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

Xu Wei didn't say anything, but leaned over to take a look at the screen.

She paused for a moment after reading the beginning of the mod. Not because the mod was particularly complex, but because it differed from the base game.

The core of the original game is "to be reborn and change one's destiny," but the MOD written by Ye Ming places "being reborn" in another world.

You are Tang Sanzang's horse, not a hero, not the protagonist, just a background character who could be replaced at any time. But you can change it.

She suddenly realized that this was even more interesting than the game itself.

"Who will review this mod?" she asked.

Ye Ming glanced at her, smiled, and said, "Shouldn't we ask our kind-hearted person to do more work since we can't do it ourselves?"

She smiled slightly, then suppressed it: "Then I'll have to reluctantly agree, since I'm already in the event database anyway."

With a smile, Ye Ming pointed to the last line of the instruction manual: "The review standards are written in. As long as it does not involve illegal content, does not disrupt the game balance, and is formatted correctly, it can be released."

Xu Wei glanced down at the screen; the last line of the instruction manual read: "Reviewer: Xu Wei".

Xu Wei couldn't help but roll her eyes at Ye Ming: "You certainly made all the arrangements in advance."

Ye Ming didn't reply, he just smiled and looked at her.

Xu Wei turned back and continued filtering the events.

She read the remaining few, saved them, and then opened another folder.

Ye Ming withdrew his gaze, opened the forum, registered an account, and typed two words as his nickname: Traveler.

At the same time, a post was made: "Forum test, please report any problems here."

Li Yue leaned back in her chair, glanced at the time, then looked at Ruan Xing: "Ruan Xing, isn't the forum going to have a closed beta test? Do you want to be a moderator?"

Ruan Xing paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up: "Is that okay?"

"Of course, you're usually the most active one," Li Yue said with a smile.

"I'll give it a try!" Ruan Xing opened the registration page, thought for a moment, and typed four words in the nickname field: Starlight.

"Sent." She pressed enter. The post contained only one word: Hey.

Zhang Yuan glanced at it from the side without saying a word. Li Yue leaned over, glanced at it, and laughed: "Your first post is so perfunctory."

"Let's see if I can post it first." Ruan Xing smiled and started a second thread. This time, she wrote a few words carefully: "Hello everyone, I am the moderator Xingxingdiandeng. Welcome to the forum."

She turned to look at Ye Ming. "Hey, why don't you go reply too?"

Ye Ming didn't look up, and replied with a single word: "Okay."

Ruan Xing stared at the word "good" on the screen for two seconds, a slight smile playing on her lips, before turning back to continue filling in the event database.

The keyboards in the computer room were clattering loudly.

Ma Teng had already started, and Zhao Kai was giving him advice. Chen Yu was engrossed in writing, while Sun Cheng occasionally asked Zhang Yuan a question.

By 10 p.m., the number of events in the database had surged from 1,300 to over 1,500.

Xu Wei saved the selected 500 entries into a new file and sent it to Ye Ming.

Ye Ming opened the document and carefully reviewed each entry, making occasional modifications.

Xu Wei leaned back in her chair and rubbed her wrists.

The team members gradually dispersed.

Lin Zhixia called out to Xu Wei, and Xu Wei said, "You go first," and Lin Zhixia didn't ask any further questions.

Ruan Xing lingered for a while before leaving.

She turned to look at Ye Ming, who was intently watching the screen.

He glanced at Xu Wei again; she hadn't left, but was sitting in her seat drawing circles on the table with her hand.

Ye Ming felt Ruan Xing's gaze and turned to say, "Classmate, you've had a long day, you should go home first. Xu Wei and I will discuss the incident database again."

Ruan Xing didn't really want to leave, but she had no reason to, so she could only say softly, "Okay, see you tomorrow."

She walked to the door and couldn't help but look back.

Ye Ming had already taken his laptop to find Xu Wei, and the two were talking to each other on the screen.

She opened the door and walked out, her footsteps in the hallway sounding heavier than usual.

After an unknown amount of time, the keyboard clicks stopped, and the talking also stopped.

Only the air conditioner was humming, and the light bulbs were emitting a faint electrical sound.

Xu Wei closed the notebook, ran her finger along the edge of the cover, and then ran it again.

She packed everything into her schoolbag, stood up, walked to the window, and looked downstairs.

The streetlights outside the window were on, and the shadows of the trees fell sparsely on the ground.

She looked away, turned around, and looked at Ye Ming.

"Want to go for a walk?" she said.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was very steady, as if it had been rehearsed many times in the mind.

Ye Ming was startled and looked up at her.

She didn't flinch, she just looked at him, her eyes bright, filled with a mix of nervousness and anticipation, and a touch of stubbornness.

Ye Ming nodded slightly, packed his things into his schoolbag, and the two went downstairs together.

Longhu is located in the center of the campus, less than a ten-minute walk from the computer lab.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow on the road, and the lake surface was deep and still, with the light shimmering in the water, creating ripples of golden reflections.

Xu Wei walked beside him without saying a word.

A breeze blew across the lake, causing the pleated skirt to sway gently, and the exposed calves appeared exceptionally white under the light.

Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, with a few strands blowing in the wind and brushing against Ye Ming's arm.

Ye Ming put his hands in his pockets and walked at a moderate pace, but his heart was far from calm.

What exactly is this girl trying to do?

Xu Wei glanced at him and saw that his hands were in his pockets, showing no intention of coming out.

She felt a little anxious and a little annoyed.

Why is this person walking around with their hands in their pockets?

She bit her lip and didn't say anything.

The two walked for a long time without saying a word.

Xu Wei's hands hung at her sides, her fingers slightly curled.

She took half a step closer to him, her shoulder almost touching his arm, before pulling back.

He didn't seem to notice.

She was even more annoyed.

After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Ye Ming turned to look at her.

"My hands are cold," she said, her voice low and slightly defiant.

Ye Ming was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, Xu Wei had already reached out and pulled his hand out of his pocket.

Her hands were cool, with long, slender fingers and a delicate touch. She held his wrist with a light grip, but Ye Ming didn't pull away.

"Warm it up for me," Xu Wei said.

She placed her hand in his palm, palm to palm, and the coolness seeped in through his fingers.

Ye Ming tensed up.

Her hands were really soft, no, they were really cold.

He instinctively wanted to clench his fist, but then felt that the action was too much. His fingers froze there, unsure whether to tighten or loosen them.

Xu Wei sensed his fingers hesitating, but she didn't give him a chance to back down. She slipped her fingers between his fingers and gently grasped his hand.

Their fingers are intertwined.

Ye Ming's fingers twitched, but he didn't break free.

His heart started racing, so fast that his ears were ringing.

"We..." he began, his voice a little dry, "are we partners in a good business?"

Xu Wei froze for a moment.

"It's perfectly normal for good partners to shake hands," he said.

Xu Wei looked up and stared at him for two seconds.

The moonlight fell on her face, making her bright face glow white, but the light in her eyes dimmed a little.

Good buddy?

She bit her lip and didn't say anything.

How could they even make fun of her like that?

She had already offered her hand, yet he still had to ask, "Are we good partners?"

She's gone to such lengths, and he's still pretending to be stupid?

Is this guy trying to force her to speak first?

No way!

She was both angry and annoyed, but she didn't let go.

She wouldn't say.

She wanted to see how long he could keep up the act.

Ye Ming felt a little flustered when he saw that she didn't say anything.

He opened his mouth, wanting to add something, but then he didn't know what to say.

Her hand was still holding his, neither loosening nor tightening.

The two of them just stood there, neither of them moving.

A cool breeze blew across the lake.

After a while, Xu Wei gently tugged at his hand.

"I'm leaving," she said, her voice lower than before, revealing no emotion.

Ye Ming followed her forward, her hand still in his palm, not letting go, but not holding on tighter either.

Meanwhile, in the boys' dormitory building.

Wang Chao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, his mind filled with the events of the day.

The old policeman's words, the slovenly way the conman was taken out, and the way Ye Ming walked out of the coffee shop kept replaying in my mind.

He got up, walked to the window, lit a cigarette, and glanced downstairs.

Under the streetlights, two figures walked from the direction of Longhu.

He recognized them; they were Ye Ming and Xu Wei.

They walked very close, holding hands.

Xu Wei's skirt swayed gently in the wind, and Ye Ming walked beside her at a leisurely pace.

Wang Chao stared at the two figures, and only when the cigarette in his hand burned his fingers did he hurriedly throw it away.

"Damn it."

Wang Chao muttered something, closed the window, climbed back into bed, pulled the covers over his head, and tried to fall asleep.

Ye Ming and Xu Wei walked down to the girls' dormitory building. Xu Wei stopped and turned around to look at him.

She was still holding his hand, she hadn't let go.

"Goodnight," she said.

"Good night."

She released her grip, gave Ye Ming a look that was both reproachful and amused, turned and went upstairs, her large waves dancing in the air.

Footsteps echoed a few times in the hallway, then faded into the distance.

Ye Ming stood still and looked down at his hands.

The warmth of her hand still lingered in his palm, along with the feel of her small, slender, smooth, and delicate hands.

Her hands are so soft.

What kind of nonsense were you just spouting?

A good business partner?

Whose best friends are holding hands?

Am I out of my mind?

He put his hands back in his pockets and turned to walk back to his dormitory.

Back in his dorm, after washing up, Ye Ming lay down on his bed when his phone vibrated.

Ruan Xing's message: "Thank you so much for today, classmate. I'll keep a close eye on the forum from now on, don't worry."

He replied, "Yes, thank you for your help, deskmate."

He scrolled through the messages and found that Shen Zhiyi had sent a message half an hour ago.

"The compilation failed again today. I spent all night checking the logs; it's probably because I deleted the wrong dependency. Are you feeling better?"

He replied, "Yeah, much better. Keep it up, I believe you can definitely make the phone we envisioned."

After a moment, Shen Zhiyi replied with a single word: "Okay."

Xu Wei did not send a message.

Ye Ming stared at her chat box for a few seconds, typed a line, deleted it, and finally sent nothing.

Is she angry? Or not?