Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi are classmates and best friends, but their childhood can hardly be called happy. Cheng Gong's mother ran away from the family with a licorice seller, and Li Jiaqi unsuccessfully tries to earn the love of his father, who abandoned his wife and daughter for a better life. In addition to family troubles, Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi are united by a passionate love for investigating family secrets, but the children do not suspect that another secret brought to light will very soon put an end to their friendship and force them to grow up sharply. Investigating a brutal crime committed during the Cultural Revolution, Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong learn that their families were involved in it, and the self-destruction that poisoned the lives of their parents grows from the dark past of their grandfathers. Although the novel is full of truly Asian cruelty, Zhang Yuerhan turns out to be Christianly merciful to her heroes, she leaves them the opportunity to reverse their fate, atone for the sins of older generations and overcome inherited trauma. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.