Jiang Hongying, a woman from Sichuan, spends a year tending the braising pot, only to receive 36,000 yuan from her younger brother-in-law, supposedly as reimbursement for the ingredient costs she had paid upfront. While he flaunts his new car, her sister-in-law complains that Hongying smells too strongly of cooking fumes, and even her daughter is given old clothes as so-called charity. Hongying decides to end their partnership and set up her own stall, putting up a sign that reads 'Hongying's Braised Food.' Her husband helps repair the stove and deliver goods, while her signature Sichuan-style braised dishes win back loyal customers. She eventually moves her little stall into the prepared-food section of a fresh food supermarket. Her brother-in-law expects her to lose all her investment and come crawling back, but his own business runs into trouble first. He thinks she only knows how to braise food, never realizing that the business cannot keep running without her.