Every girl has a princess’s heart, but what does a real Candy Princess dream of? When Japanese invaders attack and the nation is in peril, how do these women stand fearlessly against brutal force, fighting to the death? Life and death can turn on a single thought, all in defense of China.
This book tells the story of the joys and sorrows that befall the Tang family, led by Tang Luming, the “Sugar King of Shanghai.” Tang Luming and his family, members of Shanghai’s liquor and confectionery trade association, live at the Tang Family Garden and enjoy a peaceful, happy life. Then Japanese planes bomb the city, the sugar factory collapses, and the youngest daughter is nearly killed. Niu Zhentian, commander of the Shanghai Songhu Garrison Command, leads his troops in putting out the fire and rescuing the third young lady, becoming a benefactor to the Tang family. Shanghai socialites Ruxue and Ruyu have many suitors, but neither is interested in romance. They devote themselves to their careers: the eldest sister excels at business, while the second sister loves to write and dreams of becoming a popular author in Shanghai. As luck would have it, the second sister’s name appears in the newspapers so often that it gives the Tang family free publicity. The “Luming Sugar Factory” becomes famous, its products constantly improved, and its business grows larger and larger.
The military intelligence agent Ma Chusheng leads men into the Tang Family Garden to capture Communists, but Niu Zhentian steps in to defuse the situation. He courts the eldest sister, Ruxue, and becomes a son-in-law of the Tang family. Ma Chusheng and a “flour magnate’s young heir” both pursue the second young lady, but she is absorbed in her writing and pays neither of them any mind. When gangsters cause trouble, carrying in a supposedly dead female worker to make a scene at the Tang Family Garden, Commander Niu arrives once again to settle matters. Ma Chusheng orders a thorough search of Luming Sugar Factory for “Female Worker No. 1,” a Communist in hiding, turning the factory upside down.
Duan Shupei waits for Tang Ruyu at Xintai Bank, and the two hit it off at once. Sent by the Communist Party, Duan Shupei has come to Shanghai alone to carry out his work. He is the kind of man who bears hardship and humiliation in silence, using his job as a bank clerk as cover for his activities. After the enemy destroys an underground Party contact station, the underground organization reacts swiftly and establishes new safe houses across Shanghai. Party members are stationed at sixteen secret meeting places, including the Liangyou Bakery, Whale Isle Circus, and Western Opera House. The map is strictly confidential, and within the Party it is known as the “Pomegranate Map.” To obtain it, Ma Chusheng engages Duan Shupei in a fight to the death. They belong to opposing parties, the Nationalists and the Communists, and they are also rivals in love. They match wits and courage, locked in a life-or-death struggle on the unseen front. On the eve of liberation, Tang Ruyu is assigned by the Party to approach Tang Yongxing, commander of the Kuomintang’s Third Paratrooper Regiment, and helps bring about the successful defection of the Fuxing. After liberation, Tang Ruyu donates the Tang Family Garden to the nation, and the Candy Princess begins a new life in the new society.
The third sister marries the son of an Italian expert she met at the sugar factory when she was a child. That one childhood glance seems to have been written in the stars. Life is like candy: its sweetness is hidden where you cannot see it.
