Dim sum artisan Xu He endures relentless exploitation at her cousin's workshop before finally quitting and starting from scratch in a corner of a baozi shop. Determined never to compromise her craftsmanship or lower her prices, she builds her reputation with a variety of traditional handmade pastries. But one challenge after another comes her way: foreign-backed capital cuts off her supplies, an insider steals her secrets, a mass-produced food giant maliciously imitates her products, and an established imperial cuisine family uses every means to suppress her. Even after a fire robs her of her sense of taste, she relies on her hands to recreate the long-lost national treasure, Tianhua Bilu. Refusing the highest personal honor, Xu He burns her secret recipes and makes all her techniques public. At the former site of the Imperial Kitchen, she establishes a research institute to preserve and pass down the art of traditional Chinese pastries.