"But now there's no problem. We'll get right into rehearsals, and once the school funding comes through after the holidays, we can buy some costumes and props, and we'll be all set!"
Zhang Yiyang was looking forward to the college's welcome party for the first time.
Last year, as a freshman, although he also participated in the welcome party and even sang on stage, he didn't have strong expectations and just went through the motions. After all, last year's programs were quite average, more like a formality.
But this year was different; he was full of anticipation for these two language programs.
This is the qualitative change that a good program brings to a party.
Zhang Yiyang was humming a tune and was about to leave when he saw Professor He Cheng coming towards him with a thermos in hand.
Seeing Professor He Cheng, Zhang Yiyang's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself, how did he escape the tiger's den only to enter the wolf's lair!
Was it because he didn't read the almanac before leaving home today? His luck seemed a bit off!
Professor He Cheng could indeed be called infamous; the sophomores had already suffered their fair share under his tutelage.
The key issue was that Zhang Yiyang, as a student leader who often visited the college office, received special attention from Professor He Cheng, which was a source of constant grief for him.
Since they had collided now, he couldn't just pretend not to see him, so he had to greet him respectfully.
When Professor He Cheng saw him, his expression darkened, "Hmm? Little Zhang? Good timing, come to my office."
Zhang Yiyang's heart sank, sensing trouble. But there was nothing he could do except obediently follow Professor He Cheng to the office.
"What was with your last assignment? It was too perfunctory! How did I explain it during the class? A good level design must be rich in content and resource-efficient, often with designs that give players a 'sudden enlightenment.' What kind of levels are you making?"
Professor He rounded on Zhang Yiyang's assignment, scolding him mercilessly.
Zhang Yiyang's good mood vanished in an instant, and he looked downcast, like a defeated rooster.
It took a good while, and after all the problems in his level design had been sharply critiqued by Professor He, the storm finally passed.
Professor He Cheng took a sip from his thermos, "You, you, have you only been focusing on preparing for the welcome party recently, and just rushing through your assignments?
"Sophomore year has just started not long ago, and many classes are at a critical stage. I can understand you being busy with student council affairs, but you can't neglect your studies, right?"
Zhang Yiyang hung his head, "Yes, Professor He, I will pay attention to this in the future."
Professor He Cheng waved his hand, "Alright, that's all, you can go back now. Remember to redo this assignment and show it to me after the holiday.
"Oh, wait, one more thing."
Zhang Yiyang was about to leave but turned back, "What is it, Professor?"
Professor He Cheng asked, "Do you know a freshman named Lu Zhixing?"
Zhang Yiyang nodded blankly, "Lu Zhixing?... Yes, I know him."
He didn't know many freshmen since the school year had just started. How many people could he have interacted with? He was more familiar with those involved in the welcome party. Unexpectedly, Professor He Cheng had asked about one he was quite familiar with.
Professor He Cheng nodded, "Then, do you know what he's been busy with recently?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yiyang thought, Lu has helped me so much, shouldn't I put in some good words for him in front of the professor?
"I'm very familiar with Lu! He has been a huge help. Professor, you may not know, but he is really talented. First, he composed an original song for our college's welcome party, then he wrote the scripts for two language programs. Besides, although I am not clear about the specifics, it seems he often does part-time jobs off-campus, working diligently and striving for improvement..."
These were essentially the facts, which Zhang Yiyang embellished a bit, hoping to make a good impression on Professor He for Lu.
Although he didn't know why Professor He was so interested in this junior, saying these words of praise shouldn't be an issue, right?
Yet the more Zhang Yiyang spoke, the more he felt something was off, as Professor He Cheng's expression had visibly darkened.
"This is preposterous, isn't this just fooling around?
"If he's such a talented individual, why doesn't he focus on his studies instead of spending all his time on the welcome party and part-time jobs?
"It seems you've all lost your minds. Think about what your main duty is. Do you really think you can debut as celebrities in the future?"
Zhang Yiyang's heart sank. Oh no, he had backfired!
He had meant to speak well of Lu in front of Professor He Cheng, but unexpectedly he had shot himself in the foot while trying to flatter.
No, he had to quickly make up for it, or what if Lu held a grudge? Then his limited edition cheat would surely fly away with wings!
"No no no, Professor, you've misunderstood. Actually, Lu, although he has been doing a lot, has not neglected his game development in the slightest. The play 'The You in My Eyes' is based on the game he's currently working on. Take a look."
As he spoke, Zhang Yiyang hurriedly took out the script of "The You in My Eyes" and handed it over. Although it was the script and not the game design document, with Professor He Cheng's expertise, he could easily envision and reconstruct it.
Professor He Cheng looked puzzled. "'The You in My Eyes'? What's that? Isn't the game he's working on 'Ordinary Life'?"
He took the script and flipped through it quickly.
He then discovered that it was indeed a new game? And the design was already so complete?
Based on the script, it seemed like the original game design document must have been finished already, even ready to progress to the production stage.
"In such a short time, he designed another game??"
Professor He Cheng was dumbfounded. The two games designed by Lu Zhixing were of high completion, both masterpieces!
For the game "Ordinary Life," Professor He Cheng could still pick out a few faults, such as excessive resource consumption, difficulty in managing some artistic works within it, and so on. But "The You in My Eyes" had no flaws to speak of.
As a story-driven indie game, its story was complete, the structure tight, and the use of resources very efficient, truly impeccable.
Professor He Cheng was momentarily at a loss for words.
Irresponsible?
If it had been said that Lu Zhixing's busyness with other activities caused him to neglect his game design, that would indeed be irresponsible. But what if, while excelling in other areas, he also managed to complete his homework twice over?
That's not irresponsibility, that's a time management master!
Professor He Cheng looked at Zhang Yiyang and his expression darkened again, "Look at your junior, and then look at yourself! How can he manage to do so well on a welcome party and part-time job and still come up with such great designs! How come you can't even design a proper level!
"Learn more from him in the future! Go back and do this assignment twice, create two different levels! Hand them in after the break!"
Zhang Yiyang was petrified.
...