Shen Que, a graduate student in food science, grew up as a sickly young man in a remote mountain village in the Northern Song Dynasty. His father died and he was heavily in debt, and his relatives forced him to seize his land. With his scientific knowledge of fermentation, he started from a Tanshan fruit vinegar, built a sauce shop amidst clan strife and market difficulties, and eventually became the number one condiment maker in Bianjing, earning a lifetime of stability for his family.
