The Epoch of Miyu

While Xu Miyu was intently listening to President Zhang introduce his investment project, a burst of noisy sounds suddenly came from behind her.

It seemed like the two customers behind her were playing something aloud.

President Zhang, sitting across from her, immediately furrowed his brow and said, "Playing things so loudly in a public place—how uncivilized."

After saying this, he quickly handed Xu Miyu a pair of wireless earphones, swiftly instructed her to put them on, and then promptly passed her his phone. He said to her hurriedly, "The people at the table behind us are playing something too loudly, and I can't argue with them. Regarding my project, here’s a video of my speech in another city. Miss Xu, you can put on the earphones and listen carefully. I clean and disinfect these earphones every day, so you can wear them without worry."

Xu Miyu put on the earphones and watched the video on President Zhang’s phone, blocking out the noise from the outside world.

By the time she finished watching and took off the earphones, the noise behind her had disappeared. She assumed the customers at the table behind had already left.

She returned the earphones and phone to President Zhang and then invested half of all her money in his project. For several consecutive weeks, she received interest payments on schedule.

Seeing everyone in the group enthusiastically sharing their earnings every week, Xu Miyu joined in and shared hers as well. As soon as she posted, the group members immediately showered her with virtual flowers, expressing their happiness and congratulations for her.

Xu Miyu liked this group. She felt it was a warm place that made her feel valued and gave her a sense of belonging.

So she felt reassured and decided to invest the remaining half of her money with President Zhang. After making this investment, she was left with only a few tens of thousands of yuan for emergencies.

Jiao Xiumei continued to pester her relentlessly every day, bringing up the topic of giving money to Xu Mibao for a house within the first few sentences of their conversation.

"Little Spare, I know you have money. Don’t pretend you can’t hear me!" The rhythm and tone of it sometimes made Xu Miyu feel as if she were hearing Aunt Xue talking to her.

"If you ask me, you should just take the money out and buy your brother a house. Hoarding all that money will only make it lose value. It’s better to buy your brother a house so it can appreciate."

At first glance, Jiao Xiumei’s words seemed quite reasonable.

But Xu Miyu thought, what did the appreciation from buying Xu Mibao a house have to do with her? On the other hand, the returns from her investment would directly end up in her pocket.

She figured that, at worst, in three months, she could give Jiao Xiumei the interest earnings she received from President Zhang to shut her up and stop her from nagging her all the time.

But this plan went awry in the third week after she had invested all her money.

That week, the interest payment did not arrive on time.

Xu Miyu went to ask President Zhang about it, and he said, "This week is for accounting settlement. We can’t distribute the earnings this week; they’ll be paid out together next week."

So Xu Miyu waited patiently.

But when the next week’s payment date arrived, the money still hadn’t come in.

Xu Miyu went to ask President Zhang again. He told her, "The end-of-month settlement isn’t finished yet. Once it’s done, the earnings for these three weeks will be paid out together."

So Xu Miyu waited patiently again.

From mid-month to the end of the month and then to the beginning of the next month, a new week arrived. She thought that by now, the accounting settlement must have been completely sorted out, and the earnings for the past few weeks should finally be deposited into her account.

But on the payment date that week, she checked her account all day, and not a single cent had come in.

Xu Miyu began to feel a vague unease.She went to ask Mr. Zhang again, but he didn’t reply for a long time. She quickly called him, only to get a voicemail saying his phone was turned off.

Her vague unease turned into full-blown anxiety.

She hurriedly asked in the group chat, “Is everyone’s income still normal?”

The group that had once offered warmth and confidence now remained silent.

Xu Miyu sat by the window in the afternoon, watching dark clouds roll across the horizon, the bright day turning overcast, and lightning flickering within the thunderheads.

She felt as if her mind were also struck by thunder and lightning, utterly devastated.

She sat dazedly by the window, letting the torrential rain pour in through the open window and drench her.

She thought, what should I do? That was all her money.

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Miyu made a decision. Ignoring Jiao Xiumei’s scolding—“You foolish child, did your divorce make you lose your mind? You don’t even know to close the window in this downpour!”—and braving the roaring thunder and pouring rain, she went to report the case.

As soon as the law enforcement officers heard her story, their expressions turned both angry and sympathetic.

“We’ve been tirelessly promoting anti-fraud awareness, doing everything we can to get people to download the anti-fraud app, all to prevent situations like yours. You’ve been scammed! Do you know that in that group you joined, you were the only real person? Everyone else was a scammer! They and this ‘Mr. Zhang’ you mentioned were all in cahoots, putting on an act to deceive you! Why didn’t you report it sooner? It’s been weeks—they’ve probably already fled the country to lay low, making it hard for us to catch them…”

Xu Miyu sat there, drenched and stunned, her mind completely blank.

Soaked by the rain and swindled out of her money, Xu Miyu returned home and immediately developed a high fever. When Jiao Xiumei learned the whole story, she berated the fever-ridden Xu Miyu mercilessly.

Frustrated and furious, Jiao Xiumei fed Xu Miyu medicine while cursing her for being so blinded and foolish that she’d rather give her money to scammers than use it to buy a house for her own brother. At the peak of her anger, she nearly swallowed the medicine herself instead of giving it to Xu Miyu.

Lying feverishly in bed, Xu Miyu suddenly felt utterly hopeless. Her marriage was gone, her money was gone, her health was temporarily gone, and now even her family was tormenting her.

All she wanted was a moment of peace and quiet. But Jiao Xiumei wouldn’t let her be. She kept demanding money from Xu Miyu and, receiving no response, took advantage of her delirium to ransack everything around her.

In the end, Jiao Xiumei took all her cards, savings books, and cash—nearly 100,000 yuan in total.

That money was what Xu Miyu had saved for emergencies and to support herself. Now, she was left completely penniless.

After seizing the money, Jiao Xiumei’s scolding temporarily subsided, finally allowing Xu Miyu some quiet space to recover.

When Xu Miyu finally recovered from her illness, she looked in the mirror and barely recognized herself. The severe illness had left her gaunt and haggard, with no light or spirit left in her eyes.

Xu Miyu felt like she had become a living dead.

Recently, her second sister, Xu Minan, had also returned to their parents’ home.Xu Mibao had a fiery temper, disliked studying, never attended university, and started working to earn money right after high school graduation. Later, after Xu Miyu got married, she relied on financial support from Xu Miyu and Nie Yucheng to buy a storefront in the county town and open a small shop, managing to save some money. Because she was busy with her business, she rarely had time to wander around. Unless there was something to handle, she seldom returned to her rural family home.

From conversations between Xu Mibao and their parents, Xu Miyu learned that during her illness, Jiao Xiumei had used the money she provided, along with 100,000 yuan each from her eldest and second sisters, to make a down payment on a house for Xu Mibao in the local county town.

"Originally, Mom wanted Nie Yucheng to help out and buy a house for Fourth Treasure near yours, but who knew you and Nie Yucheng would divorce at such a time? Now, the money you can contribute isn’t much more than what Second Sister and I gave. Mom figured it’s better to drop the idea. If we delay any longer, we might not even be able to scrape together the 300,000 yuan. Since Fourth Treasure can’t make it to a big city, settling in the county town is better than nothing. So, she went and paid the down payment."

Xu Miyu listened to her second sister’s words and responded with a noncommittal "Hmm."

Xu Mibao, annoyed by her listless demeanor, gave her a shove. "Don’t just ‘hmm’! Didn’t you understand what I meant?"

Xu Miyu rubbed her shoulder where her second sister had pushed her, feeling as though her body might fall apart. She looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

Xu Mibao couldn’t resist giving her another push. "What I mean is, of course, that none of us will be able to avoid helping Fourth Treasure pay his mortgage in the future. So, you can’t just idle around at home like this. You need to hurry up and go out to earn money."

Xu Miyu was stunned. She felt as though she had lost track of her days.

She was like a bird without feet, with nowhere to land. How had she unknowingly ended up burdened with Xu Mibao’s mortgage?

True to Xu Mibao’s words, from that day on, Jiao Xiumei began driving Xu Miyu out of the house every day, urging her to go out and earn money instead of lazing around at home, doing nothing and eating for free.

Although Xu Miyu had recovered from her illness, her body was still weak. She wanted to rest a little longer before going out to look for a job.

But in Jiao Xiumei’s eyes, her sickly appearance was just an act—she was simply lazy.

"Miss, please, you’re my ancestor, alright? Hurry up and find a job. Your brother’s mortgage payments are just around the corner. Relying solely on your eldest and second sisters won’t be enough to cover it. You need to go out and earn some money to help share their burden."

Xu Miyu couldn’t understand and questioned her mother, "If it’s not enough, why did you have to buy such an expensive, fully renovated property for Xu Mibao?"

Jiao Xiumei yelled at her, "He’s the only male heir in our family—shouldn’t he have the best? He’s already been shortchanged! He was supposed to live next to you! Stop talking nonsense and go out to find a job tomorrow. Our Lao Xu family, under the socialist red flag, must not hold the country back by supporting idle people!"

Xu Miyu retorted, "Mom, do you even have a heart? I haven’t fully recovered yet! Xu Mibao isn’t three or four years old and incapable of working—he’s thirty! He’s the same age as me! Why should I support him? Can’t I even recover from my illness before I have to take care of him?"

Jiao Xiumei was so angry she raised a broom to hit Xu Miyu, furious that she had the nerve to talk back to her mother, who had suffered health issues because of giving birth to her.

Xu Miyu felt wronged. She and Xu Mibao were born only minutes apart, so why was Jiao Xiumei’s postpartum health problems blamed solely on her?The next day, the eldest sister Xu Mizi returned to their rural hometown and took Xu Miyu away. It was their father Xu Guangzong who had called and asked her to do so.

"Hurry up and take the third sister to your place. Otherwise, she argues with your mother every day at home. If she stays any longer, sooner or later, either she'll drive your mother to death, or your mother will beat her to death. Tell me, this child—she used to be so honest and sensible when she was young, always knowing how to handle things. How did getting married and then divorced make her temper so much worse? She’s even learned to talk back!"

Eldest sister brought Xu Miyu to her home in Xingcheng. Back when she bought the house, Xu Miyu and Nie Yucheng had contributed a significant amount to the down payment. Because of this, Xu Miyu felt somewhat justified in staying at her eldest sister’s place for a while.

Once they arrived at Xu Mizi’s home, Xu Miyu couldn’t help but pour out her grievances to her sister: "I always think that she’s our mother, and she has her own struggles. I try to understand and care for her, but when will she ever understand and care for me?"

Xu Mizi tried to smooth things over and comforted her: "Alright, don’t take it so seriously. Mom is just like that." After a pause, she seemed hesitant but still shared a piece of news with Xu Miyu. "Let’s not talk about Mom for now. Let’s talk about you. I originally thought you and Nie Yucheng might get back together, but now it seems unlikely. Did you know there’s a woman around Nie Yucheng? Lately, she’s been coming to his company to see him every day."

Xu Miyu felt a roaring in her ears. The image of Nie Yucheng standing in the heavy rain, begging her to stay and crying as he watched her leave on the day of their divorce was still vivid in her mind. The divorce certificate hadn’t even had time to warm up in her hands, and yet he was already with someone new.

Is this what men are like?

She didn’t want to ask her sister if the woman’s name was Lu Zhenzhen. She only said, "Oh, I’m divorced from him. He can be with whoever he wants."

Casually, she asked her sister another question: "Will my divorce from Nie Yucheng affect your and Sister-in-law’s jobs? Surely Nie Yucheng wouldn’t fire his ex-wife’s sister and brother-in-law just because he’s with another woman, would he?"

Xu Mizi began setting the table: "Firing your sister and me is unlikely, but it will definitely have some impact on our work. After all, it won’t be as easy for your sister and me to get raises in the future."

At this point, Sister-in-law chimed in and started criticizing Xu Miyu: "Third sister, if you ask me, why did you have to make such a fuss over a divorce? A successful man having an affair—what’s the big deal? Was it worth all that drama? Look, now he has someone new, and you can’t even get back together if you wanted to. You just don’t know how good you had it. You had a big tree like Nie Yucheng to rely on, and you still weren’t satisfied. At the slightest inconvenience, you made a scene and got a divorce. Now, you’ve gone and transplanted that big tree right into someone else’s bed. And because of your divorce, your sister and I are in a tough spot. Once that new woman becomes the official Mrs. Nie, who’s to say she won’t whisper in his ear and have your sister and me, the remnants of the ex-wife’s faction, kicked out?"

Xu Miyu found every word of this excruciatingly painful: "Sister-in-law, back when I pleaded with Nie Yucheng to arrange a job for you, you never once thanked me. Now that I’m divorced, you’re blaming me outright like this. Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?"

Sister-in-law spread his hands: "Am I not speaking the truth? How is that blaming you? Third sister, it’s not that I’m criticizing you, but you never used to talk back to anyone. Father-in-law is right—your temper really has gotten worse."Xu Miyu felt wronged and wanted to defend herself: "No, you..." But her words were immediately cut off by Xu Mizi. "Alright, third sister, stop arguing. Say less. You're eating and living at my place now, can't your brother-in-law vent a little and complain? Enough, enough, go wash your hands and eat."

It was only at this moment that Xu Miyu began to feel a flicker of doubt and confusion about her decision to divorce.

Was she right to insist on divorce? Why had she ended up in such a situation after the divorce? Penniless, driven away by her parents, resented by her sister, and even her brother-in-law could step on her at will. She had helped this entire family so much in the past—with money, resources, and effort—but now that she was divorced, it seemed as if all the benefits she had brought them were invisible. All they could see were grievances.

After the divorce, it felt as if she had fallen from the top of the world into mud and dust.

During the few days she stayed at Xu Mizi's house, Xu Miyu, afraid of being disliked, worked hard during the day cooking and doing household chores, and studied at night to create and send out resumes.

She wanted to find a job quickly, earn money, and rent a place to live, freeing herself from this life of dependence and having to read others' moods.

But she realized that after years of leisurely being a housewife, she had become severely disconnected from society. Even formatting a resume took her a long time to learn.

She also discovered that while there were many, many job openings, there were almost none that she was qualified to do.

She tried applying for some less demanding secretary or clerical positions. When the employers called her for phone interviews, she couldn't answer any of their questions. When asked about her experience or skills, she had none. The conversations were awkward and unsatisfying, and she was essentially rejected during the phone interview stage.

Xu Miyu was so bewildered she felt like she was going bald. She was like a headless fly, unable to find her focus. She didn't know whether she should go out and learn some skills first before looking for a job, or find any job, even street sweeping, to support herself before learning new skills and switching careers.

But it seemed even street sweeping wasn't something she could just do if she wanted to.

So what should she do now? She sadly realized that she had been rendered useless by her former marriage. It seemed she had lost the ability to make a living.

Later, her eldest sister, Xu Mizi, had a talk with Xu Miyu: "Third sister, it's not a long-term solution for you to stay idle at my house. Yes, you cook, wash clothes, and clean up for us. The housework is done neatly and beautifully, and my home is indeed much tidier than before. But as long as you live here, there is an extra expense. Your brother-in-law and I don't earn money easily."

Xu Miyu felt she had never been so ashamed as she was at that moment. She could barely lift her head as she tried to explain to Xu Mizi: "Sister, I'm trying hard to find a job, but so far, I haven't been able to..."

Her voice trailed off, and her head dropped even lower.

Xu Mizi changed the subject and said to her, "I've actually found a job for you."

Xu Miyu immediately looked up, raising her face, which had grown increasingly thin and haggard lately, to look at Xu Mizi.

"This job might be a step down compared to the life you used to live, but don't look down on it. Given your current situation, becoming a white-collar worker is out of the question. Your primary issue is survival, so don't be picky about the job."

Xu Miyu nodded, indicating that she definitely wouldn't be picky.

She asked Xu Mizi what kind of job she had found for her."The job is quite straightforward—it's a hotel housekeeping position. You're probably familiar with the hotel—Sway Hotel. They have some partnership with our travel agency, so I have a contact there I can reach out to. I spoke with my friend, and he mentioned the hotel is currently hiring floor attendants. You could give it a try. If you pass the probation period, the pay isn't bad, and you'd get benefits like social security and housing fund—the treatment is quite good."

Hearing the name Sway Hotel, Xu Miyu froze for a moment.

Lately, her life seemed to keep intersecting with Sway Hotel.

It was there she witnessed her husband's infidelity, there she declared the end of her marriage, and there she was swindled out of all her money.

It felt as though Sway Hotel had borne witness to every moment of her desperation, watching her plummet to the lowest point of her life.

Her older sister's voice continued urging in her ear: "...Don't just stay silent. Are you looking down on this job because it's service work and not prestigious? Let me tell you, being a housekeeper at a five-star hotel isn't as easy as you might think—it's not a place just anyone can walk into. Besides, what skills do you have right now? All you do is stay home watching those noisy TV dramas. What else can you do besides household chores? Well, tidying rooms and making beds—that's your forte, so this housekeeping job suits you perfectly. And it's not like you'll be a housekeeper forever—this is just an opportunity to reintegrate into society. If you do well, you could get promoted to supervisor, manager—all that is possible. Third Sister, listen to me—just go, alright? Don't be picky..."

Xu Miyu snapped out of her daze. She worried that if Xu Mizi continued her long-winded, well-meaning persuasion, she might dehydrate herself.

She quickly told Xu Mizi: "Elder Sister, stop talking. I'll do it—I'll go."

What right did she have to be picky anyway? None.

Having reached this point in her life, she no longer had the energy for sorrow or for protecting fragile pride.

She needed to eat, to survive, to earn money and support herself first.