GTROAE Chapter 71: Craftsman Wood

Chapter 71: Craftsman Wood

Before going to bed, William finalized the next game.

Created a new folder: Craftsman Wood.

Craftsman Wood is more educational than entertaining. If you had to describe it, it’s a puzzle game where players use traditional mortise-and-tenon joints to assemble antique-style furniture. It involves cutting, sanding, and joining wood.

If designed and developed from scratch by one person, it would require a huge amount of research and at least some woodworking knowledge, because many professional techniques are used.

Designing the furniture, planning the joints, and writing artifact descriptions are the hardest parts of development. But for William, these aren’t a problem. The only thing that will take much of his effort is writing the code to run the game.

“Tonight I’m treating Merry. Don’t you dare ditch me.”

Cynthia reminded him after William told her he wouldn’t be coming to the office that morning.

“Got it.”

Merry was the person their company worked with the most, since she handled all their game marketing—stress-free and efficient.

Before leaving, Cynthia asked, “Want me to give you a ride?”

“No, I’ll just take a taxi.”

“Alright.”

That morning, William had arranged to meet Tiffany. He wanted to make some audio for Craftsman Wood, and piano clearly didn’t fit. Since he knew nothing about traditional instruments, Tiffany, who ran a music studio, naturally came to mind.

“Morning.”

Although it wasn’t yet the agreed time, Tiffany was already waiting when William arrived at RiverTone Music.

“Morning.”

As they went upstairs, William heard music from Castle in the Sky playing through the speakers—it was his own performance.

Tiffany glanced at William. “You don’t mind, right?”

“Sounds great.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Tiffany smiled.

They entered a music classroom filled with all kinds of instruments.

“What do you want to use?”

William looked around and picked two: the guzheng and the pipa.

Following his directions, Tiffany played both instruments. By the end of the morning, they had recorded over ten short clips and two longer pieces, completing the BGM for Craftsman Wood.

“Free for lunch?”

“Sure.” Tiffany agreed without hesitation.

Since William rarely ate out, he had no idea where to go. He called Cynthia to see if she could book a table at Magnolia Restaurant.

Hearing that William wanted to eat at Magnolia Restaurant, Cynthia teased, “A date?”

“No, just returning a favor. A friend helped me out.” William answered honestly.

“Alright, go ahead. They’re not busy today.”

William wasn’t sure how she knew that.

He took a taxi to Magnolia Restaurant and arrived close to 12:30.

“Isn’t this a bit too pricey?” Tiffany looked at the entrance with some concern.

She could certainly afford it, but saw no real need.

“You helped me out a lot,” William said. “Since you won’t accept payment, at least let me treat you to a nice meal.”

“Almost forgot you’re the big boss of Earth Games.” Tiffany gave a small smile.

Aunt Lisa hadn’t hidden anything, which also showed that the two of them had a close relationship.

During the meal, Tiffany said, “I still haven’t properly thanked you for last time.”

“It was nothing, really. We both got what we needed.”

“But it meant a lot to me.”

“Is it going to cause trouble?”

William still remembered the look on Dollas’ face back then—it was anything but pleasant.

“No,” Tiffany shook her head. “Actually, you took care of all the trouble for me. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that now you’re the one in trouble.”

Her words made William pause with his chopsticks midair. “What trouble?” he asked, puzzled.

“First of all, it’s not my idea,” Tiffany said seriously. “The setting and situation that night made people think you were my boyfriend, so some events might expect you to show up. Of course, if you don’t want the hassle, I can just tell people we’re no longer connected.”

“If you do that, wouldn’t some of the trouble come back?”

After attending that dinner, William had already guessed a few things.

Dollas had been trying to set Tiffany up with someone. In the music industry, almost everyone was waiting for their family to form an alliance with another big family. As with most noble houses in history, marriage was the easiest way. Since Tiffany didn’t want to go along with it, she had to find someone more beneficial to the family than the match they had in mind—or cut ties with her family completely.

William’s appearance had fit the bill. Even though he had no background, his youth and exceptional music talent meant he could very well become a future star—someone who could lead the music scene for decades. That alone made him a worthy candidate for a big family marriage.

It might sound a bit far-fetched, but a lot of the old rules still existed in this world—they just didn’t matter much to ordinary people.

Tiffany, however, didn’t care. “Just ignore that stuff.”

“Sounds like it’s got nothing to do with me anymore.” William pretended to relax, and as expected, a faint hint of disappointment crossed Tiffany’s face.

“But if I can help you, that’s great.”

Tiffany looked at him from different angles, but said nothing more, quietly enjoying her meal.

They chatted casually afterward, and once they finished, William called a cab to take her home.

After leaving the music shop, he went to the nearest driving school to register. Since he could already drive, he figured he could take it easy during lessons and it wouldn’t take much of his time.

After signing up, the school told him to wait for a slot—it would take one or two months just to get in line. Looked like for now, he’d still be relying on taxis.

In the afternoon, William worked on the modeling for “Craftsman’s Wood” while keeping track of Angela and Zach’s progress. With Leon and Tina working together more smoothly, their side no longer needed much attention to run well.

The only one struggling was Claire, who was still clumsily designing levels for “Happy Match Mania.” Whenever William had free time, he gave her pointers, but he never thought about doing the work for her.

Soon it was time to clock out.

When he got home, he found out Cynthia had invited everyone from the company to her house for dinner. Judging by how secretive she’d been, William wouldn’t have known she’d hired the entire original kitchen team from Magnolia Restaurant unless he’d happened to eat there at lunch and overheard the head chef spill the secret.

When they arrived, those visiting her home for the first time couldn’t help but marvel. Aunt Oliver warmly welcomed every guest. The Magnolia Restaurant chefs had gotten there even earlier, and with the kitchen door open, everyone could see them busy with the preparations inside.

People were already eager to start, but the most important guest hadn’t arrived yet—so Claire happily settled in for a game of mahjong.

Around seven o’clock, the doorbell finally rang, signaling the arrival of the guest everyone had been waiting for.