The increasing prosperity of the Guo household was now impossible to hide. Fucheng had not only completed dozens of the finely crafted cedar spice boxes, but had also invested their savings into materials for a much-needed upgrade. Within weeks, the small, mud-brick farmhouse was expanded with a sturdy stone annex, featuring a large, dry storage room for their spices and a proper, insulated bedroom a clear sign that they were settling permanently.
Li Wei, meanwhile, had begun compiling her knowledge into scrolls, meticulously detailing her spice blends and cooking methods. This was her new concept: a Farmer's Almanac of Flavor, a book she planned to sell not just for profit, but to establish her authority as a scholar of flavor.
The news of their success traveled far faster than expected, carried by envious whispers and market gossip.
One humid afternoon, as Fucheng was laying the last stone of the new annex and Li Wei was sorting peppercorns, the gate creaked open.
Standing in their neat courtyard were two figures Li Wei instantly recognized from Shen Xiu's fragmented memories: her stepmother, Madam Shen, a woman whose sharp face was usually set in a look of cold calculation, and her younger half-brother, Shen Ping.
Madam Shen's eyes greedily swept over the tidy courtyard, the fresh stone, and the stacks of valuable cedar boxes. "Xiu'er! Oh, my dear, delicate girl," she cooed, her voice thick with false affection. "We heard you were suffering here. But look! You have done so well for yourself. Your father sent me to check on your welfare."
Li Wei's hands instinctively clenched. She knew this was not a welfare check; it was a demand for payment.
Fucheng stepped forward immediately, placing himself between Li Wei and the unwelcome visitors. He was taller, broader, and his presence was an unmoving shield. "Madam Shen," he said, his voice level and cool. "My wife is well and happy. Our house is busy. What business brings you so far from the city?"
Madam Shen dismissed him with a glance. "The sale was for the well-being of the family, farmer. Now that Xiu'er has clearly found prosperity, it is only right that she contribute to her own brother's education.
We require twenty taels of silver for Shen Ping's tuition."
Shen Ping, a spoiled, arrogant youth, puffed out his chest. "I must study to bring honor back to the Shen name. Your dowry was insufficient."
Li Wei walked past Fucheng, touching his arm to silently assure him she had control. She faced her family with a composure that Shen Xiu had never possessed.
"My dowry was the price of my life and freedom from your debt," Li Wei stated, her voice sharp and clear. "It is paid in full. I have built this house and this business with my husband's honest labor and my own knowledge. You have no claim here."
Madam Shen laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "No claim? You were bought! And you will always be a Shen, bound by filial piety!" She pointed at the spice boxes. "If you refuse to give us silver, we will simply take the spices.
They were grown by a Shen and belong to the family name."
Fucheng's patience snapped. He picked up the heavy, iron mortar they used for grinding the rough grains—a tool far too heavy for any normal person to wield easily—and set it down on the ground with a deafening thud. The packed earth vibrated.
"The labor, the land, and the hands that built this are Guo's," Fucheng's voice was a low, dangerous growl. "You will leave now. Any object you take from this courtyard, you will first take over my body."
Madam Shen, confronted by Fucheng's sheer, silent menace and the daunting mortar, hesitated. She had expected a yielding girl and a subservient farmer, not a unified wall of defense.
Li Wei pressed her advantage. "Fucheng and I are also planning a new house a truly grand one in the city once our Farmer's Almanac of Flavor is published. We will be known. Do you wish to claim relationship with the family that has you publicly shamed for theft, or the family that might one day provide future opportunity?"
The threat of public exposure and the lure of future riches immediately changed Madam Shen's calculus. She quickly reverted to simpering false pleasantness. "Of course, dear. We simply worried. Shen Ping, come. Let us not disturb the couple's important work. But remember, Xiu'er, family always supports family."
As they hurried away, defeated, Li Wei let out a slow, shaky breath. Fucheng immediately turned, his powerful body radiating concern.
"Are you harmed, Xiu'er?" he asked, taking her hands and checking her face.
"No," she said, squeezing his hands fiercely. "But they showed me that our safety is only guaranteed by our success. We must not just build a bigger house, Fucheng. We must build a reputation that intimidates.
She looked at the new stone annex, their savings solidified in rock. "The house is not just shelter; it is a weapon. The almanac is not just a book; it is a shield. We will move the grinding to the new annex and finish my book. We must rise so high that no one, especially not the Shens, can ever reach us again.