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

Ye Ming then turned his head and glanced at her. "You go first," he said, "I'll stay a little longer."

She nodded, straightened up, took a piece of chocolate from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

The sweetness dissipated, she took two bites, opened the door, and went out.

The corridor was quiet.

The setting sun shone through the window at the far end, casting its long shadow on the floor.

Her shoulder-length, tousled hair was tinged a light chestnut brown by the sunlight, with a few strands clinging to her chin and swaying gently with her steps.

The pale yellow hoodie was bathed in the warm twilight, with one strap longer than the other hanging down in front of the chest.

She walked with light steps, her whole being like a cat stepping in the sunlight, her shadow trailing a long, lively arc on the ground.

Ye Ming sat in front of the computer, without moving.

The screen was still lit up, showing a screenshot of the bicycle incident.

The setting sun shone through the window and fell warmly on the back of his hand.

He stared at the line of text.

Under the moonlight, her features were bright and fair, and she was very beautiful.

A thought pops into your mind: It would be such a waste if such a beautiful face were to fall onto the curb.

Thumb hovers over the send button.

Longjiang Residential Area, Xu Wei's bedroom.

The curtains weren't fully drawn, and a ray of light squeezed in through the gap, landing at the foot of the bed.

The twilight was soft, orange-red, and moved toward the bed along with the light.

The light first illuminated her hair, which was spread out on the pillow. The large waves were outlined by the light, highlighting the lines of her profile.

His brow was slightly furrowed, as if he was waiting for something, or as if he was enduring something.

The neckline of the light pink cardigan was slightly open, revealing a small section of her collarbone. The hem of the cardigan was spread out on the quilt, wrinkled, as if she had just turned over.

The light moved further down and fell on her feet, which were draped over the blanket. Her feet were fair and shapely, with slender and rounded ankles, smooth insteps, and faint blue veins showing through.

Her toes were rounded, and her nails were neatly trimmed with a light pink hue.

She curled her toes slightly, as if she wasn't used to being in the sunlight, then slowly relaxed them.

I was enveloped in the twilight, all quiet and still.

Occasionally, a bicycle will pass by downstairs, its bell will ring once, and then it will be gone again.

The sweet fragrance of osmanthus blossoms drifted in through the cracks in the window.

She turned over, took her phone from beside her pillow, and opened Ye Ming's chat window.

She scrolled up and saw the message he had added last night: "You've had a tough time lately."

I stared at it for a few seconds, then exited, then clicked back in, then exited again.

She placed her phone face down on the pillow and turned over.

He flipped it over again, picked up his phone, and glanced at it.

Still blank.

I just covered the phone screen.

"bite."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned the book over to look.

It's not Ye Ming.

It's Gu Zhengrong.

"I heard you went home. The weather's nice tomorrow, the ginkgo leaves at Xuanwu Lake should be turning yellow, want to go for a walk together?"

She stared at the line of text for a few seconds.

In high school, he asked her out a few times, but it was always together with other people, at classmate reunions or club activities, a lively gathering of many.

This is the first time we've met up alone.

In the past, she might have hesitated.

But now, her mind is filled with the image of another person.

The way he hunched over his coding in the server room, the way his fingers rested on the rim of the cup as he poured her water, the muffled sound in his voice when he said "um" on the phone.

And there was his figure, risking his life to protect himself.

She sighed and replied, "I have something to do tomorrow, maybe next time." After sending the message, she placed her phone next to her pillow.

A few seconds later, the phone vibrated again.

"Okay, then another day. You go ahead and do your thing."

She glanced at it and didn't reply.

The sunlight shifted a little further and fell on the back of her hand.

She reached out and flipped her phone over; Ye Ming's chat window was still blank.

Forget it, I'm not waiting anymore.

Just as I was about to place my phone face down next to my pillow, the screen lit up.

It wasn't a message, it was a phone call.

Two words appeared on the screen: Ye Ming.

She froze for a moment, her heart suddenly racing. She took a deep breath, pressed the answer button, and held the phone to her ear.

"Ye Ming?" The voice carried a hint of surprise, and a touch of anticipation that even the speaker himself was unaware of.

"Hmm." There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "I went to see Dean Li today, and he said our project can be submitted for the Challenge Cup, Category B of the Science and Technology Invention category, and the institute will support it. We need two mentors; he will coordinate the naming, and Professor Liu Ting will provide specific guidance."

She listened without saying a word, as the twilight outside the window deepened.

"Ruan Xing was organizing materials this afternoon, it should be finished soon."

He paused for a moment, then said, "We need to register for group projects and compile a list of core members. Chen Mo, Zhao Kai, and the others who wrote the stories are all included. Sister Li Yue and Brother Zhang Yuan will also be listed, but they are seniors and have finished their credits, so their rankings can be lower."

"Mmm," she replied.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

She heard him take a breath and then exhale.

"I'm thinking about how to prioritize the core members," he said. "You're in charge of coordinating the event reporting, which is more important than the others. I think you should be ranked after me. Then Ruan Xing, Chen Mo, and the others can be ranked after that."

She froze for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat.

She didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

"What do you think?" he asked.

She rolled over, buried her face in the pillow, and said in a muffled voice, "Fine."

"Hmm," he said.

Then she stopped talking.

She waited for five seconds.

ten seconds.

Fifteen seconds.

There was only the sound of breathing on the other end of the phone.

She bit her lip, unable to hold back any longer: "You called just for this?"

"Hmm," he said.

She laughed in exasperation.

Why is this person like this?

She rolled over, staring at the ceiling, her voice tinged with a hint of defiance: "Okay, I'm done talking, I'm hanging up now."

"Wait a minute," he said.

She stopped.

He didn't hang up, and he didn't say anything.

wait.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

She could hear his breathing, heavy and rhythmic.

The twilight outside the window changed from orange-red to dark red, and the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafted in.

She gripped her phone tightly, her fingers turning white.

She felt a pang of sadness when she recalled Li Yue referring to Ye Ming as "Ye Ming's senior in high school" in the computer lab earlier that day.

Thinking of the white dress she saw in the corridor, something stuck in her heart that she couldn't shake off.

"You came home today, is everything alright?" he finally asked, his voice a little lower than usual.

Her heart skipped a beat. Weren't they talking about the Challenge Cup? Weren't they talking about rankings? Why are they suddenly asking this?

"It's okay," she said, her voice softening.

"Hmm," he said.

She fell silent again. She gripped her phone and waited for five seconds.

ten seconds.

She bit her lip, and the feeling of something stuck in her heart suddenly welled up.

Why aren't you saying anything?

"I'm listening," he said.

"What are you listening to?"

"I hear you breathing."

Her face flushed instantly.

She moved her phone away a little, then brought it back, her voice muffled: "What's so nice about my breathing?"

Why would this person suddenly say something like that?

He did not answer.

She heard him seem to laugh, or perhaps he didn't.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I didn't laugh."

You smiled.

"without."

She rolled over, buried her face in the pillow, and mumbled, "You're so boring. You called just to talk about rankings, then asked if I had anything going on at home, and then you didn't say anything. What exactly do you want to say?"

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Are you coming to the computer room tomorrow?" he asked.

She paused for a moment, then smiled.

It wasn't a laugh that came out, but rather the corners of my mouth turned up, and I couldn't suppress it.

The feeling of tightness in my chest dissipated at some point.

She rolled over, staring at the ceiling, and said softly, "Come on."

See you tomorrow.

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

She hugged her phone to her chest, turned over, buried her face in the pillow, and chuckled softly.

She held her phone to her chest, hugged it, and rolled from one end of the bed to the other, then rolled back.

There seemed to be a shout outside, so she quickly covered her mouth, wrapped herself in the blanket, and only her eyes were visible.

Their eyes are bright and curved, like crescent moons.

She pulled the blanket up, covering half her face, and laughed for a while in the darkness.

After a while, she remembered: How could she forget to tell Ye Bapi about the filing?

Never mind, let's wait until we're sure before we talk about it.