In the standoff, Xu Mizi pulled Jiao Xiumei aside and whispered: "Mom, don't push too hard. If you really drive Third Sister into a corner, she's capable of anything right now—she might even risk her life."
Jiao Xiumei gritted her teeth, forcefully suppressing her anger before putting on a conciliatory manner: "Third Child, believe me, this is the last time I'll ask you for money, alright? Consider this your mother begging you—you can't just watch your brother become homeless or let your sister-in-law abort the only heir to our Xu family! Be good, unlock your phone and call your boyfriend. Just ask him for money this once, okay?"
Xu Miyu thought for a moment and said: "Fine, then give me the phone."
Jiao Xiumei handed the phone back to her.
The moment Xu Miyu received the phone, she immediately smashed it violently against the ground. Afraid it wasn't broken thoroughly enough, she stomped on it several times with all her strength.
She lifted her head and looked at Jiao Xiumei: "There. Now you can completely abandon any hope of me asking my boyfriend for money."
After speaking, she tried to break through the five-person formation to leave. But the wooden stick in her hand was wrested away by several people working together, and Jiao Xiumei shoved her back, finally revealing her ruthless side.
"Xu Miyu, you think you can defy me? I'm your mother! I refuse to believe I can't control you! Let me make this clear—if you don't make that call today and get that money, you won't be leaving this storage room door!"
She told the others: "Just lock her in here. Let her go hungry for two days—we'll see if she stays obedient then, and whether she still dares to act up against her own parents!"
She led the others out of the storage room and told Xu Mibao to fetch the largest padlock from the house to securely lock the door.
Xu Miyu tried to rush out while they were distracted, but the group joined forces to push her back again. Stumbling backward, she fell sitting onto the brick floor, thinking ironically how this family of selfish people could unite so effectively just to deal with her.
Xu Mibao had already brought the padlock. Jiao Xiumei locked it from the outside while instructing him: "Didn't I tell you to get the largest padlock? This one isn't sturdy enough—if she goes crazy she might break it open. Go bring the biggest padlock from the outer room too."
Xu Mibao ran off.
Sitting on the floor of the dim storage room, Xu Miyu shouted toward the door: "What you're doing is illegal! This is unlawful imprisonment!"
Jiao Xiumei snorted from outside: "Ridiculous! A mother disciplining her own disobedient daughter—what law is that breaking? Little Excess, you'll reflect on your behavior in there tonight. When you've come to your senses and are willing to help your brother, that's when you can call me to unlock the door."
Xu Mibao returned with the large padlock and handed it to Jiao Xiumei to secure.
He said outside the storage room: "Mom, the light's still on inside. Should we leave it on all night?"
The eldest sister commented: "Maybe just leave it on. There are no windows inside—when the door closes there's no light at all. It'd be terrifying to turn off the light and be left in complete darkness."
But Jiao Xiumei sided with her son: "What do you mean leave it on? Wouldn't that waste electricity all night? If she were obedient I might let her have it, but now that she's being such an unfilial child—no light! Bao, go pull the storage room's circuit breaker."
Xu Miyu's surroundings immediately plunged into utter darkness.
The darkness brought a chilling sensation. After the night's struggles, she now felt both hungry and cold.
Outside the door, Xu Minan asked Jiao Xiumei: "Mom, who's going to bring Third Sister food tomorrow morning?"
Xu Mibao said fiercely: "If she refuses to help me, she doesn't get to eat!"The son had spoken, and Jiao Xiumei unconditionally obeyed him. She immediately said, "Right! We'll bring her food only when she agrees to call her boyfriend for money!"
Xu Miyu overheard her eldest and second sisters' words from outside the door.
Were they pleading for her just now?
She suddenly shouted loudly toward the door, "Eldest sister, second sister, are you really willing to be sibling supporters for your whole lives? You've been taught since childhood to take care of Xu's only son, so you target me too. But I don't blame you. I just hope you can wake up early like I did. You should live for yourselves, not for some damn 'Xu's only son'!"
Xu Mibao kicked the door from outside: "Xu Duoyu, if you keep spouting nonsense, I'll come in and tear your mouth shut, believe it or not? Eldest sister, second sister, don't listen to Xu Duoyu's attempts to drive us apart. Let's go back to our rooms and sleep."
Jiao Xiumei also said, "This child—we shouldn't have hesitated when she was born. We really should have abandoned her. Not only did we get fined for raising an extra child, but she doesn't even know gratitude. Such an ungrateful wretch! Eldest, second, don't listen to her nonsense. Since ancient times, boys have been precious. You should take care of your brother." After a pause, she asked, "Hey? Where's Little Duoyu's bag from earlier? Give it to me. It'll match my sunglasses perfectly."
Their voices gradually faded as everyone moved to the main house to rest.
Xu Miyu felt her heart turn colder than the pitch-black night.
They locked her in the storage room, turned off the light, provided no bedding, and didn't care how she would spend the night, yet outside, they were seizing her bag.
Xu Miyu found it all utterly ironic. The sunglasses Jiao Xiumei mentioned were also secretly taken from her home before.
Even locked in the storage room, Jiao Xiumei was still thinking about how to plunder her. Xu Miyu felt a bone-deep sorrow for herself.
**
After adapting to the darkness, Xu Miyu tried to break out of the storage room.
But after much effort, she realized she truly couldn't escape. The door was tightly locked, and both the door and its frame were incredibly sturdy. No matter how she shook, pushed, kicked, or rammed it, the door remained unmoved. She wanted to scream for help, but the neighbors were too far away and might not hear. Even if they did, they wouldn't interfere with the Xu family's affairs, as the Xus were notoriously difficult to deal with, and no one wanted to get involved.
After struggling for a while, she made no progress in escaping. Xu Miyu was tired, cold, and hungry.
By the faint moonlight seeping through the door crack, she found a relatively clean spot, sat down leaning against the wall, hugged herself, and closed her eyes.
She didn't know how much time had passed when she woke up again. The light coming through the door crack had turned pale blue.
It seemed dawn was breaking outside, though she didn't know the exact time. It was quiet outside, so it must still be early, not yet time to get up.
Staring at the sliver of light from outside, she suddenly understood that stubbornly confronting her so-called "family" in the main house might not be the wisest approach. She was the only one suffering, and she couldn't escape.
She thought she should find a way to make them believe she had compromised, then seize the chance to escape when they let their guard down.
The first thing she would do after escaping was call the police. She would definitely report them for illegal confinement. Toward her "family," she now felt nothing but overwhelming anger.Having made this calculation, she planned to call someone over to open the door once the people in the main house woke up and came out into the yard, pretending to compromise.
As she waited, leaning against the wall, she didn’t know whether she had fainted or fallen asleep, but she gradually sank back into a dazed state.
After an unknown amount of time, she was jolted awake by a loud noise outside the door.
Struggling to open her eyes through the haze, she suddenly saw the storeroom door being violently smashed open from the outside.
The lock was thrown aside, and the door was pulled open. Through the opening, the bright daylight poured in. Someone stood silhouetted against the light at the doorway, like a god descending from the heavens.
Xu Miyu’s eyes stung from the brightness.
Resisting the discomfort, she forced her eyes open and finally recognized the person standing at the door—it was Ji Feng.
She looked up at him, surprised and stunned, and asked him foolishly, “How is it you? Why are you here? How did you know this place?”
Ji Feng stepped inside, carefully helped her up from the corner, and reached around to brush the dust off her trench coat.
Xu Miyu’s heart fluttered. Even in such an embarrassing moment, he was still trying to help her regain her cleanliness and dignity.
“You’ve been unreachable since last night, your phone turned off. At first, I thought you were too busy caring for someone at the hospital and your phone had died with no time to charge it. But by dawn this morning, your phone was still off, and I felt something was wrong, so I rushed over to check on you. As for how I found this place—did you forget? You set me as your emergency contact. Your travel route and destination were sent to my phone. Although the address wasn’t specific down to the house number, your family is so… distinctive, it was easy to ask around and find the exact location.” Ji Feng explained to Xu Miyu. Suddenly, his tone turned cold. “Your family truly lives up to expectations, pulling off something as absurd as illegal confinement!”
He helped Xu Miyu out of the storeroom.
Outside, she saw Ji Feng’s driver and bodyguard blocking Jiao Xiumei and the others.
Earlier, Ji Feng hadn’t given them a second glance. He had charged into the yard, barged into the main house to search room by room, and when he didn’t find her there, he returned to the yard, found an axe, and smashed open the storeroom door.
Such a sturdy door, yet he had broken it open in just a few strikes. The savage marks left on the door left Xu Miyu stunned. A soft warmth spread through her heart. He must have been deeply worried and anxious about her to exert such force while breaking down the door.
When Ji Feng helped Xu Miyu out of the storeroom, his face was finally clearly visible.
Jiao Xiumei immediately recognized him—Xu Miyu’s new boyfriend was actually the important figure from the hotel where she worked, the same ruthless man who had once thrown her out of the hotel.
On one hand, she felt a bit intimidated, but on the other, she was shocked. She never expected that the child she had most wanted to discard would grow up to have the best fate, with one outstanding man after another willing to stand up for her.
Even though she had been divorced, there was still such a handsome and wealthy man willing to travel a long distance, search for her frantically, and smash open that thick storeroom door for her.
Jiao Xiumei had initially been wary of Ji Feng’s fierceness, but then she thought of her son and her daughter-in-law, who was threatening to abort the grandson if the house was lost. Suddenly, she found her courage.She stepped out from the group of five family members, puffing herself up with an imposing stance, posturing aggressively: "You're our third daughter's boyfriend, right? Fine, we'll be family sooner or later, so I won't waste words. I raised third daughter with blood and sweat—if you want to be with her, fine, but according to our customs, you must pay a bride price to me and her father. One million, right now, or I won't agree to your marriage!"
Upon hearing Jiao Xiumei's words, Xu Miyu nearly fainted from shock. She felt both humiliated and furious.
She heard Ji Feng beside her retort: "Marriage? Bride price?"
His tone was one of surprise and sarcasm, as if he had never considered marrying her, and now her mother was suddenly forcing the issue.
Xu Miyu's heart twisted sharply. She didn't dare look at Ji Feng, afraid to see the mockery and disdain she was used to in his eyes. She commanded herself to suppress this painful feeling quickly.
"You're quite good at dreaming about selling your daughter," Ji Feng said coldly, throwing the sarcasm back at her.
Jiao Xiumei planted her hands on her hips, fully adopting a confrontational stance: "Call it selling if you want—if you don't give me a million, don't even think about marrying her in the future!"
Xu Miyu was so ashamed and angry she wished the ground would swallow her. Who said he was eager to marry her? He probably never even thought about it—how could her parents be so shameless?
She loudly interrupted Jiao Xiumei's reckless talk: "Can you stop talking nonsense? You're making me feel utterly ashamed!"
Turning to Ji Feng, she said: "Could you step outside for a moment? I want to talk to them alone. Don't worry—if you wait outside the courtyard, they won't dare do anything to me."
Ji Feng seemed uneasy and didn't move.
Xu Miyu lowered her voice, almost pleading: "Go outside and call the police for me, please? Let me handle my own family matters. It's too dirty and ugly—don't listen or watch."
—And don't make me face the fact that you have no intention of marrying me while being forced into it.
Ji Feng glanced at the five people opposite, his eyes carrying a sharp warning. Then he left the courtyard with the driver to wait outside.
Watching Ji Feng leave, Xu Miyu turned back to face her five "family" members.
With someone guarding her outside, she felt emboldened and dared to speak her mind freely.
She looked firmly at Jiao Xiumei and Xu Guangzong and declared resolutely: "Before, you took advantage of my desire for family approval and attention to constantly exploit me. I thought I could gain familial love, but all I got was your insatiable greed. Now I've finally seen through this familial scam completely. So from today onward, not only will I no longer be your ATM, but I've also severed the last shred of familial affection for you."
Her tone hardened: "From now on, if you want support payments, sue me in court. I'll pay whatever the court orders, but beyond that, I won't give you a single cent more. And what you've done to me this time—I won't tolerate it anymore! I've already asked my boyfriend to call the police. I hope you face the legal consequences you deserve!"
Her words exploded like a bomb among the five people.
Jiao Xiumei burst into curses, shouting repeatedly: "How dare you? Let's see you try!"Xu Guangzong stood by, eyes wide with fury: "How dare you treat your own parents like this? You ungrateful wretch! Don't think I won't sue you, don't think I won't protest at your workplace with banners to let everyone know you've abandoned your parents! Let's see who ends up shamed!"
"You never felt ashamed of how you treated your own daughter, so why should I feel ashamed? I was brainwashed since childhood into believing that disobedience meant filial impiety and shame—that's how I ended up living that foolish former life. Feel free to come cause trouble at my workplace later. Rest assured, I'll no longer hesitate to call the police out of fear of trouble or embarrassment. Every time you show up, I'll report you. Let's see who suffers more in the end!" Xu Miyu's voice carried a severity never heard before.
Xu Guangzong was instantly silenced. It had never occurred to him that this youngest daughter he'd always underestimated could be so formidable.
After Xu Miyu's outburst, Jiao Xiumei, along with the two older sisters and Xu Mibao, were all somewhat stunned.
They had never imagined that this soft, easily manipulated third daughter—the one who would yield and seek approval at the slightest coldness or harshness—had completely transformed. She had unexpectedly developed such a fierce side.
Xu Miyu concluded coldly, "Alright, that's all."
She turned to leave the courtyard. Xu Mibao panicked: "Mom!" he shouted. Jiao Xiumei was also at a loss, unsure what to do.
Xu Mibao rushed forward and grabbed Xu Miyu: "You can't leave! I don't care if you support them or not, but today you can't abandon me!"
Xu Miyu frowned icily: "Let go. Get lost."
Xu Mibao froze. He had never seen such a fierce, intimidating expression on Xu Miyu's face. But after a moment's shock, he tightened his grip instead of releasing her.
"If you want me to let go, find a way to save my house!"
Xu Miyu tried to shake off his hand, but couldn't break free.
Just then, Ji Feng entered the courtyard from outside. Walking up to Xu Miyu, he suddenly lifted his foot and kicked Xu Mibao, sending him stumbling backward to sit on the ground, his grip broken.
Seeing her precious son kicked down, Jiao Xiumei immediately went berserk: "You kicked my son? I'll fight you!"
Xu Guangzong, comparatively calmer, grabbed her and looked up at Ji Feng: "You have to pay my son's medical expenses!"
Ji Feng glared at them coldly. His eyes were ferocious, like a desperate outlaw who had nothing left to lose—as if he would take their lives if Jiao Xiumei and Xu Guangzong continued making trouble. Even Xu Miyu was startled by his demeanor.
Jiao Xiumei and Xu Guangzong were also terrified by his murderous ferocity, momentarily too frightened to cause any more trouble.
Ji Feng scanned them coldly and spoke: "My lawyer will be here shortly to cooperate with the police in handling your illegal confinement and suspected extortion. Every one of you will be going to jail today." His chilling tone made the family realize they were dealing with someone truly dangerous.
"Furthermore, from today onward, Xu Miyu has no relationship with any of you. After you serve your sentences for illegal confinement, if you still bother her, I'll have my lawyer send you back behind bars. If you don't want to be permanently separated by prison bars, remember what I just said clearly."Jiao Xiumei and the others couldn't quite grasp Ji Feng's words—something about going in and out then in again.
It wasn't until the police arrived and took Jiao Xiumei's family to the police station, informing them that unlawful confinement and extortion were criminal offenses, that Jiao Xiumei broke into hysterical sobs, cursing Xu Miyu as heartless.
The more she cursed, the more certain Xu Miyu became that she had done the right thing today.
Ji Feng accompanied Xu Miyu to give a detailed statement. After the statement was completed, Ji Feng's lawyer arrived.
He told Ji Feng, "Leave the rest to me."
Ji Feng then turned to Xu Miyu, looking at her pale cheeks after the night's ordeal. His heart softened along with his voice. He put an arm around her shoulder and said, "Let's go, we're returning to Xing City."
Xu Miyu nodded, feeling completely secure inside.
Before leaving, she lifted her head and saw Xu Mizi and Xu Minan sitting across from them, having just finished their own statements. She couldn't help but offer them final words: "Look at your names—how are they any different from 'Zhaodi' or 'Huandi'? The mark of being a sibling supporter is deeply engraved in your very names. Don't you think this is unfair to your lives? Now I've woken up. What about you two? When will you wake up? You should live for yourselves!"
After saying this, she turned and walked away—away from the messy past, away from her unbearable family of origin, away from the confining place that had robbed her of selfhood in the first half of her life.
On the journey back, Xu Miyu sat in the rear seat, resting her head on Ji Feng's shoulder.
Ji Feng comforted her: "Don't worry, trust that the police will handle the follow-up matters properly. They'll all face appropriate criminal sanctions."
Leaning against his shoulder, Xu Miyu nodded and whispered softly to him, "Thank you."
—Thank you for coming. Thank you for protecting me like this. Thank you for doing so much for me.
Ji Feng raised his arm, wrapped it around her shoulders, and drew her into his embrace.
"Why be so formal with me?"
Xu Miyu smiled.
She was happy, but also somewhat sad.
She hadn't known that a person could simultaneously feel both happiness and sorrow.
She was happy that he felt their relationship had progressed beyond formalities. Yet she was also sad because of his sarcastic and incredulous tone when he'd said "Marriage?" back in the Xu family courtyard.
That tone seemed to reveal his subconscious true feelings—he had never considered marrying her.
Xu Miyu quietly comforted herself: It's alright. After all, they hadn't been in a romantic relationship for long, and not thinking about marriage yet wasn't unreasonable. She shouldn't trouble herself with such thoughts.
Wasn't it enough that he had descended like a guardian angel during her most helpless and lonely moment?
After completely severing ties with her wretched family of origin, Xu Miyu felt a sense of solemn yet liberating release.
It was as if she had been reborn.
Yet for several consecutive nights, the image and tone of Ji Feng standing in the Xu family courtyard saying "Marriage?" kept appearing in her dreams.
She discovered that nightmares weren't just frightening dreams—they could also be dreams consisting of just two words.
During the day she restrained herself from recalling those words, immediately stopping herself whenever the thought arose. But she hadn't expected that the suppressed thoughts would fiercely resurface at night, redoubling their impact on her dreams.After several days of poor sleep, dark circles began to appear under her eyes. When Ji Feng inquired about it, she tried hard to act as if nothing was wrong.
She increasingly felt the weight of her thoughts growing heavier, constantly grappling with a lack of security. During this period of being in a relationship, she never again experienced the kind of reckless joy and sweetness she had felt in that instant when she agreed to be with Ji Feng—a moment of burning her bridges to give love a try.
She repeatedly tried to console herself: even if marriage wasn’t on the table, just focusing on a good relationship was actually quite fine.
Yet she couldn’t help wondering: Would this kind of relationship, as it went on, suddenly one day lead him to meet someone more suitable—someone who possessed the qualities he liked in her, Xu Miyu, while also boasting the premium attributes of youth, beauty, and a good family background? Would he then leave to marry such a person and stop being with her?
What would she do if that happened?
Gradually, she began to feel as if this relationship was pushing her toward depression, edging into neurosis.
In the end, she told herself to stop thinking so far ahead. Since each day, for now, was still spent with Ji Feng, she should focus on cherishing and nurturing their relationship day by day.
Ji Feng also noticed that Xu Miyu seemed somewhat listless lately.
He assumed it was due to the impact of issues from her family of origin, which led to her current state. So he thought about taking her out to an event, hoping to broaden her horizons and lift her spirits.
He told Xu Miyu, "Keep your schedule free tomorrow afternoon and evening. I’ll take you to a high-end summit to expand your knowledge and connections. Try to perk up a bit, because you’ll be meeting many industry leaders there."
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