Cheng Gong and Li Jiazi are classmates and best friends, but their childhood can hardly be called happy. Cheng Gong's mother ran away from home with a licorice candy seller, while Li Jiazi unsuccessfully tries to earn his father's love, who abandoned his wife and daughter in search of a better life. Beyond family misfortunes, Cheng Gong and Li Jiazi share a passionate love for investigations, but the children do not suspect that the next uncovered secret will soon end their friendship and force them to mature abruptly. Investigating a brutal crime committed during the "Cultural Revolution" years, Li Jiazi and Cheng Gong learn that their families were involved, and the self-destruction poisoning their parents' lives grows from the dark past of their grandfathers. Although the novel is full of truly Asian cruelty, Zhang Yuezhang shows Christian mercy towards her heroes, giving them the chance to change their fate, atone for the sins of the older generations, and overcome the inherited trauma.