The story begins in the old house of the Shen family in Suzhou. Shen Lizhi followed his mother's last wish and returned to China. He originally wanted to explore a sandalwood box related to family secrets. However, on his first night home, he met Gu Changjun who came uninvited. His appearance seems to be an ordinary visit to an old friend from his father's generation, but there are doubts everywhere: a meaningful warning, a mysterious figure who visits Shen's family at night, and the tie clip deliberately left on her window sill...
As Li Zhi interprets the diary in the sandalwood box, a past event about her parents and Gu Changjun's father's generation that happened twenty years ago gradually emerges - it is not only an old dream intertwined with love, betrayal and sacrifice, but also closely related to a huge "silk franchise" and a secret fund that can shake the current Jiangnan structure.
At the same time, the situation in Shanghai is becoming increasingly tense, Japanese forces are infiltrating, and the struggle between all parties is becoming increasingly fierce. Gu Changjun's true identity and mission forced him to use the Shen family as a cover, but he was attracted by Shen Lizhi's intelligence, bravery and tenacity in repeated confrontations and cooperations. From the initial mutual testing, wariness and suspicion, the two were forced to join forces to deal with business conspiracies and assassination crises, and gradually developed into each other's only reliance and confidant in troubled times.
