Xiao Xi and Jiang Chen bike to school together.
During recess, Xiao Xi sighs as she wonders how Lu Yang is doing and asks Jing Xiao if she misses him. Wu Bo Song runs over and drinks some of her water. She protests over how he drank half her bottle, while Jiang Chen watches with a glare. Jiang Chen goes over and Xiao Xi offers him a fresh bottle of water, which Bo Song notices, but Jiang Chen says he’ll just take the other one that Bo Song drank from. Lol. So petty.
Lu Yang studies by his lonesome in the hospital.
Jiang Chen’s mother meets with Teacher Liu, who commends Jiang Chen’s consistently high scores and suggests he enter a math competition. But Jiang Chen’s mother already has plans for him: she wants him to get into Tsinghua University via the independent admissions program (without taking the gaokao; this process is usually reserved for the brightest students.) They run into Jiang Chen, who says that he hasn’t decided yet if he wants to go to Tsinghua. Jiang Chen’s mother glares at him, saying that they already decided long ago. If he doesn’t go to Tsinghua, where would he go?
Xiao Xi tries to plan a trip to visit Lu Yang at the hospital, but Jing Xiao says she won’t go. She goes to the movie theater instead, missing Dr. Li. But she also finds herself thinking of Lu Yang and how he insisted on watching a horror movie with her even though he hates horror movies. The memory makes her laugh, and she starts crying as she remembers other times with Lu Yang.
Jing Xiao arrives late to the hangout with Lu Yang, bearing gifts, including a copy of lecture notes she made for him. But Lu Yang says that he doesn’t need them because he has a private tutor, and things get awkward.
Jing Xiao heads home first, leaving Xiao Xi with Wu Bo Song and Jiang Chen. Xiao Xi worries over what they should do about Lu Yang and Jing Xiao. Wu Bo Song puts an arm around her shoulders and tells her not to worry. Jiang Chen notices and pulls Xiao Xi toward him, out from under Bo Song’s arm, saying they should get into the car (but there is no car.) So the three of them end up going to a billiards hall together. Ha, not awkward at all.
Jiang Chen and Wu Bo Song get competitive over the game, clearly treating it as an analogy for winning Xiao Xi’s affection. Wu Bo Song wins and he gives Jiang Chen a smug look. Jiang Chen says that he’s going to head out, but Xiao Xi stays behind to learn from Wu Bo Song. When Jiang Chen sees that Xiao Xi isn’t following him, he goes back and drags her out by her jacket collar. Uhhhhh okay.
Xiao Xi chatters as she walks home with Jiang Chen, telling him that he’s quite skilled and could probably beat an average person, but that he shouldn’t feel too bad about losing to Bo Song because Bo Song isn’t an average person. Jiang Chen physically covers her mouth to make her shut up.
They run into Jiang Chen’s mom and brother when they get home. Jiang Chen’s brother mentions the topic of Tsinghua’s independent admissions in front of Xiao Xi, who exchanges a look with Jiang Chen before excusing herself. But she overhears Jiang Chen’s mother say “Of course Jiang Chen is going to Tsinghua.” At home, Xiao Xi frets over getting into a Beijing university.
Bo Song re-injures his shoulder at swim practice. The doctor has bad news for his father. Bo Song wants to practice but his father tells him that he should rest and not worry about the national championships or national team.
Xiao Xi sees Bo Song at school and asks why he’s not practicing. They’re joking around when she playfully punches his shoulder and he winces in pain. He tries to play it off like it’s nothing and ruffles her hair playfully. Jiang Chen walks by and sees them, then makes up a fake excuse that Teacher Liu is looking for Xiao Xi to get her away from Bo Song.
Xiao Xi goes to find Teacher Liu and asks whether she thinks she can get into a Beijing university. She doesn’t have good news: Xiao Xi’s grades can get her into a third tier college in Beijing, at best. Xiao Xi tells Jiang Chen as they walk home from school and asks him what to do.
Jiang Chen says that it makes sense because she’s always chatting and never studying. Xiao Xi responds that Bo Song is the only person she can talk to because Jing Xiao is busy being sad. At the mention of Bo Song, Jiang Chen speeds up and tries to walk away, but slows back down when Xiao Xi asks him to tutor her so she can go to Beijing with him. “Who says I’m going to Beijing?” he asks. She says it doesn’t matter; she’ll go wherever he goes, which makes him smile.
Jing Xiao goes to find Lu Yang, but upon seeing that he’s in a private tutoring session, she does homework while waiting for him outside. He finds out from his nurse that there’s a girl waiting outside his room. When he sees that it’s Jing Xiao, he asks the nurse to tell Jing Xiao that he’s already been discharged. But Jing Xiao doesn’t believe her and goes into the room looking for Lu Yang. He hides, and she leaves after seeing his empty bed with her gifts left behind.
Xiao Xi sighs to Jing Xiao over how she’s not used to the empty desks behind them. Bo Song hasn’t been in school, which is weird because he’s supposed to be resting from training, too. She spots Bo Song’s father on her way out of school. He waves her over and invites her out to eat.
Bo Song’s father asks her for her help. He tells her that Bo Song has been going through a lot of hardship lately: not only was his injury more serious than they anticipated, but the national team has also dropped him from consideration. He asks her to help keep his spirits up in this tough time.
Jiang Chen waits outside for Xiao Xi to come home. He asks what she was doing, but she avoids his question and counters by asking him about the Tsinghua independent admission.
Xiao Xi goes to look for Bo Song at his grandmother’s place after school. His grandmother mistakes her for her daughter-in-law, Bo Song’s mother. Xiao Xi interrogates Bo Song about his whereabouts and his shoulder and tells him to stop pretending everything is okay. He admits that he will probably have to give up on competitive swimming and focus on studying again, which means starting over from freshman year.
Xiao Xi tells Bo Song that she’s sure he’ll be successful at whatever he puts his mind to. She says that she and the rest of their friends will support him in whatever he chooses to do. She continues to chat with Bo Song to plan for his future as they walk into class. Jiang Chen looks jealous and leaves the room.
He’s brooding outside when some classmates walk by gossiping about how they think Bo Song and Xiao Xi are one of the couples in their class that Principal Zhang has been complaining about. It seems clear to them that Xiao Xi was probably the one to initiate the relationship. That only makes him more upset.
Jiang Chen gets called in to speak with Teacher Liu and returns to the classroom with a Tsinghua brochure. He slams it onto his desk to get Xiao Xi’s attention. She says that she thought he wasn’t going to go, but he stonily responds that he shouldn’t give up on such a great opportunity. She just wishes him luck.
Xiao Xi waits downstairs to send Jiang Chen off to Beijing. She tells him that he’ll definitely get into Tsinghua. He smiles and pinches her cheek, saying, “Maybe I won’t get in.” They smile at each other.
Hm. I don’t really have anything to say. This show is just blandly pleasant. Jiang Chen alternates between hot and cold in an infuriating way. I feel like we’re just going in circles with this relationship. It’s like two steps forward and 1.9 steps back.
The Drama Llama 