Love in the Flames of War

The two first meet one tense evening in the North China theater of war. He works day and night to evacuate civilians; she braves danger to report from the front lines. Their first encounter sparks a connection between two idealists. Their love comes with no earth-shaking declarations. It quietly grows through the unspoken support they give each other on the march, profound exchanges of ideas by the light of a dim oil lamp, and smiles shared over a piece of hardtack. He tells her what he dreams the new China will look like, while her camera quietly records him and the countless ordinary heroes he represents.

Then their greatest trial arrives without warning. Chen Xinghe is ordered to carry out an extremely dangerous mission. Before he leaves, he gives Zhi Yao a book full of handwritten notes. On the title page, in a familiar hand, are the words: “Wait for dawn.” Soon afterward comes the terrible news of his death, and the grief nearly breaks Shen Zhiyao.

But when she opens the book, steeped in his thoughts and his life, she sees not the end of love, but the passing of a mission. Carrying forward the ideals he could not fulfill, she steps into a wider world and uses her pen and camera to let the light of his spirit continue to illuminate the road ahead.