Chen Xiao Xi’s mom tells her to put on some long underwear in the morning so she won’t catch a cold. Behind her, news reports of the bird flu spreading play on the TV. Xiao Xi doesn’t listen and rushes out, where she’s just in time to meet up with Jiang Chen. Wu Bo Song spots them happily biking to school together.
Xiao Xi buys breakfast for Jiang Chen, but he rejects it. When Jiang Chen reluctantly accepts some breakfast that Li Wei pushes onto him, an annoyed Xiao Xi tosses the breakfast sandwich to Lu Yang, who freaks out when he sees that it’s a chicken sandwich.
Wu Bo Song buys a hot water pack for Xiao Xi, but struggles to find the right time to give it to her. Teacher Liu spots Xiao Xi reading a novel in class. Bo Song tries to shield Xiao Xi from the teacher’s view, but it’s too late; she’s been spotted. Teacher Liu shames Xiao Xi in front of the class for reading novels instead of studying. Bo Song tries to defend her, but then Teacher Liu turns on him, saying that he’s the bad influence in Xiao Xi’s life.
Xiao Xi’s MP3 player breaks so she asks to borrow Jiang Chen’s, but he says no. Lu Yang interprets the situation as flirting. Li Wei shows up, asking Jiang Chen for some help with class. At first, he says no, but then Wu Bo Song shows up with a hot water pack for Xiao Xi. Jealous, Jiang Chen agrees to help Li Wei and they walk off together while Xiao Xi watches.
Qiao Lu suddenly comes down with a fever during class and gets taken away by Doctor Li. (Ha, why is she always the one getting sick?) The classmates start gossiping that she has the bird flu. Li Wei tells them to stop gossiping, but they just turn on her instead, saying she always sits next to Qiao Lu and probably has it too. To everyone’s surprise, Lin Jing Xiao stands up for her and tells Li Wei she can sit between her and Xiao Xi. Bo Song tries to get Li Wei to sit next to him in order to “protect” Xiao Xi, but it’s too late.
Doctor Li shows up in class and says that he needs to check everyone’s temperature. Lin Jing Xiao volunteers to help.
Xiao Xi starts sneezing and the everyone starts speculating that she has the bird flu. Bo Song is quick to rise to her defense, but Xiao Xi gets taken away as a precaution.
In the infirmary, Xiao Xi naps while she waits and dreams that she’s dying of illness while Jiang Chen holds her hand and cries. On her deathbed, Xiao Xi warns Jiang Chen that her dying wish is he must never marry a woman from the Li family. Awkward… because Li Wei is hovering behind him, crying fake tears and patting his face dry.
A second doctor wearing a mask wakes Xiao Xi up to check on her and ask her some questions, such as whether she’s come into contact with poultry products. When she admits that she ate a chicken sandwich, they quarantine her and lock her in a room.
The students are all bored in the classroom while their teachers meet and try to figure out what to do about a potential bird flu outbreak. Xiao Xi’s friends worry that she hasn’t returned yet. Jiang Chen sneaks out of the room and the rest follow, but lose him somewhere along the way.
Lin Jing Xiao, Lu Yang, and Wu Bo Song find a window to Xiao Xi’s room. They chat with her a little, but then Bo Song tries to break in through the locked door, drawing the attention of a teacher, who chases them off. Jiang Chen is slightly smarter and finds her at a different open window. They gaze at each other through the bars without speaking, but then Jiang Chen also gets noticed by a teacher and has to run away.
All alone in quarantine, Xiao Xi gets nervous and calls her mom, and starts crying that she thinks she’ll die of the flu. But her mother is distracted and says that she probably caught a cold because she didn’t listen to her in the morning, and then hangs up to go check on her pork hocks.
Back in class, Bo Song abruptly stands up and says he’s going to the bathroom. Jiang Chen grabs his MP3 player and also leaves the room.
Bo Song goes back to Xiao Xi’s window to chat with her and cheer her up by waving a branch in view of the window so she knows he’s there. It works for a bit, but then Principal Zhang spots him and he has to leave. Jiang Chen has a different approach where he sneaks to the bathroom and records a message to Xiao Xi to comfort her. Except his idea of comfort is explaining all the possible ways bird flu can be transmitted in detail, the point being that there’s no known human-to-human transmission so she should be fine. (Lol what a nerd.)
Li Wei gets a fever in class and also gets taken away and put in the quarantine room. Jiang Chen spots a doctor leaving the infirmary and asks him to give his MP3 player to the girl who just went into the room, not knowing that Li Wei was the most recent person to go in.
The doctor gives Li Wei the MP3 player, telling her it’s from Jiang Chen, while Xiao Xi watches jealously. Li Wei starts to listen happily, but then quickly realizes the message wasn’t meant for her.
Wu Bo Song gets himself into quarantine by using Xiao Xi’s hot water pad to raise his body temperature temporarily. Jiang Chen gets permission to leave the classroom when Teacher Liu asks him to help out and act as class president while Li Wei is sick. He drops by the quarantine room to check on Xiao Xi, only to see Wu Bo Song and Xiao Xi hanging out and having fun.
Jiang Chen is supposed to read an announcement about good hygiene over the school’s PA system, which he does for a little bit, but then he rebelliously starts reading the ending of And Then There Were None, the novel that was confiscated from Xiao Xi. Xiao Xi happily listens at the window, recognizing that Jiang Chen was reading the book for her, and doesn’t even hear Bo Song asking if she wants to finish the game they were playing.
The quarantined students are released after test results come back saying they’re negative for bird flu. They run into Jiang Chen, and Xiao Xi runs over to cheerfully report that she’s free. Lin Jing Xiao shows up and the two friends run off together, leaving Bo Song with Jiang Chen. Wu Bo Song challenges Jiang Chen to… cleaning the floor? And says he won’t lose to him. Of course, what they’re really talking about it Chen Xiao Xi. (Lol at this posturing.)
At night, Xiao Xi texts Jiang Chen asking him what he thought of the novel. He responds that it’s okay, but it’s enough to make her giggle as she crawls into bed. She also gets a text from Lu Yang, demanding to know what’s going on between her and Jiang Chen and threatening to sic Lin Jing Xiao on her if she doesn’t spill. She smiles.
Epilogue: Xiao Xi sings to her reflection in a car window while waiting for Jiang Chen. All of a sudden, a ruffled-looking Principal Zhang pops into view, having been caught napping. He starts lecturing her to hide his own embarrassment, but she spots Jiang Chen zooming by on his bike and runs off, leaving the principal still blustering.
Now that I’ve taken about a ten month break from this show, I think it’s cute again. The friendships and banter are heart-warming, though I still find the characters, stories, and acting uncompelling. I’ll probably keep watching though. Maybe I just need some more episodes to warm up to the characters? This episode was oddly appropriate for the current times of coronavirus though…
The Drama Llama 