As dusk fell, the enticing aroma of braised pork wafted from the kitchen, while the TV in the living room played "Bright Sword," with Li Yunlong delivering his classic line: "I'm going to take down the elite!"

Jiang Xia smiled silently, walked out of the bedroom, and saw Jiang Wende sitting on the sofa, staring intently at the TV. Back then, not only his father, but he himself also loved watching it.

"Dad," he called out.

"Um."

Jiang Wende gave a light reply, glanced up at the screen, and then turned back to the television.

Jiang Xia was both very familiar with this scene and had almost forgotten about it.

From childhood to adulthood, Jiang Wende basically let his son grow up freely, occasionally inquiring about his grades and recent situation, as long as he didn't cause trouble.

As for his life and studies, they were basically left to his mother, Xia Shanshan. After all, she was a Chinese language teacher who taught and nurtured students, so she did all the work of being a mother and a teacher by herself. He only needed to work hard to earn money.

However, it cannot be said that Jiang Wende did not care about his son. It's just that fathers often keep their love in their hearts and do not express it excessively.

These are things that Jiang Xia only gradually came to understand after he truly came of age in his previous life.

Seeing his father again, he was still a man in his early forties, in the prime of his life, with no gray hair at his temples.

Thinking of his father's experiences in his past life, his nose tingled and he felt very guilty.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Wende looked at him suspiciously, feeling that this kid was acting a bit strange today. Had he never seen his father before or what?

"N-nothing." Jiang Xia took a deep breath and walked over to pretend to drink water to hide her complicated emotions.

In the past, on the anniversary of his father's death every year, he would mutter a lot to himself, but now when he sees people, he feels he has nothing to say.

In my memory, the father and son didn't seem to talk much. But on the night after the graduation banquet, Jiang Wende, who hadn't drunk alcohol for many years, had a rare drink. The father and son sat on small stools on the balcony, enjoying the city's night view, and Jiang Wende told Jiang Xia a lot of life lessons.

Unfortunately, he listened to some advice but not others. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so arrogant in starting his own business, only to suffer a crushing defeat, with his parents ultimately bearing the consequences for him.

By the time an accident happens and you want to fulfill your filial duties, it's already too late.

“Your mom told me you went straight to bed when you got home today. I wanted to say, the college entrance exam is coming up soon, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Keep a calm mindset, success always comes to those who are prepared,” Jiang Wende suddenly said.

"I know, don't worry, Dad, I will definitely not let you down."

Jiang Xia nodded vigorously, then changed the subject: "But Dad, don't just criticize me, you should too. You need to get more rest and never drive while fatigued."

Jiang Wende was stunned for a moment, then laughed and scolded, "Your old man has been driving for over ten years, do you think I don't know this much? You should spend more time caring about your mother instead of me. She spends more time and effort on you than I do."

"Hehe, it's not contradictory, we care about both."

After saying that, Jiang Xia dashed off to the kitchen to help.

Dinner was a simple home-cooked meal, four dishes and a soup. The family of three ate while watching TV. Compared to the various cringe-worthy fantasy dramas of later generations, the period dramas of this era were a breath of fresh air.

"Mom, I need to go out and buy some drawing paper tomorrow," Jiang Xia said, taking a bite of the juicy braised pork.

Is one hundred yuan enough?

Xia Shanshan glanced at him. She had never quite understood her son's choice of art. She was a very traditional teacher who valued academic subjects highly and always felt that pursuing art and music was a waste of time and energy. She thought that only students with poor grades would choose this path.

But since it was a decision he made after careful consideration, and he did indeed demonstrate a high level of talent in painting, we let him go.

"That's enough, that's enough." Jiang Xia nodded hurriedly.

Specialized animation positioning paper isn't expensive and can be bought in most bookstores; it's just that you might need a lot of it.

Jiang Wende immediately took out a hundred yuan and put it on the table. Xia Shanshan said, "I can give you the money, but you have to satisfy me in the first diagnostic exam soon. Don't get a high score in the professional course but fail the cultural course."

"no problem."

He readily agreed, thinking to himself that he would have to pay more attention in class from now on.

After dinner, Jiang Xia returned to his room to focus on working on the unfinished storyboard for the first episode. Around 11 p.m., Xia Shanshan's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

"It's getting late, go wash up and go to bed early. You need to be fully focused to study effectively."

Listening to her mother speak as if she were giving a Chinese language lesson, Jiang Xia felt a warm current well up in her heart.

"Okay, Mom, I'll go to sleep right away."

As soon as he finished speaking, the living room lights went out.

About half an hour later, Jiang Xia yawned. The storyboard for the first episode was finished. The 7-minute video had a total of more than 100 seventy-plus storyboards.

Although it is suspected of being a copy, working so hard in one day is quite astonishing, especially considering that a certain island nation with a complete industry chain in my previous life.

After quickly previewing the original artwork drawn from the storyboard once more, Jiang Xia made several revisions to the perspective and expressive tension before finally completing the storyboard production for the first episode.

The next step is to draw the original drawings based on the storyboard and to create the scenes for the first episode. Once these two stages are completed, the first episode of Tom and Jerry will be more than half done, and the rest can be left to the computer.

As the warm water flowed down his back, Jiang Xia began to anticipate what kind of waves this classic masterpiece would create in the world after its successful replication.

◇

The next day, Jiang Xia slowly woke up to find that it was already bright outside. Perhaps it was because he had seen his parents again that he had slept so soundly the night before.

The sound of porcelain bowls clinking came from the kitchen. Jiang Xia, wearing her pajamas, walked out of the bedroom and found that Jiang Wende had already left early.

"You're up? I was just about to call you."

Xia Shanshan, holding a shovel, nagged, "Haven't you been doing your morning reading for a long time? I've taught you since you were little that the day's plan starts in the morning, but it's only been a short time and you've already forgotten it all. How can you remember things if you don't read them? Whether it's Chinese or English, you have to memorize them."

"Yes, yes, I understand, my dear mother." Jiang Xia sighed helplessly. Having lived two lives, she was tired of hearing these words, but she never felt weary of them.

"Aren't you going to buy drawing paper today? Hurry up and eat." Xia Shanshan said, putting two poached eggs into his bowl. "You're going to school this afternoon, right? Are you coming back for lunch?"

Jiang Xia thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I guess I won't come back."

What do you mean by 'not coming back,'?

"He's not coming back."

Looking at the poached eggs in the bowl, he opened his mouth and ate them one by one.