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

Around 10 o'clock, the door to dormitory 203 was half open.

Zhao Kai was playing video games downstairs, Adil was flipping through his textbooks, and Li Bo was reading essays with headphones on.

Wang Chao stood at the table, straightening his collar and changing into a clean jacket. His phone rang; he took it out and glanced at it—it was that number.

He answered the call and walked into the corridor. He lowered his voice and said "hello." The other party said that the venue for the meeting had been booked and asked him to come to the company to check out the environment first.

Wang Chao responded and hung up the phone, his palms sweaty. He pushed open the door to his dormitory and put his phone in his pocket.

Adil looked up: "How's your game going?"

Zhao Kai's fingers didn't stop: "Soon, we'll discuss the UI design today, and once it's finalized, it can go live."

Li Bo took off his headphones: "Can I make money?"

Zhao Kai then turned his head and smiled: "I don't know if I can make money, but I earn 50 cents for each post I write, so I can have some pocket money."

He paused for a moment, then said, "It's mainly for fun. What you write will be available to thousands or tens of thousands of people in the future. Before, people would just play with what others had made, but now they can write their own things and put them in, which is quite interesting."

Wang Chao straightened his collar, a slight smirk playing on his lips: "Only fifty cents a pair, how much can I earn?"

Zhao Kai wasn't angry. He smiled and said, "Little by little, it adds up. Besides, it's not like it's about the money."

Wang Chao didn't reply, but walked towards the door and put his hand on the doorknob: "I'm going out for a bit."

Zhao Kai didn't even turn his head: "Where to?"

"Something came up." Wang Chao opened the door and went out.

The corridor was quiet. Sunlight streamed in from the stairwell, dazzling and making my eyes sting.

He walked towards the stairwell, his steps faster than usual, the soles of his shoes clicking rapidly on the floor tiles, as if he were being chased by something.

Sun Cheng walked towards him from around the corner. Sun Cheng nodded to him, but Wang Chao didn't stop and went straight downstairs.

Sun Cheng walked to the door of room 203, peeked inside, and asked, "Zhao Kai, are you coming or not? It's the server room."

Zhao Kai closed the game, stuffed his laptop into his bag, and said, "Let's go."

The two went to room 204 to call Chen Mo, and then went next door to call Zhang Jian, Chen Yu, and Ma Teng. The group walked together toward the stairwell, their footsteps clattering but landing steadily on the ground.

Ye Ming left the computer room and walked towards the School of Humanities office building.

Autumn comes late to Jiulong Lake. The lake water is a dark, almost blackish green. Someone is fishing on the other side of the Nine-Bend Bridge, and duckweed covers half the surface of the water. He walks along the lake, past several alumni display boards showcasing their achievements. His gaze sweeps over them, and he pauses for a moment.

Ding Wende, CEO of Tuniu.com, started his business at the age of 25 and achieved annual sales of nearly 400 million yuan by the age of 29. Wang Haifeng, a senior student in the Department of Sociology at the School of Humanities, dropped out of school to start his own business and was in charge of three companies. As far as I can remember, he gradually disappeared from the public eye.

Some people go all the way, some go halfway.

Ye Ming withdrew his gaze and continued walking. A breeze stirred on the lake, scattering and gathering the duckweed. He was going to forge his own path. The first step was this "Rebirth Simulator" in his hand. He chose the path himself, drew the line himself, and whether he walked it well or not was his own business.

In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the School of Humanities office building. The corridor was quiet, and sunlight streamed in through the windows, warming us comfortably.

On the third floor, the door to Li Guoqiang's office was open. He was sitting at his desk reading documents, his reading glasses perched on his nose. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

"Ye Ming? Come in and sit down." He took off his glasses and pointed to the chair opposite him.

Ye Ming walked in and placed his laptop bag next to the chair. Li Guoqiang leaned back in his chair and glanced at him: "What have you been busy with lately? Does the class need the college's support for something?"

"Everything is fine in class. I've done a small project myself." Ye Ming bent down, took his laptop out of his bag, opened it, clicked on the game page, and turned to Li Guoqiang. "It's a web-based text game that I'll be uploading to my personal website. It'll be online soon, and I'd like to ask for your feedback."

Li Guoqiang paused for a moment, took the computer, and selected several attributes as Ye Ming had instructed, clicking through them one by one. After playing for about five minutes, a game ended. He stared at the ending summary on the screen without saying a word. After a while, he leaned back in his chair, took off his reading glasses, and smiled: "That's interesting."

He pushed the laptop back, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "You want to participate in the Challenge Cup, right? This project is very mature and interesting, and the department will definitely support it."

Ye Ming was stunned for a moment. Something he had never thought of in his previous life, he now had the opportunity to do in this life.

Li Guoqiang put down his teacup: "Our institute has a quota for recommendations every year. Yours is creative, has a team, and has progress. It's much better than those theoretical proposals that are just empty talk."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The Challenge Cup has three levels: school competition, provincial competition, and national finals. You just need to submit your school's preliminary round before the end of November; there's enough time. Yours falls under category B of technological inventions and creations—small projects that require little investment and bring convenience to life—which is perfect for you."

Ye Ming nodded.

Li Guoqiang added, "To apply, you need two mentors: one for specific guidance and one for coordination within the college. Go find your counselor, Liu Ting, and ask her to be your specific mentor. I'll be listed as your mentor and help coordinate things within the college."

He leaned back in his chair and said, "If we win an award in the Challenge Cup, the whole team will get social practice credits. Everyone on your team, from our college and the Computer Science Association, will get them. These credits are mandatory, so they won't have to go around scrambling for activities later. Go back and tell them to pay attention to it."

Ye Ming replied, "Okay, I'll go back and contact the counselor to prepare the materials."

He paused, then added without beating around the bush, "The project is stuck at the filing stage."

He explained the situation: he submitted his personal ICP filing materials on October 2nd, and October 8th was only the first working day. Today is only the second day. The Provincial Communications Administration requires 20 working days, and the earliest the process will be completed is November. This web game's survival depends entirely on GG fees. The Baidu Alliance launched on the 13th, missing the first wave of GG distribution, which will make things difficult later.

Li Guoqiang listened without interrupting.

Ye Ming said, "Teacher Li, do you know anyone at the Provincial Communications Administration? I know I shouldn't be asking this, but the project can't wait, so I have no choice but to swallow my pride and ask you for help."

Li Guoqiang leaned back in his chair and glanced at him. After a while, he laughed: "You dare to ask." He picked up his teacup and took another sip. "I'll try to find out about this for you. I have an old friend over there, but he might not be able to put in a good word for me. I'll ask around for you, but don't get your hopes up too high."

He paused, then said, "However, let's focus on completing the project first. The Challenge Cup is a rare honor. Once the application materials are ready, go see Liu Ting."

Ye Ming stood up to thank him and put his laptop into his bag. Li Guoqiang waved his hand, put his glasses back on, and looked down at the documents.

Ye Ming walked to the door and glanced back. He had already turned to the next page.

As Ye Ming left Li Guoqiang's office, he walked downstairs. The sunlight was shining down from above, and his shadow shrank to his feet.

He glanced at his phone; it was just past eleven.

"Tomorrow is the information session, so today is the best window of opportunity to ask for money." He turned a corner and walked towards the school gate.