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

Manager Wang spoke with great enthusiasm, pulling out several photos from his phone and handing them over: "Look, this is our office at our Shanghai headquarters, it was just renovated."

Ye Ming took it and glanced at it. The office in the photo was indeed impressive, with floor-to-ceiling windows, neatly arranged workstations, and a logo hanging on the wall.

He wasn't in a hurry to return it; instead, he asked, "Which district is the Shanghai headquarters in?"

"Pudong, Zhangjiang," Manager Wang replied quickly.

"Can I take a picture of this? I want to show it to my classmates and help spread the word about you guys."

Manager Wang paused for a moment, then laughed even harder: "Take pictures, take pictures, take as many as you like."

Ye Ming took his phone out of the side pocket of his backpack and took a picture of the screen.

After taking the photo and putting the phone back, he asked, "May I see the company's business license?"

"Of course." Manager Wang stood up, walked to the door, and called out, "Xiao Li, bring the business license over."

A moment later, the receptionist brought over a framed document containing a business license.

Ye Ming took it and looked at it carefully: company name, registered capital, legal representative, and business scope.

He placed the picture frame on the table and took out his phone: "Shall I take a picture of this too?"

Manager Wang waved his hand: "Take pictures, take pictures all you want."

Ye Ming took two photos. One was of the business license, and the other was of the display board on the wall.

After taking the picture, I put my phone back in the side pocket of my backpack and glanced at Ruan Xing.

Ruan Xing bit her lip and finally spoke, "Manager Wang, could you... refund my money?"

Manager Wang's smile remained unchanged, but his tone slowed slightly: "Refund? Why would you want to refund?"

"My family doesn't agree," Ruan Xing said softly.

Manager Wang sighed, his tone becoming earnest: "Ruan Xing, your money is already in the project, and the finance department has completed the procedures. It's not something you can just get back. Besides, think about it, so many people are vying to invest in this project. You were in the first batch to get this spot. It would be such a waste to withdraw now."

Ruan Xing lowered her head.

Ye Ming glanced at her, then looked at Manager Wang: "The finance department has completed the procedures, but what about the receipt? Has it been issued?"

Manager Wang smiled and said, "It's open, it's open. The finance department has the information. However, the finance department isn't here today, so we'll have Ruan Xing come and pick it up later."

Ye Ming nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Manager Wang offered a few more words of advice, such as "This is a rare opportunity," "If you miss it, it will be gone forever," and "Come to the briefing on Sunday and you'll see for yourself."

Ruan Xing kept her head down the whole time, and finally only said, "I'll think about it some more."

Manager Wang stood up with a smile: "Okay, think it over carefully. Come to the briefing on Sunday and you'll see."

I walked out of the office, and the elevator doors closed.

Ruan Xing leaned against the elevator wall and let out a long sigh: "Do you believe what he said?"

Ye Ming didn't answer, but looked down at his phone.

The screen was lit up, and the recording interface was still running. He pressed the stop button and saved the file.

Three more photos appeared in the album: the business license, the display board on the wall, and the office photo of the "Shanghai Headquarters" on Manager Wang's phone.

Ruan Xing leaned closer: "Is there any point in you taking these pictures?"

Ye Ming put his phone into his pocket.

Whether you believe it or not is not important, and even the evidence is not important.

The most important thing is to break down his psychological defenses.

Whether it works or not, we'll have to do some research to find out.

The elevator reached the first floor, the doors opened, and sunlight streamed in through the glass doors, falling at the feet of the two people.

Ruan Xing wanted to ask more questions, but Ye Ming had already walked out.

Stepping out of the office building, the sunlight felt warm and comforting on my skin.

Ye Ming glanced down at his phone.

Xu Wei's message: "Ye the Skinflint, I received over twenty messages this morning, all written during breaks. The formatting is all corrected, and I've sent them to Senior Zhang Yuan. Are you done on your end?"

He replied with a single word: "Mm".

Xu Wei replied instantly: "If you reply with 'yes' again, I'll break up with you."

Ye Ming stared at the screen for two seconds.

He added, "Thank you for your hard work."

Xu Wei sent an eye-rolling emoji and didn't reply.

How can my hands have their own ideas!

Now I've been given the cold shoulder, how awful!

Ruan Xing glanced at him from the side, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but didn't.

"Let's go," he said, "let's go buy something."

Ruan Xing paused for a moment, then followed, asking, "What do you want to buy?"

"Tea leaves." Ye Ming said without turning his head. "I'm going to see Professor Zhang from the Computer Science Department tomorrow."

Ruan Xing said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions. She followed beside him, walking a little faster than before.

Half an hour later, on the bus, Ruan Xing was still sitting by the window, looking out the window with her head turned to the side.

Sunlight streamed in through the car window, falling on her shoulders and swaying gently.

Ye Ming sat down next to her, placing his schoolbag at his feet. Next to the schoolbag was a beige paper bag with the words "Nanjing Yuhua Tea" printed on it, the opening of which was sealed with red paper.

He pulled the book "PHP and MySQL Web Development" out of his bag and flipped to the place he had seen last time.

The pages were slightly curled, and a few lines of text were written in black pen in the blank spaces, with question marks drawn next to them.

He lowered his head, his brows slightly furrowed, sunlight falling on the pages of the book. He shifted to the side and continued reading.

Ruan Xing didn't speak, she just looked at Ye Ming, who didn't notice and was still reading.

Although she didn't know what the purpose of those photos was, she did feel much more at ease with Ye Ming around.

Shouldn't she do something for him too?

It's not to prove anything, it's just... we can't always let him be the only one busy.

After thinking about it, she decided that when she got back, she would write down a few more incidents carefully, as a way of thanking him.

She'll start by writing about the scammer incident; she's been really affected by it lately!

"bite."

The phone rang. Ye Ming took it out of his pocket; the screen was lit.

Shen Zhiyi: "Is the cafeteria open at lunchtime? I have something I'd like to give you."

Given Xiao Shen's personality, why would he suddenly take the initiative to contact me?

Could it be that he's going to set me up like that brat Xu Wei did?

I'm determined to control myself right now!

Let's rewind to this morning.

Shen Zhiyi sat in front of the lab table.

Her white coat was buttoned up neatly, her long hair was loosely tied back, with a few stray strands falling down beside her ears.

The fluorescent light fell on her face, highlighting her delicate nose and long, drooping eyelashes.

The oscilloscope screen in front of her glowed faintly, and green waveforms flickered slowly, but she couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

My mind is full of yesterday's events.

Wang Chao blocked her way and spoke ill of Ye Ming. She ignored him and walked away.

But those words lingered, like a fine thorn stuck somewhere; they didn't hurt, but they made people uncomfortable.

She didn't believe those words.

But she felt that Ye Ming should know.

This thought has been with me since I woke up this morning.

It's there during class, on the way to the lab, and even when I sit down at the lab bench.

She opened the shopping list, wrote two lines, the pen hovering in mid-air, and then closed it again.

She picked up her phone, then put it down again; the screen was lit, but the chat window was empty.

My finger hovered over the screen for ages, but I couldn't type a single word.

Sending a message like that? That's so strange. She and Ye Ming aren't that close. If she sends him something like that, won't he think she's gossiping?

She bit her lip. She had to say it face-to-face. Saying it face-to-face wouldn't feel so deliberate. She was just… casually mentioning it.

How can I ask him out? I can't just say, "I have something to tell you." That's too formal.

She opened the drawer and saw the braided cell phone strap.

The dark blue and light gray threads were twisted together and tied in a tight knot at the end.

She wove it using leftover materials from the lab; she finished it a few days ago.

That's it, send the lanyard, and then tell him about Wang Chao.