Chapter 11 (1/2)

Ma Yang packed his stuff and headed out to the nearby bookstore in search of technical books on game designs.

Pei Qian did not know if Ma Yang would be able to purchase any but given the number of bookstores available, he should most likely be able to get some.

In reality, there were already some online shopping platforms by this period of time including websites that specialized in books.

However, most of the people had not gotten used to the platforms yet. In fact, some of the slower students did not apply for internet banking access even.

Ma Yang belonged to the group of slower, more traditional students. His first choice when it came to buying books was to rush to a bookstore and flipping through parts of the contents before deciding if he wanted it.

Of course, that status quo was about to be overturned by enormous changes in the coming few years.

Pei Qian got back onto his bed and opened his laptop, contemplating about what he should do next.

By noon, Ma Yang had returned.

He was carrying around eight books with a voluminous one amongst them that was around the thickness of two fingers. At 200 millimeters long, it was titled Overview of Advanced Programming.

Other than that, there were a bunch of others such as Survival Guide out of Coding, Collection of Program Management, Complete Guide to Coding and Guide to Recovering From Neck Injuries.

Ma Yang felt that he had gotten a great harvest.

Flipping through the books that Ma Yang brought back, Pei Qian’s gaze finally lingered on Guide to Recovering From Neck Injuries.

This guy had really prepared thoroughly!

He was even considering the possibility of them getting neck injuries?

However, the biggest problem that programmers faced wasn’t neck injuries – it was dying from being overworked!

Besides, it’s not as though you’re going to be a programmer!

Previously, Pei Qian had thought that he might have gotten the wrong guy for the job given how on the ball and passionate Ma Yang was towards the job.

But when he saw Ma Yang’s choice of books, Pei Qian was certain.

Ma Yang was the best partner for him, hands down!

Just look at how he had gone such a long way for bookstores just to get these books back.

Were they useless? Not exactly, since they were somewhat relevant.

Yet, one can’t claim that they were useful because… they just weren’t!

This was a classic example of working in vain!

Pei Qian patted Ma Yang on the shoulder. “Ma Yang, what we’re doing is design, not programming.”

“Besides, do you know that games nowadays are all created using game editors?”

“Also, technology is developing rapidly and changing way too quickly. The technicalities in these books are already almost outdated and they’re not really of use.”

Ma Yang’s face drained of color. “I was wondering why they were on discount in the bookstores! It’s because they can’t be sold!”

“I looked around the bookstore for a long time but I just couldn’t find any books about designing games. These were all that I could find and when I saw that they were on discount, I bought a couple of them.”

“What should we do? I can’t get a refund for discounted books!”

Ma Yang was panicked.

However, Pei Qian was completely relieved as he smiled. “It’s fine, it’s the effort that counts. If you feel that you shouldn’t waste these books after buying them, you can browse through them. After all, they’ll be of some help no matter what.”

Ma Yang felt more at ease upon hearing that. “Do you want to browse through them too? We can take turns.”

Pei Qian’s expression turned dark as he waved it off hurriedly. “N-No, it’s fine!”

Who would want to browse through these books? They’d be stiff even when used as pillows!

Lying down on his bed, Ma Yang opened the thickest book – Overview of Advanced Programming.

After five minutes, snoring sounds reverberated from his bed.

Pei Qian was pleased.

Yes, reliable!