The Education Department has decided to end the practice of the local teacher being cooked meals in rotation by the villagers as a mark of respect, and sends a cook Chu Zhenghe to do the job. At the same time a younger, university-educated teacher Han arrives to replace the middle-aged Zhang who’s been in the job for 30 years. Chu is happy to return to his native village so he can finally marry childhood sweetheart Qing who’s now a widow; but the locals are not happy at this break in an age-old custom. Some of the schoolkids led by Guang and Yue decide to sabotage his job.