For the Miao family, it was the same routine day in and day out. Vinoria would wake up before dawn to feed the chickens and clean the pens. She would then rush to school, while her parents would tend the farm lands; After class, she would come home, but that didn’t mean her work was done. While her mother was preparing for dinner, She would help gather firewood, do chores, have dinner, finish her homework, and finally go to bed. To many people this seemed like hard living, but this was nothing more than just simple farm life. 

It wasn’t always like this, according to the father’s stories, the Miao family used to be substantial; Hundreds of people holding up the family, owning lands which expanded beyond the eye can see. They were known as the farming family, the ones that represented all farmers of the land. They were the Miao, a name given to them by the lords back in the days, which meant “seedling”. It was their duty to care for the crops and plants of the land. 

However, the good fortune and prosperity didn’t last. As the years passed, due to various family complications, such as singlehood, disease, young deaths, accidents and war; their numbers diminished, which, according to the local law, meant they had to give up their lands to other farmers.

Now it’s just the three of them. Other families have more children to help out, while this little Miao family only had one daughter. The Miao family stuck together, and did what was necessary to be done for the farm, or for what was left of it.

When one is living in poverty and goes to school everyday with people that come from a higher class than you, one can’t help but compare oneself to them. It was especially hard to resist the urges to go for some quick and easy money-earning schemes. The daughter, Vinoria, watched as the students secretly gambled in the corners of the school campus. She witnessed as the winner raked in more money than she can ever imagine of having. The girl held back at first, but eventually gave in, having the desire to taste the sweetness of victory. She joined in, hoping to make her parents proud by the end of the school day. 

But instead, Vinoria lost her entire week’s worth of lunch money to just one session of gambling. She was completely humiliated. Making things worse, this was only the first day of the week. She would have to ask her parents for more allowance or starve. She had to come clean with the truth, and her parents were absolutely furious.

“Instead of betting your life on something as unpredictable as luck, you should’ve studied more! Get smarter! Master math, for instance, so you can realize how much the odds were stacked against you when you played these nonsense games!” Her mother scolded Vinoria loudly in the kitchen while her father went out to see if he could borrow some money. A discipline beating followed straight after. “We sent you to school so you don’t need to live as hard as we did; So you can be smart and not be tricked by other people; So you can make a decent living!”

Despite the unbearable pain of a thin bamboo branch striking her calves, Vinoria did agree with her mother’s words. After that night, she was determined and motivated to study hard and improve her grades.

She would study as much as she could, using recess time, meal time, or any free time she had. When the lights were out at night, she would take her books and study under the street lamps. Her hard work eventually paid off, and by the end of the semester, her grades were top in her class. It was a surprise to everyone. In fact, it surprised her mother so much, she took Vinoria to the teacher’s office to tell them that the teacher had given them the wrong student’s grade.

Her mother was proud, obviously. They had talks about how they would deliver the good news to her father, and perhaps have a tiny celebration during the weekends. Vinoria was glad to see her mother in such high spirits. It’s been a long while since she had seen the woman reacting so happily about anything in life. It made Vinoria feel like she’s done something right, and she couldn’t wait to brighten up her father’s evening as well. 

Vinoria and her mother left the school to travel back to their home. When the house came into view, Vinoria’s grin faded quickly as she saw her father rushing after some men leaving her house. As they fled, her father yelled at the men, before pacing in front of the home, waiting for their return.

Her mother quickly rushed over to ask what had happened. After some probing, he finally admitted that he was tricked into some “pyramid” scheme. Vinoria, as a child, was not able to understand what the scheme was. All she knew was that they had lost everything; the land, the farms, their home. The father tried to cover the whole thing up, but just like how fire will inevitably burn through paper, the ugly truth was revealed in the end. They then were forced to leave the place within a week’s time. 

Vinoria was having a hard time adjusting to the new reality. She thought her family was on track, and things would eventually get better. But right when they took a step forward, it felt like they were forced two steps back. The debt started to overwhelm her parents, and a decision had to be made. Vinoria overheard her parents and knew she couldn’t stay. So when they broke the news to her a few days later, she didn’t react with much surprise. The plan was for her to go live with her relatives, while her parents worked off their debt. 

Since then, everything has gone downhill. For Vinoria, living with her relatives was worse than living in the poverty that she was raised in. The relatives used Vinoria to do all the chores around the house, criticized every little detail, and beat her at the slightest mistake. Her uncle was the biggest abuser of them all and even encouraged the family to use this behavior towards Vinoria. He even used her for his own ‘items’... 

At one point, Vinoria had made the mistake of speaking out against her relatives, and it resulted in her being dragged by the hair, and held down while they snipped it off. Kicking and screaming couldn’t help her in this manner. And when asked about her emotional outburst, the adults dismissed it as ‘playful jokes’.

Vinoria wished to be back with her parents soon, dreaming of the harsh days to come to an end. But her world got that much darker when she received the news of her parents’ passing due to an accident in the workplace. Furthering her stay with her abusers.

As her life continued there, amongst the constant abuse and usage, the once happy and energetic girl fell to be quiet and conserved. Emotions were not to be shown, as even the slightest expression could bring another beating from the relatives. No longer did the girl desire to wear pretty and colorful dresses. Instead she felt more comfortable in a black pair of pants and white suit shirt, it quelled the fear of sticking out and being taken advantage of. This is how she would survive until she could get out, perhaps the only way at that.