Qin Yulan, a seasoned sauce-making master, has devoted sixteen years of hard work to Hongyuan Pickles Factory, personally creating its blockbuster red chili oil sauce. However, factory director Zhao Youde covets her exclusive sauce-making skills. To support his own nephew, Zhao Qiang, he deliberately cuts Qin Yulan's salary and bonuses, pressuring her to hand over the notebook containing a lifetime of sauce-making expertise. At the critical moment before a major delivery, Qin Yulan finally sees Zhao Youde's true colors and realizes he is using her and discarding her once she is no longer needed. After completing an urgent order of 50,000 bottles, she resolutely resigns, taking with her the wooden paddle and recipe notebook that have accompanied her for years. She rents an abandoned old factory building and establishes Qin's Sauce Workshop. Her longtime apprentice, Chen Xiaoxia, also comes to join her.