The furious Qian Fan’s fighting power was astonishing. At the next day’s regular meeting, he lambasted a group of dissenting voices, truly managing to preserve Rong Shi’s chairman position.

After the meeting, Zheng Hai, the second-year dean of students, walked back with him.

Zheng Hai: “You’re truly putting your heart and soul into worrying about Rong Shi.”

Qian Fan, with lesson plans in his left hand and a thermos in his right, had a normal expression: “Even if it wasn’t for him, I would still do this. The hands of certain people in the military are reaching further and further. If we keep indulging them, this place will become their personal domain.”

“Keep your voice down!” Zheng Hai gestured, looking left and right to ensure no one was around before sighing in relief. “These things are just for private talk. As long as we can protect the students, we can’t control much else, alas.”

That afternoon, Qian Fan took Rong Shi to complete the inauguration procedures.

Seeing Rong Shi’s reluctance throughout the process, Qian Fan called him to the office after the formalities were done, giving him another hour of life guidance.

Rong Shi sat there, letting the words go in one ear and out the other, finding the atmosphere very conducive to sleep.

His terminal suddenly rang. Seeing Rong Shi’s expression change, Qian Fan casually asked: “Who is it?”

“Lu Youqi.”

Rong Shi suppressed his emotions and accepted the call.

A middle-aged man in military uniform appeared on the virtual screen. 01’s voice sounded simultaneously.

【Lu Youqi, Alpha, 42 years old, Commander of the Ninth Legion, Major General rank, promoted to General fifteen years later, one of the three great commanders of the military.】

Rong Shi’s voice was faint: “Who is this?”

Lu Youqi: “…”

Qian Fan: “…” You’re too arrogant.

Lu Youqi’s face was serious, exuding an intimidating aura without anger. His gaze lingered on Rong Shi for two seconds: “I am Lu Youqi, your father’s comrade-in-arms. Ming’er told me you’ve enrolled. Let’s have dinner this weekend.”

Rong Shi’s fingers on the armrest twirled.

“Sorry, I have plans with my Alpha this weekend.”

The phrase “my Alpha” was said so naturally and casually, yet it made both Qian Fan and Lu Youqi frown.

Lu Youqi: “Then next weekend.”

Rong Shi: “Next weekend I’m planning to go home to see my brother. How about I contact you when I’m free?”

The disrespectful attitude made Lu Youqi’s face darken. He hung up the call without saying anything.

“You, you—you’re something else!” Qian Fan said, exasperated. “He’s a Major General, for goodness sake. Can’t you be a little more polite?”

Rong Shi picked up Qian Fan’s thermos to refill his water.

“What he wants isn’t my politeness, it’s my stance. Since I don’t want to state my stance, why should I give him a good attitude?”

When the thermos was handed back, Qian Fan saw that ginseng slices and goji berries had been added, and suddenly found himself speechless.

Rong Shi not only let him talk freely but also made tea to soothe his throat, essentially signaling, “You can talk for as long as you want, I’m just not going to listen anyway.”

“Such solicitations will only increase from now on, it’s unavoidable.” Qian Fan took the thermos. “Prepare yourself mentally. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can come and ask me.”

A-Block Dormitory.

“You clearly know that he and I are at loggerheads, so why are you trying to recruit him?!” Lu Ming kicked over a chair at his feet, shouting at the holographic image, “If others find out, they’ll surely laugh at me for being useless!”

Lu Youqi was already in a bad mood, and his son’s shouting made his face instantly darken.

“Aren’t you?! How many paths have I paved for you for this chairman position! You’ve made me lose face in the military. You’re simply a hopeless case, go and reflect properly!”

Since the start of the semester, every communication between father and son ended in an argument.

Zhang Yi walked out of the bedroom and saw Lu Ming sitting on the sofa, clutching his head, the living room a mess.

“Brother Lu, don’t be angry at Uncle Lu. He’s also thinking about the big picture.”

Lu Ming slammed his fist hard on the armrest: “It’s all Rong Shi! If it weren’t for him, why would I be in this situation now?!”

Once Rong Shi accepted his father’s recruitment, the two of them would inevitably be compared. Most importantly, he didn’t want Rong Shi to get any resources at all!

That kind of commoner, is he worthy?!

Seeing Lu Ming so enraged, Zhang Yi gritted his teeth and sat on the sofa next to him.

“Brother Lu, why don’t we find someone to teach him a lesson?”

“A lesson?” Lu Ming was startled, “Who? How to teach him a lesson?”

Zhang Yi’s eyes gleamed fiercely: “Do you know who dislikes the new chairman the most in the military academy?”

Lu Ming’s face darkened, almost punching him.

Zhang Yi realized the ambiguity and answered himself: “It’s those academic failures and school bullies. They have bad grades and are unruly. Once they join the military, they’ll just be military thugs. They say a new official has three fires, and the first thing to deal with is them. We just need to stir things up a bit, and we’ll have a good show to watch.”

In another dorm, the sound of arguing continued. Qin Luo hid behind the door, clutching his chest and listening, his small face pale with fright.

Song Yu stood in the living room, a holographic image of a middle-aged man in front of him.

The middle-aged man wore exquisite formal attire, his brown hair meticulously combed into a slicked-back style. His features bore a four-to-five-point resemblance to Song Yu’s, with slight traces of age around his eyes and brows. Overall, he was a very handsome Alpha.

Only now, his face was extremely grim. An expensive tea cup lay shattered on the floor.

“You’re becoming more and more disrespectful these years! Do you still remember that you are a prince?!”

Song Yu’s expression was calm: “Then do you still remember that you are my King?”

The King: “What kind of talk is that?!”

Song Yu: “Song Ke runs wild outside, and you pretend not to see it, yet you’re so strict with me, just because I lost my dad, I deserve to lose my father too—”

“Shut up!” The King roared loudly, his eyes fierce, “How many times have I told you, your dad is the current Queen, perfectly fine in the palace. Have you gone mad with grief?”

Song Yu gazed at the furious face before him, the memory of the dad who always gently joked and made him laugh becoming increasingly blurry.

This was not his dad; merely a ruler.

He sneered, speechless.

The King, seeing he didn’t retort, suppressed his anger and lowered his voice: “Ke’er said you want to marry that Alpha?”

“Yes.” Song Yu’s hands were in his pockets, “I’m completely infatuated, it has to be him.”

“You scoundrel!” The King overturned another teacup, “Do you know how much impact this will have on the royal family once it gets out?!”

“So what?” Song Yu’s tone was light, “Anyway, I no longer have a chance to inherit the throne, don’t I even have the right to choose my own marriage?”

The King was startled: “Who told you—”

“Then tell me now, do I still have a chance? Have you ever considered me as heir to the throne?” Song Yu interjected.

The King gasped for breath, but couldn’t answer for a long time.

Song Yu’s expression was calm, but his hands, hidden in his pockets, tightened little by little.

“I’ll reconsider the marriage,” the King suddenly calmed down, “You—”

Before he could finish, Song Yu cut off the communication.

Once the sound stopped, Qin Luo emerged from the room, momentarily unsure how to comfort him.

“Brother—”

“Listen, a prince wants to marry someone of the same sex, and he says he has to ‘reconsider’.” Song Yu scoffed, “No, he should be hoping for it. That way, I won’t be able to snatch Song Ke’s throne.”

Qin Luo couldn’t interject in royal matters. He wanted to change the subject, but Song Yu left the room first, without saying where he was going.

Late at night, Rong Shi quietly walked up the stairs and opened the door to the rooftop, only to find that he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

In the dark night, Song Yu sat alone on the railing, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, silently gazing at the starry sky, as if he could fall from dozens of meters high at any moment.

He was like an epiphyllum, exuding an extreme, destructive beauty.

Rong Shi walked over and sat down on the ground, leaning against the railing.

“Smoking is prohibited at school.”

Song Yu slowly turned his head and pulled a lollipop from his mouth: “You, as chairman, aren’t even proper yourself, yet you’re controlling others?”

The cold wind dispersed the vexation in his heart. Rong Shi idly replied: “I don’t want to either. They insisted I do it.”

Song Yu: “You’re not sleeping in the middle of the night, specifically coming here to annoy me?”

Rong Shi: “You’re not sleeping in the middle of the night, hiding here and crying?”

Song Yu: “Can you speak like a human being?”

Rong Shi: “Cry if you want, whether I laugh depends on my mood.”

Song Yu cursed lowly: “Damn it!”

The surroundings suddenly fell silent. No one spoke again.

Rong Shi was deep in thought when he suddenly heard a gasp. He turned to look and saw Song Yu leaning his upper body outward, about to lose his balance and fall.

A dizzying sensation, Song Yu was caught around the waist and rolled onto the ground with Rong Shi.

Their eyes met. Song Yu let out a suppressed chuckle, which grew louder and louder.

Seeing the mischief in his eyes, Rong Shi pushed him away and sat back down.

“Crazy.”

Song Yu slowly walked over and sat beside him, still laughing uncontrollably.

“Lu Youqi contacted you?”

Rong Shi: “You’re well-informed.”

Song Yu leaned against the railing, twirling the lollipop in his hand. “If suppression doesn’t work, then recruitment. Such an old trick, anyone could have thought of it.”

“But you didn’t agree,” Song Yu continued to himself. “You probably don’t want to join any faction, but now that you’re in this position, is it possible not to take a side?”

Rong Shi closed his eyes, not answering.

Both had their own troubles, sitting in the cold wind for an unknown amount of time.

“Hey,” Song Yu suddenly spoke, “How about—we get married?”

His relaxed tone was as casual as deciding what to eat for lunch.

Back in the dorm, Rong Shi lay on his bed for a long time, then opened his personal terminal and logged into Star Wars.

Unexpectedly, Little Cat was also online.

He created a training room and pulled him in.

“Not sleeping yet, so late?”

“I sensed Bunny was online,” Little Cat sat cross-legged in the middle of the ring. “Oh, by the way, my family does have industries on B009. Send me the detailed information on what kind of blue crystals you want.”

He walked over and sat opposite him: “I’ll send you the data in a bit, but this type of crystal is difficult to mine, so don’t force it if you can’t get it.”

Little Cat smiled, patting his shoulder with a small cat paw: “You can trust me to handle it. How many tons does your friend need?”

Rong Shi: “…” Tons?

“…Not that much.” Rong Shi gestured the size of a basketball, “That big is enough. You decide the price.”

Little Cat: “I don’t want money. If you really want to give something, repay me with your body~”

Rong Shi: “…”

For the next half hour, Rong Shi used his body to teach Little Cat new combat techniques.

Little Cat was different from ordinary omegas; he was exceptionally intelligent. He learned everything instantly, especially combat skills.

After teaching, Rong Shi sparred with him a few more rounds, and his gloomy mood from the night improved significantly.

“I’ve taught you so well, whoever marries you in the future will be unlucky,” Rong Shi joked.

Little Cat puffed out his cat cheeks, wronged: “Am I the kind of cat that would beat up its partner?”

Rong Shi had held back all night, but he couldn’t anymore. He reached out and stroked Little Cat’s soft fur and cat ears: “You’re the best.”

Bringing up the topic, Little Cat casually asked: “Bunny, do you know how to make an Alpha marry you?”

Seeing Rong Shi look at him strangely, he added: “I’m asking for a friend.”

Rong Shi had never been in a relationship, but since he was asked, he pondered, chin in hand.

“How about starting by conquering his stomach?”

Little Cat also rested his chin in his hand, thoughtfully.

The next day, after the theory class, Rong Shi met Chen Chen on the way and went to the cafeteria to eat together.

He had just sat down with his tray when an exquisite bento box appeared in front of him.

A pair of long, beautiful hands opened it. Inside, it was dark and emitted a strong burnt smell.

Song Yu sat opposite, smiling charmingly: “Here, try my cooking.”

Rong Shi: “…”