The Uncertain Track

In 1927, Song Yunjin returns from England, only for her father to die in a mysterious fall from a building. The only clue is a gold-embossed name card: Huo Zhongting, Shanghai financial tycoon and favored guest of the Japanese.

She marries into the Huo family as his third wife. On their wedding night, he tells her, “Don’t look into what you shouldn’t, and don’t ask about what you shouldn’t.” She replies, “I’ll do as I please.”

In his study, a gun is pressed to the back of her head. She thinks he is her father’s murderer. But he says, “Before you pull the trigger, check the third drawer in my study.”

Inside is her father’s final letter: “Huo Zhongting is someone you can rely on, but never trust. He is your comrade, ‘Gui.’”

They go from hatred to trust, from a marriage of convenience to true comradeship. Over twenty-two years, they endure the fall of Shanghai, bloodshed in the isolated settlement, underground work in Hong Kong, and the nights before the dawn. They lose a child, their comrades, and even themselves. But they never lose each other.

“Song Yunjin, do you regret it?”

“No.”

Ordinary people in extraordinary times, on a road of no return amid the chaos of war. They walk it for twenty-two years, and at last reach the dawn. (This is a fictional story set in the Republican Era. All characters and events are fictional and should not be identified with real historical figures or events. The author supports established historical conclusions and promotes patriotism and the spirit of sacrifice.)