The story covers the time span from the Cultural Revolution through the criticism of the Gang of Four and Four Modernizations, with the changing of personnel at the National Academy of Sciences on the mainland as a backdrop. It portrays the violent struggle and the process of change in the minds of youth--ranging through hope to despair--that were characteristic of this period.
故事以「文化大革命」到「揭批四人幫」、「落實四個現代化」的經過作為軸心，而以中共「國家科學院」的人事更替興衰為背景，呈現了這段期間大陸上激烈的文爭武鬥，和青年人由滿懷希望到失望的過程。