White Shirt and Charcoal Strokes

White Shirts and Charcoal Marks is a coming-of-age epic spanning six years. It follows Lin Chuxia, a self-conscious girl with a gift for painting, and Gu Xingchen, a cool and aloof piano prodigy, as they pursue each other from their school days all the way to their wedding. On the first day of her first year of high school, Lin Chuxia accidentally wanders into an abandoned music room and finds Gu Xingchen playing the piano. The Chopin flowing from his fingertips and the silent starry sky beneath her charcoal pencil quietly intertwine that morning. After they become seatmates, he finds her abandoned sketchbook, and she overhears him arguing with his father. As they keep crossing paths, two lonely hearts gradually draw closer. He tutors her in math, and she listens to him practice piano. He protects her dream of becoming an artist, and she understands his devotion to music. But competition in the arts program, family obstacles, and the pressure of the college entrance exams soon pile up. The arrival of Ye Qinglan brings new challenges, Gu Xingchen’s father stands in their way, and misunderstandings and separation test their sixteen-year-old first love. Together, they prove through their youth that the most beautiful love is standing beside someone in the light, and daring to accompany them through the dark. From a youthful school romance to lives that shine in their own right, from vows by the sea to a joint exhibition in Paris, over six years they grow into better versions of themselves and become the irreplaceable starlight in each other’s lives. This is a story about daring to love and daring to pursue your dreams. When the piano music rings out across campus once more, the starry sky on the canvas shines forever, because both the starlight and you are the sweetest part of youth.