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

When Ye Ming pushed open the computer room door, Li Yue was typing code on the screen, and Zhang Yuan was sitting next to her, holding a can of cola.

Li Yue looked up at him and asked, "You're back?"

Ye Ming nodded, put his schoolbag on the table, and sat down.

"Have you finished your work this morning?" Li Yue asked, her fingers still typing on the keyboard.

Ye Ming hummed in agreement.

Li Yue stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him: "How's things going with Ruan Xing's matter?"

"We've reported it to the police station," Ye Ming said. "They should be taking action on Sunday."

Li Yue nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Zhang Yuan chimed in from the side, "The forum framework is set up; we can run a test tonight."

Ye Ming agreed, took out his notebook, and opened it.

Li Yue glanced at him again. Not at the notebook, but at him.

Ye Ming didn't notice, and kept his head down flipping through the book.

"Did you change your phone lanyard?" Li Yue suddenly asked.

Ye Ming paused for a moment, then looked down at it.

The phone was on the table, its dark blue and light gray lanyard hanging down and draped over the edge of the table.

"Um."

Li Yue stared at the hanging rope for two seconds, then her eyes darted around. Without saying a word, she turned back to continue coding.

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, so quickly it was almost an illusion.

Zhang Yuan glanced at it, said nothing, put down the cola, and started debugging the code.

The computer room quieted down, with the clatter of keyboards and the hum of the air conditioner, just like in the morning.

Ye Ming opened his browser and logged into the Red Shield website.

After finishing typing a piece of code, Li Yue stretched and turned to see him checking business registration information. She leaned closer and asked, "What are you checking?"

"That company from this morning," Ye Ming said, "Huasheng Network Technology."

Li Yue stared at the screen for a while without saying anything.

Zhang Yuan also came over for a look: "The paid-in capital is empty."

Ye Ming nodded.

"Isn't that just a shell company?" Li Yue frowned.

"More or less," Ye Ming said.

He closed the webpage and searched for "Wang Deming" on Baidu, but found no results.

Search for "187 Zhujiang Road" plus "scam", flip through a few pages, and found a forum post.

In July 2009, someone reported that a company at the same address had absconded after collecting franchise fees.

After reading it, Li Yue leaned back in her chair and said, "This is a repeat offender."

Ye Ming took a screenshot of the post and made a few notes in his notebook.

Zhang Yuan remained silent for a while, then suddenly spoke up: "What are you planning to do?"

Ye Ming closed his laptop. "Let's finish the forum first, then I'll think about this matter some more."

Zhang Yuan nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Li Yue turned back to continue coding, but after a few keystrokes, she stopped and looked at Ye Ming.

"Ye Ming".

Ye Ming looked up.

"Who gave you that lanyard?"

Ye Ming paused for a moment, his finger resting on the edge of the phone, brushing against the cotton thread.

"A friend has class this afternoon, so I'm leaving now," he said.

Li Yue looked at him, didn't ask any questions, but just laughed wildly, like a badger that had stolen a melon.

"Let's go, let's go," she said, turning back to continue coding.

Zhang Yuan smiled beside him, but didn't say anything.

The computer room quieted down again, with the clatter of keyboards echoing, just like in the morning, yet somehow different.

Ye Ming got up, picked up his phone and left. He placed his thumb on the edge of the phone and rubbed it against the cotton thread, then rubbed it again.

The hanging rope dangled down, swaying back and forth.

Wang Chao didn't go to class in the afternoon.

He couldn't explain why, he just didn't want to go.

His roommates left one by one, leaving him alone in the dorm.

He pulled the envelope from under his pillow and counted it again. Five thousand yuan, not a single bill missing.

Yesterday, after adding that "mentor" from the startup group, the other party quickly accepted the request and sent me a bunch of materials.

The American Groupon model, the Chinese market presence, and the number of founding members.

He asked, "Where is the briefing on Sunday?" The other party replied with the address: "It's definitely on the third floor of the hotel, at 2 PM."

He agreed at the time, but now he feels a little uneasy.

His phone vibrated again. He picked it up and saw it was his tutor again, sending a message: "See you on Sunday."

It was followed by a handshake emoji.

Wang Chao stared at the screen for two seconds without replying.

I tossed my phone aside and stuffed the envelope back under my pillow.

The image of Ye Ming and Ruan Xing returning from outside flashed through my mind again.

Why can he do it but I can't? He closed his eyes, and the fire in his heart burned up again.

The afternoon session is "History of Ancient Literature".

The people in the lecture hall were scattered in twos and threes in various corners.

Xu Wei sat in the back row by the window, her computer on, displaying the event folder she had collected that day.

While waiting for class to start, she glanced at the group chat, Lin Zhixia's words from last night still echoing in her mind.

A person came in through the door.

She looked up and saw Ye Ming. Her heart skipped a beat, and she waved to him.

The sleeve slid down with the movement, revealing a section of arm—well-proportioned, fair, and with smooth lines—which shimmered briefly in the afternoon light.

Ye Ming saw her, walked over, and sat down next to her.

"Is Ruan Xing's matter resolved?" Xu Wei asked softly, her fingers resting on the edge of the computer, her fingertips brushing against the edge of the keyboard.

"I've filed a police report; the police should be on duty on Sunday."

Xu Wei nodded, and was about to ask another question when another person came in through the door.

Ruan Xing was carrying a bag containing several cups of milk tea.

Looking around, she saw Ye Ming and Xu Wei sitting together. She paused for a moment, then quickly smiled, squeezed in to sit down, and put the bag on the table.

"The milk tea, I just bought it, everyone gets some. The bubble tea is from that new shop near the back gate of the school, they say it's a recipe from Taiwan."

She took three cups out of the bag, one for Ye Ming, one for Xu Wei, and kept one for herself.

Water droplets condensed on the plastic cup wall, and shiny black pearls settled at the bottom of the cup.

Xu Wei took it and glanced at Ruan Xing: "You still have the mind to buy milk tea?"

Ruan Xing grinned and said, "The matter isn't resolved yet, but I still have to drink the milk tea."

She inserted the straw and took a sip, chewing the pearl in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out slightly.

He glanced at Ye Ming, then at Xu Wei, but said nothing and continued drinking with his head down.

Xu Wei also inserted a straw, lowered her head, and took a sip.

In the distance, Ye Ming and Ruan Xing were not close, but not far either.

She didn't say anything, moved the computer closer to herself, pretended to look at the messages in the group chat, her fingers hovering over the keyboard, but she didn't type a single word.

Ye Ming took the milk tea and inserted a straw.

The sweetness melts on the tip of the tongue.

Another thought popped into his head—milk tea.

In 2009, the business was just getting started.

Taiwanese milk tea shops are set up from south to north, selling a cup for five or six dollars, with a gross profit margin of sixty or seventy percent.

In a few years, Snow King's low-price, high-volume model will sweep through the lower-tier markets.

Then there are high-end trendy milk tea brands like Heytea and Nayuki, which bring the price down to 20 or 30 yuan.

Then came the influx of capital and the expansion of thousands of stores. He knew the ultimate outcome of this track: a great cash cow.

But he doesn't have money right now; opening a milk tea shop is a capital-intensive business.

You need to choose a location, do renovations, and manage the supply chain; once the money goes in, it can't be withdrawn in a short time.

There's no use thinking that far ahead when we haven't finished what's in front of us yet.

Ye Ming suppressed the thought, took a sip of milk tea, chewed the tapioca pearls twice, and swallowed.

The teacher on the podium opened his lecture notes and began to talk about pre-Qin literature.

Ye Ming looked down and flipped through the book. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xu Wei on his left and Ruan Xing on his right.

One person was looking at a computer screen, and the cursor remained stationary on the same line for a long time.

A person was drinking milk tea, twirling the plastic cup in their hand again and again, the straw flattened from biting it.

Neither of them looked at him, but neither of them paid attention in class.

He turned a page but didn't get into it.

These two girls are disturbing my Daoist mind!

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

He took it out, and the screen was lit up.

Shen Zhiyi: "See you in the computer lab tonight."

He replied with a single word: "Okay."

I felt both anticipation and anxiety.

This life after his rebirth was completely different from what he had imagined.

He just wants to learn skills, make money, and make even more money, to earn a small fortune first.

As for romance on campus, he had never considered that possibility.

A person should know their own limitations. I am of average appearance, so why should I expect beautiful women to fall in love with me?

The biggest illusion in the world is that she likes me!

Relationships are such a complicated thing.

It's better to wait until we're really rich before we talk about it.

Thinking about this, Ye Ming's heart gradually calmed down.

Beauty? Just bones and skeletons.

Xu Wei glanced at it but couldn't see clearly.

Ruan Xing glanced at it too, but couldn't see it clearly.

The two of them turned back at the same time.

One person continued looking at the computer, and finally the cursor moved.

One person continued drinking milk tea, and the plastic cup stopped spinning.

Ye Ming put his phone back in his pocket and continued flipping through the book, his mind gradually becoming absorbed in the story.

.