Chapter 63: After Rebirth, Of Course You First Enjoy Being 18...
Chapter 63: Chapter 63: After Rebirth, Of Course You First Enjoy Being 18...
Holding her bubble tea, Lin Yanwan watched the two of them leave. She wasn’t sure if it was because they’d had a falling out recently, but Wang Ming and Shen Ying seemed to have grown a bit distant.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Xia asked softly after putting the contract in his backpack.
"Did they have a fight?" Lin Yanwan asked, sucking up a pearl and chewing it lightly.
Jiang Xia glanced at their retreating figures, which seemed to be separated by a good ten feet. He pursed his lips. "They’re just in that overthinking, insecure stage," he said. "Pay them no mind. It’ll sort itself out after the college entrance exams. We might even get to see that blockhead confess to Shen Ying."
Lin Yanwan nodded noncommittally, then turned to him with a bright smile. "You signed contracts with both of them. Where’s mine?"
"Forget an employment contract. How about you just sign yourself over to me? Then what’s mine will be yours." Jiang Xia flirtatiously tipped her chin up.
"In your dreams."
’They weren’t even married, and this guy was already after her body? She wasn’t that dumb. Besides, what was so great about his body? It’s not like she hadn’t used it before.’
"You’re my better half, so of course your contract is different. As for the contents, we’ll... fill them in... later."
"Pfft! Pervert!"
Lin Yanwan immediately scoffed. As someone who’d been with him before, she knew that his "later" was loaded with innuendo.
Jiang Xia snickered, taking her hand and gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb.
"How is that perverted? You’re clearly the one with the dirty mind."
"You’re the one whose mind is in the gutter."
Jiang Xia put on an aggrieved look. "Fine. The one ’whose mind is in the gutter’ wants to take you home now."
"No need. I can get home by myself. It’ll save you the trouble of making two trips."
"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. How could taking my wife home possibly be a hassle?" he rattled on.
’Lin Yanwan shot him a speechless glare. *Wife?* Right now... she was still just his girlfriend.’
’Whatever. If he wanted to take her home, then let him. She’d just treat it as having a free bodyguard.’
After waiting at the bus stop for a short while, the crowded Route 235 bus arrived. Just as Lin Yanwan was hesitating over whether to just take a taxi home, Jiang Xia pulled her onto the bus and tossed two yuan into the fare box.
Buses were very cheap in this era; it only cost one yuan to get on, whereas the starting fare for a taxi was five yuan.
On the crowded bus, Jiang Xia held Lin Yanwan securely in his arms. As the bus started and stopped, inertia pressed them closer and closer together.
’Lin Yanwan turned her head away, her face flushing. She suspected this guy Jiang Xia was doing it on purpose. They were so close their lips were almost touching. If she’d known, she should have just paid for a taxi.’
"Babe, you smell so good," Jiang Xia said, sniffing lightly.
"..."
His warm, moist breath brushed against the hair by her ear, and Lin Yanwan could feel her ears burning.
’With so many people watching, couldn’t he be a little more discreet?’
’All he ever thought about was taking advantage of her.’
Just as she was about to scold him, the bus suddenly lurched to a stop at a station. Lin Yanwan lost her footing and fell directly into his embrace.
Jiang Xia seized the chance to wrap an arm around her slender waist, pretending to gaze nonchalantly out the window, though his heart was pounding nervously.
They remained pressed tightly together. Too embarrassed to look up at his face, Lin Yanwan stared at his collarbone the entire time, her breathing growing heavier.
It wasn’t until the bus reached the Brocade Splendor City stop and the doors opened that a blushing Lin Yanwan pulled him off the bus.
"I’m heading upstairs. You should get going, too."
"Okay."
Lin Yanwan turned to leave, but after only two steps, Jiang Xia suddenly called out to her.
"What is it?"
"Babe, can you lend me one yuan for the bus? I used up all my money buying them bubble tea just now." He turned his pockets inside out, which were completely empty, looking utterly aggrieved.
Lin Yanwan was both exasperated and amused. "The great boss of an animation company, and you don’t even have bus fare? Boss Jiang, you’re not going to tell me you can’t pay salaries next month, are you?"
"That’s a real possibility," Jiang Xia said, nodding seriously.
’If the negotiations with the TV station during summer break didn’t go well, paying the first month’s salaries really would be an issue.’
"As for your salary, babe, can I pay you back with my body instead?" he asked with a wicked grin.
"I got tired of you in our last life. No, thanks," Lin Yanwan huffed softly.
"Really tired of me?" Jiang Xia muttered under his breath. "As I recall, you couldn’t get enough."
He suddenly remembered a meme he’d seen online before.
"Babe, let me ask you a question. If one day, we’re so old we can’t walk anymore, and we suddenly find ourselves reborn at eighteen, what would you do?"
"A. Assume it’s a dream."
"B. Continue a romance that will last until we’re old and gray."
"C. Immediately try out an 18-year-old’s... *bleep*."
"D. Get married on the spot."
"A, of course."
Lin Yanwan answered without hesitation. Even though she knew Jiang Xia was alluding to their current situation, she had no intention of saying something sweet just to humor him.
"Shouldn’t the answer be A, C, B, D?" Jiang Xia blinked. "You thought it was a multiple-choice question, but it’s actually a ranking question!"
It’s anyone’s guess what sort of blush-inducing, heart-pounding scene flashed through Lin Yanwan’s mind, but she pulled a ten-yuan bill from her wallet and thrust it at him.
"What is all this nonsense? Just get lost."
"As you command! See you, wifey!"
His objective accomplished, Jiang Xia scurried across the street. Seeing that the bus heading toward his home had arrived, he immediately dashed aboard.
’Lin Yanwan pursed her lips and made a snipping motion with two fingers. If he dared to mess around in this life, she’d snip it right off!’
’An eighteen-year-old’s body? Pfft, she had no desire to try that.’
’Eh?’
’Why was her face getting redder and redder?’
◇
Back home, Jiang Xia first carefully put away the business license, other related documents, and the contracts. Only then did he take out the storyboard drafts for the tenth episode and resume drawing.
Now that Wang Ming was helping him share the load of key animation, his work was indeed a little easier. However, Wang Ming had never seen the original show, after all. So even though Jiang Xia’s storyboards were incredibly detailed, there were still bound to be discrepancies that he ultimately had to correct himself.
Even so, their efficiency had improved significantly. They could now produce roughly two episodes in twenty days.
Meanwhile, Lin Yanwan was becoming increasingly proficient with the sound design. With just a piano and a guitar, she could practically replicate a whole symphony orchestra.
At their current pace, he estimated that by the time the college entrance exams ended on June 8th, they would have just finished a batch of ten episodes. That would be enough of a foundation to start negotiating with television stations.
After all, back in his previous life, the original *The Gourd Brothers* was only thirteen episodes long, and its sequel, *Little Gourd King Kong*, was a mere six. For him to produce ten episodes of *Cat and Mouse* in one go was more than enough to demonstrate his ability.
Furthermore, once summer break began, his current team would have more time to work. If they were efficient, they could probably crank out an episode every seven or eight days.
The thought that he would soon be recreating the classic masterpiece *Cat and Mouse* with his own hands and seeing it broadcast on television again made Jiang Xia tremble with excitement.
’Perhaps, in this life, Qitian Animation truly will become known across the globe.’
...
(Happy New Year, everyone.)