It's the Chinese New Year, and the Chang Family has only enough rice flour to make one nian-gao, a special New Year's rice cake, for the entire family to eat. But this delicious little nian-gao has other ideas. "Ai yo I don't think so " it cries, coming to life and escaping.
Ming, Cong, little Da and their parents chase the nian-gao all over the village until it runs into a hungry, old woman and sends her tumbling to the ground. Though Da is a small boy, his heart is big enough to share the treat with her, even though that leaves Da's family with nothing to eat for their own...