Su Jinshu, a Jiangnan woman entrusted with a centuries-old legacy of ancient-book restoration, ventures into the dazzling, bewildering metropolis of Shanghai to revive her family business and seek a secret record passed down through her family.
Gu Huaichen, a celebrated newspaper magnate plagued by inner doubts, exposes society's deep-rooted ills while yearning to find the cultural roots that can give the nation's soul a home.
· When they first meet, she is an artisan out of place in a foreign city, and he is a sharp-tongued cultural firebrand. They are brought together by an article debating whether tradition should be preserved or abandoned. From clashing over their principles to falling for each other, they face treacherous business waters, ruthless rivals, and a world transformed by the times.
· Yet love is a particular luxury in a country at war. Public criticism, misunderstandings with rivals in love, career crises, and the ever-closer threat to their nation constantly shatter their peace. Gu Huaichen's incisive writing invites deadly danger, while Su Jinshu's life's work teeters on the brink of destruction amid the flames of war.
· In their darkest hour, they choose each other. They leave Shanghai's glitter behind and set out together on the thousand-mile journey to the wartime interior. The road ahead is uncertain, and the storm relentless, but they carry a mission weightier than love: protecting fragments of a civilization on the verge of being lost.
· This is both a love song of Republican-era China and a sweeping portrait of cultural guardians holding fast to their ideals amid the upheaval of an age. Watch as they use words and skillful hands to rekindle the flame of civilization among the ruins.
