In 1977, China resumed national college entrance exams after they had been suspended for more than a decade. Despite the chilly winter weather, over 5.7 million people eager to resume their studies made their way to exam halls in December that year.

This historic moment, which marked the country's return to educational normalcy after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), is the backdrop to the opening scene of Romance in the Alley, a popular TV series that topped the ratings for dramas broadcast on provincial channels in 2024.

Consisting of 40 episodes, the series earned itself a score of 8.2 out of 10 on review platform Douban and its heartfelt content sparked over 3,500 trending discussions on major social media platforms like Sina Weibo, earning a remarkable 20.8 percent market share of the shows released during the same period in November.