In the early years of the Republic of China, warlords battled one another, and the people of Beiping lived in fear.
Chen Ergou, a modern-day slacker doctor, dies from staying up late eating hot pot and wakes up in the body of a young cook with the same name.
He lives in a courtyard house, gets schemed against by Xu Damao every day, and does odd jobs in the canteen for a salary of three yuan.
By chance, he gains a golden finger and is bound to a ridiculous System that gives him a secret braised-egg recipe just for signing in.
A lucky draw grants him a spatial ring with a third of an acre of spirit farmland and a spring of spiritual water, so he can grow vegetables and raise chickens without a care.
By day, he fries and stews food, winning over the neighbors with the magic of his wok. At night, he lies flat and raises ducks at his own pace.
While others struggle themselves to the bone, he wins a place of honor at the military governor's residence through his cooking.
He cures the governor's wife's strange illness and prepares a Manchu-Han banquet. Even palace eunuchs come to learn from him.
When the residents of the courtyard house scheme against one another, he settles their grudges with a bowl of red-braised pork.
In the future, he'll open restaurants, build retirement homes, and grow a food empire spanning the Republic of China and Hong Kong.
As the tumultuous times change, he cares only about whether the meat has stewed until tender.
With the System at hand, even a slacker can defy fate and cook up a whole new world in one pot.
