xu Miyu's side. Xu Mizi grabbed hold of Xu Miyu, Xu Minan snatched her bag, and Xu Mibao seized her phone.
The triumphant trio retreated to Jiao Xiumei's side.
Watching everything unfold before her, Xu Miyu felt nothing but irony and absurdity.
Jiao Xiumei snatched the bag from Xu Mizi and rummaged through it frantically. After searching back and forth, she found no wallet, cash, or bank cards.
Growing flustered and exasperated, she waved the bag at Xu Miyu and demanded, "Where's your wallet? Where are your cards?"
Xu Miyu reached into her trench coat pocket and pulled out a bank card. "I don't have a wallet. As for the card, luckily I was in a hurry when I left and stuffed it in my pocket. Otherwise, it would be in your hands now." She then smiled, broke the card in two in front of Jiao Xiumei, and threw it on the ground. "Don't think that just because the card is broken, you can use my ID to get a replacement and withdraw the money. Like I said, I was in such a hurry when I left that I even forgot my ID."
She had been genuinely worried when she heard Jiao Xiumei was critically ill, only to find out it was all a scam.
Xu Miyu laughed at herself, her heart filled with desolation.
This time, the deception had truly caught her off guard, and it left her so disheartened that she resolved to cut ties with them for good.
She had always regarded them as her parents, sisters, and brother, but they had never treated her as family. To them, she was merely a convenient tool—pampered when needed and cast aside when not, ignored and neglected.
From this day forward, no matter how cold or heartless she might be toward them, she would feel not a shred of hesitation or guilt.
Jiao Xiumei watched Xu Miyu break and discard the card, her eyes reddening with fury.
She turned to Xu Mibao and asked, "Can you figure out her phone? Isn't there something like mobile transfers? Can we just transfer the money out using this thing?"
Xu Mibao pressed the phone's screen to light it up, then looked up and told Jiao Xiumei, "The phone has a password."
Jiao Xiumei turned to confront Xu Miyu: "What's the password?"
Xu Miyu smiled and said, "250250."
Xu Mibao entered it, but the phone didn't unlock.
He realized what it meant and complained to Jiao Xiumei, "Mom, Xu Miyu is insulting me! She called me an idiot twice!"
Jiao Xiumei was so angry she could barely catch her breath. She turned back to Xu Miyu and demanded, "What's the real password?"
Xu Miyu couldn't be bothered to answer.
Suddenly, Xu Mizi had an idea. She took the phone from Xu Mibao, approached Xu Miyu, and waved it in front of her face.
The phone unlocked via facial recognition.
Xu Mibao was overjoyed. "Eldest sister, you're amazing! Living in a big city really makes a difference!"
Xu Mizi smiled at him with affection.
At that moment, Xu Miyu deeply regretted ever setting up facial recognition to unlock her phone.Xu Mibao fiddled with the phone, growing increasingly frustrated before exclaiming, "Mom, she linked an empty bank card to her WeChat—we can't transfer any money!"
Suddenly, a ding-dong sound signaled an incoming WeChat message.
Xu Miyu knew it was almost certainly from Ji Feng. She rushed forward to snatch back her phone, but Xu Mizi and Xu Mibao blocked her way.
Xu Mibao tapped on the message from Ji Feng and scrolled up through their chat history. Suddenly, as if discovering a new continent, he shouted excitedly, "Mom, Mom! Look, look! This guy must be Xu Miyu's new boyfriend!"
Jiao Xiumei hurried over to look and, after confirming it, seemed to have found a lifesaver. She looked up at Xu Miyu and asked, "Third Daughter, you have a boyfriend? It looks like you two often meet at hotels. If he can go to that hotel regularly, he must be rich, right? Third Daughter, I always say you're the most promising one in our family—you always attract wealthy men! This is perfect! Now your brother can finally be saved, and my grandson too!"
She waved the phone at Xu Miyu and tried to negotiate: "Third Daughter, I'll give you back your phone. Call your boyfriend and ask him for some money to help us out—to save your brother and your own nephew, okay?"
Xu Miyu firmly refused: "Impossible. I won't ask anyone for even a cent because of any of you ever again." She would no longer let her parasitic family suck the blood from those around her.
Jiao Xiumei’s face turned cold as she threatened, "Fine. If you won’t ask your boyfriend, then I’ll contact your ex-husband. Don’t blame me if you end up humiliated." She motioned for Xu Mibao to find Nie Yucheng’s number and dial it.
Xu Miyu watched as Xu Mibao agreed but dragged his feet, and she laughed.
"You still think I’m a fool? Given your bloodsucking habits, you must have already tried Nie Yucheng. What wouldn’t you do? But I bet not only did you fail to get money from him, you got an earful from his new wife, right? If you hadn’t struck out with Nie Yucheng, you wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble to trick me into coming back."
Jiao Xiumei was caught off guard. She hadn’t expected Xu Miyu to guess so accurately. Staring at her daughter, who seemed like a completely different person now, she realized for the first time that this daughter wasn’t stupid or easily fooled—she was actually very clever.
Jiao Xiumei hardened her resolve. No matter what, she had to get the money today—for her son and her grandson.
She put on a stern face and said to Xu Miyu, "Alright, Third Daughter, you’re right. I did contact Nie Yucheng, and I didn’t get any money. But it doesn’t matter. If your ex-husband is a dead end, there’s still your new boyfriend. You won’t make the call? Fine, I’ll do it for you!"
She snatched the phone from Xu Mibao, randomly tapping the screen as she asked, "Where’s the contacts list? Here it is, right? Okay, we’ll just scroll through from the top—she must have saved her boyfriend’s name near the beginning!"
Xu Miyu began to panic. She had indeed added a symbol before Ji Feng’s name, placing him at the very top of her contacts.
If they actually called him, she thought she would die of shame and anger.
Just as her anxiety peaked, a sudden idea flashed through her mind.Thanks to the Huawei smartphone, she loudly called out to the voice assistant: "Xiao Yi, shut down!"
The smart voice assistant immediately responded and turned off the phone.
Jiao Xiumei was dumbfounded. Staring at the blackened screen, she trembled with rage.
"You good-for-nothing, I really want to sew your mouth shut!" She pointed at Xu Miyu and cursed a couple of times before handing the phone to Xu Mibao to turn it back on.
Xu Mibao pressed the power button, but the screen displayed a page requiring the SIM card unlock password.
Xu Miyu had previously learned from an online blogger that if a phone is lost and someone uses the phone number to receive verification codes, they could successfully change many passwords, causing various losses to the phone's owner. To prevent this, it's best to set a SIM card password in addition to the phone unlock password. This way, every time the phone is turned on, this password must be entered first before proceeding further. The password consists of four digits. If entered incorrectly three times, the SIM card would be permanently locked.
Xu Mibao looked at the four empty boxes on the screen and asked Xu Miyu irritably, "What's the SIM card password?"
Xu Miyu casually recited four numbers. Xu Mibao entered them. The screen vibrated, indicating the password was incorrect.
Xu Mibao looked up and asked fiercely, "Don't play tricks! What is it really?"
Xu Miyu put on a serious face and recited four more numbers.
Still incorrect. Xu Mibao grew frantic again.
He was about to rush forward and throw punches when Xu Miyu shouted him down: "Want to hit me? Go ahead then! Let's see if you can still get the real password out of me!"
Xu Mibao was pulled back by Jiao Xiumei. She began trying to coax Xu Miyu with gentle persuasion: "Third child, why must you be like this with your own family? Giving a fake password—do you know how much you're hurting your mother and your brother?"
Xu Miyu laughed in extreme anger. "You can feel hurt too? How rare. Unfortunately, my heart has long been frozen and shattered into pieces."
Xu Mibao tried to charge forward again. Jiao Xiumei held him back while shouting, "Third child, third child! Hurry up and tell us the password! I can barely hold your brother back—don't let him actually hit you!"
Xu Miyu looked at them and said, "The password is my birthday."
Jiao Xiumei and Xu Mibao both stopped at the same time and instinctively asked her, "Your birthday? When is it?"
Hearing this question, Xu Miyu could no longer hold back. She threw her head back and laughed heartily, tears of mockery welling in the corners of her eyes.
"You don't know when my birthday is?" She wiped away the tears from laughing and pointed at Xu Mibao as she asked Jiao Xiumei, "Ms. Jiao, am I really your child? Or was I picked up as a twin on the same day you gave birth to Xu Mibao?"
It was too ridiculous. Too absurd. She and Xu Mibao were fraternal twins. Xu Mibao's birthday was engraved in their family's memory, yet hers had to be asked with bewildered looks—"When is it?"
How utterly neglected must she be by this family for such a farcical joke to happen?
Jiao Xiumei slapped her forehead beside them, trying to laugh it off. "How could I be so confused? Of course, your birthday is the same day as your brother's!"
She told Xu Mibao to enter his own birthday.
This time, not only did the phone vibrate and show the password was wrong, but a pop-up also appeared stating that the SIM card had been permanently locked and needed to be unlocked at the service counter with an ID card.
Jiao Xiumei looked up and asked Xu Miyu, "What? What's going on?!"Xu Miyu put on an expression of sudden realization and said, "Oh, I forgot to mention—you need to enter the date first, then the month."
This time, not only Xu Mibao but even Jiao Xiumei couldn't hold back. She flew into a rage and demanded, "Xu Miyu, are you doing this on purpose? Are you deliberately messing with your mom, huh?"
Xu Mibao chimed in fiercely, "Mom, don't worry. Even if her card gets locked, we can just use mine. We can still make calls!"
Jiao Xiumei immediately calmed down and praised her son's cleverness: "Thank goodness you're quick-witted, son. Otherwise, I would've really fallen for her trick."
Xu Miyu watched coldly as they fumbled to change the SIM card.
Xu Mizi and Xu Mibao seized the opportunity to persuade Xu Miyu not to oppose their mother and younger brother, emphasizing that they were family after all. Xu Guangzong alternated between urging her to be obedient and scolding her for being unreasonable.
Finally, the SIM card was replaced, and Xu Mibao pressed the power button again.
Yet the screen still displayed an interface requiring a startup password.
Xu Mibao looked up and asked Xu Miyu, "How many damn passwords have you set on this phone?!"
Xu Miyu replied with a smile, "I actually regret not setting app passwords earlier because I found it troublesome. If I had, you wouldn't even have been able to open my WeChat just now."
Xu Mibao turned to Xu Mizi and asked, "Eldest sister, can this password be bypassed with facial recognition?"
Xu Mizi shook her head. "After a restart, it has to be entered manually."
Xu Mibao had no choice but to ask Xu Miyu for the startup password.
Xu Miyu smiled and said, "Why don't you try guessing them one by one?"
Afraid that multiple incorrect attempts would lock the phone again, as had happened earlier, Xu Mibao hesitated to try randomly.
Xu Mizi chimed in, "Third sister, why are you being like this? Is it necessary to make things so tense and awkward among family? You used to be so helpful, always eager to assist with everything at home. How did you suddenly become so cold-hearted?"
Xu Miyu turned to look at her and asked with a smile, "Oh? So I'm the cold-hearted one? But after all the help I’ve given you, none of you have ever shown gratitude or been satisfied. Who is really the cold-hearted one here?"
Seeing the eldest sister being rebutted, Xu Mibao couldn’t help speaking up: "Third sister, watch your tone! Weren’t you able to find a boyfriend thanks to Eldest Sister helping you get a job? The fresh start you had after your divorce was given to you by her—you should be grateful!"
Xu Miyu turned to Xu Mibao with a smile. "Wasn’t it me who helped her and her husband secure their jobs? Have they ever shown gratitude for that? And later, to keep their jobs, they deceived their own sister into making stewed meat for my ex-husband and his mistress. Is that the kind of 'fresh start' she gave me—filled with deceit and humiliation?"
Her smile grew colder as she looked at the five people opposite her and declared, word by word, "Don’t any of you ever tell me again that we’re family. You have no right to say that. Look at yourselves—have any of you ever treated me as family? You’ve only ever seen me as your personal ATM."
Xu Guangzong erupted, "Little Surplus, don’t you dare act so lawlessly! Your mother and I raised you all these years—you ought to know how to repay the family. Everything you did before was your duty—stop thinking you deserve credit for it. Now that your younger brother is in trouble, as his elder sister, it’s your responsibility to help him!"Xu Miyu looked at Xu Guangzong, staring at this man who had always exerted full paternal authority over her, and sneered as she asked, "What kind of brother is Xu Mibao? He was born a few minutes earlier than me. At his age, living such a pathetic life, instead of feeling ashamed, he shamelessly leeches off his sisters—it’s downright disgraceful." After a pause, she sighed and said to Xu Guangzong, "You always put on this fatherly act, but have you ever done what a father should? Have you ever given me a father’s love? If I hadn’t fought tooth and nail to insist, I would have been married off by you for a bride price before I could even attend university. You’re utterly unfit to be a father, yet you insist on flaunting your paternal authority—it’s laughable."
Xu Guangzong was absolutely furious at Xu Miyu’s words.
All five people opposite her were flushed with anger, gnashing their teeth in rage.
"You’ve lost your mind!" Jiao Xiumei pronounced judgment on Xu Miyu on behalf of the other four.
Xu Miyu laughed again. "Then I should have gone mad sooner. It’s because I went mad too late that I’ve been dragged down by all of you, living this wretched life even at thirty."
Xu Mibao shoved Xu Miyu’s phone into Jiao Xiumei’s hands and charged forward to hit Xu Miyu.
Xu Miyu picked up a thick wooden stick she had already spotted on the ground and swung it hard at Xu Mibao, striking him on the arm he had raised to hit her. Xu Mibao cried out in pain, yelling, "Mom! Mom!" Jiao Xiumei rushed over in distress, saying, "Let me see!" then turned and cursed at Xu Miyu, "You wretched creature, how dare you hit your own brother!"
Xu Miyu’s face was fierce, a look of someone ready to fight to the death.
"Xu Mibao, you useless waste, still want to hit me? Come on then!" Gripping the thick stick, she glared at the people in front of her and declared fiercely, "Since you want to push me to the brink, then let’s all go down together!"
Her ferocious, life-risking stance, brandishing the stick, instantly intimidated everyone else.
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