In Shanghai in 1937, the war broke out, and the prosperity of the concession was incompatible with the smoke of gunfire in the suburbs. Shen Qinglan, the pampered young lady of the Shen family, thought she would live a stable life with the piano and translations, but due to an unexpected encounter at an auction, the fate of Huangpu Major General Gu Nanzheng was closely entangled.
He is a soldier on the bloody battlefield, with his sincerity for his country hidden in his pocket watch, and the scars on his eyebrows engraved with war medals; she is a rose in the greenhouse, but her weakness has faded in the baptism of gunfire. Using words as a shield and actions as a spear, she has transformed from a literary girl who translated "Ball of Suif" into a warrior who protects refugees and delivers information. A sudden false alarm of "sacrifice" made her persevere in despair; a secret meeting late at night caused misunderstanding and suspicion between the two. When she pointed the gun at him, the bullet accidentally shattered the Japanese army's conspiracy, and also revealed the deep feelings behind all the concealments - he never thought of giving up, he just built a safe barrier for her in his own way.
From the revelry in the concession to the difficult persistence in the base area, from the cheers of victory in the Anti-Japanese War to the morning light of the founding of New China, this novel not only tells a story about a love that spans life and death, but also records the turbulent years of a generation fighting for their country and their country and adhering to peace. When the ginkgo leaves fall on the windowsill of "Nanzheng Classroom" and when the title page of "Ball of Suet" is printed with the words "Dedicated to all martyrs", we will finally understand: some agreements never fade due to life and death; some spirits always shine in the morning light of the times.
