Su Wanxing, a modern-day food blogger, has her soul transported into the body of Su Xiuxiu, a timid educated youth in the military family compound at Hongfengling in the 1970s. She arrives just as the original has been dumped by her former fiancé and rejected by her mother-in-law, and has jumped into a river in unbearable humiliation. Su Wanxing activates the “1970s Life System.” Drawing on her modern cooking skills and tough personality, she puts the scoundrels in their place, catching the eye of the iron-willed young officer Lu Tingxiao. They begin a marriage that turns into love.
She uses coarse grains to cook delicious meals and wins over the entire Lu family. Her medicinal dishes improve her family’s health, and she face-slaps the gossips in the military compound and puts awful relatives in their place. Her cooking earns renown, and the military district’s logistics department takes notice, helping her gradually become a famous cook in the district. Lu Tingxiao starts out protecting her out of a sense of duty, but is gradually moved by her vibrant, resilient spirit and becomes utterly devoted to her, shielding her from every storm.
Together, they face the rival schemes of the deputy political commissar’s daughter and power conspiracies among the military district’s senior ranks. They unexpectedly discover that the sacrifices made by two generations of the Lu family were connected to a hidden spy, Li Dehai. Su Wanxing uses the System to gather evidence, while Lu Tingxiao and his comrades lay a trap from which there is no escape. In the end, they bring Li Dehai and his accomplices to justice, clearing the Lu family’s name.
Along the way, she adopts an orphan girl, Su Nian’an, gains a true friend, and mends the rift between herself and her mother-in-law. In the resource-scarce 1970s, she earns wealth and respect through her own hard work. She and Lu Tingxiao go from a courteous marriage to a love as deep as the sea, raising a son and daughter and becoming the envy of everyone in the military compound. Together, they turn bitter days into a life as sweet as honey.
