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

Shen Zhiyi stood at the corner of the corridor in the computer room of the Computer Association.

Today she wore an apricot-colored long-sleeved shirt, made of soft material, with the neckline slightly open, revealing a section of her beautifully shaped neck.

The shirt was made of thin yet crisp fabric, and with her slight breathing, the outline of her collarbone was faintly visible.

She wore a dark blue knee-length A-line skirt with a flowing hem, like ripples on a lake in the wind.

White over-the-knee stockings encased her calves, making her legs appear slender and straight. In the corridor light, they shimmered with a soft sheen, as if coated with a thin layer of moonlight.

She wore a pair of small, round-toed, flat leather shoes that were polished to a shine. She walked on the ground almost silently, as if afraid of disturbing anyone.

Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, the ends curling slightly inwards, making her skin appear even whiter and cooler against her dark complexion.

She stood there, her cool demeanor tinged with gentleness, like a beam of moonlight falling on the pages of an old book, so quiet that one dared not approach, yet couldn't help but want to look at her a few more times.

She had been standing there for a long time.

He was clutching a small plastic bag containing a newly purchased blood-activating and stasis-removing ointment.

Around 8 a.m., she passed by the computer room of the Computer Association and saw Ye Ming walking towards her from afar.

The way he walked was strange; his body was slightly tilted to the left, and his steps were slower than usual.

She hid behind a tree and watched him push open the door to the machine room, noticing the bandage wrapped around his elbow.

At that moment, she felt a slight pang in her heart.

She turned and went to the school hospital.

Now, she stands here.

Through the windows in the corridor, you can see what's happening inside the server room.

Ye Ming sat with his back to her, the gauze on his elbow had been changed, and his movements were still slower than usual.

Li Yue and Zhang Yuan stood to the side, the three of them discussing something around the screen, occasionally letting out a few excited voices.

She gripped the ointment tightly in her hand.

I want to go in.

I don't dare go in.

She raised her hand, wanting to use the glass as a mirror to look at herself, but then stopped.

Her face was reflected in the glass; it was cool and quiet, with hesitation and a hint of barely perceptible tension in her eyes.

She noticed that her ears had turned red again.

She glanced at Ye Ming in the computer room again.

He was still sitting there, head down, seemingly typing on a keyboard.

Shen Zhiyi took a deep breath and took out her phone from her pocket.

She glanced at the time: 10:20.

She typed a message: "Are you... alright?"

I looked at it for a few seconds, then deleted it.

He typed again: "I heard you were injured, are you alright?"

Deleted again.

In the end, only a few words were sent:

"How have you been lately?"

The moment she sent it, she clutched her phone to her chest, her heart pounding.

She stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

One minute.

Two minutes.

five minutes.

The screen remained dark.

She looked up and glanced at the server room through the window again.

Ye Ming was still focused on the screen and didn't look at his phone at all.

Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyes and put her phone into her pocket.

She didn't leave.

I stood at the corner of the corridor, looking at him from afar through that window.

Sunlight streamed in from the window at the other end of the corridor, falling on her and making her apricot-colored shirt shimmer slightly.

Her shadow fell on the ground, very long.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there.

She just stood there, looking and hesitating.

Her palms were sweating from squeezing the ointment so tightly.

She took a step forward, then stopped.

Take another step forward, then stop again.

Just then, the three people in the computer room suddenly became excited.

Li Yue slammed her hand on the table, jumped up from her chair, grabbed Zhang Yuan next to her, and shook him vigorously: "It's done! It's done! It's done! It's done!"

Zhang Yuan was shaken so badly he swayed from side to side, but a rare smile crept onto his face as he chuckled, "Alright, alright, I saw it!"

Li Yue let go of Zhang Yuan, then rushed towards Ye Ming, hugged him tightly, and patted his back forcefully.

Ye Ming froze, his brows furrowed, and he grimaced.

Li Yue was startled and quickly let go: "Hey, hey, hey? What's wrong?"

Zhang Yuan, watching from the side, chuckled: "Why are you patting his back? He injured his back yesterday."

Li Yue froze, then burst out laughing: "I'm so sorry! I forgot!"

Ye Ming took several seconds to catch his breath: "It's okay... as long as it's connected."

Ye Ming looked down at his hands.

A month ago, he was a liberal arts student who couldn't even recognize all the HTML tags.

Now, a running game is sitting on this computer.

He recalled the nights he spent devouring books in the library, and the words of his teacher Zhang Bingwen: "Build strongholds and fight a protracted battle."

Worth it.

Li Yue suppressed a laugh as she looked at him, then turned back to the computer, staring at the successful page on the screen, and couldn't help but laugh again: "It really worked, we really succeeded."

Zhang Yuan sat back down in his seat, staring at the screen with a smile on his lips: "Registration, login, beginner game, card draw, ten-choice game, card game, friends, borrow my life, win-win life, all completed."

Li Yue stretched and stood up: "Alright, let's go eat! Let's celebrate!"

Zhang Yuan nodded and closed his laptop.

Ye Ming also stood up and stretched his wrists.

The door to the server room was pushed open.

The three of them walked out chatting and laughing.

Shen Zhiyi was standing at the corner of the corridor. Hearing the noise, she realized it was too late to hide.

She stood there, still clutching the bag of ointment in her hand.

Li Yue saw her first, paused for a moment, and glanced at Shen Zhiyi.

She wore an apricot-colored shirt, a dark blue skirt, white stockings, and black leather shoes; she was as serene as a painting.

Her eyes lit up.

Zhang Yuan also saw it, slowed his pace, but his face remained expressionless; he merely glanced at Ye Ming.

Ye Ming followed their gaze and paused for a moment.

Why is it her again?

Shen Zhiyi stood there, her ears already bright red.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

Li Yue looked at her, then at Ye Ming, and suddenly laughed: "Oh, who's this? Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Ye Ming paused for a moment: "The girl I saved on Zhujiang Road that day..."

Li Yue gave a meaningful "oh," her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them.

Zhang Yuan gently tugged at Li Yue's sleeve from the side.

Before Li Yue could speak, Zhang Yuan interrupted, "Let's go eat first, you two can chat."

After saying that, he pulled Li Yue away.

Li Yue was being pulled forward by him, and she didn't forget to look back once, with an uncontrollable smile on her lips.

Zhang Yuan said in a low voice, "Hurry up."

Li Yue muttered to herself, "I haven't seen enough yet..."

The two quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The corridor fell silent.

Only Ye Ming and Shen Zhiyi remained.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the floor between the two people.

I could faintly hear the sound of keyboards in the distance, and the beating of my own heart.

Shen Zhiyi lowered her head, her fingers clenching the ointment in her hand.

Black, round-toed leather shoes trotted quietly on the ground.

Ye Ming looked at her, and his heart involuntarily beat a little faster.

Stop being so stubborn! Think about the messy things from your past life, calm down, and focus on your career!

There was a two-second silence.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

The voice was soft, but it didn't feel distant.

Shen Zhiyi raised her head, glanced at him, and then lowered her head again.

She handed him the ointment, her voice as soft as a feather brushing against water:

"This... is for you."

Ye Ming looked at the bag of ointment, then looked up at her.

She didn't look at him, staring at the ground, her ears turning bright red.

Ye Ming suddenly remembered the unread message on his phone: "How have you been lately?"

The message was sent at 10:20.

Was she already standing outside at that time?

How long has this girl been standing there?

What should I do if I suddenly feel very embarrassed?

He paused, then asked, "Have you eaten?"

Shen Zhiyi paused for a moment, then looked up.

Ye Ming looked at her, his tone still calm, but the content of his words made Shen Zhiyi's heart skip a beat:

"The seniors went to eat, and I'm hungry too. Let's go together."

The medicine has already been delivered; how can we let her go home hungry?

What kind of person am I then?

Shen Zhiyi stood there, her mind blank for a second.

She thought she had misheard.

But Ye Ming had already turned around, taken a few steps toward the stairwell, and looked back at her: "Let's go, there's still food in the cafeteria at this time."

Shen Zhiyi followed in a daze.

The small, round-toed black leather shoes made a soft sound as they stepped on the ground, following behind him.

She lowered her head, not daring to look at him, but the corners of her mouth subtly curved into a smile.

In a corner of the cafeteria, the two sat facing each other.

Shen Zhiyi kept her head down as she ate, occasionally glancing up at him quickly before looking away again.

Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on her.

Wearing an apricot-colored shirt, a dark blue skirt, white stockings, and black leather shoes, with her head bowed and eyebrows lowered, she was as quiet as a painting.

Ye Ming ate slowly, occasionally glancing up at her.

Later, I felt like I was doing something wrong, so I decided to just watch without worry.

This girl has her advantages in being quiet.

By keeping my head down, I can openly and legitimately engage in sophisticated aesthetics.

Even if she finds out, she probably won't dare to say anything to me.

Shen Zhiyi suddenly noticed his cell phone on the table.

The Nokia N95, a silver slider phone, has a small chipped plastic frame on the upper right corner, revealing a grayish-white substrate underneath.

There were several cracks on the screen, spreading like a spider web to the edges.

She stared at the gap for a few seconds.

"The phone...was it dropped?"

Ye Ming followed her gaze and paused for a moment before replying, "Mm."

It's too complicated to explain, and given their relationship, why should he have to explain?

Shen Zhiyi recalled the way he walked that morning, and the gauze on his elbow.

She didn't ask any more questions, but she already guessed what it was.

After a few seconds of silence, the screen of Ye Ming's phone on the table lit up.

A text message came in, but only the bottom half of the screen lit up, while the top half remained black.

Shen Zhiyi looked at the half of the screen that was black and frowned slightly.

"The screen..." she hesitated for a moment, "...the ribbon cable might be loose. The ribbon cable of the N95 is prone to problems, and if it has been bumped, it is more likely to have poor contact."

Ye Ming picked up the phone, glanced at it, and then put it down again: "It'll do for now, at least I can still answer calls."

To make "Rebirth Simulator," we have to be extremely frugal with our money. Even replacing a screen could break our financial chain. We just have to put up with it.

Shen Zhiyi didn't speak, but her gaze lingered on the phone for a few seconds.

When the screen lights up, only half of it is visible, and this state won't last long.

She suddenly remembered the embedded system project she was working on, the schematics that were repeatedly modified, the PCB layouts that were adjusted again and again, and the board that she stayed up until dawn to get an interface working and finally made it run.

If... with better chips and laboratory resources, could we really make a phone like that?

She glanced at Ye Ming discreetly, and when she realized he was looking at her, she quickly looked down, feeling her face flush.

What would he think if you built a phone based on his imagination?