Chapter 153 - 152: Good Son

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Good Son

The taxi stopped at the East Gate of Brocade Splendor City. Lin Yanwan looked through the car window toward her apartment building and said, "Uncle Jiang, I’ll head back now. Sorry to trouble you again."

"No trouble at all." Jiang Wende said with a grin, "Are there streetlights in the complex? I’ll have this kid walk you upstairs."

Jiang Xia’s mouth twitched slightly. ’As his son, he knew exactly what his old man was plotting.’

"Dad, I know."

"Oh, and don’t forget the flower."

Lin Yanwan blushed.

The two of them got out of the car and walked into the residential complex. Jiang Wende watched their receding figures, an unconscious smile spreading across his face. He leisurely took out a cigarette and lit it, the smoke curling into the air.

’This kid, Jiang Xia, is much better at this than I was back in the day.’

* * *

"You should head back. I’m not a kid anymore," Lin Yanwan said.

Jiang Xia took her hand and smiled. "Good thing you’re not a kid. Otherwise, I’d be afraid of someone reporting me for being into minors."

"..."

Lin Yanwan rolled her eyes in annoyance. ’This guy could be so infuriating sometimes.’

’Isn’t Xiao Man only six years old?’

He walked her all the way to the elevator lobby and pressed the button for the fifth floor. "I won’t come up," he said. "Get some sleep tonight. We have to start dubbing episode 13 by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"You too," Lin Yanwan reminded him. "And remember, you had that massage today, so don’t take a cold shower."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m going straight to bed when I get home."

"Okay. Text me when you get there."

The elevator doors slowly slid shut. Jiang Xia stretched his stiff muscles, walked out of the lobby, and looked up at the clear night sky. The stars overhead twinkled, as if they were smiling down at him.

He pulled open the passenger-side door and got in. Jiang Wende exhaled a final ring of smoke out the window, then turned to look at him. "Did Yanwan’s parents ask you to come in for a bit?"

"I just walked her to the elevator lobby; I didn’t go upstairs," Jiang Xia mumbled, buckling his seatbelt.

Jiang Wende nodded. His mouth moved as if he were about to say something, but in the end, he didn’t press the issue. He started the car and headed for home.

Back home, Xia Shanshan was watching TV while soaking her feet in a basin filled with a thick layer of floating mugwort leaves. She glanced back at the father and son who had just returned, one after the other. "The water’s just been heated," she said. "Come soak your feet."

"You two go ahead. I’m going to take a shower."

Jiang Xia went to his room to grab his pajamas and headed into the bathroom, leaving behind a faint scent of roses. Though the rose essential oil on his back had been wiped thoroughly with blotting paper, his skin still felt a bit sticky.

Xia Shanshan sniffed the air and asked quizzically, "Where did you see him?"

"The two of them were on a date at Gaosuntang Square. The kid even bought her a rose. I was dropping off a fare over there and happened to run right into them. You wouldn’t believe it—he probably saw my license plate and deliberately turned his back, but how could he possibly fool his old man?"

Jiang Wende took off his shoes, plunged the feet that had been working the brake and gas pedals all day into the basin, and let out a sigh of pure comfort.

"So that’s why he ran out earlier," Xia Shanshan said with a laugh. "Did you notice? He had a faint lipstick mark on his face."

"Really?" Jiang Wende was taken aback; he hadn’t noticed that at all.

"The kids are growing up. Maybe in another two years, we’ll be going over to their place to formally propose the marriage."

"In two years, they’ll only be twenty. It’ll be at least four or five years."

"An engagement is an engagement, and a wedding is a wedding. They don’t have to happen at the same time."

"Why don’t you just say we’ll have a grandchild in a few years?"

"Well, I wouldn’t be against that~"

The couple was whispering when Jiang Xia, fresh from his shower, came out in his light pajamas, bringing a cloud of steam with him.

"Dad, Mom, I’m heading to bed. You two get some sleep soon, too."

After closing his bedroom door, Jiang Xia lay in bed and chatted with his girlfriend on QQ for a while before turning off the light and going to sleep.

* * *

Around ten the next morning, Jiang Xia received a call from Zhou Lu. He figured the TV station had just finished a meeting, and the topic would have been none other than the price increase he had proposed for the contract renewal yesterday.

’He wasn’t particularly concerned about the outcome. In fact, a small part of him hoped the station would reject his offer in a huff. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the debt he owed them for giving him his big break.’

With that in mind, Jiang Xia continued drawing his storyboards and put the call on speaker.

"Director Jiang, regarding the request you made yesterday, the station held a serious discussion and has agreed to renew the contract for the second-run broadcasting rights for *Cat and Mouse* at a price of 7,000 per episode." Zhou Lu skipped the pleasantries this time, getting straight to the point. Her voice sounded weary.

Jiang Xia smiled to himself when he heard the phrase "serious discussion."

’He could almost imagine how heated the discussion must have been. Someone probably cursed him out for being an ungrateful jerk who didn’t know how to repay a favor. *Without Yu Du TV Station’s heavy promotion, would Cat and Mouse be this popular?*’

"Those aren’t exclusive broadcasting rights, are they?"

"No, they are not."

Zhou Lu swallowed, her throat feeling dry, and continued, "Regardless of which other station you sell the broadcasting rights to, our station has only one condition: you must stagger the broadcast times, and any other station’s broadcast schedule must be at least one day behind ours."

Jiang Xia frowned slightly. ’He understood what Zhou Lu meant. This was a form of exclusivity in disguise. If the audience wanted to watch the latest episode, their only option would be to tune in to Yu Du TV Station. The other channels would all be slightly behind schedule.’

’You had to admit, the old-timers were the most cunning.’

"Director Jiang, this is the biggest concession I was able to get for you," Zhou Lu said, pursing her lips. She was afraid he would be displeased and reject the offer outright, which would mean her half a day of wheedling and wearing them down would have been for nothing.