In Qingzhen Town, Chen Laojiao tends a century-old earthen cellar and takes in a diligent apprentice, Liu Jianguo. His senior apprentice, Zhou Kai, moves to the city and becomes the chief blender at Junyue Winery. Joining forces with Shen Hai, he cuts off supplies of grain and fermentation starters, puts fake labels on bottles, disrupts a full-month celebration, steals the account books and sets a fire, all in an attempt to seize the secret recipe for the Returning Aroma fermentation starter. Drawn in by the fragrance, the city's richest man, Gu Wancang, arrives to challenge the wine through quality inspections and a tasting contest, only to find that the traditional cellar-aged liquor easily defeats alcohol made with additives. Liu Jianguo risks his life to protect the cellar, rebuilds the ecological production base, makes his own ceramic jars, and insists on sealing away newly brewed liquor for aging. After celebrating Gu's eightieth birthday, luxury cars carrying the city's powerful and wealthy line up to buy the earthen-cellar liquor from the village entrance.