In 1928, the bluestone lanes of an old Jiangnan neighborhood were damp with the lingering rains. Dust covered the sign of the Su family's general store. Having fallen on hard times, she clutched the silver hairpin her mother had left her and spotted a business opportunity inside the dilapidated shop. She started out carrying pickled goods through the streets, and despite criticism from her clan and exclusion by competitors, carved out a place for herself in the male-dominated world of trade. Some laughed that a girl from a humble family was chasing an impossible dream; others secretly sabotaged her by cutting off her supplies. But with her keen eye, she found a market for unsold silks, earned her neighbors' trust through honest dealing, and found a way to join a merchant caravan amid the turmoil, expanding her business from a small alley shop to the bustling foreign concessions. Through wind and rain, she stayed true to herself. Along the way, she found devoted friends and kindred spirits, and saw through the deviousness of human nature. In the end, amid the surging tide of the times, she turned her little shop into a flourishing business empire of her own.
