Chapter 277 - 274: Consummation

Chapter 277: Chapter 274: Consummation

Li Weiya spoke at length on stage, covering everything from the founding of Qitian Animation to its journey of becoming a nationally recognized animation company.

This included her astonishment when she first saw Cat and Mouse, the first time she and Jiang Xia went to a TV station to negotiate a contract, and all the major achievements and various records Cat and Mouse broke after its television debut...

And now, Qitian Animation had grown from a ragtag team with no office space to speak of into a company with a 300-square-meter office in the Imperial Capital’s Tsinghua Science Park.

All of this had been accomplished in just about half a year, a growth rate so fast it was staggering.

"Alright, next, let’s welcome the founder of Qitian Animation, the father of Cat and Mouse, our very own President Jiang, to the stage."

Li Weiya gestured politely toward the audience, and all eyes turned to the young man sitting in the front row. Thunderous applause immediately erupted.

Jiang Xia took a deep breath, straightened his clothes slightly, and walked unhurriedly onto the stage.

His gaze swept over the crowd. Seeing so many new faces in the audience, he couldn’t help but think of the studio he had founded in his past life. It hadn’t been much different from this.

This time, however, the outcome would be completely different.

He first faced the audience and gave a deep bow. Just as he was about to speak, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open.

Jiang Xia turned his head and was surprised to see it was Lin Yanwan.

"Aren’t you supposed to be in class?"

"Hehe, I snuck out."

The two exchanged a simple conversation with their eyes. Lin Yanwan stuck out her tongue, then sat down next to Li Weiya.

After all, it was the company’s first day. How could she feel at ease letting Jiang Xia face this alone? With her there, he would at least feel a bit more settled.

He let out a long breath and began slowly, "Hello, everyone. My name is Jiang Xia..."

He then elaborated on what Li Weiya had said, speaking in detail about the creative inspiration and background of Cat and Mouse, as well as the character designs for the frenemy duo, Tom and Jerry, who love and fight in equal measure.

Of course, for an animation company, the core element is a cartoon’s selling point. Why Cat and Mouse had become an instant nationwide sensation upon its release was the most critical point he needed to explain.

Only by understanding this core concept could his employees build upon it to create even higher-quality animation.

When he got to an exciting part, Jiang Xia even picked up a marker and began storyboarding Cat and Mouse on the whiteboard, a sight that left everyone in the room amazed.

In the audience, Lin Yanwan watched Jiang Xia speak with such eloquence and confidence, her beautiful eyes shimmering. She had never seen him look so self-assured.

In half an hour, Jiang Xia gave a detailed overview of everything from Cat and Mouse to the company’s future development plans. In short, Qitian Animation was going to become the top animation company of the 21st century.

He didn’t expect these employees to be completely convinced by his words alone. For now, he was just planting a seed. As long as the company’s benefits were good, it grew rapidly, and the cartoons they produced became one timeless classic after another.

At that point, the seed would naturally sprout and grow, becoming a shared belief for everyone at Qitian.

When he finished speaking, fierce applause broke out. Some people initially hadn’t believed that this young man, who had just started university, could be the father of Cat and Mouse. But after listening to his incredibly confident and eloquent speech, they had no choice but to believe.

When it came to understanding Cat and Mouse, no one was more thorough than him.

"Alright, that’s all I have to say for today. I hope that from now on, we can all work hard together toward the same goal and create something brilliant."

Jiang Xia smiled as he stepped off the stage, kicking the ball of hosting the meeting back to Li Weiya.

Next came self-introductions for everyone. After all, they had all just joined the company and didn’t know each other. Introductions would be a quick way to build rapport and get a clear idea of what everyone did, which would lead to better collaboration.

The 32 self-introductions took almost an hour and a half. Finally, Li Weiya distributed the project schedule she had previously shown Jiang Xia for review.

Now that most of what needed to be said had been said, it was time to assign tasks. Li Weiya gave a detailed explanation from the stage. Once the others received the schedule, they could easily find their responsibilities based on their job titles.

As for more detailed meetings about animation and direction, those would have to be discussed later.

Before they knew it, it was already noon. Qitian Animation’s first meeting concluded successfully.

Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan let Li Weiya know they were leaving, once again playing the part of the hands-off boss and entrusting all company matters to her. The two then leisurely rode their bikes back to the university.

"Not bad. You were very handsome up there," Lin Yanwan said with a soft laugh, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Of course I have to put on a good show for you," Jiang Xia said, his spirits high as they rode into the gentle breeze.

The corners of Lin Yanwan’s mouth lifted slightly, her smile deepening.

"By the way, now that you have a music supervisor, do you still need me to do the score? Or will you be hiring a professional orchestra?"

"Yes."

Jiang Xia nodded without hesitation. After all, Lin Yanwan had scored two entire seasons of Cat and Mouse by herself. No one understood how to express the music for each scene better than she did.

Besides, he wanted his darling to be fully involved in the animation production process. In the future, besides Cat and Mouse, he also wanted her to voice other characters, not just be a relatively peripheral finance person. If that were the case, he’d rather she pursued her dream of being a music producer.

Lin Yanwan was very happy to hear this.

"Honey, I originally wanted you to be the music supervisor, but you still have your studies, so you definitely wouldn’t have the time. That’s why I’m planning for you to be the voice actress for Haruko and to do the theme song for Slam Dunk. This task is perfect for you, and only you," Jiang Xia said seriously.

Lin Yanwan blinked. As someone who had been reborn, she was indeed the only one who could possibly complete this task.

It was just like with "Cat Concerto" before. Without her help, he really wouldn’t have been able to pull it off alone. Voice acting could easily be done by someone else, but only she knew the theme songs.

Those classic songs were so ingrained they were practically part of her DNA. Even if she heard them again a decade later, she would still want to shout, "There goes my youth!"

"In that case, I’ll have to give it some serious thought," she said.

Even though she had the lyrics and melodies ready in her head, turning them into widely-sung classics would require a lot of polishing, and the accompaniment of various instruments was indispensable.

Another important point was that she would have to adapt the Japanese songs into Chinese versions.

"There’s no rush. We have plenty of time."

Jiang Xia smiled slightly. He didn’t want his darling to enter the complicated entertainment industry, but he could help her become a music legend in the world of ACG.

’And wasn’t this just another form of being a music producer?’