"Happy Breakup, I wish you happiness"

"You can find someone better"

"Don’t want to get through winter, tired of the heaviness"

"So I’ll fly to a tropical island to swim"

"..."

The chilly wind hit his face as Jiang Xia silently sang the song in his head. His face was etched with loss, his mind uncontrollably replaying scenes from his wedding with Lin Yanwan.

’Once those words were said, it was a complete breakup. There’s no turning back now.’

He had thought he could accept this reality calmly, but it turned out he was only pretending to be unfazed in front of Lin Yanwan. With an eight-year marriage dead, his heart, hidden behind a forced smile, still throbbed with sharp pains.

An overwhelming sadness gradually filled him. He looked up at the sky, the glaring light making him instinctively squint as a tear silently escaped the corner of his eye.

Just then, an ill-timed voice suddenly rang out.

"Old Jiang, did you just get your heart broken?" Wang Ming had a strange look in his eyes. He had been standing beside him observing for several seconds, but the guy hadn’t even noticed.

"..."

Jiang Xia’s eyelid twitched. He pretended to pinch the bridge of his nose, discreetly wiping away the tear.

"No way! You really got dumped? I never heard you were dating anyone. Or did the girl you like fall for someone else? Or maybe you finally worked up the courage to confess, only to be ruthlessly rejected?" Wang Ming stroked his chin, speculating.

Jiang Xia reined in his emotions and looked at him blankly. "It’s a shame you’re not a novelist."

"You think so too?" Wang Ming was shocked. "My deskmate said the same thing last time. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have studied drawing. Being a writer in the future sounds pretty good."

"Well, it’s not too late now."

Jiang Xia glanced at him, not in the mood to talk to this goofball right now. He was feeling down. He turned and walked toward the nearby bus stop.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" Wang Ming hurried to catch up.

"To the book city to buy some drawing paper."

"Didn’t the art school entrance exams end a long time ago? What are you buying drawing paper for?"

"To draw."

Just as he finished speaking, the Route 101 bus slowly pulled up. Jiang Xia squeezed aboard with the crowd. Although Wang Ming was confused, he still followed him on.

The two of them held onto the hanging straps, swaying with the lurching bus amidst the packed crowd. Seeing that Jiang Xia seemed to be in a very bad mood, Wang Ming stopped pestering him with questions.

Not long after, the bus stopped at the Xuehai Book City station. Jiang Xia headed straight for the art supplies section with a clear goal. He found the three-hole punched animation paper, size 12F, felt its texture, and immediately made his decision.

"This is..."

Seeing the drawing paper Jiang Xia was buying, Wang Ming froze. He had assumed he would buy the usual sketch paper, but it was actually three-hole punched animation paper. That was something generally only professional animators used.

He recalled what Jiang Xia had said at the internet cafe the day before yesterday about planning to get into animation. So he wasn’t just bragging for fun back then—he was serious?!

Jiang Xia glanced at the listed price. A pack of 200 sheets actually cost 40 yuan. ’I almost forgot, this isn’t the future.’ Economic conditions weren’t nearly as good back then, and buying from a brick-and-mortar store made it much more expensive. At this rate, the 100 yuan his mom gave him wouldn’t be enough.

He grabbed three packs at once, turned to Wang Ming, and said, "Old Wang, can I borrow 20 yuan in a bit? I’m a little short."

"The money’s no problem." Wang Ming stared at the thick stack of animation paper in his hands and swallowed hard. "Bro, are you really planning to make an animation?"

Jiang Xia nodded. "Yeah."

"But..." Wang Ming scratched his head and continued, "making an animation isn’t that simple, right? The script, storyboards, key animation, voice acting, post-production, and all that... you can’t do all of that by yourself."

"I know what I’m doing," Jiang Xia said calmly.

’If I were remaking other works, even if I were the reincarnation of the famous manga artist Osamu Tezuka, it would be impossible to do so much work alone. Or at least, it’d be impossible to create a high-quality piece in a short amount of time.’

’But *Cat and Mouse* is an exception. I’ve already run through this in my head for a long time. With the help of current software technology, I’m one hundred percent confident I can successfully recreate it.’

"What about your studies? The exams are in less than three months. If you spend a ton of energy learning animation now, are you planning to skip the college entrance exams?"

Wang Ming advised him earnestly, "Even if animation is your dream, you have to get your priorities straight, right? You’ll have plenty of time for that stuff in college. Why are you in such a rush right now?"

Jiang Xia shook his head. Wang Ming was right—at least, that’s how any normal person would see it. But for him, it was the exact opposite. Time was incredibly tight.

’It’s 2009. Even though computers have become common, television is still the fastest way for people to get information. And those on-demand request channels—the weird ones with no commercials, no station logos, not even any hosts—are still incredibly popular.’

He still remembered watching many anime series in bits and pieces by dialing in on the phone back in the day. The result was that the phone bill for that month was more than ten times higher than usual, which earned him the most severe mixed-doubles beating from his mom and dad in history.

’But even these wildly popular request channels will gradually fade away after 2010, under the impact of the internet’s rapid development.’

’If I want to catch this last bus, I have to start production now to maximize my chances of earning my first pot of gold.’

But he couldn’t explain all this to anyone else.

"Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. I promise it won’t affect my studies."

Seeing Jiang Xia so insistent, Wang Ming didn’t know what else to say. He took out a fifty-yuan bill and handed it to him. ’His decision to make an animation is probably just a whim. After a few days, once his passion cools down, he’ll probably give up.’

After all, making animation was truly difficult. Being able to draw wasn’t enough; you also needed a script, then you had to turn the text into storyboards with a sense of visual composition, and then you had to draw the key frames.

The sheer number of difficulties involved made Wang Ming’s scalp tingle just thinking about it. Compared to this, the sketching, quick drawing, and color theory for the art exam seemed simple.

After paying, Jiang Xia lifted the somewhat heavy bag, a sense of relief washing over him again. ’Now that I have the drawing tools, I’m one step closer to producing a finished version of *Cat and Mouse*.’

"Where are you going now?" Wang Ming asked.

Jiang Xia hesitated for a moment. "Back to school, I guess. It’s a bit quieter there."

"You’re going to start drawing right now? What about the script? The storyboards? The character designs? You haven’t prepared anything, have you? After all this talk, are you just messing with me?" Wang Ming looked at him, speechless. ’My good buddy here doesn’t seem like the type who doesn’t know anything.’

Hearing this, Jiang Xia just silently unzipped his backpack and took out the storyboard draft that he had spent all of yesterday drawing, handing it to him.

"*Cat and Mouse*... a proposal?"

Wang Ming’s voice jumped a few octaves. He gave Jiang Xia a strange look, then flipped to the first page.

And then, he was stunned.