小说以革命干部于而龙重返故乡石湖的三天两夜经历，回溯、对照了抗日战争、解放战争、新中国成立后17年到"文革"和粉碎"四人帮"长达40年的斗争生活，表现了"春天在人民心里"的主题。主人公于而龙抗日时期是石湖游击队的队长，新中国成立后是某大型军工动力厂厂长兼党委书记，他重返故乡是要为他的亡妻、游击队指导员芦花40年前不明的死因解谜，找出打黑枪的凶手。于而龙和芦花当年都是石湖贫苦的渔民，为了还高门楼王家的债，于而龙喝了药酒到冰湖中捉鲤鱼险些丧命。（Based on the three-day, two-night experience of revolutionary cadre Yu Erlong who returned to the hometown Shihu, the novel traces and compares the struggle life in forty years from the Counter-Japanese War, the War of Liberation, 17 years after the founding of the New China, to "Cultural Revolution" and the crush of the "Gang of Four", illustrating the theme of "spring in the heart of people". The main character Yu Erlong was caption of Shihu Guerrilla during the Counter-Japanese War, and director and Party secretary of a large military power plant after the founding of the New China. He came back to the hometown mainly to reveal the reason for the death of his wife Lu Hua 40 years ago who was a political director in the guerrilla and find the murder who shot the black gun. Yu Erlong and Lu Hua were miserable fishermen of Shihu then. In order to pay the debt of the Wangs in Gaomenlou, Yu Erlong was nearly killed jumping into the frozen lake to catch carps after drinking some medicinal liquor.）