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

When Ye Ming opened his eyes, the dormitory was still dark.

He glanced out the window; it was still dark, and the light filtering through the curtains was a deep blue.

The dormitory was quiet, with only Chen Mo's even breathing.

He tiptoed out of bed, felt his way to the desk, sat down, and turned on the desk lamp.

A warm yellow light spread out in the darkness.

He pulled the softcover notebook out of his bag, opened it, and wrote a few words on the first line: "Rebirth Simulator Operation Strategy".

He paused for a moment, then continued writing.

One line, two lines, one page, two pages.

He wrote very quickly, with almost no pauses.

Occasionally I would pause to think, and then add a few more strokes.

The notebook was densely packed with arrows, boxes, and annotations, all crammed together.

The sky outside the window was slowly turning a little white. He glanced at the time: 6:40.

As I closed my laptop and was about to get up, I caught a glimpse of Chen Mo stirring on the opposite bed.

Chen Mo opened his eyes and was stunned to see Ye Ming already sitting at his desk.

"Awake?" Ye Ming asked in a low voice.

"Hmm." Chen Mo sat up, rubbed his eyes, and no longer made a conscious effort to be quiet. He got out of bed, walked to his desk, sat down, and opened his textbook.

The table lamp cast a soft light on his profile; he looked down, intently watching.

Ye Ming looked at him and suddenly remembered his past life.

Back then, I was still working in a government office, with endless reports to write and countless overtime hours.

At a class reunion one year, I heard that Chen Mo had become an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at a university in Guangxi Province, had published several top-tier journal articles, and was quite well-known in the field.

And what about me? I'm still in that office, staring blankly at the materials I've revised countless times.

He looked back.

In this life, I cannot walk that path again.

He started packing his things, putting his notebook in his backpack, his phone in his pocket, and his water bottle in his side pocket.

She then rummaged through the cupboard and found the snacks her sister had brought last time: several bags of beef strips, crispy crackers, and pork jerky that her mother had fried, along with a handful of sunflower seeds and peanuts, stuffing them all into her schoolbag.

Chen Mo looked up at him, watching him busy at work, and suddenly asked, "You've been busy for almost a month now, haven't you? Any results yet?"

Ye Ming paused for a moment, then sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"It's almost done," he said. "It should be online in the next couple of days."

Chen Mo became interested: "Let me see?"

Ye Ming took a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it over.

"Sign this first," he said. "The confidentiality agreement."

Chen Mo took it, glanced at it, and laughed: "So formal? We're doing this?"

Ye Ming looked at him and remained silent for a second.

He trusted Chen Mo, a good friend from a past life, and knew his character well.

But he knew even better what Xu Wei would think if Chen Mo was granted a visa waiver.

More importantly, once the door is opened, it will be impossible to stop it.

"It's not targeting you," Ye Ming said. "Everyone has to sign."

Chen Mo didn't say anything more. He took out a pen from his pencil case, signed his name, and pressed his fingerprint.

"Is that enough?"

Ye Ming took the agreement, folded it, put it back in his bag, turned on his computer, opened the current version of "Rebirth Simulator," and turned the screen to show it to him.

Chen Mo took over and played the first game, which ended uneventfully.

He was not satisfied and started a second round.

In the third round, he chose an unusual combination of attributes, which triggered a series of unexpected events, leading to an unexpected ending.

He stared at the screen for a few seconds, then smiled.

"This thing is kind of interesting."

Ye Ming looked at him: "Interested in helping? I need someone to write an event database."

Chen Mo thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay. But I need to finish reviewing today's major courses first, and then I'll come to the computer lab to find you in the afternoon. I'll bring a few more classmates with me then."

"No rush," Ye Ming patted his shoulder, "Focus on reading the book first."

He paused, then added, "It's paid per piece, 100 yuan for 200 pieces, the more you write, the more you earn. We'll sign the contract this afternoon."

Chen Mo nodded: "Understood."

It was already bright outside. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, falling on the floor between the two of them.

Ye Ming put the notebook into his backpack, got up and went out.

After leaving the dormitory building, he went to the ATM first.

Insert the card, enter the password, and the balance will appear on the screen: 6237.50 yuan.

He stared at the numbers for two seconds.

Five thousand for the computer, eighteen thousand for the server, two thousand for Li Yue and Zhang Yuan... adding up to almost nine thousand.

Money is spent quickly, but it still needs to be spent.

He pressed the withdrawal button and withdrew three thousand yuan.

Two envelopes, each containing one thousand, are additional funds for Li Yue and Zhang Yuan. One envelope contains one thousand, to be kept as a backup.

He put the envelope into his bag, then touched the contract and inkpad; they were both there.

Then I walked towards the computer room.

Ye Ming paused for a moment as he pushed open the computer room door.

Xu Wei is already inside.

Today she changed into a light pink knitted cardigan, with a section of a white round-neck T-shirt peeking out from the neckline. She still wore the same dark pleated skirt, but changed to a pair of light gray canvas shoes.

Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, with the ends slightly curled, and it looked like it had just been washed and dried.

She stood by the window, the morning light shining obliquely in from behind her, casting a faint outline of light on her.

Hearing the door open, she turned her head, her eyes suddenly brightening, then quickly suppressing them, but the corners of her mouth still curved upwards.

This girl came so early in the morning.

"Why are you here so early?" Ye Ming walked in and put his bag down.

"I can't sleep," Xu Wei said, her gaze falling on the white Apple 3GS next to him.

The screen is lit up, and the wallpaper is a drop of water.

She paused for a moment, then walked over and picked up her phone.

"Did you change your wallpaper?"

Ye Ming looked up and said, "Hmm."

"Why did you change it?" Xu Wei stared at him, her tone tinged with grievance. "Wasn't the other one nice?"

Ye Ming paused for a moment.

He recalled the way she looked when he walked in: a light pink cardigan in the morning light, long hair that had been washed and dried, and a smile on her lips.

If he were actually 19 years old, he might want to get close to her no matter what.

But now, at 36 years old, the reborn soul has long since exhausted its impulses and passion.

"It looks good," he said.

Xu Wei waited for him to continue.

But he didn't say anything more and lowered his head to continue filling out the form.

She bit her lip and forced out, "If it looks good, why would you change it?"

Ye Ming paused for a moment, then looked up at her.

She didn't flinch, she just stared at him, her eyes bright, filled with a mix of grievance and defiance.

Ye Ming paused for a second, then said, "That's you, not the wallpaper."

Oh no, what am I saying?

Xu Wei was stunned.

What does that mean?

She wanted to ask more, but he had already lowered his head and continued filling out the form.

She put her phone back, sat down beside him, and remained silent.

But I kept thinking about that sentence: That's you, not the wallpaper.

What does it mean exactly?

Li Yue and Zhang Yuan arrived one after the other.

"Oh, Xu Wei's here too?" Li Yue greeted her with a smile, then glanced at the snacks on the corner of the table. "Whose are these?"

"I brought it," Ye Ming said. "It's for my senior to eat if she's hungry."

Li Yue didn't stand on ceremony and opened a pack of crispy crackers to eat.

Zhang Yuan followed behind, simply nodded, and sat down at his computer, turning it on.

Ye Ming opened the notebook and pushed it to the middle of the table.

"Senior, let's talk about what's next," he said.

Several people gathered around, looking at the densely packed words on the notebook.

"The UI is too basic," Ye Ming pointed to the first line. "We need to find someone to optimize it. Senior, could you help me contact some students from the art school? It's a paid service, with a budget of five to eight hundred."

Li Yue nodded: "Okay, I'll ask."

Ye Ming turned a page: "The content is still too little; we need to gather more. I'm planning to get the students from the School of Humanities to write together. 200 entries will earn 100 yuan each; the more you write, the more you earn. We'll need it later."

Zhang Yuan interjected, "The format of the events needs to be standardized."

"Hmm," Ye Ming said.

Li Yue, resting her chin on her hand, suddenly spoke up: "The game is finished, but how do we keep those who want to play playing? I thought about it last night, and we need to find some incentive for them to come back every day."

Zhang Yuan continued, "Our social system, with features like friends, leaderboards, 'Lend Me Life,' and 'Win-Win Life,' will definitely increase user retention."

Li Yue nodded: "That's what I was thinking too. But I was looking at the news the other day and remembered something. Back in June, 'Red Cliff' did a 'daily sign-in' system where players would sign in every day to receive a reward. There was a lot of discussion about it on the forums at the time. Could we borrow that from them?"

Ye Ming nodded: "A sign-in system with increasing rewards for consecutive logins will make them want to come back every day."

Zhang Yuan added: "Check-in + gold coins + card draws, and the closed loop is formed."

Ye Ming turned to another page, where a few more lines of text were written, but he didn't elaborate before closing the notebook.

"What about the forum?" Li Yue asked.

Ye Ming nodded: "The forum definitely needs to be done. And..." He paused, not finishing his sentence.

"What else?" Li Yue asked.

"I have an idea that's not quite ready yet. I'll think about it and tell you later," Ye Ming explained.

They continued their discussion, with Xu Wei listening nearby.

Ye Ming took out two envelopes, each containing 1000 yuan, from his bag and pushed them in front of the two men.

"Seniors, this is an extra tip for your hard work. I need to trouble you with something else later, we can discuss it in detail then."

Li Yue was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "You really treat us like employees."

Zhang Yuan accepted the envelope without hesitation: "Okay, sign it."

Ye Ming took out a supplementary contract, and the two signed it and pressed their fingerprints on it.

Xu Wei watched from the side without saying a word.

She just watched Ye Ming as he paid her, signed the contract, and discussed things she couldn't understand with his seniors.

He doesn't talk much, but he does everything perfectly.

She suddenly remembered the day before yesterday when he rushed over to protect her, and the words he whispered to her in the hospital, as if they were spoken to her: "Such a beautiful face, it would be such a waste if it bumped into a curb."

And that "It looks good" I heard this morning.

This person...

As she thought about it, she felt her face getting hot.

Just then, the white Apple 3GS in Ye Ming's pocket suddenly rang.