Modern stand-up comedy writer Shen Xianglin travels through time into the body of a poor scholar in the Great Feng Dynasty, who lives in a house with barely anything in it and has just been dumped by his fiancée. Facing a broken engagement, crushing poverty, and endless humiliation from those around him, he relies on his modern wit and way of thinking to fight back against his former fiancée and greedy relatives. Using street-style stand-up comedy to expose scams, he quickly makes a name for himself. He helps ordinary people write legal petitions and solve cases, earning the county magistrate's recognition and a position as an unofficial adviser. He reinvents traditional storytelling, becoming famous and wealthy through his wildly popular sequel to Journey to the West. After dealing with local thugs and underworld gangs and helping merchants establish themselves in the prefectural city, he returns home to help the magistrate clear old cases and punish local tyrants. He earns the title of scholar, then heads to the prefectural city for the examinations, where he outwits conservative Confucian scholars and wins first place with his practical writing style. Finally, he travels to the capital for the imperial palace examination and is personally appointed the top scholar by the emperor.