Half a Life in White is a complete coming-of-age story, told in a grounded, realistic style. It follows Liu Bai as she breaks free from the desperate circumstances of her family, saves herself, and eventually makes peace with her life. Liu Bai grows up in an old apartment building in a small city. Her father is violent and cold, and their home is filled with abuse and oppression. Her mother, Liu Lan, is gentle and long-suffering. To protect her daughter's childhood, she hides the fact that she divorced long ago, sacrificing her entire life to hold together the illusion of a complete family. She is the only glimmer of light in Liu Bai's darkness. From childhood, Liu Bai holds fast to one determination: escape the old apartment building, rescue her mother from misery, and give her a peaceful life.
She travels to Rongcheng to study, but is dealt a devastating blow when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. She resolutely takes a leave of absence and returns home, caring for her mother alone for five years and shouldering all the treatment and emotional strain while her father remains absent. After her mother's death, Liu Bai's spirit collapses. Then she is diagnosed with thyroid cancer, falls into depression, and withdraws from the world. In the end, she clings to her mother's hopes for her and grits her teeth as she fights to save herself. Starting at a junior college, she shows extraordinary perseverance, earns a bachelor's degree, and makes a second attempt at the postgraduate entrance exam, turning her education around. After graduating, she puts down roots in the city, gets a job, buys a home, and becomes financially independent, fulfilling with her own hands her long-held wish to “give her mother a home.” When her father oversteps by taking her mother's inheritance, she stands firm on the law and her principles, severing ties with her birth family once and for all. Later, she meets Yang Hengzhi, a gentle and accepting partner. She sheds the prickly shell formed by her trauma and learns for the first time to accept love and rely on someone. At last, Liu Bai returns to the old apartment building and makes peace with her childhood trauma and the regret of losing her loved one. She preserves the “pure white” quality her mother gave her: she remains kind despite enduring darkness, and still turns toward the sunlight despite being covered in scars. From a timid, long-suffering girl, she grows into an independent, resilient woman, gentle yet strong.
