The main character of this story is Alex Chen. He is a shy and not very confident teenager. He thinks he isn't good at anything except maybe cooking. The boy lives in Liverpool with his parents. Alex's Chinese grandmother always comes to Liverpool for the Chinese New Year. This time she surprises everyone by some news. Her younger brother Tong Po is going visit them soon. Tong Po used to study kung fu at the Shaolin Temple. Alex is excited. Now he can tell his school friends that his great uncle is a kung fu fighter. To the boy's disappointment, Uncle Tong Po is only a kung fu cook. He decides to help Alex improve his cooking skills. After some hard work his cooking indeed becomes much better. Besides, Uncle gives him a magic kung fu spice. However, when a crucial day comes, Alex can't find it.
Jean, a prominent scientist, is working on an important project. He is trying to invent an additive that can make people eat certain products. Jean wants to call his future invention WOW — the Water of Wanting. This substance can become revolutionary and bring him the recognition he deserves. Besides, the man has a more personal reason to create such an additive. Every day he watches his wife struggling to make their little son eat healthy food. Jean's boss is very excited about the project too. He expects to earn a lot of money if it is successful. But their plans are ruined when Jean sees the other side of this invention. People can get addicted to certain types of food and it can kill them. Jean quits the project and takes a vacation. But now it is up to his boss to decide how to use this WOW.
Aunt Brenda runs a guesthouse in Hastings. This town is a popular tourist destination. When people come here, they usually choose to stay at her guesthouse. Aunt Brenda takes great pride in her specialty — 'Full English Breakfast'. Her husband Uncle Ralph is a butcher. All sausages provided by him are an integral part of the 'Full English Breakfast'. All Aunt Brenda's guests have tried the sausages and liked them. But Mr. Dunn is an exception. He refuses to eat the famous sausages because he is a vegetarian. He gave up eating meat for health reasons. Aunt Brenda doesn't take no for an answer. She decides to lie to her guest and gives him meat sausages saying that they contain only soya and herbs. This lie has shocking consequences.
