Chapter 56: Xiao Man Saw It
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Xiao Man Saw It
Lin Yanwan rolled her eyes at him. Of course, she recognized the coercion trope from some R-rated comic from his past life. But the problem was, Jiang Xia’s *Cat and Mouse* really did have the power to help her family’s factory out of its current predicament.
With a bashful look, she said, "What do you want me to do?"
Jiang Xia blinked. ’He’d just been joking. He never expected her to actually play along.’
Their gazes met, and their figures slowly merged into one.
Lin Xiaoman had wandered into the kitchen at some point and happened to see Brother Jiang Xia holding her sister and devouring her lips. She couldn’t help but cover her face with her hands in embarrassment, but she secretly parted her fingers to peek through the gap, her eyes darting about.
’Oh my god! Brother Jiang Xia and Sister Yanwan are kissing! This is so exciting!’
Her heart pounding with excitement, the little girl secretly backed out of the room. ’Should I start calling Brother Jiang Xia "brother-in-law" from now on?’ she wondered.
’Then again, should I tell Mom about this? Or should I just help my sister keep it a secret?’
After a long moment, the two broke apart, breathless.
"I think I just saw Xiao Man," Lin Yanwan said, her face flushed.
"No way. She’s been in the living room," Jiang Xia said, quietly poking his head out. He saw Lin Xiaoman sitting primly on her little stool.
"We’ve kissed now, Director Jiang. So, can you let my dad handle the *Cat and Mouse* merchandise?" she asked, pinching his earlobe, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
"Are you kidding? He’s my dad! Would I really let my own father’s factory go under?" Jiang Xia declared with righteous indignation.
"Pfft, shameless."
She blushed. They weren’t even married yet; how could he call her father his own?
Dinner consisted of three home-style stir-fried dishes and a tomato meatball soup. Lin Yanwan had already called Ji Wanqiu and learned that the couple had a business dinner tonight, so they didn’t need to wait for them.
"Business at the factory probably hasn’t been great lately, has it?" Jiang Xia asked.
"Yeah."
Lin Yanwan nodded. Although she hadn’t asked about it directly, she saw her parents leaving early and coming home late every day, and the snippets of phone conversations she overheard were all about hoping to land new orders.
"Just get through this rough patch. Once *Cat and Mouse* airs on TV, everything will be fine."
"Mhm."
"Sister, you said you’d take Xiao Man to the amusement park last time," Lin Xiaoman said suddenly, picking at the rice in her bowl.
Jiang Xia smiled. "Then let’s go tomorrow."
"Yay! In that case, I won’t tell Mom about you and Sister kissing," Lin Xiaoman said, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
"Huh?"
Lin Yanwan’s expression froze. So she really *had* seen her little sister in the kitchen. The thought of her sister secretly watching them kiss made her face grow hot.
So, she stomped hard on Jiang Xia’s foot.
’No matter what, it was all his fault.’
After dinner with Yanwan and her little sister, Jiang Xia left before their mother got home.
He’d successfully finished the first episode today, so the trip hadn’t been a waste. However, next week he would have to start editing the second episode and then give the silent version to Lin Yanwan for the voice-over.
’Ultimately, my efficiency is still a bit low. If Wang Ming could come help with the key animation, I could free up more time to draw storyboards. At that rate, I might even be able to produce three episodes a month.’
’Of course, that’s just wishful thinking for now. A person is never satisfied. I wouldn’t be happy unless I could churn out one high-quality episode a week, but that would require a full studio at the very least.’
With his hands in his pockets, Jiang Xia watched the cars pass by as he leisurely strolled home alone.
’The real push will have to wait until summer vacation, after the college entrance exams. Everything I’m doing now is just preparation for then.’
It was already dark by the time he got home. As expected, Xia Shanshan hadn’t waited for him; she and Jiang Wende had already eaten. She was now sitting on the sofa watching TV.
"Have you eaten? If not, there are some leftovers in the fridge."
The corner of his mouth twitched. "I’ve eaten."
Xia Shanshan was a little surprised to see that he didn’t head straight for the study. "Not going online tonight?"
Jiang Xia’s expression turned serious. "I don’t feel like it for now. Maybe some other time. I think I’ll do some reading."
The real reason, of course, was that the second episode was still in the storyboarding phase, so he didn’t need the computer yet.
Seeing his bedroom door close gently, Xia Shanshan and Jiang Wende exchanged a look. The boy had changed so much since he started dating.
Still, Jiang Xia’s current behavior completely put Xia Shanshan at ease. She had been genuinely worried that he would get too obsessed with his hobby and let his grades, which had just started improving, plummet again. But now, he even seemed to understand the importance of balancing work and rest.
Sitting at his desk, Jiang Xia stared blankly for a moment before taking out his storyboard drafts. He then proceeded to draw all the scenes from his mind onto the pages.
’Compared to the first episode, the workload for the second one is actually a bit lighter. After all, Jerry is invisible most of the time, so I only need to draw one big, dumb cat.’
Time flew by, and soon it was past midnight. In the meantime, Xia Shanshan had knocked on his door twice—once to bring him water and a second time with some noodles she had cooked for him—before going to bed herself.
Checking the time, Jiang Xia gritted his teeth and drew for a while longer, finally completing the storyboards for the second episode just before 2 a.m.
Lying in bed, he organized his thoughts for the future of *Cat and Mouse* before folding his hands on his stomach and falling into a deep sleep.
’I promised my little sister-in-law I’d take her to the amusement park tomorrow. Guess I’ll take a day to relax.’
◇
「The next day」
Jiang Xia unexpectedly slept in. Even with the body of an eighteen-year-old, he couldn’t quite handle pulling all-nighters to draw every single day.
When he got up at 9 a.m., Xia Shanshan was just getting back from grocery shopping.
"You’re awake? What do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you."
"Mom, I wan’ dumplins," he said indistinctly while brushing his teeth.
"Dumplings? Bad timing. Your dad finished them all this morning before he left for work. Why don’t you eat out?"
Jiang Xia held a mouthful of water, tilted his head back, and gargled noisily before spitting it all out in one go.
"Then I won’t be back for lunch."
Xia Shanshan raised an eyebrow. "And where are you off to now?"
Jiang Xia hesitated for a moment before answering honestly, "I promised Xiao Man I’d take her to the amusement park today."
"Oh."
Xia Shanshan nodded, took a 100-yuan bill from her wallet, and handed it to him. After a moment’s thought, she added another hundred.
"Spend it wisely. Don’t just blow it all, you hear?"
In her mind, if her son was taking Xiao Man to the amusement park, her older sister was bound to be tagging along.
Therefore, this was basically a date in disguise, with Lin Xiaoman just along for the ride.
’This kid isn’t old, but he sure is clever.’
"Mom, a hundred is enough. I really don’t need this much."
"Just take it. Do you really think tickets and food are free?"
Xia Shanshan glared at him. She was really wearing herself out worrying about her son’s love life.
...
(Author’s note: By the way, for those of you who’ve had COVID, how many days did it take you to recover? My symptoms are getting worse, and I’m starting to worry I have a lung infection.)