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

Xu Wei recognized the face in front of her; it was the one who sat next to Ye Ming in English class, a very talkative person with crescent-shaped eyes when he smiled.

She glanced at him subconsciously: a black leather jacket, sunglasses perched on his forehead—his outfit was indeed fashionable.

She looked down at herself again; she was wearing a light pink cardigan and a pleated skirt, which looked quite nice.

But it seems... a little different.

That indescribable feeling welled up inside me again.

But she didn't show it on her face, and smiled: "I went to the printing shop, I just left."

Ruan Xing's face fell: "Huh? I missed it again!"

She leaned her suitcase against the wall, put a few paper bags on the table, and pulled up a chair to sit down.

After sitting down, he remembered something, took off his sunglasses, and casually placed them on the table.

The sunglasses shimmered with a faint golden luster in the sunlight.

She turned to look at Xu Wei, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "You're Xu Wei, right? I've seen you before."

Xu Wei nodded: "Mm."

"My name is Ruan Xing." Ruan Xing said, then suddenly remembered something and reached out to rummage through the paper bags. "Oh right, I brought a lot of food from Shanghai. You guys should try some."

She pulled out several boxes of butterfly cookies, several bags of spiced beans, several packets of pear syrup candy, and some pastries from Kaisiling, and piled them all on the table, filling it to the brim.

"Come on, don't be shy." She opened a box of butterfly cookies and handed it to Xu Wei first. "Try this. It's from the International Hotel. I waited in line for ages."

Xu Wei paused for a moment, then took the piece: "Thank you."

Ruan Xing waved to Li Yue again: "Senior, you should try some too!"

Li Yue walked over with a smile and took a slice: "It's a Shanghai specialty. I haven't had it in ages."

Zhang Yuan didn't move, so Ruan Xing took two slices and put them on his desk: "Senior, try some too, don't just focus on coding."

Zhang Yuan looked up at her and nodded. "Thanks."

Ruan Xing then called to the boys from the Computer Science Association, "You guys eat too, don't be shy."

A few boys were a little embarrassed, but seeing how generous she was, they all came over and took a few pieces.

Ruan Xing, with a piece of butterfly pastry in her mouth, pulled out an exquisite tin box and moved it aside: "These boxes are for Ye Ming. They're Kaisiling cakes; he's definitely never tried them before."

Xu Wei listened from the side and took a bite of the butterfly pastry.

Crispy, sweet, and really delicious.

She glanced at the tin box that had been placed separately, then looked at Ruan Xing, who was busy distributing food to everyone, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

After distributing the items in a circle, Ruan Xing leaned over to look at Xu Wei's screen again.

"How many lines have you written?"

"About a dozen or so."

Is it difficult?

Xu Wei shook her head: "It's alright, but I need to think of something interesting."

Ruan Xing stared at the screen for a few seconds, nodded thoughtfully, and then asked, "Does Ye Ming spend all his vacation time in the computer lab?"

"More or less."

Ruan Xing said "Oh," picked up another butterfly pastry, and ate it while reading Xu Wei's writing.

She was talkative and would ask questions every now and then, which Xu Wei answered one by one. Over time, the two of them were able to chat for a while.

In the distance, the shadows of the sycamore trees fall to the ground.

Shen Zhiyi didn't actually come on purpose.

She had just come out of the lab to get some fresh air, and somehow ended up near the computer lab of the Computer Association.

She had walked this road several times in the past few days, each time glancing at it from afar before turning away.

Today was no different. She thought, "Since I've come this far, I'll just take one look and then leave."

She walked quietly along the path.

Just as I approached the computer room, a figure walked towards me from a distance.

Ye Ming.

His hands were empty except for a receipt, which he folded and put in his pocket.

He walked slowly but steadily, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Shen Zhiyi stood at a distance, watching the door close.

She didn't move.

Ye Ming pushed open the door, and the room was bustling with activity.

Ruan Xing was tilting her head to watch Xu Wei write code, chewing on something, with a pile of snacks spread out on the table next to her.

Several male students from the Computer Science Association were eating and chatting together. Li Yue was also there, and Zhang Yuan had some snacks on his table.

When Ruan Xing saw him, her eyes lit up, and she stood up to greet him: "Ye Ming! You're finally back!"

Ye Ming paused for a moment, then looked at the lively scene inside the room and couldn't help but smile.

Is this little girl a social terrorist?

"You mean... you've already become familiar with them?" he asked.

Ruan Xing replied matter-of-factly, "That's right, I brought so much delicious food."

Ye Ming didn't reply. He took out several packets of beef jerky his mother had fried from his schoolbag and handed them to her: "Try this, my mom made it."

Ruan Xing took it, tore open a packet, took a bite, and her eyes crinkled into a smile: "Delicious! Even more fragrant than the ones in Shanghai."

While chewing on a beef jerky, Ruan Xing took out the exquisite tin box from the bag and handed it to Ye Ming.

"Here, I brought you a cake from Kaisiling." Her eyes sparkled. "It's an old brand from Shanghai; you've definitely never tried it before."

Ye Ming was stunned for a moment, took it and glanced at it, then looked up at her.

Ruan Xing had already turned and walked back, placing the bag of beef strips on the table and calling out to everyone, "Come on, everyone, try some, it's made by your aunt!"

Xu Wei stared at the packets of beef jerky, momentarily stunned. Her sister had brought them yesterday. She remembered.

She reached out and took a small piece, took a bite, and said nothing.

Li Yue smiled and took one, Zhang Yuan also reached out and took one, and several boys from the Computer Science Association also came over.

Ruan Xing leaned closer to Ye Ming and whispered, "Ye Ming, I have something to tell you."

Ye Ming glanced at her: "What is it?"

"I'll tell you later." Ruan Xing glanced around. "There are a lot of people."

Ye Ming nodded: "Then let's talk outside."

What a coincidence, I was just about to ask her about that too.

The two walked out one after the other.

Xu Wei glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, then lowered her head and continued writing.

The taste of the beef strips was still in her mouth; she chewed them but couldn't taste anything.

The door opened, and two people came out.

Shen Zhiyi was standing at a distance, and before she could leave, she saw the door open again.

Ye Ming came out, followed by a girl in a black leather jacket, who was the same girl who had just gone in.

The two walked a few steps into the shade of a nearby tree and stopped to talk.

Shen Zhiyi was startled and instinctively took a step back, hiding behind a sycamore tree.

My heart is pounding.

She had no intention of peeking or eavesdropping.

But if she goes out now and bumps into someone, how can she explain it?

She could only hide.

The girl was very close, her expressions were very varied, sometimes looking sullen, sometimes laughing, and she was saying something.

Ye Ming listened, nodding occasionally.

Shen Zhiyi lowered her head and stopped looking.

A voice inside me said: Let's go, stop looking.

But she didn't move; her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground.

The shadows of the sycamore trees swayed, as if something had flashed by.

Ye Ming and Ruan Xing had just walked under the shade of the tree when Ruan Xing was about to speak. The two of them glanced over there subconsciously, but saw nothing.

Ruan Xing was taken aback: "What?"

Ye Ming also looked at it, and saw nothing unusual: "It's probably a bird."

Was someone there just now?

Ruan Xing said "Oh" and didn't pay any attention.

She leaned closer and whispered, "Ye Ming, I have something to tell you."

"Um?"

"It's that team I mentioned to you before, the one that supposedly partners with Groupon in the US." Ruan Xing paused, "They want to charge you again, three thousand yuan... saying it's an operating fee."

Ye Ming looked at her: "You paid it?"

"Not yet." Ruan Xing bit her lip. "I'm a little unsure and wanted you to take a look."

She glanced around, lowering her voice even further: "Tell me, are they reliable or not? Groupon is quite famous in the US; I looked it up online, and it seems to be a pretty big company."

Ye Ming didn't answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What did they say when they introduced them to you?"

"They said they wanted to create the Chinese version of Groupon, saying how popular it was in the US and how it was just starting out in China, and the earlier you joined, the greater your chances..." Ruan Xing said, glancing at Ye Ming a little guiltily. "At the time, it sounded pretty convincing."

Ye Ming nodded, but instead of giving a direct conclusion, he asked, "Do you know what kind of people are the entrepreneurs who actually get things done?"

Ruan Xing shook her head.

Ye Ming said, "You've looked at Renren.com, right?"

Ruan Xing nodded: "I've used it. It was quite popular back then."

"The founder of Xiaonei.com is Wang Xing. He later created a website called Fanfou, which is similar to Weibo," Ye Ming said. "He dropped out of school in the United States to start his business. The team of a few people lived in a three-bedroom apartment rented north of Tsinghua University. They didn't make any money for a year and a half, and spent their days writing code and modifying the product."

Ruan Xing listened attentively.

Ye Ming continued, "Later, when things started to take off, we didn't have enough money to buy servers, so we looked for investment everywhere. In the end, we couldn't hold on any longer and sold the website. They never thought about charging users or asking team members for money."

He looked at Ruan Xing: "Think about your team again. What did they do before they took your money? Where is the product now? How many users do they have?"

Ruan Xing was stunned for a moment, then remained silent.

Ye Ming added, "Entrepreneurs who truly get things done seek funding from investors, not from you. Groupon became popular in the US because merchants were willing to offer discounts to users, and the platform took a cut. If they really wanted to learn from Groupon, the first thing they would do is visit merchants and negotiate partnerships, not create some QQ group to collect membership fees."

After listening, Ruan Xing remained silent for a few seconds.

She recalled the team's flowery descriptions, the terms "founding members" and "penny shareholders," and compared them with what Ye Ming had just said—they were from completely different worlds.

"So..." she asked tentatively, "you think it's fake?"

Ye Ming didn't answer directly, "What do you think?"

Ruan Xing lowered her head and remained silent.

After a while, she looked up and sighed, "Okay, I understand."

Seeing her expression, Ye Ming paused for a moment and asked, "Where is that information session this weekend?"

Ruan Xing pulled out a text message from her phone: "At the Hotel on Zhujiang Road, on the third floor, banquet hall. Sunday afternoon at 2 pm."

Ye Ming nodded and made a note of it.

"They call it an information session," Ruan Xing said, pursing her lips, "but they just want me to pay money, don't they?"

Ye Ming didn't reply and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Send me the company's address," he said.

Ruan Xing was taken aback: "What are you going to do?"

Ye Ming didn't answer, but instead asked, "Have you investigated that company?"

"I checked," Ruan Xing said. "It's located at 187 Zhujiang Road, opposite New World Department Store. It just opened in 2009 and looks quite legitimate."

Ye Ming hummed in agreement and didn't ask any more questions.

Ruan Xing looked at him: "You...you're coming with me?"

Ye Ming nodded: "We have to find a way to get the money back that's owed us."

Ruan Xing's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Um."

Ruan Xing laughed and patted his arm: "That's a good friend!"

The two walked back. Pushing open the door, the house was still as lively as ever.

Ye Ming walked to a corner, took out his phone, and found a number.

That was the phone number the old policeman left at the police station last time.

He sent a text message: "Hello Officer Li, I'm the student who saved someone on Zhujiang Road last time. I have something I'd like to ask you. If it's convenient, I'll come to the police station to see you tomorrow morning."

A few minutes later, my phone vibrated.

"That's convenient. Just come after nine o'clock."

Ye Ming glanced at it and put the phone back in his pocket.

Shen Zhiyi hid behind a tree and watched the door close before daring to breathe heavily.

She moved quietly, inching backward step by step. After a few steps, she looked back again.

The door was closed, and no one came out anymore.

She quickened her pace and walked further along the path.

He stopped at the corner, leaned against the wall, and caught his breath.

The wind rustled through the leaves of the sycamore trees.

She did not look back.