In the 1980s, braised meat chef Lin Hao partnered with his childhood friend Zhao Qiang to open a restaurant. Using his family's ancestral cooking techniques, he helped the business flourish. However, on profit-sharing day, Zhao Qiang tore up their agreement and seized the restaurant for himself. Lin Hao's girlfriend of three years, Li Ting, also went over to Zhao Qiang, secretly stealing Lin Hao's braising marinade recipe. Zhao Qiang's thugs threw Lin Hao out onto a snow-covered street, leaving him penniless. With nowhere else to turn, Lin Hao unexpectedly discovers a hidden compartment in his mother's old wardrobe containing The Lin Family's Imperial Braised Meat Secrets, a manual left behind by his grandfather. He learns that the stolen recipe has a fatal flaw: the braised meat will inevitably stink after three days.