Introduction: This is a historical novel set in Shanghai from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China. A young man born in a small town in Hebu, Jiangnan, entered the world of ten miles with a scholarly and earthy atmosphere. From apprentice to typesetter, from proofreader to reporter, he used the typeface in his hand as a tiny but unbreakable hairpin, nailed to the wall of the era of rapid changes. War, bans, strikes, speeches, the shackles of old family etiquette and the morning bells and evening drums of the new school collided with him. A flexible and stubborn soul relied on paper and ink to make a living among gunfire and struggled in prayer. He met Zhao Ruyu from a girls' middle school, a young teacher who was willing to give up his family name for freedom; he also met Duan Fuming, Song Jiliang, shopkeeper Xu and other people of all kinds: radicals, speculators, and craftsmen, all of whom were ups and downs in the social whirlpool. The wind and thunder on the paper are not only the superimposed image of the big-character poster on the page, but also the hidden fire in people's hearts that refuses to be extinguished. When gunfire approaches the newspaper office and the printing room lasts all night for the last time, he chooses between fleeing and staying; when his lover is knocked down by a stick, he is torn between the truth and safety. There are no miracles here, just coal fire, salty wind, sweat and tears. The story unfolds in countless details: the sound of paper twisting, the temperature of type, the smell of fish on the pier, and the fan in the auditorium. Each character has his or her own darkroom and window, and time rewrites their destiny with page after page.
