In 1936, a seventeen year old woman from China’s Shanxi Province began correspondence with the famous writer Ba Jin. Seventy years later, in 2006, the author Zhao Yu, unexpectedly stumbles upon seven of Ba Jin’s replies in an antique shop. What follows is a journey the tumultuous history of twentieth century China as the author endeavors to discover the identity of Ba Jin’s young pen pal. The adventure which ensues — full of coincidences, dead-ends, surprising revelations and even a murder, is also a journey through Chinese literary and intellectual history.