The large-scale revolutionary youth idol drama My Passionate Years was adapted from the blog My Life-and-Death Memories by writer Mao Xiaorong under the pen name "A Willow Leaf Knife". The blog comprises some extracts of the author's reminiscences of a period of his life in the army 40 years ago. Through the eyes of Fang Jie, a 19-year-old girl born in a military officer's family, the TV series narrates a series of events she encountered during the three years after her enlistment, as well as her parting and never meeting again with comrades such as Ye Wei, demonstrating the growth of youth and the quality of life in a special age.