Episode 1 Recap - In a Class of Her Own (2020)
Episode 1 recap
In which our plucky heroine meets the hero and plants him a facer
And we're off! We're told that the Yuanshang Academy in Yunzhou province, in the Land of Yun is very prestigious - the training ground for future officials of Court and the literati. Of course that means the entrance exams are notoriously difficult. That doesn't stop young (and old) men from lining up every year to try their hand. Some comic relief is provided when a rather old man says he's not that old and reckons that this year is his year. His granddaughter reminds him that he said the same thing last year. (🐼: Out of the mouth of babes...😆)
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| Ep 1: Feng Cheng Jun 💓 |
And then we meet the hero Feng Cheng Jun, played by Song Wei Long. (🐼: And he is looking mighty fine 😄)
He's staring intently at the calligraphy on a fan. The storekeeper says it is penned by the Governor of Yunzhou, Feng Ji Chang himself. Feng Cheng Jun knows its a forgery but is impressed by how good it is.
And then the meet cute happens (🐼: roughly 4 mins in - is that some kind of record??😅) It's a good one. Xue Wen Xi, played by Ju Jing Yi bumps into Feng Cheng Jun, who catches her mid fall, and the two spend a good 10 seconds staring deeply into each other's eyes and slow blinking. (🐼: I can definitely see this ship sailing):
Books fly everywhere. The Shopkeeper is distraught that his precious fan has been damaged in the melee. Xue Wen Xi cheekily tells him she forged the writing and can replace it anytime. She runs off. Feng Cheng Jun stares after her, somewhat dazed. (🐼: And who can blame him? 😉)
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| Ep 1: Cheeky Yu Le Xuan meets Xue Wen Xi |
Cut away to Yu Le Xuan, played by Bi Wen Jun, who is after the 2nd installment of a popular romance series "Where Love Begins". The wily bookstore keeper Mr Chao tells him that the 2nd installment is coming and, on cue, Xue Wen Xi arrives. She realizes she must have dropped the 2nd installment in the earlier mix up but is able to rewrite the entire thing by memory. Yu Le Xuan is impressed and tries to bribe her with gifts. Xue Wen Xi tells him no can do - she's got principles: she won't ghost write essays for scholars or help them sit the Yuanshang Academy entry exams. She's also not interested in sitting them for herself.
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| Ep 1: Xue Wen Xi in female garb 😍 |
Xu Wen Xi returns home and dresses as a female again. Not that we were in any doubt even when she was in men's clothing, but she is very beautiful. She's also in for a rude surprise because her Mother has accepted a betrothal gift on her behalf and she definitely doesn't want to get hitched yet. Turns out it isn't only because her Mother wants to marry her off. The family is in serious debt because Xue Wen Xi's brother Xue Wen Bin is sickly and needs expensive medicines. Xue Wen Xi is desperate to earn more cash so she can pay back the betrothal gift money and buy her brother medicine. She tells Mr Chao she'll do anything except cheat by ghost writing papers or sitting exams for scholars. He tells her there is a special opening for test "aides" (basically a way to help scholars cheat because the aides can "assist" at the exam). Xue Wen Xi refuses.
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| Ep 1: Feng Cheng Jun does a little light reading |
Things are about to get a lot worse at the Xue household though. Turns out Xue Wen Xi's Mother had turned to a creepy loan shark to get enough funds for Xue Wen Bin's medication. Ruffians show up to hassle the Xue family. Unfortunately for Xue Wen Xi the creepy loan shark is interested in her. Her Mother tries to say Xue Wen Xi is no longer part of the Xue family as she is betrothed (🐼: so that's why she was trying to marry Xue Wen Xi off in a hurry) but Xue Wen Xi steps in to rescue her family, saying she will clear the debt in 7 days.
Cue more desperation to get hold of cash. Xue Wen Xi and Mr Chao sneak into Yuanshang Academy to meet the young president of the Student Council, Han Sheng Zhi, who is there with Yu Le Xuan. They test Xue Wen Xi's abilities and of course she passes with flying colours. Turns out the nefarious Han Sheng Zhi is running a cheating racket where he assembles a bunch of cheaters to aid wannabe scholars sitting the exams. Han Sheng Zhi says there is payment, but no protection - if you're caught, it's thirty hard wacks on the backside. He hands over $100. Yu Le Xuan, who seems to be hanging out with the bad guys here, teases Xue Wen Xi for abandoning her principles.
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| Ep 1: Xue Wen Xi's windmill arms... |
Xue Wen Xi tries to stealthily leave but is chased by the Academy guards. She bumps into Feng Cheng Jun for the second time, and nearly falls backwards, arms windmilling comically, only for Feng Cheng Jun to grab her by her neckline to save her. That's when she throws a huge punch to his face. (🐼: Completely unrelated, but I read that Song Wei Long hasn't been able to attend promotional events for In a Class of Her Own recently due to an injured nose - wonder if perhaps Ju Jing Yi hit him a little too hard in this scene?😆)
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| Ep 1: Feng Cheng Jun grabs her by her neckline... |
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| Ep 1: And she plants him a facer... |
He's a bit shocked. So is she for that matter and very apologetic. The guards come chasing and Xue Wen Xi flees to the kitchens. When the guards come Feng Cheng Jun dobs her in. (🐼: A bit of a goody two shoes, our hero). Xue Wen Xi manages to evade the guards by smoking up the kitchen.
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| Ep 1: Lei Ze Xin - day drinking swag 😎 |
She flees with her $100 but gets accosted by a group of ruffians who take her hard earned money. That's when we meet Lei Ze Xin, played by Wang Rui Chang, who is sleeping in a tree, wine bottle in hand. Smooth. And so are his first words of the drama, directed to the baddies: "Are you looking for death or are you sick of living?" (🐼: I think 2L syndrome is going to be a big factor in this drama)...
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| Ep 1: "Big Brother" Lei Ze Xin |
Xue Wen Xi asks this "big brother" to help and gets a "who's your big brother" snarky response, but Lei Ze Xin duly beats the stuffing out of the baddies and gives Xue Wen Xi her money back. He also tells her that as a big dude she ought not to act like a damsel in distress. (🐼: What's wrong with his eyesight? Too much day drinking?😆) She thanks "Big Brother" for his help.
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| Ep 1: Xue Wen Xi "aids" the wrong scholar. Oops |
On the day of the initial examination for entry into Yuanshang Academy, Xue Wen Xi is there as an "aide", because principles or not, that debt isn't going away on its own. Problem is, she has read her candidate map wrong and ends up "aiding" Feng Cheng Jun by whispering the answers to him. Left, right and centre wannabe scholars are also cheating like there's no tomorrow...
Feng Cheng Jun promptly stands up and calls out all the cheaters and "aides", shaming the invigilators of the Academy for turning a blind eye to the rampant cheating. This results in all the "aides" being kicked out, including Xue Wen Xi, though not before she has left him a little something to remember her by, scribbling some obvious calligraphy cheat sheet notes onto his robes. (🐼:Ha!)
The aides fiasco angers Han Sheng Zhi's father Lord Han, who obviously has a beef with Governor Feng, Feng Cheng Jun's father. Lord Feng advises Feng Cheng Jun not to make too many waves but Feng Cheng Jun expresses his view that fairness is important and says he wants to support a meritocracy, regardless of birth or status. (🐼: Maybe he's thinking of a certain cheeky, down on her luck, “little brother”?) The episode ends with Xue Wen Xi leaving Mr Chao's bookstore only to halt in her tracks as someone heads towards the bookstore...
Thoughts
🐼: It's quite a good intro first episode. We meet all four main characters and the scene is set for some fine antics ahead. Feng Cheng Jun is a principled nice guy (definitely not the kind of entitled rich snob from a rich family that viewers love to hate). On the other hand, he's a bit of a goody two shoes at the moment - but I suspect he will grow on me. Looking almost too handsome to be true definitely helps.
Xue Wen Xi is bringing all the right vibes as the plucky heroine as well. She is too feminine to pass off being a man convincingly, so you just have to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. I like Yu Le Xuan's brand of enigmatic deviousness, and as I've said, with Lei Ze Xin's day drinking swag in the mix, 2L syndrome is very likely to factor. 3L syndrome too come to think of it. It's eye candy all round folks.
Loving it so far!👍
