Reborn not to be a beast of burden, I set the rules.

Ye Ming had just woken up when his phone rang.

He touched the Nokia phone next to his pillow; the screen lit up with two words: "Older Sister".

"Little brother, I've arrived in Huijing." On the other end of the phone, the older sister's voice carried the weariness of a long journey, but couldn't hide her joy.

"Mom just stir-fried some beef strips, I brought them all the way from Shandong Province for you. There are also scallions and soybean paste, don't you love rolling scallions in sauce? Are you free at noon? Come out to get your things and have lunch while you're at it."

Ye Ming felt a warmth in his heart and was about to agree when his sister added, "I have a class reunion this afternoon, with students from Jiangxiao Normal University. There are a lot of girls there. Some of the younger girls are quite cute... Do you want to come along?"

He tightened his grip on the phone slightly.

Blind date dinners in my past life were too torturous.

A guy who doesn't know how to flirt with girls tries to flirt with the most difficult girl.

It's all gone.

And the older sister... she also believed the saying "find a partner first," which trapped her for life.

He took a deep breath: "Sis, I won't go to these kinds of gatherings. I'm just not really feeling like attending lately."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Her older sister's voice softened, tinged with concern: "Fine, if you don't want to go, then you don't have to. You go ahead with your work, and I'll bring your things to school later?"

"No need, I'll get it myself."

"Alright, alright, you're busy now, I'll call you later." His sister hung up the phone, not giving him a chance to refuse.

Ye Ming held his phone and sat on the edge of the bed for a while.

He recalled his past life, in which his sister believed the advice to "find a partner first," and gave up pursuing a doctorate to become a teacher in Anhui.

Later she met that person.

That night, she called, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

When he arrived at the hospital, she was lying in bed with bruises on her face and bandages wrapped around her arm.

That domestic violence left her with lifelong infertility.

I'll remember this grudge.

He leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling.

She will pursue a doctorate at Hong Kong City University and do what she wants to do.

As for that person, it's best if you never even meet them in this lifetime.

Unbeknownst to him, his sister had already hung up the phone, carrying large bags and small packages, and boarded the bus to Dongda University.

Ye Ming glanced at the time: 7:40.

He got up to wash up in the bathroom, and when he came back, Chen Mo was also awake.

"So early?"

"If you can't sleep, go to the computer room early."

At 7:50, the two of them went downstairs together and headed towards the cafeteria.

There weren't many people in the cafeteria.

Ye Ming ordered a bowl of soy milk, two fried dough sticks, and a tea egg.

Chen Mo sat opposite him, holding a bowl of porridge.

"Are you really planning to spend the entire seven-day National Day holiday in the server room?"

"Um."

"Aren't you tired?"

Ye Ming peeled a tea egg: "It's good to be a little tired; it makes me feel at ease."

After finishing their meal, the two walked out of the cafeteria, where the sunlight was already quite dazzling.

"I'm going to the library, you want to go to the computer lab?"

Ye Ming nodded, and the two parted ways at the intersection.

Pushing open the door to the server room, a blast of cold air hits you.

Li Yue has arrived and is typing code on the screen.

She looked up at Ye Ming and said, "Oh, you're here at 8:30? That's early."

Ye Ming walked to a corner and sat down: "Senior, you arrived a long time ago too."

Li Yue laughed: "I live nearby, it's just a few steps away. You're really going all out."

"I can't sleep, so I'll fill out more forms if I come early."

Zhang Yuan also pushed open the door at nine o'clock, carrying a cup of soy milk.

I sat down and started debugging the interface that hadn't worked yesterday.

The sound of keyboards clicking could be heard everywhere.

Ye Ming opened his notebook, which was filled with entries about the events he had filled out over the past few days.

Failing the college entrance exam, breaking up with your first love, meeting a benefactor by chance, failing in business, winning the lottery jackpot...

He typed the following lines into the text file one by one, following the format:

[Incident] Lost ID card the day before the college entrance examination

[Condition] Intelligence > 60

[Result] Intelligence -10, Stress +20, randomly obtained "Retaking the Exam" label.

……

[Incident] Giving up a seat to an elderly person on a bus

[Condition] Kindness > 50

[Result] Kindness +5, randomly receive one "Good Person Card"

Zhang Yuan walked past him, glanced at the screen, and nodded: "The format is clear, making it easy to use later."

Ye Ming grunted in agreement and continued knocking.

Li Yue has already started working on the webpage, and occasionally I'll turn around and ask him a question or two about his design ideas.

Ye Ming put down the keyboard, leaned over and gestured with her for a while. After confirming the general layout, he went back to continue filling in the events.

The sunlight outside the window moved slowly. The sound of keyboards clicking in the server room never stopped.

Around noon, Li Yue stretched and said, "Let's go eat. Anyone want to come?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head: "I'll get this interface working before I go."

Ye Ming also shook his head: "I'm not hungry yet."

Li Yue didn't ask any more questions and went out on her own.

The computer room quieted down.

Ye Ming continued filling in the event details, but when his fingers got tired, he stopped to move his wrists.

By 1:30 p.m., he glanced at the counter and realized that he had filled out nearly two hundred forms since the morning.

The progress was faster than expected. After all, he was a veteran online novelist in his previous life, and the only limitation on him was his typing speed.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

The wind outside seeped in through the crack in the door, cool and carrying the scent of early autumn.

Zhang Yuan finally got the interface working, breathed a sigh of relief, and stood up to stretch his back.

"Are you really not going to eat lunch?" he asked Ye Ming.

Just as Ye Ming was about to answer, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the corridor.

It wasn't the familiar rhythm of a computer room. It was the light, cheerful sound of footsteps.

Getting closer.

The door to the computer room was half-open.

The footsteps stopped at the door.

Then the door was pushed open.

Li Yue was typing code on the screen when she caught a glimpse of the doorway out of the corner of her eye, and her fingers suddenly stopped on the keyboard.

She looked up, and then froze.

Zhang Yuan was about to drink from his water glass when the glass stopped in mid-air; he forgot to bring it to his lips.

Ye Ming looked up and was also stunned for a moment.

There was a person standing at the door.

The afternoon sun slanted in from behind her, the light so strong that only a silhouette could be seen.

Knee-high ankle boots, slender and straight calves, and a pleated skirt that flutters gently in the wind.

Then she took a step forward and went inside.

The light fell on her face.

Li Yue's breathing quickened for a moment.

It was a face that you couldn't take your eyes off.

Her facial features are so defined, and her eyebrows and eyes are so strikingly beautiful.

Her eyes are slightly upturned at the corners, and her gaze is naturally lively.

A straight nose and full lips.

Her skin was a translucent white, and when sunlight fell on it, it looked like it was shining on porcelain, giving it a warm glow.

But what's most captivating is her long hair.

Loose, languid waves cascaded down from above.

Her hair was loose over her shoulders, with slightly curled ends. It swayed gently as she walked.

Li Yue's heart skipped a beat.

This girl looks exactly like a big star.

Intense, vibrant, and dazzling.

It can be spotted immediately in a crowd.

It was like a beam of light entering this drab computer room.

Zhang Yuan silently put down the cup and stared at the door for two seconds.

Then he quickly looked away and stared at his own screen.

But her fingers didn't land on the keyboard for a long time, and her ears quietly turned red.

Li Yue caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye and found it amusing. This person, who was usually so quiet, couldn't even type in the code now?

But she herself wasn't much better off; even as a girl, she thought the girl in front of her was excessively beautiful.

Li Yue suddenly became interested.

She glanced at the girl with big, wavy hair by the door, then at Ye Ming in the corner.

Well, now we've got some juicy gossip to share.

She subtly adjusted her posture, adopting an air of "I'm still working."

In fact, his eyes were already glued to the two of them.

This kind of show is much more entertaining than code.

Ye Ming was only stunned for a moment before his expression returned to calm.

He glanced at Xu Wei. His gaze lingered on her for less than two seconds.

What's this girl doing here?

Then he lowered his head and continued writing in his notebook.

"Why are you here?"

The tone was flat, as if asking "What day of the week is it today?"

Li Yue almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

Is this person blind?

Zhang Yuan quickly raised his eyes, glanced at Ye Ming, and his eyes seemed to say: You're really something.

Xu Wei strode in, walked to Ye Ming's desk, braced herself on the edge of the desk with both hands, and leaned over to look at him.

Her long hair slid down her shoulders and hung over the edge of the table, the large, wavy ends swaying gently.

"I'm asking you to be the good guy, aren't I?" she said matter-of-factly. "You promised to go shopping with me during the National Day holiday, are you free today?"

Ye Ming didn't even look up: "I'm busy with the project, I can't leave."

"What are you busy with all day?" Xu Wei tilted her head, wanting to see the words on his notebook. "Let me see..."

Ye Ming reached out and blocked the screen.

"Want to see?"

Xu Wei nodded.

"Sign a confidentiality agreement, or you won't be allowed to see it."

Xu Wei paused for a moment, then laughed: "Are you serious?"

Ye Ming didn't say anything, but took out a blank A4 sheet of paper from his bag and a black pen from his pencil case.

He lowered his head, his wrist firmly pressed on the paper, and began to write.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a soft, rustling sound.

Xu Wei was smiling, curious to see what he was up to, but as she watched, her smile gradually froze.

She stared at Ye Ming's hand holding the pen; his fingers were distinct, his wrist was very steady, and the pen tip moved across the paper without pausing.

It was a very ordinary action, but she was stunned.

Ye Ming wrote very quickly, almost without pausing.

He wrote about three or four lines, with the core points being: the project content must not be disclosed to any third party, and no data may be copied or retained; violations will incur legal liability, and the agreement will take effect upon both parties' signatures.

Simple and clear.

Xu Wei snapped out of her daze, picked up a pen from the table, and signed her name on the paper.

After signing, she pushed the agreement back to Ye Ming, muttering under her breath, "It actually looks pretty convincing..."

Ye Ming took it, glanced at it, folded it neatly, and put it back in his bag.

"Can we watch it now?" Xu Wei asked.

Ye Ming was about to push his laptop away when Xu Wei suddenly remembered something and her eyes widened: "Hey, that's not right."

Ye Ming looked up.

"Didn't you say in philosophy class that you'd show it to me first?" Xu Wei stared at him, her tone questioning yet tinged with a hint of grievance.

"You said you'd show it to me first once it's finished—and now? You want me to sign a confidentiality agreement before it's even finished? Do you even keep your word?"

Li Yue, who was listening nearby, almost burst out laughing.

This girl remembers things very clearly.

Ye Ming was silent for a second.

We shouldn't have made that promise in the first place.

"It's not finished yet," he said, his tone still calm.

Xu Wei blinked.

Ye Ming continued, "We can't just show things to others before they're finished; that's the rule. Everyone on the team has to sign it. Li Yue and Zhang Yuan have both signed it."

He paused, glanced at Xu Wei, and added, "You're the first one signed outside the team."

I'll barely count this as the first one I showed her.

Xu Wei was stunned.

Outside of the team... the first one?