1 Season · 38 Episodes · Premiered January 20, 2026 · Ended February 25, 2026
In early 1977, at the No. 13 Telecommunications Factory in central Shandong, young worker Lu Xiaoqing is widely recognized as an exemplary model employee. In an era filled with passion and devotion—when people believed in "going wherever the nation needs, dedicating youth and even a lifetime to the Third Front"—she meets and falls in love with fellow factory worker Hong Yuanshan. However, their relationship faces fierce opposition from Hong's mother. After enduring countless setbacks, Lu Xiaoqing eventually builds a new life with Gong Tianliang, while she and Hong Yuanshan are separated forever. That same year, China's long-suspended college entrance examination (Gaokao) is reinstated. Determined to pursue greater personal value, Lu Xiaoqing, along with Zuo Hongwei, Zhao Cungen, and others, chooses to take on the challenge of the Gaokao and seek higher education. They devote the best years of their lives to the "Small Third Front" and the country's socialist modernization, witnessing the factory's journey through glory, decline, and rebirth across major historical transformations—from the Third Front construction to Reform and Opening Up, and even Hong Kong's return. Their lives become a lasting tribute and proud imprint of an extraordinary era.
