When tripe, duck blood, and duck intestines in a hot pot suddenly gain sentience and hear Ahua, an overworked office worker, lament the miseries of corporate life, the ingredient spirits scoff at human weakness and boast that they’ll become workplace elites and teach people a lesson. Looking down on the “mortal world’s training ground,” they use the spiritual energy bestowed by the hot pot to take human form and stride into Dingfei Group.
As newcomers to the workplace, tripe barrels around with the reckless confidence of “seven up, eight down”; duck blood is honest to a fault and becomes the top choice for taking the blame; enoki mushrooms build an information network through gossip; and duck intestines use their ability to split their bodies to handle the chaos. They think they can easily master human “workplace rules,” but gradually lose their way amid clocking in and working overtime, factional infighting, and performance reviews. They get dizzy from promises of grand rewards, struggle to pass the blame, and finally trigger a crisis of trust after a cross-department project goes wrong. At last, these ingredient spirits taste “the hardships of mortal life,” hotter even than a beef-tallow hot pot.
When the project collapses completely and senior management furiously demands accountability, the blame falls squarely on the innocent duck blood. In despair and self-doubt, tripe cries out into the void, “Master, I can’t keep going!” This workplace adventure, born of arrogance, ends with a desperate plea for help. The mysterious master’s reply, the ingredients’ fate, and whether they can truly “mature” in a workplace full of unwritten rules will all be revealed in the story to come.
