Chapter 154 - 152: Good Son

Chapter 154: Chapter 152: Good Son

"I can tell your voice is a little hoarse, Chief Zhou. It sounds like you had to do a lot of talking. Why don’t you get a drink of water before we go on?" Jiang Xia said with a smile, putting down his pencil and leaning back in his chair.

"I’m fine. So, what do you think?" she asked.

Jiang Xia tapped his fingers on the desk and sighed. "Chief Zhou, you’ve gone to so much trouble for me. It’d be a bit ungrateful of me to refuse again."

"In that case, when do you think you’ll be free to come sign the contract?" Her face lit up, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chief Zhou, I’m just swamped lately. I have more storyboards than I can possibly finish each day. A round trip to the TV station would take several hours, and I’d fall behind schedule," Jiang Xia said, his face a mask of distress.

"In that case, Director Jiang, you just focus on your creative work. In a little while, I’ll send over a digital copy of the contract for you to review. If you think it’s all in order, I’ll come to you," Zhou Lu said.

"That would be perfect." Twirling his pencil, Jiang Xia accepted without the slightest hesitation.

It wasn’t that he was trying to act like a big shot; he genuinely didn’t have the time.

After hanging up the phone, he gained an even deeper appreciation for what fame truly meant.

When you were a nobody, you could go groveling at their door, and they still might not give you the time of day. Now that he had some fame, the tables had turned. They were the ones who needed something from him, and as long as his requests weren’t too outrageous, they would agree to almost anything.

And all this was with *Cat and Mouse* only halfway through its first run. He was confident that before long, the name Qitian Animation would feature prominently on the list of the nation’s most well-known animation companies.

"Xiaxia, who were you just on the phone with?" Xia Shanshan asked, pushing open the door with a puzzled look.

"Oh, nothing, Mom. Just a teacher appreciation dinner in a few days. A classmate invited me," Jiang Xia said casually.

"Oh, you should definitely go. Your teachers worked so hard for three years. No matter how well you did on your exams, you need to go thank them."

Xia Shanshan continued, "When is it again?"

"The tenth, I think," Jiang Xia said after thinking for a moment.

"No need to rush then. Today’s only the second, so you still have a few days. What do you want for lunch?"

"Can we have braised pork ribs? The kind where the meat is wrapped all around the bone, and with just a gentle bite, it falls right off, dripping with juice."

"Deal! I’ll head to the market right now to buy some fresh spare ribs." Xia Shanshan said with a smile. "You get back to what you were doing. I won’t disturb you."

She was an elementary school Chinese teacher. ’I don’t understand why Jiang Xia, who obviously got into the best university, still locks himself in his room to draw all day.’

’Still, it’s better than those kids who spend their whole break holing up in internet cafes playing games.’

’I heard Qingmei has a tradition of giving a test at the start of the semester. My son is drawing so diligently right now, maybe he’s preparing for it.’

’It’s just like those few months before, when he studied late every night and then stunned everyone with his exam results.’

At this thought, Xia Shanshan closed the door with a gratified expression. ’To have such a sensible, wonderful son, the Old Jiang family must have burned some amazing incense in a past life.’

Jiang Xia smiled to himself. His status at home was unusually high these days, and with his career on a steady upward climb, he couldn’t help but feel a little triumphant.

’If I ever tell Mom and Dad that I’m the boss of Qitian Animation Company, the two of them will probably start worshipping me.’

He let out a long breath, pushed the jumbled thoughts to the back of his mind, and went back to burying his head in his storyboards.

About half an hour later, Zhou Lu’s call came again.

"Boss Jiang, I’ve sent the renewal contract to your email. Please take a look when you have a moment."

"Alright."

After hanging up, Jiang Xia went into the study and turned on his computer. Ignoring the pop-up for the wildly popular game QQ Farm, he went straight to his email and downloaded the file he had just received.

After reviewing it carefully several times, he found the content was mostly the same as before, only now it placed strict restrictions on matters related to third-party collaborations. It also included the exclusive broadcast rights for the second season of *Cat and Mouse* in the contract.

Although no specific monetary amount was stated, signing this contract would mean the exclusive broadcast rights for the second season could only be given to Yu Du TV Station.

If they failed to agree on a price, he might be forced to let the animation rot on the shelf, unable to sell it to anyone else. He might even have to pay a hefty penalty for breach of contract.

Having been burned by a bad contract in the past, he saw this as a major red flag and immediately called her back.

"Chief Zhou, I can agree to the terms about delayed broadcasts on other stations. But as for the exclusive broadcast rights for season two, isn’t it a little early to be talking about that?"

"Director Jiang, didn’t you already agree to this? The station just wants to put what we’ve already settled on into the contract to facilitate our future cooperation," Zhou Lu said.

"I did agree, and I’m very grateful to Yu Du TV Station for giving *Cat and Mouse* the opportunity to air. But let’s keep things separate. We can discuss season two when the time comes for season two. I’m not the type of person to go back on my word; there will be a third season, and a fourth. I hope the station can seriously consider my request. Surely you don’t want our cooperation to end after just two seasons, do you, Chief Zhou?" Jiang Xia said earnestly.

The dissatisfaction in his voice was practically a slap in the face. His meaning was clear: if things turned ugly, they could just go their separate ways, and he wouldn’t sign this renewal contract at all.

’After all, I’m not an idiot. They’re still trying to set a trap for me. One wrong move and I could fall right in.’

"Well..." Zhou Lu hesitated. "Alright. Please give me a moment, Director Jiang. I need to go ask my superior for instructions."

"Okay."

The call ended, and Jiang Xia wearily rubbed the space between his eyebrows.

’I was too idealistic about the TV station. As the party with vested interests, of course they want to maximize their own profits. If they can’t make money off me, they’ll just have to ruin me and my work.’

’Of course, that sinister intention is just a guess for now. Maybe the station’s leadership is just afraid I’ll back out of my promise.’

The truth of the matter would depend on Zhou Lu’s response.

’If they refuse to revise the contract, then Yu Du TV Station is the sinister party I suspected. There’d be no need to continue our partnership. In the future, once I have my own animation website up and running, I won’t have to cater to anyone’s whims.’

’If they readily agree to the changes, then it just means I was judging an honorable person by my own petty standards.’

Fortunately, Zhou Lu’s reply came quickly.

"Director Jiang, the station’s leadership has agreed. We all have great faith in you as a person, so please, you must give the exclusive broadcast rights for season two of *Cat and Mouse* to Yu Du TV Station," Zhou Lu said cheerfully.

"Of course."

"I’ve sent the new contract over. Please take another look and see if there are any other problems."

"Alright."

Jiang Xia reviewed the document word by word, line by line, and confirmed that the previous trap clause had indeed been removed. This meant he could sign it.

Still, he wasn’t completely at ease, so he forwarded the contract to Chen Yao. When it came to contract law, she was more of an expert than he was.

"Hey, old deskmate, do me a favor and look over this contract. See if there are any issues."

◇

Several days passed in a flash. The two temps Li Weiya had found for Jiang Xia had familiarized themselves with the art style and joined the production. With this fresh blood on the team, the production progress for the second season of *Cat and Mouse* instantly sped up considerably.

Jiang Xia couldn’t help but marvel once again at the importance of having enough people. ’Once I get to university, I absolutely have to rebuild the studio.’

’It needs to be at least two or three times the current size, with more specialized roles. That’s the only way to create a high-efficiency work atmosphere, instead of this constant grind of daily overtime that feels like it’s killing me.’

To ensure the smooth completion of all 12 episodes, Jiang Xia created a detailed project schedule and sent it to the group chat. Each person had to complete their assigned tasks within the specified deadline to avoid delaying the next phase of production.

Under such high pressure, even the two newcomers who had just joined the group didn’t dare to slack off. Their only task each day was to put their heads down and draw. Fortunately, the artistic requirements for *Cat and Mouse* weren’t particularly high—there were no complex compositions or scene designs. It was exhausting, to be sure, but still manageable.

As for Jiang Xia, his daily routine consisted of staying home to draw storyboards, capturing the finished key animation frames in sequence, editing a rough animatic, and then handing it off to his girlfriend for the voice-over work.

The team’s only real break was around 7 p.m. each evening, when that night’s episode of *Cat and Mouse* aired. They would all gather to discuss the ratings, new plot points, and fresh ideas. If anyone had questions, they’d ask Jiang Xia directly, and he would answer them one by one.

...

*(Author’s Note: Only two Chapters today, sorry. I have some personal business to take care of.)*