At the start, I tricked the school beauty, and ended up with twins?

This was a sensation they had never experienced before.

In the past, it was always they who brown-nosed the higher-ups, rarely being on the receiving end of flattery.

After all, at Shengda, they were merely programmers, at most in charge of a small project module, hardly members of the powerful management layer.

Now, already in their forties, nearly fifty, they had balded from all the stress.

They had never experienced what it was like to be respected...

Not being fired was considered lucky enough.

Programmers basically fed off their youth. If one hadn't made it to management by forty, they generally switched careers or packed up and left.

Under such pressure, a person was like a mule, needing to keep grinding as long as they hadn't fallen.

"It's nothing, who hasn't come up step by step? Plus, you are younger than us and more talented in programming. In just a few years, you could reach our level."

After being praised by Yu Shutong, Yang Ao shared his thoughts.

He spoke in the tone of someone who had been there.

He wasn't talking nonsense; he had been in the company for three days now, and during these days, observing Yu Shutong and the young people in their department work, he noticed they caught on quickly and were extremely fast learners.

Moreover, with the young people's fierce determination, maintaining it, they could reach their current level in just two or three years.

Programming really does require talent, and this group had not only talent but also enough fight!

They would definitely become the elite troops in the internet industry!

"Expert Yang is joking. I still often encounter problems with writing somewhat complex logic in codes! Catching up to your pace, ten years might not be enough!"

Yu Shutong said modestly with a shake of his head.

Laoer looked at Pu Tongren in surprise. Today he had realized that Yu Shutong, who had a head as blockish as elmwood, could actually butter someone up?

"Alas, you don't feel it now, but in a year or two, you'll understand how important a knack for programming is."

Yang Ao shook his head, a trace of melancholy in his eyes.

Perhaps it was the enthusiasm of Yu Shutong and his colleagues that influenced him, prompting him to speak some heartfelt truths.

Some skills might not be very apparent when everyone starts to lay the foundations together, but once it comes to application, the progress speed of some could be terrifying.

Yang Ao had seen such people.

The development manager and one of the founders of Shengda Game.

Anyone who had coded once, the second time they were almost error-free!

Such people needed only a year to walk a path others took ten years to traverse!

And now he had met another one, that was Yu Shutong, although he hadn't yet reached the level of perfect recall, he was close enough. Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

"Speaking of code, the reason I thanked you three this time is also because you helped with the logic code last time, which not only advanced our game's development but also helped us check several project bugs!"

"Those bugs, if you hadn't left hints in the code, might have gone unnoticed until the project went live."

Yu Shutong said with squinted eyes, it was hard to tell if he was smiling or pondering something.

Yang Ao's heart skipped a beat; had the back doors he left in the logic code been discovered?

What part went wrong?

That shouldn't be!

He anxiously glanced at Pu Tongren and saw Pu Tongren smiling at him, then looked at Yu Shutong, who was also smiling.

He couldn't help but feel a bit stunned; if they had discovered the backdoors he left in the project, wouldn't these two beat him to death?

How could they possibly invite him for a meal and thank him?

Although everything in his mind felt off, Yang Ao still forced himself to calm his inner nerves.

"I can't scare myself… How could they discover the backdoors I left without scrutinizing every line of code?" Yang Ao reassured himself internally.

"Haha, those few bugs! I noticed them at the time too, but I felt I couldn't solve all the issues for you. It was better that you discovered them on your own for your improvement!"

He masked his nervousness with a smile.

"Indeed, Expert Yang thought so thoroughly! Did you hear that? I told you it couldn't be code implanted by Expert Yang. He's just testing our capabilities!"

Just as Yang Ao finished speaking, Pu Tongren criticized Yu Shutong fiercely.

Yu Shutong hurriedly nodded, "Indeed, I was too hasty back then. If it was implanted code, how could that code have been so easily detected?"

"I misunderstood the three experts, I owe you all an apology!"

Yu Shutong stood up and bowed in apology to Yang Ao and his two colleagues.

Yang Ao and his colleagues looked at each other, but it was Yang Ao who reacted first, quickly standing up, "Hey, what are you doing! It's not a big deal, these things happen!"

"However, I'd also like to take this opportunity to remind you to pay attention to coding standards when you write code... It's best to put comments in the key sections."

While Yang Ao verbally reassured Yu Shutong that it was fine and even offered him advice for the future, deep down, he was sweating bullets.

Fortunately, Yu Shutong had only found the faulty code and had not realized it was Yang Ao's work.

"I'm truly sorry, Expert Yang! I realized my mistake, so I brought you over not only to apologize but also to make amends."

Yu Shutong continued to humbly admit his fault.

"It's no big deal—just a misunderstanding! Nothing serious."

Yang Ao waved it off, but seeing the honest Yu Shutong in front of him, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

To see such sincerity while he had been up to no good on a critical project at someone else's company really showed the stark difference between them!

"Haha, right, guys?" Yang Ao turned to the other two experts, signaling to them with his eyes.

Though the expressions of the two were awkward, they understood what was expected of them.

"Haha, yes, we and Old Hu aren't from Ideal Paradise, so it's normal for you to have suspicions!"

"This is a good thing! In work, don't trust anyone easily! That way, you won't suffer losses!"

The two experts chimed in one by one.

"Sit down, sit down! Let's put this matter behind us, and since you are so genuine, what is there for us to hold onto?"

Hu Ao patted Yu Shutong's shoulder.

Yu Shutong then sat down, and after a few seconds of silence, he spoke again, "How about this! Tonight, I'll treat the three of you to a meal as thanks for your help these past few days and as an apology."

Yu Shutong looked towards the team leader, Pu Tongren, who also nodded, "Yes, let's give Shutong a chance, shall we?"

"Besides, since you three have come to our company, we haven't formally welcomed you yet! A meal is a must!"

As the two experts were in sync over there, Pu Tongren's side sang the same tune.

"This… doesn't feel quite right," Yang Ao hesitated.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go, he simply felt too embarrassed to attend.

He was still reflecting on whether he should or could even undertake the actions he had taken before.

And now they were inviting him to dinner!

"Ah, what's wrong with it? Expert Yang, since this is your first time at our company, you might not know, but we have three team-building sessions each month, and if the team-building fund isn't used up, it even comes out of our salaries,"

"Really troublesome! With how busy we are, who has time for team building? But it's a strict command from the chairman, no way around it."

Yu Shutong suddenly sighed, speaking wistfully.

Yang Ao: "..."

Three times a month for team building? Unused funds deducted from salaries?

What an odd policy; other companies would save every penny on team building if possible, even at Shengda, where team buildings were nothing more than a buffet meal downstairs costing around a hundred per head.

At Ideal Paradise, using the company's money seemed obligatory!

"No way around it, our chairman loves to splurge money. Please consider it helping us out! With three more people, we'll go through the team-building fund faster!"

Seeing Yang Ao staring in disbelief, Pu Tongren shook his head as if helpless.

"What do you two think?" Yang Ao, hearing this, felt less able to refuse and turned to ask the other two experts.

The other two hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"It seems we three are all free tonight, then it's settled." Yang Ao, smiling anew, said, "It's really embarrassing. We have just arrived and haven't helped out at all, yet here we are, ready to freeload on food and drinks!"

Pu Tongren and Yu Shutong exchanged smiles, with Pu Tongren saying, "What's there to be embarrassed about? There will be plenty more opportunities to feel embarrassed in the future!"

Yang Ao instinctively nodded, but soon realized there was something odd about that remark.

But seeing their smiles, he thought he might have misunderstood.

"Expert Yang, there's another issue with the project, could you three please help us take a look?" Yu Shutong suddenly asked.

Yang Ao looked surprised, then quickly nodded, "No problem!"