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

At 4 p.m., Ye Ming and Ruan Xing returned to the Computer Lab at the Longhu Campus.

Li Yue and Zhang Yuan sat at the very back, Xu Wei was next to Lin Zhixia, and Chen Mo, Zhao Kai, Zhang Jian, Chen Yu, Sun Cheng, and Ma Teng were also there.

"You're back?" Li Yue looked up at him.

"Um."

"How's it going?" Xu Wei asked casually.

Ruan Xing put down her schoolbag, her eyes bright and her voice clear.

"The scammer has been caught, and the money has been returned."

"Really?" Ma Teng peeked out from behind the screen.

"Really!" Ruan Xing smiled brightly. "We waited at the coffee shop across the street, and then the police came and dragged that swindler out. When he saw Ye Ming, he shouted, 'You're the one who called the police!' He was really loud."

Zhao Kai laughed: "Then didn't he die of anger?"

"Getting angry won't help." Ruan Xing turned to look at Ye Ming, her eyes crinkling. "Anyway, the person was arrested, and Ye Ming got the money back in advance. By the way, back then..."

Ye Ming's alarm clock suddenly went off. He took out his phone and glanced at it before remembering what had happened.

Today is Sunday, time to call my parents.

He stood up and walked out; the corridor was quiet.

He dialed his mother's number and listened quietly to her chatter and concern. He also talked to his father for a while about the progress of his personal website.

Ye Ming felt a warmth in his heart that his father was quite knowledgeable about personal websites and web games, clearly having done a lot of research.

About fifteen minutes later, Ye Ming hung up the phone. After thinking for a moment, he dialed his sister's number again.

"Brother?" Ye Lin's voice was a little hoarse.

"Sis, still writing your thesis?"

"I'm going crazy, the manuscript is due next Monday." My sister sighed. "Why did you even think of making a phone call?"

"I miss you." Ye Ming leaned against the wall. "What are your plans after graduation?"

"I'm going to Huijing to become a teacher and I'm preparing for the teacher recruitment exam. I register in November and take the written exam next January. I have to pass the unified exam first, and only after I get the results can I apply for a job at a school. If all goes well, it would be great if we were in the same city."

Ye Ming paused for a moment. "Haven't you considered pursuing a doctorate?"

There was a two-second pause on the other end of the phone.

"I've thought about it," the older sister said, her voice lower. "But the family thinks it's too late for a girl to pursue a PhD, and besides, we don't have the money. And if we want to do a PhD, we'll have to start preparing the application materials next fall."

Ye Ming didn't speak, but scenes from his past life flashed through his mind: the hospital bed, the bruises, the gauze...

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" the older sister laughed. "Are you worried about your sister?"

"I'm making a game, it'll be launched soon, maybe it can help with the money issue."

"Take care of yourself first, don't worry about me." The older sister's tone became lighter. "We'll talk about it after you've actually made some money."

"OK."

Ye Ming had just hung up the phone with his sister when his phone rang again. The name "Li Guoqiang" appeared on the screen.

"Teacher Li."

"Ye Ming, the materials from the school's Youth League Committee have been received. That Ruan Xing of yours, without even me saying hello, managed to persuade the teacher herself. That girl is very capable."

Ye Ming was taken aback. "She did it herself?"

"Yes. When I went to say hello, the materials had already been received. Tell her afterwards that it was done beautifully and that I'm very satisfied."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Li."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Ming turned and walked back.

Pushing open the door to the server room, Ruan Xing had almost finished speaking.

She stood beside her seat, gesturing with her hand, her voice clear and bright, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Several people surrounded her. Zhao Kai smiled, Ma Teng craned his neck, and Zhang Jian leaned back in his chair and listened.

Ye Ming walked over and stood next to her.

Ruan Xing turned to look at him, her eyes bright.

Ye Ming didn't speak, but deliberately kept a stern face and looked at her for two seconds.

"What's wrong?" Ruan Xing felt a little flustered by his gaze.

"Dean Li just called," Ye Ming said in a low voice, "He specifically mentioned you."

Ruan Xing was taken aback: "What did you say about me?"

Ye Ming didn't reply, but looked at her for two more seconds.

"I...I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" Ruan Xing's voice was a little tense, her slender white index fingers twirling together.

"Did you go to the school's Youth League Committee by yourself first?"

Ruan Xing nodded and swallowed nervously.

"Dean Li said—" Ye Ming paused, "You handled this matter beautifully."

Ruan Xing was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant, and, both angry and amused, punched him lightly: "Classmate! You scared me!"

Ye Ming didn't dodge; he just kept smiling.

Ruan Xing glared at him, her ears turning red, then turned back and sat down.

Several people around laughed along. Ma Teng called out "deskmate" in her tone, but Ruan Xing turned around and glared at him.

Xu Wei sat to the side, watching this scene. She looked away and made up her mind that she couldn't wait any longer.

Li Yue called out from the other side, "Ye Ming, stop bullying Ruan Xing. The forum is running smoothly, and the creative workshop framework is set up. Come and take a look."

Ye Ming walked over; two pages were open on the screen.

One is the forum homepage, gray background with white text, simple but usable.

The other is the backend of the Creative Workshop, which includes modules for MOD uploading, approval, and version management, all neatly organized.

"Players upload mod packs, administrators review them, and once approved, they can be uploaded," Zhang Yuan said from the side. "Players can freely choose which mod to load in the game settings."

Ye Ming flipped through the code and asked a few more questions, which Li Yue and Zhang Yuan answered one by one.

"The framework is working, but it still needs to be iterated." Zhang Yuan rarely spoke up, "MOD priority, conflict handling, these things need to be adjusted slowly."

Ye Ming nodded. "Let's leave it like this for now, we'll optimize it later."

He pulled up a chair, sat down, and started looking at the code.

I went through the forum's post list, reply function, and user login, as well as the upload, review, and storage logic of the creative workshop, one by one.

I took this opportunity to ask Zhang Yuan about a few things I hadn't understood before. Zhang Yuan explained quickly, but Zhang Yuan took notes even faster. In just over half an hour, several more pages were added to my notebook.

"I've pretty much figured it out." Ye Ming copied the latest version of the game to his laptop, opened the Steam Workshop backend, and created a new document.

It's not about writing code, it's about writing a user manual for the Creative Workshop.

How to modify attributes, how to fill in talents, how to set up equipment, how to write characters, how to compose events—all are clearly listed. Format, examples, and precautions are all included.

Finally, he started making mods for himself, intending to use them as examples.

"Reborn as Tang Sanzang's White Horse" may be expanded into "Journey to the West Rebirth Simulator" in the future.

You were an ordinary white horse, chosen to be Tang Sanzang's mount. You followed the group for thousands of miles, enduring wind and rain, sleeping in the open, working tirelessly without complaint. One day, the real white dragon horse appeared, and you were replaced, your fate abruptly ending.

But you can change it.

You can cultivate ahead of time, avoid the White Dragon Horse, simply not embark on the journey, or encounter other opportunities along the way. There's more than one ending. Being replaced is one possible path, but not the only one.

He spent over an hour writing, saved, and submitted. Then he opened the review backend, refreshed it, and the mod appeared in the list. He clicked "Approved."

"Alright." He turned to look at Li Yue. "The Creative Workshop is running smoothly. The framework is set, all that's left is the content. Everyone can work on whatever theme they want—mythology, science fiction, martial arts, palace intrigue, anything—just fill in the content."

He leaned back in his chair, staring at the Workshop page on the screen.

The forum is working, the MOD framework is set up, but the event library is still being worked on.

Players can write their own events, create their own characters, and build their own entire world.

The game is not just his game; it's everyone's game.

This is his final answer to the penguin problem.