Lu Tingchuan left.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, he walked away step by stiff step, disappearing into the darkness beyond the courtyard gate.
Lin Nian was still frozen in place, keeping the posture of shielding her children.
Not until his heavy footsteps completely faded did her tense body suddenly weaken. She slumped back against the doorframe behind her.
“Mom…”
“Mom, that bad guy is gone.”
The two children looked up at her timidly, tugging at the hem of her clothes, their eyes still wet with lingering tears.
Lin Nian felt as if needles were stabbing her heart—sharp and countless.
She took a deep breath, forced down all her emotions, crouched down, and pulled both little bodies tightly into her arms.
“It’s okay now, it’s okay. The bad man is gone. Mom is here.”
She rubbed her cheek against their soft hair. Her voice was harsh and hoarse from all the screaming earlier.
It took her a long time to finally coax the frightened children back to sleep.
Watching them cuddle close to each other, their brows still faintly furrowed even in their sleep, Lin Nian’s eyes reddened again.
First Zhao Hong.
Then Lu Tingchuan.
Why couldn’t these people leave her alone?
Why couldn’t they leave her children alone?
She sat in the dark courtyard, letting the cold night wind blow over her.
Anger, fear, humiliation, exhaustion… Emotions rose in waves, crashing into her again and again.
For a moment—just a brief moment—she even thought about taking her children far away, to someplace where no one knew them.
But the thought lasted only a second before she crushed it mercilessly.
Run?
She had already run once.
And the truth was clear: as long as she wasn’t strong enough, no matter where she escaped to, there would always be another “Zhao Hong,” another “Lu Tingchuan.”
Running away solved nothing.
Only by facing them head-on, knocking down anyone who tried to harm her and her children—crushing them so completely they never dared raise their claws again—could she obtain real peace.
Zhao Hong wanted to ruin her business?
Fine.
Then she would make her business even better than before—stronger, bigger!
Big enough that Zhao Hong could only grit her teeth in jealousy behind her back, yet never reach her again!
A flame reignited in Lin Nian’s eyes.
The kind of flame born only after being forced into a corner—the fire of someone who has no path left but to fight.
She stood and walked into the kitchen, her gaze falling on the destroyed pot she hadn’t even had time to clean. Her eyes grew cold and firm.
The broth for the spicy hot pot was ruined. There was no way to sell anything today.
But that didn’t mean she had nothing to do tomorrow.
In fact, Zhao Hong’s sabotage had awakened her—and given her an opportunity.
Her product line was too limited.
If the broth for her spicy hot pot was ruined, then everything was ruined.
She needed her own “moat,” her own “trump card”!
A recipe buried deep in the memories of her previous life slowly resurfaced.
Before she transmigrated, she had learned it from an old Sichuan chef—an authentic beef tallow spicy hot pot base.
The flavor—numbing, spicy, savory, fragrant—bold and overwhelming.
It was her most guarded skill.
She used to think the process was too complicated and the cost too high, so she never considered using it.
But now, the time had come.
She was going to make “Mala Mini Hot Pots.”
One pot per person, heated over a small alcohol burner.
Ingredients chosen freely.
All paired with her secret spicy butter hot pot base.
In the future era, this would be everywhere—but in this time period, it would be something completely new!
And she was going to do it.
Lin Nian was a woman of action.
She shoved aside all her negative emotions. Her entire spirit focused sharply.
She pulled out all her savings from the wooden box under her bed.
Then she retrieved a small cloth pouch hidden in an inconspicuous corner—the “secret funds” she had been saving to experiment on new dishes.
She took out paper and pen and wrote down the dozens of spices and ingredients from memory: beef tallow, canola oil, Pixian douban paste, fermented chili paste, fermented black beans, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, tsaoko cardamom, cloves, white cardamom, rock sugar…
She filled an entire page.
After settling the children and locking the courtyard gate, she used the cover of night and headed to the 24-hour wholesale market.
In this era, although many supplies required ration tickets, agricultural products and spices could still be bought with money—on the black market or in certain wholesale places.
She spent almost the whole night running back and forth through the market, finally gathering most of the items on her list.
By the time she returned home, the sky was already turning pale.
She didn’t rest at all. She immediately began processing the ingredients.
The kitchen lights glowed brightly.
Lin Nian entered a state where she forgot herself completely.
She first soaked a large amount of dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns in warm water until soft. Then she pounded them together with ginger, garlic, and the soaked fermented black beans in a stone mortar—patiently, one strike after another—until they formed a paste.
This was the “fermented chili paste.”
Next, she set up a large pot and melted huge chunks of beef tallow over low heat, slowly rendering it into pure fragrant fat.
When the aroma of beef tallow filled the kitchen, she added canola oil and Pixian douban paste, stirring patiently and steadily.
This step was called “stir-frying the fragrance.”
The timing had to be perfect—not too long, or the paste would burn and turn bitter.
Not too short, or the fragrance wouldn’t come out.
The bright-red oil bubbled in the pot. The aroma of the douban paste and the chili began to merge and bloom.
When the oil and the paste separated, turning glossy red, she poured in the fermented chili paste.
“Zzzzzz—!”
A loud sizzle erupted, and an explosion of bold, intoxicating fragrance burst forth!
The spicy aroma mixed with the rich beef tallow, surging out of the kitchen like an invisible hand—filling the entire courtyard, then drifting over the walls into the sleeping alley beyond.
Heat stung Lin Nian’s eyes red, but they were shining—clear and bright.
She continued adding the crushed spices, rock sugar, and a bowl of fermented rice wine.
As time passed, the color of the mixture deepened, became glossier, richer, and the aroma grew more layered.
“Mom…”
A sleepy voice came from the kitchen door.
Lin Nian turned and saw Lu An standing there, rubbing his eyes, his little nose twitching nonstop.
“Mom… what is that… it smells so good…”
Lin Nian smiled and waved him over. “Mom is making something delicious for An’an. Go back to sleep. You’ll get a surprise in the morning.”
She looked at the pot—at the bubbling, lava-red secret base—and confidence and determination gleamed in her eyes.
Zhao Hong, just wait.
Lu Tingchuan, you watch too.
I, Lin Nian, will not be defeated so easily.
What I lost—
I will earn back with my own hands.
Twice over.