They surrounded me right after the breakup.

Xia Yutong sat in her office, staring blankly at the computer screen.

Jiang Han asked her to take two people to visit the set of "Nezha". Old Zhou from the technical department knows post-production, and Xiao Chen from the finance department knows budgeting. She definitely needs to take these two people.

But she herself knows nothing about animated films, so what could she possibly supervise? She couldn't even distinguish between storyboards and keyframes.

Xia Yutong hesitated for a long time before picking up her phone and scrolling to Lin Yaoyao's chat window.

Lin Yaoyao is a professional voice actress who has worked on many animation projects, including the Nezha project.

Most importantly, she considers the interests of Jianghan.

To be fair, Xia Yutong didn't want to meet Lin Yaoyao alone, but faced with the bigger picture, she still typed on the keyboard.

She simply sent a message: "Are you familiar with the Nezha film crew?"

"Yes, we know each other. What's wrong?"

"Jiang Han asked me to visit the set, but I don't know much about animation, so I'd like to invite you to come along."

"Okay, when?"

Are you free now?

"Okay, send me the address, I'll go there myself."

Xia Yutong was surprised that Lin Yaoyao agreed so readily and didn't make any excuses to refuse.

It's clear that she cares a lot about Jianghan's career.

Half an hour later, Xia Yutong drove to the office building rented by the Nezha film crew.

Lin Yaoyao was already waiting in the lobby.

She was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, white sneakers, and her hair was tied in a low ponytail.

"You're here early." Xia Yutong walked over.

Lin Yaoyao smiled broadly, stepped forward and hugged Xia Yutong's arm, acting as intimately as sisters.

In her eyes, her best friend had done a great service the night Shen Qingning broke into her house.

Not only did he successfully drive Xiao Xiao away, but he also stayed up all night with his nemesis.

She's completely different from those cheap women who only know how to seduce other people's boyfriends.

"Let's go, Director Dumpling is waiting upstairs."

The two entered the elevator, and Xia Yutong pressed the floor button.

When they reached their floor, the door opened, and they walked down the corridor to the end.

It was a large open room with more than a dozen computers.

The same software is running on each screen, with the image frozen on different frames.

Several young people were working at their seats; some were drawing, and some were mixing colors.

There was a separate room at the very back, with a note on the door that read: "Under construction, knock to enter."

Lin Yaoyao knocked on the door, and someone inside called out, "Come in."

The room wasn't big; it contained a table, two monitors, and a stack of drawings next to it.

Dumplings sat at the table, wearing glasses, while a scene of Nezha appeared on the screen.

Xia Yutong recognized the dark circles under his eyes; she had seen the promotional images online.

"Yaoyao's here." Jiaozi stood up, saw Xia Yutong, and asked, "And who is this?"

"Xia Yutong is the legal counsel for Xingyue Media. President Jiang sent her to check on the progress," Lin Yaoyao introduced.

Dumpling shook hands with Xia Yutong, then turned and pointed at the camera on the screen.

"You've come at the right time. Let me tell you where we are now."

He pulled over two chairs for them to sit down, then sat down at the computer and opened a folder.

The folder is full of video files, named by date plus version number, with the earliest version dating back two years.

"This shot has been revised twenty-six times since the first version," Dumpling said, pointing to the screen.

In the scene, Nezha stands by the sea, and the sky behind him changes from sunny to cloudy.

"The main issue is the speed at which the clouds change. If it's too fast, there's no sense of pressure; if it's too slow, the audience won't notice. We tried it frame by frame to find the current rhythm."

He then clicked on another scene, which was of Taiyi Zhenren riding a pig flying in the sky, with the pig's hair fluttering in the wind.

"The special effects artist spent two months working on the animation of this hair. It's rare for domestic animation to do this kind of detail before, because it's too time-consuming."

Dumpling got more and more excited as she talked, and stood up and walked to the wall to introduce the storyboard one by one.

Each one was marked with suggestions for revision in red pen; some said the pace was too fast, others said the expressions weren't fierce enough.

Xia Yutong counted the annotations on one of the sheets and found that it had been revised at least thirty times.

"How's the overall progress going?"

Dumpling glanced at the calendar on the table: "Now that President Jiang's investment is in place, we're no longer under financial pressure. We can focus on production, and it should be ready soon."

"The team worked together very well, and we solved the several technical difficulties that had previously been a problem."

The dumplings will continue to be shown in segments.

Xia Yutong watched the fight scene playing on screen. The movements were fluid, the special effects were amazing, and the lighting and shadow details were handled very delicately.

She doesn't understand animation technology, but she just thinks it looks good.

Lin Yaoyao muttered to herself, "It's been improved a lot since the last time I came."

Dumpling nodded: "Yes, it was just revised last week."

The second scene is Nezha and Ao Bing in the Shanhe Sheji Tu (a Chinese painting), and the scenery is so magnificent that it seems impossible for a domestic animation to produce such a scene.

Finally, we watched the climax of the movie. When Nezha shouted, "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens," Xia Yutong got goosebumps.

It was already noon when I left the film set.

The two stood at the entrance of the office building. The sun was shining brightly; that's how autumn is in Jingzhou—it's a bit hot under the midday sun.

Lin Yaoyao stretched and turned to look at Xia Yutong: "Come on, I'll treat you to dinner."

Xia Yutong paused for a moment: "No need, I'll eat when I get back."

"Don't be shy, it's not easy for us to come out." Lin Yaoyao had already taken out her phone and started looking for nearby restaurants.

"There's a Hunan restaurant nearby. Siyao and I ate there last time, and it was pretty good."

"Let's go, let's go, stop dawdling."

The Hunan restaurant wasn't big, but it was quite crowded at lunchtime. The two of us found a seat by the window.

"We ordered too much; we can't finish it," Xia Yutong said.

"Take any leftovers home, so as not to waste them." Lin Yaoyao handed the menu to the waiter, then picked up the teapot and poured Xia Yutong a cup of tea.

"Yutong, I haven't thanked you for what happened last time."

"What is it?"

"It was the time Shen Qingning went to my house." Lin Yaoyao put down her teacup, her expression becoming serious.

"Siyao and I weren't here, so you went over to keep an eye on things and even slept there overnight. If it weren't for you, who knows what kind of trouble would have happened."

Xia Yutong felt embarrassed.

At that time, she and Shen Qingning had a very heart-to-heart talk. It was more like she was listening to Shen Qingning's advice than just looking at her.

Her own little schemes were no less than Shen Qingning's.

Lin Yaoyao's gratitude towards her was no less than a chicken offering New Year's greetings to a weasel.

"It's nothing, just a small favor," Xia Yutong said, feigning composure.

"It was no small favor." Lin Yaoyao looked at her with sincere eyes.

"Even Liu Meng didn't want to go, and you could have easily ignored it, but you went, and Siyao and I are very grateful!"

Xia Yutong scratched her head, awkwardly responding to her best friend's thanks.

The dishes were served, and Lin Yaoyao picked up a piece of beef with her chopsticks and put it in Xia Yutong's bowl.

After a moment of silence, Xia Yutong spoke first.

"What do you think Jiang Han... means to Shen Qingning?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Yaoyao thought for a moment, "They slept together, that's all, it doesn't mean anything."

"He won't get back together with Shen Qingning. That woman knows it herself. She's just... resigned to her fate now. As long as she can stay by Jiang Han's side, she'll accept any identity."

"What about Xiao Xiao?" Xia Yutong asked again.