Introduction
Many Asian drama viewers, even the Chinese drama fans, find retro Chinese dramas set in the 1970s difficult to enjoy for several reasons rooted in the specific historical context and production style. Dramas set in this period often deal with the Cultural Revolution, a time of significant social and political upheaval in China. The themes of struggle, hardship, and rigid ideological divides can feel exhausting or depressing rather than entertaining. Moreover, the 70s shows production style often has a rustic visual palette (brown, green, and gray) to match the era’s clothing and settings, which lacks the vibrant idol drama appeal.
But who said this drama visual is drab? Did you see the featured image? The dazzling rapeseed field is absolutely stunning!
Many people watched it for Arthur Chen and/or Sun Qian. I did, too. This is why I made a series of six highlight articles. These highlights only focus on the main couple’s love story. Fang Muyang and Fei Ni’s relationship is cute, innocent, and deeply meaningful.
Plus, who likes the fake marriage trope? I do.
Drama Info
Drama title: Love Story in the 1970s (Native title: 纯真年代的爱情)
Alternative title: Chun Zhen Nian Dai De Ai Qing
Genres: Romance, Life
Aired: 21 Feb, 2026 - 4 Mar, 2026
Episodes: 29 | Duration: 45 minutes
Director: Chen Chang (陈畅)
Screenwriter: Guo Shuang (虢爽)
Adapted from the web novel "Shi Yong Zhu Yi Zhe De Ai Qing" (实用主义者的爱情) by Meng Zhong De Yi (孟中得意).
Where to read the English-translated novel: MyDramaNovel or ReadtheDrama.
Where to watch: WeTV and Viki
OST
Below is the official music video for the ending theme 我的你 (You, My Dear) by Mao Bu Yi (毛不易). Full album fan sub (Hanzi/Pinyin/English) here.
Trailer
Synopsis
In 1970s China, textile worker Fei Ni dreams of going to college and changing her life for the better. When her middle school classmate Fang Mu Yang gets injured while saving someone, she sees an opportunity to boost her odds of getting a recommendation to go to school through the optics of “caring for a local hero.” Unfortunately, her plans didn’t work as she’d hoped, but Fei Ni and Mu Yang begin to develop a real connection with each other – and when Fei Ni suggests that they get married to help secure housing for themselves and her soon-to-be-married brother, Fei Ni and Mu Yang’s relationship deepens even further. Will their unconventional marriage turn into true love? (Source: Viki)
Characters
Main Characters
Sun Qian (孙千) as Fei Ni
Clear-headed and pragmatic, with clear goals, actively striving for education and family, carrying a strong career mindset and sense of independence, breaking the stereotype of weak and passive women from those times.
Arthur Chen/Chen Fei Yu (陈飞宇) as Fang Mu Yang
Gentle and sincere, even in the face of adversity, he steadfastly pursues his painting dreams, using purity and kindness to dissolve the barriers of reality.
Supporting Characters
Fang Mu Jing (Cristy Guo) – Fang Mu Yang’s older sister
Qu Hua (Wang Tian Chen) – Fang Mu Jing’s husband
Relationship Chart
Below is an English-translated relationship chart, uploaded from MyDramaList by CLEO.
Couple Moments Episodes 1 to 5
Episode 1
In April 1975, Feng Muyang returned home to Jiangcheng. However, he didn’t have a home to return to. His parents were sent away for re-education.
Re-education during China's Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) was a coercive ideological campaign designed to purge "bourgeois" elements and enforce Maoist loyalty. It involved intense indoctrination, public shaming, and forced labor, primarily through the "Down to the Countryside Movement," where millions of urban youth were sent to rural areas. (Source: Wikipedia)
Muyang didn’t even have money to stay at a guesthouse. He needed to return the money to Fei Ni. Six years ago, when he was sent to the countryside (for re-education), he borrowed ¥1.50 from Fei Ni with the collateral of his trinket box. He promised her that he would return the money doubled. Now he was back.
At night, while he was in the neighborhood where Fei Ni lived, it rained heavily, and several houses collapsed. Muyang helped rescue the occupants. Unfortunately, a big rock hit his head, and Muyang was sent to the hospital. He was in a coma, and he became the local hero. But nobody wanted to be his caregiver, not even the survivors of the disaster.
Fei Ni heard about the incident from her father. She remembered reading a newspaper article about a woman who took care of a wounded hero and got admission to the university. At the beginning of the episode, we found out that for four years Fei Ni had tried to get into a university but was rejected, and this past year she had been active in many community activities to get a referral for the university. Fei Ni got an idea to follow this example, to volunteer as this local hero’s caregiver. Since the houses that were collapsed belonged to the textile factory, the company was somewhat responsible for Muyang. Fei Ni’s director agreed for Fei Ni to volunteer.
At the hospital, Fei Ni was shocked when she saw Muyang. She recognized him as her former deskmate. Six years ago, Muyang transferred to her high school and was assigned to be her deskmate. Since then, he had been a source of her “bad luck”. Fei Ni wanted to give up. However, she badly wanted to go to college, so she decided to be his caregiver. When he could finally wake up, she would be hailed as a “role model”. Then all their past grudges would be settled.
Episode 2
Fei Ni took care of Muyang meticulously and diligently for a month. One day, when she showed up at the hospital, the nurse told her that Muyang’s girlfriend, Ling Yi, was here. She should be the one who took care of her boyfriend. Fei Ni worried that she would lose a chance to be a “role model” to enter the university, so she was happy when Ling Yi asked her to continue taking care of him because she was too busy. The fact that Ling Yi was Fei Ni’s former middle school classmate, and now she was a university student, compelled Fei Ni to wake Muyang up.
Despite Fei Ni’s attempt to stimulate Muyang’s brain, once again, Fei Ni missed the chance to go to college. The textile factory she was working at gave out its referral to her co-worker, Feng Lin, to attend the university. Fei Ni was devastated and cried bitterly by Muyang’s bedside. Sensing her plea, Muyang opened his eyes!
Well, as dramas love this one particular cliché as a plot device, Muyang turned out have retrograde amnesia, lmao! Not only did he not recognize Fei Ni as his former desk mate, but he didn’t even know who he was! Her director told Fei Ni that if she could make Muyang regain his memory, she would be the provincial “role model” and the company would guarantee a university spot for her.
Fei Ni saw hope again and tried many things for Muyang to regain his memory. Fei Ni showed him his sketchbook with drawings he made. She made him eat carrot sticks, two a day! She even reenacted the event when Muyang saved the people during one evening with a rainstorm!
Muyang was so sweet! Although he was tired of eating two sticks of carrot everyday, he would still eat them, lol.
Finally, Muyang’s older sister, Fang Mujin, showed up. After talking to the doctors, she decided to discharge her brother and send him to a nursing home in the countryside. It might be a long journey for Muyang to regain his memory. No way she would ask Fei Ni to volunteer for… how many years? Mujin was also disappointed that Ling Yi didn’t want to take care of her boyfriend. Especially when Muyang had given up his spot to go to college for Ling Yi!
I could smell bitches from miles away! Muyang’s girlfriend, Ling Yi, was definitely egoistic. Feng Lin, Fei Ni’s coworker, was plain malicious. And I don’t like Fei Ni’s director either. She seemed like a flip-flopper. I felt these people could be a pain in the a$$ for the couple in the future!
Episode 3
Fei Ni’s former teacher encouraged her about her dream of entering university, so Fei Ni drafted a detailed rehab plan for Muyang. When she returned to the hospital the next day to propose her plan to Mujin, she saw Muyang sitting on the windowsill, ready to jump down. He didn’t want to go with the sister he didn’t recognize. Seeing Fei Ni’s sincerity in taking care of her brother, Mujin gave Fei Ni ¥100 for the care expense. Fei Ni promised that she would teach Muyang basic living skills, so he could become independent even if he didn’t recover his memory.
Thus, Fei Ni began her arduous journey to teach Muyang basic skills. Over time, they became closer. I specifically loved when she made Muyang a new shirt using her dad’s old shirt and patched it to make the shirt bigger. As a token of appreciation, Muyang drew a portrait of Fei Ni. Fei Ni blushed every time Muyang looked at her with adoration while drawing her.
Episode 4
Hoping for Muyang to remember the incident, Fei Ni took him to the textile factory where she worked, since the incident happened in that area. They bumped into Ling Yi and the factory basketball captain Ye Feng. Fei Ni urged Ling Yi to help Muyang recover, since she was Muyang’s girlfriend. Ling Yi bailed out, stating that she was never Muyang’s girlfriend. She said it before just to test his memory. Ling Yi, who recognized that Ye Feng was a good catch, was in the process of pursuing Ye Feng. Especially since his mom was the factory director. Ling Yi told Fei Ni not to talk to her again. Fei Ni secretly wondered why Muyang’s sister said that Muyang had given up his university spot to Ling Yi if she was not his girlfriend.
Fei Ni then took Muyang to the street where Muyang used to live before. He recalled his grandmother and her kindness to him. Fei Ni, who was desperate to get into the university, had an idea to make Muyang pretend that he had recovered in front of her director, and even drafted a script for him on what to say. When they met Ms. Xu, Fei Ni’s director, although Muyang didn’t follow the script, he genuinely praised Fei Ni as a true hero, having patiently and diligently taken care of him. Ms. Xu was moved and promised to give Fei Ni a referral to the university.
Initially, Ms. Xu wanted to refer Feng Lin’s boyfriend for the university spot. Ms. Xu then changed her mind and told Feng Lin that she would recommend Fei Ni instead, for the great deed she had done in Muyang’s recovery. Feng Lin was angry and wanted to test Muyang. She sent her boyfriend to bump into Muyang. During the collapsed house incident, Muyang had saved this man. Sure enough, Muyang didn’t recognize him. Triumphant, Feng Lin told Ms. Xu.
Episode 5
Ms. Xu called Fei Ni and confronted her. When Fei Ni confessed that Muyang was not completely recovered, Ms. Xu was livid! She revoked her recommendation for Fei Ni to go to the university and ordered her to write a reflection essay. Adding fuel to the fire, the malicious Feng Lin told Fei Ni directly that she was the one who reported Fei Ni’s lie to the director because she wanted her boyfriend to go to the university! Also, Ms. Xu would change the policy that liars like Fei Ni wouldn’t eve
One problem over another! Fei Nie bumped into Lin Mei, her bestie and future sis-in-law, on a date with another guy! Lin Mei confessed that she was breaking up with Fei Ting, Fei Nie’s brother, because he didn’t want to come home. Meanwhile, Lin Mei’s parents rushed to find someone who owned a home. Fei Ting intentionally didn’t want to return to let his sister stay at home. During the Cultural Revolution, he volunteered to go to the Great Northern Wilderness on her behalf. If he came back, it was Fei Ni’s turn to go, but Fei Ting knew she had a dream to go to college.
During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the Great Northern Wilderness (or Beidahuang) in northeast China served as a primary destination for the "Down to the Countryside" movement. This region, once trackless swamps and wild forest bordering Russia, was systematically reclaimed to solve national food shortages. (Source: China Focus)
Remembering how her brother had sacrificed for her, Fei Ni asked her parents to set up a blind date for her to marry. To her surprise, her blind date was none other than Ye Feng! It turned out that Ye Feng fell for Fei Ni at first sight when she became a cheerleader for his basketball team, and had inquired about a matchmaker for Fei Ni. After their date, Ye Feng took Fei Ni home and was warmly invited for dinner by Fei Ni’s parents. Another surprise was that Muyang popped in Fei Ni’s home after getting her address from the nurse. You see, Fei Ni hadn’t visited Muyang at the hospital for some time.
Recognizing Muyang as his love rival, Ye Feng told his mom directly about Fei Ni when he came home. Fei Ni honestly told Ye Feng that once her brother returned home, she would give Fei Ting her factory job. Ye Feng was worried that his mom wouldn’t want a daughter-in-law without a job. You gotta know, his mom was none other than Ms. Xu, Fei Ni’s factory director! Ms. Xu adamantly rejected Fei Ni. However, this Ye Feng apparently was a momma boy, so Ms. Xu finally accepted Fei Ni, IF she wouldn’t go to college! Because when she goes to college, she will leave Ye Feng. Ye Feng was confident he could change Fei Ni’s mind.
So, Yi Feng asked Fei Ni for another date to watch a movie. And of course, we knew who crashed their date to be a third-wheeler, hahaha!
TL;DR
- Fang Muyang was injured after saving people, in a coma at the hospital. Fei Ni became his caregiver.
- He woke up but had amnesia. He clung to Fei Ni for his dear life, but here come the love rivals…
What happened to the date and the third-wheeler? See Part 2!
