Chinese Drama 2021

My Deskmate (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)

✴️✴️✴️✴️/5

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• Genre: Youth, School. Romance
• Release Date: 14 July 2021
• Origin: China
• Cdrama: 30 Episodes

 

Cast

• Bo Zicheng as He Xiangxia
• Zhou Chuanjun as Jin Han
• Jerron Wu Difei as Yu Shengjie
• Yang Qianyao as Luo Lila
• Dong Haoran as Jiang Cheng (Actor rival of Jin Han)
• Dou Zi as Pan Duoduo
• Wang Yimiao as Sun Xin
• Liang Jiawei as Zhang Bin
• Huang Boxuan as Zhao Ming
• Zhang Ruijia as Ye Yiyi

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Quick Precis

An idol became a deskmate to his number one fan.

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Episode 1

I have to admit I really enjoyed the first episode despite the cast being newbies.  The leads are adorable, especially the female lead.  She is so kawaii.

Anyway, Xiangxia was in her local convenience store, shaking all the crisps to find a card that would complete her collection to win the life-size cardboard cut-out of her idol, Jin Han.

At last, she found it and was so excited about it but her excitement turned to horror as a masked raider came brandishing a knife to get the money from the till.

Xiangxia dialed the police but was heard by the raider.  He ordered her to surrender her phone to him but she would not.  Instead, he grabbed the packet of crisps from her but she would not let go until it split open and she could just about see Jin Han’s card flying into the air and landing on the ground where the raider repeatedly stepped on it.  The last straw was his bumping into the cut-out decapitating Jin Han’s head.

Xiangxia went absolutely mental and beat up the rather hefty raider.

She then presented her now complete set to the store assistant and was given the cut-out. She was quite happy with her prize.

The assistant was admiring of the little virago, he offered to superglue Jin Han’s head into the body.

She was over the moon, despite the cut-out not being perfect.  She was so focused on it that she walked into a young man who cut off Jin Han’s head again.

The boy would have walked off but Xiangxia was so annoyed she stopped him and started berating him until he pull down his face mask.

Xiangxia was stupefied.  She just stared at him until she got her brain functioning again, she asked him to autograph her headless cutout,

Jin Han was about to but a hoard of fans suddenly appeared.

Xiangxia tried to hide him by covering him with the cutout which got stuck on his shirt because of the superglue.

So Xiangxia and Jin Han with the fluffing cardboard ran all over town until Xiangxia hid in a goose farm.

Jin Han’s driver finally found them.

It was the start of the new term.

Xiang Xia is now in the second year of middle school.

She was skipping and being happy to start school again when Yu Shengjie called her.

Yu Shengjie was a popular boy, the star of the basketball team.

But he likes teasing Xiang Xia.  He gives her a weird gift at the start of the school year.

This time an iron ball.

Xiangxia would not take it and left him to it.

The school belle asked her minion why Shengjie was bothering with Xiangxia.  Someone said that they grew up together.

In the classroom, a new boy is being introduced.

It was Jin Han and he was Xiang Xia’s deskmate.

Episode 2

Poor Jin Han is suffering from the avid adoration of Xiangxia, who becomes clumsy and talkative when she’s near her idol.

Hoping to make life easier for Jin Han, she tries her best to be helpful but she almost blew up the chemistry lab because of it.

Shengjie had become rather solicitous to Xiangxia.  He said to her to let him know if someone tries to bully her.

She told him that he was the only one who bullies her.

There was a hilarious scene between Shengjie and Jin Han in the school canteen where Shengjie ended up eating the hottest spiciest noodles because he doesn’t want to lose face in front of Xiangxia and Jin Han.

Episode 3

Xiangxia found out that Jin Han lives in the same apartment building as she does.

Episode 4

Jin Han started to think of the cute pushy girl, Xiangxia as a friend because she was rather useful with her extraordinary strength.

The school belle was hired as an extra in Jin-Han historical drama.  Jin Han said that he does not want the extra around him as it was distracting.

This annoyed the school belle because she was dismissed as an extra.

Episode 5

Luo Lilo, the school belle took revenge on Jin Han.  But it did not work because Jin Han knew the law about slander and defamation of character.

Episode 6

Poor Pan Duoduo who was used to being at the top had a nosebleed when she found out that she dropped to second because Jin Han took first place in the exam.

Their teacher said that the class’ overall grade has been polarised so she decided to rearrange the sitting arrangement.

Poor Xiangxia was shocked.  She was not a deskmate with her idol anymore?!!!

Episode 7

This episode is my favorite so far.

Xiangxia and Shengjie had so much fun together.  Their studying method is hilarious.  It’s a dumb and dumber moment.

Xiangxia decided to improve her grades and encouraged Shengjie to do as well so they can remain where there were sitting in class.

Jin Han was actually missing Xiangxia’s complete adoration.

Jin Han was made to be the school discipline monitor and it was taking so much effort as Shengjie was playing up.

Episode 8

Jin Han suggested to the Principal to make Shenjie the new discipline monitor.  Shengjie actually likes the power.

It was their math exam that would determine their sitting plan.

Xiangxia chose the magic C as the answer to all the questions on the multiple-choice test paper.

When the result was announced, Xiangxia could not believe that Jin Han came second.

Jin Han purposely came second so he could remain as Xiangxia’s seatmate.

Meanwhile, Shengjie’s test result was even worse than ever.  Their teacher tried to speak with his mother and father but found out that they were so busy.

The teacher felt rather sorry for Shengjie who had not seen his parents for a month though they live in the same house.

Poor Jin Han is sleep deprived because of a stalker who had been trying to get into his apartment.

He ended up fainting during PE.

Episode 9

Jin Han was very grateful to  Xiangxia for having caught the sasaeng fan who was trying to trespass into his apartment.

Xiangxia brushed off his gratitude.  She said he was her idol and would do anything to protect him.

Jin Han said she should not try to endanger herself for anyone even for an idol.

Xiangxia replied that Jin Han was different, he was more than her idol, he is also her deskmate.

The next day, she went to school all concerned and bothered because she does not have a dream like the others in her class.

Shengjie helped her find her dream.  He had a good idea of going to a seminar about finding and realising your dream. What he missed out about who the activity was for was that it was for senior citizens who only went for the free milk and biscuits.

However, Xiangxia was really into the topic despite being fronted by Jiang Cheng, the actor who is a rival of Jin Han.

Jiang Cheng said that it is not too late to have a dream, and dreams during childhood are forgotten as one grows older.

Xiangxia looked into her old diaries to find out what was her ambition then.

She was so happy to find out that she wanted to be an astronaut.

Episode 10

Xiangxia realised that being an astronaut was not for her.

However, her new goal was to go to the same university as Jin Han.

He was quite happy about it but he told her that she had to study.

He started to tutor her but it was a real struggle.

Episode 11

Xiangxia started to study hard.

She was studying with Jin Han which was making Shengjie jealous.

Xiangxia and Shengjie are so cute together which was making Luo LIla jealous.

Episode 12

Shengjie had a birthday party to which originally he would only invite Xiangxia but she invited their other friends.

Jin Han was not there because he had an engagement but went to get Xiangxia as soon as he was free.

One of their classmates ended up in hospital and needed an urgent operation.  The class gave donations.

Shengjie gave quite a sizeable amount while Jin Han gave 200.

They were shocked at Jin Han for the pittance he gave.

They tried to ostracise him but Xiangxia remained true to him.  She felt bad the way her classmates were giving Jin Han a censorious look.

She was crying loudly at the library where Shengjie found her.

She told him that she felt bad for Jin Han the way she would have felt bad if it had happened to Shengjie.

Shengjie was so touched he went to broadcasting room to tell how lovely Jin Han was and was misunderstood.

Jin Han had actually sorted his issue because it had just been announced that he arranged for the doctor who operated on their classmate as well paid for the hospitalisation.

Love this drama.  They are all so cute.

Episode 13

Shengjie found out that Jin Han was living in the same apartment building as Xiangxia so he promptly rented another apartment from the same complex.

Poor Xiangxia was torn between the two.

Shengjie invited his two sidekicks who were surprised that he had downgraded to a simple apartment.  They wanted to know if his family had gone bankrupt.

Anyway, they had a barbecue hoping to get Xiangxia to come down but she decided to stay with Jin Han with his medium-rare steak.

It started raining and they had to bring the barbecue inside so it caused a fire.

Shengjie was begging Xiangxia if he could stay at her place.

Jin Han was having none of it and offered his spare room to Shengjie.

Episode 14

This drama is just the most hilarious.

Shengjie was a very high-maintenance guest as found out by Jin Han.

He was very childish, spoilt, and hyper.  He dragged Jin Han for a barbecue meal and then because Shenjie was scared of ghosts, he ended up sharing JIn Han’s bedroom but not the same bed as this is not a BL drama. LOL

Finally, Shengjie’s father turned up at the school and was annoyed that his son was always bottom of the class.

His homeroom teacher said that Shenjie was not hopeless because he excels in sports and was actually kind to his classmates.

His father was also annoyed that Shenjie moved out and warned him that he will be made to see how it was to be truly independent of his parents.

Episode 15

Rich boy Shenjie had become a poor boy.  His parents stopped his allowance and cut off his cards.  They told him that unless he does as he was told like returning home, he was on his own and to fend for himself.

Xiangxia and Jin Han were supporting him.  While his other friends and schoolmates could not really fathom why he doesn’t want to return to his mansion.

He was desperate to go to a basketball training camp but as it would take two weeks, he needed parental consent as he was still under 18.

His father very categorically said that he was not going to a basketball camp.  He was told that after high school, he was being sent abroad to study business in preparation for taking over from his father.

Meanwhile, Jin Han and Xiangxia are getting closed together, although she really treats him as her idol.

Episode 16

Jin Han and Xiangxia were worried about Shenjie as he was so sad.  They surprised him with a birthday barbecue and they had a good time until he started feeling sad again missing his parents.

His father turned up in the end and said he was willing to sign the consent form for the basketball camp on one condition.

The condition was that he has to climb 30 percent up in overall all-school standing.

Desperate to go, Shenjie agreed, and then when his father left, he was upset with himself for failing to negotiate.

He has only two weeks to cram.  He asked Jin Han’s honest opinion if he can do it.

Jin Han said that Shengyi has a 1 percent chance.  He then said it was actually zero percent but he does not really want to attack Shenjie’s confidence too much.

Jin Han, Xiangxia, and Shengji started studying together but Shengji was just not into it.

Jin Han said that there was research done previously that if you like your teacher, you tend to do better in her class.

Shengji thought that his worst subject is maths so he will try to like Miss Chen.

Trying to like Miss Chen makes more hilarious situations.

Episode 17

The class found out that Miss Chen was far from being strict and unfeeling.  They found Miss Chen’s notebook where she put her innermost thoughts about her students.

She tried to see the good in every one of her students and they appreciated what she wrote without letting her know that they saw her notebook.

It was the monthly exam.

They were all on tenterhooks when they went to see the result.

Shengji improved and got his desired result.  He has increased by 31 which means he can go to the basketball camp.

Jin Han was back to being first.

While Xiangxia improved by 40 levels.  Her parents who told her that she should not be so stressed if her grades are crap were so delighted.

They encouraged her to invite Jin Han for a meal to celebrate.

Xiangxia also invited Shengji.

She dressed up for it.

I originally gave this drama a 7 but I think it is time to increase it to 8½.  It is that entertaining. The actors are newbies but they deliver for their respective roles.

Episode 18

Xiangxia was as cute as a button but she ruined a girlish persona by carrying the newly delivered 20 liters water jug.

Shengji told Jin Han that while he was away, he must not move on to his girl, little King Kong.

Jin Han said since when did Xiangxia been his girl.

Shengji said that he knew Xiangxia first.  Anyway, the two are developing a competitive bromance.  They compared notes about their parents or lack of them.

It was Shengji’s time to go to the camp but he never got there because he ended up in the hospital instead after a car accident.  He broke his arm.

His gang including Jing Han and Shengji visited him at the hospital and he was milking their goodness, especially Xiangxia.

Xiangxia and Jing Han were caught by a paparazzi and they began trending.

Episode 19

This drama is really super cute.

Anyway, in order for the paparazzi and fans to leave Shangxia alone, Jinhan released a comment online that he and Xiangxia were childhood friends who knew each other since they were little.

Xiangxia accepted this as a truth but she could not remember him from when they were young.  She showed Jin Han a school graduation photo of her kindergarten and Jin Han pointed to a boy, but Xiangxia said that that was Shengji.

She asked Shengji if he remembered Jin Han but of course, he can’t.

It then gets comical trying to remember Jin Han from childhood.

Xiangxia gave many instances of being with Jin Han when they were young but Shengji would counter that it was him with Xiangxia who did it.

But Xiangxia told him to keep quiet.

Shengji was left to conclude that he suffers from selective amnesia.

Episode 20

Luo Lila had a stalker which Shengji and JIn Han found out.

Jin Han and Shengji then stalked Luo Lila to find her stalker.

The stalker was from their school.

Meanwhile, Jin Han told Xiangxia that he did not expect he could be friends with his fan.

Xiangxia was absolutely excited.

Episode 21

This is the most hilarious episode yet.

Jin Han was having an interview so Shengji was able to take Xiangxia to the cinema.  They watched Annabelle which Shengji thought was a romance.

Of course, it was a horror film and Shengji spent the time screaming.

Episode 22

Jin Han got hurt while playing basketball with Shengyi.

Jin Han’s mother came to see him to say that it was time for him to move because his fans knew where he was. living now.

Jin Han refused.

He later vents his frustration with Xiangxia.

She then overheard what he really thought of her as a mere fan rather than his friend.

Episode 23

This episode is the revelation that Luo Lila used to be fat and dark.  It became a rumour at school that she had plastic surgery.

But her now friends gathered around her and help end the gossip by revealing the truth that yes she was fat and dark but she worked at making her look better by exercising, etc.

Episode 24

I swear this drama is now one of my guilty pleasures which I am going to rewatch when there is a lull in tv dramas.  My deskmate is really entertaining with well-rounded characters.  I love Xiangxia, Pan Dou Dou, Shengji, and JIn Han especially.

Anyway, this episode is about a contest between Class 3 and Class 7 who had a dramatic conflict about who is the better class.

Though class 7 is at the bottom of the school ranking, they are proud so they accepted the challenge of a sports contest.

Jin Han devises a program using physics to put suitable students in a particular sport.  They practice really hard.

During the first leg of the sports competition, Class 7 won in the first 3.  Then there were the 400 meters, unfortunately, the girl who was to run for class 7 twisted her leg.

Xiangxia was put forward as a substitute but she was really tired after having just competed and won the 100 meters.

Class 7 was worried that Xiangxia was lagging behind.  So Jin Han stood by the finish line to give Xiangxia impetus to carry on.

So cute.

Episode 25

Class 7 won against Class 3 in all the sports activities.

They went to celebrate with Miss Chen and their PE teacher.

Miss Chen got drunk and told everyone her life as their teacher was especially hard because they were always at the bottom of the school ranking and Shengjie creates trouble every day.

She was so embarrassed the next day but she had mellowed but this got her into trouble with the principal who told her that she was not a suitable homeroom teacher for Class 7.

She was so sad because she likes her class.

Epiosde 26

Jiang Cheng became Xiangxia’s student in Jujitsu which made Jin Han rather jealous.

Episode 27

Jin Han and Shengji also enrolled to learn jujitsu.

Shengji made sure to take all of Jiang Cheng’s time while Xiangxia idolise Ji Han.

They did have a lot of fun together when Pan Dou Dou also turned up as a fan of Jiang Cheng.

Their fun did not last long because Jin Han collapsed.

It turned out that he has a heart problem.

Episode 28

Jin Han escaped from the hospital to meet Xiangxia.

Episode 29

It took Xiangxia to get Jin Han and his mother to reconcile.

Episode 30

It has been a drama that brought a lot of laughter and fun from basically an unknown cast.  They produced solid acting.

Wishing them more dramas to come.

I am glad this did not turn into a full-on romance drama.

I actually secretly want Shenjie to end up with Xiangxia in the end.

Anyway, their adviser teacher ended up with their PE teacher.  Their adviser was actually the daughter of their principal who doesn’t approve of the relationship.

As to the classmates, they got into the school of their choice.  They promised to be in touch forever.

 

The End