It was precisely mealtime, and the cafeteria was packed.

“Top-tier” figures like Rong Shi and Song Yu garnered attention wherever they went. Even more so when the two were together; any photo posted on the forum would instantly go viral.

Seeing Rong Shi’s cold face remain unmoved, Song Yu picked up the lunchbox and held it out to him.

“I made this myself, took me an hour. Give me some face?”

Rong Shi picked up his chopsticks and calmly continued eating his own meal.

Chen Chen, sitting next to him, peered into the lunchbox and quipped: “Is that a love bento, or poison?”

Students who didn’t understand what was going on, believing they’d caught wind of gossip, quickly spammed their group chats.

“Breaking news! Goddess Song finally made a move on Chairman Rong!”

Students halfway through their meals, chopsticks dangling from their mouths, began a heated discussion in the group chats.

“What kind of move? Did they go to a hotel?! Which hotel?! [Share location or die]”

“They’re sitting right in front of me!! OMG so hot!!”

“Location: Eighth Cafeteria, Third Floor. Goddess sent a bento, but it looks quite poisonous [facepalm]”

“Why do I smell dog food?”

Noticing the gazes of those around them, Song Yu used his bare hand to pinch a piece of something resembling an egg roll from the lunchbox.

“It’s not poisonous. If you don’t believe me, I’ll eat it for you.”

Saying this, he was about to put the dark, charred thing into his mouth.

Just as it touched his lips, it was blocked by a pair of chopsticks crossing over.

Rong Shi picked the item back into the lunchbox and casually closed the lid.

“Go get some food, and bring me another pair of chopsticks while you’re at it.”

The secretly observing students watched Song Yu reluctantly get up and walk towards the serving window.

The group chats exploded—

“OMG OMG OMG! I feel like they’re really together!”

“I thought the rumors were exaggerated before, but seeing it with my own eyes today, I believe it!”

“Chairman Rong: It’s poisonous, I won’t eat it, and you shouldn’t either, be good.”

“Damn, I’m heartbroken! But I’m also shipping this gorgeous couple, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad!”

Chen Chen was utterly bewildered by their series of perplexing actions.

Others might not know, but he had stood beside Rong Shi that day and was very clear that these two had no romantic chemistry; in fact, they seemed to want to fight each other every time they met.

“Gorgeous couple” my foot. Overthinking is a sickness that needs curing.

Song Yu took the chopsticks, just as Qin Luo arrived with their two meal trays.

Qin Luo’s gaze returned from where Rong Shi was sitting. He asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong now? I saw a lot of people taking photos while queuing.”

Song Yu took his plate, chuckling softly: “Sparring with smart people is really easy.”

They caught on instantly.

A few days later, Song Ke received a report on the situation.

Assistant: “Recently, His Royal Highness the Second Prince and Rong Shi have been interacting frequently, even secretly entering his dorm to spend the night. The entire military academy is abuzz with rumors.”

Song Ke leaned back in the healing pod. His breathing was heavy, causing a painful twitch in his abdomen, but he couldn’t help but smile.

“A mongrel is a mongrel. It seems Father King kicking him out was a huge blow to him.”

Assistant: “His properties are managed by agents; he’s completely unreachable. I heard he recently bought a barren planet in Andromeda, purpose unknown for now.”

“He’s lost his claim to the throne, why wouldn’t he buy a planet for retirement sooner?” Song Ke sneered, “And Rong Shi’s chairman position wasn’t revoked?”

The assistant nodded: “Originally, Lu Youqi put pressure on Principal Li Huating, but Qian Fan, the son of the former commander, strongly objected, citing the preservation of military academy traditions. Lu Youqi contacted Rong Shi a few days ago.”

“Stubborn old fool!” Song Ke played with the walnuts in his hand, eyes narrowed in thought. “Lu Youqi knows Song Yu’s identity, yet still dared to contact Rong Shi?”

The assistant nodded: “It’s likely just a test. Many parties are currently observing. Once Rong Shi and His Royal Highness the Second Prince’s relationship is confirmed, this hot potato will likely be too hot for anyone to handle, as no one wants to openly make an enemy of you.”

“Then let’s help them confirm it sooner!” Song Ke struggled to get out of the healing pod: “Help me change clothes. I’m going to see Father King.”

01’s pheromone matching module had finished repairing. That same day, it produced the compatibility report for Lin Mo and Gu Yan.

As Rong Shi had expected, it was 100% compatible.

【System calculation shows that the probability of natural encounter is 0.】

Rong Shi had just finished showering, poured a glass of water, drank it in one gulp, and casually picked up a towel to dry his hair.

“Any other anomalies?”

【Lin Mo’s pheromone intensity release curve is abnormal.】

A virtual graph window appeared in mid-air. This was the pheromone intensity recorded by 01 on the night Lin Mo went into heat.

Whether Alpha or Omega, pheromone release is a process from weak to strong. This graph showed that around the time Rong Shi felt Lin Mo’s pheromones intensify, his pheromone suddenly jumped from C-rank to B-rank, with no gradual increase in between.

Rong Shi studied it carefully for a moment.

“Find a way to monitor Lin Mo.”

【Already doing it! All the AI in the military academy are my little brothers! However, outside the military academy is still difficult. The module isn’t fully repaired. If only I had an energy stone—】

“If you don’t rush me all day, you’ll probably get one soon,” Rong Shi said calmly.

【Definitely won’t rush! Hehehe.】

Controlling the intelligence systems of this era with the most advanced intelligent system from fifteen years later was very simple, though there might be compatibility issues.

Rong Shi brought up the programming interface, ready to write a compatibility patch.

His personal terminal suddenly rang. 01 responded enthusiastically.

【Aww, Little Master Mianmian is calling~】

“Connect.”

A small radish head in a rabbit costume appeared on the carpet in front of the sofa.

“Ge-ge—”

The little radish head’s voice was soft, his pink cheeks chubby, and his eyes shone brightly as he looked at Rong Shi.

Rong Shi lightly swiped his finger, and the virtual keyboard shifted to the side. He sat on the carpet, though his gaze was still much higher than the little radish head’s.

“No nap?”

The time difference between them meant it was day and night reversed.

“I, I wanted to say something to Ge-ge before going to sleep.” Mianmian held his rabbit plush by one ear, dragging it two steps closer to Rong Shi. “I counted obediently to ten before calling you—achoo!”

The little radish head sneezed and almost fell over.

Rong Shi looked at his bare little feet, wanting to cover them: “Put your shoes on.”

Mianmian kicked his leg, saluted, his left hand pressed against his leg, fingertips tensed and curling outwards: “Received!”

He turned around, flustered, to look for his shoes.

A knock suddenly sounded. Mianmian only had time to put on one shoe, becoming even more flustered. His mouth flattened, his voice tinged with a cry: “Is Ge-ge busy? I, I—”

At this hour, he knew without thinking who it was.

Seeing the little radish head about to cry, Rong Shi got up to open the door: “Don’t hang up yet.”

Opening the door, he indeed saw a certain blonde alpha standing at the entrance.

He even complained: “Why so slow?”

Rong Shi stepped aside to let him in: “Your dorm is across the hall.”

Song Yu: “If you just agreed to marry me, would it be this troublesome?”

“Marry?”

Suddenly hearing the baby’s voice, Song Yu froze. He turned to look into the living room, his gaze finally falling on the holographic image at his feet.

“Are you Ge-ge’s friend?” Mianmian, wearing one cloth shoe and one slipper, examined Song Yu.

Song Yu’s gaze shifted from the rabbit costume on him to the rabbit plush, and fireworks went off in his mind.

“Where did you come from, little bunny?”

“My name is Rong Mianmian, I’m an omega, three and a half years old this year, I’m Ge-ge’s little brother, no, Ge-ge is my Ge-ge, little brother is my—”

Mianmian got confused by his own words, counting on his fingers to sort out his relationship with his brother.

Song Yu was amused, pointing at the plushie and saying: “I like bunnies too.”

Mianmian very seriously introduced: “This is Ge-ge.”

Song Yu looked at a certain person’s stern face and laughed uncontrollably: “He’s not a bunny at all, not cute in the slightest.”

Mianmian slowly hugged the rabbit plushie to his chest, very persistent: “It is Ge-ge.”

“Mianmian,” Rong Shi called his brother over, “What did you want to say earlier?”

Suddenly remembering what he needed to say, Mianmian’s big eyes fluttered: “I heard the message, are you really coming back to see me?”

Rong Shi: “When you count to ten, I’ll be home.”

Spreading his hands to count, Mianmian asked in surprise: “Really? I’ll see you when I count to ten?”

Rong Shi’s tone relaxed: “Mm, go take a nap.”

Having received a satisfactory answer, the little radish head was content, waving goodbye to Song Yu before hanging up.

“Ge-ge, pretty Ge-ge, goodbye.”

Song Yu also waved back: “Good afternoon, little bunny.”

As soon as the call ended, Song Yu’s friendly smile turned sarcastic: “I didn’t expect Chairman Rong to have such a cute little brother. Completely different species, aren’t they?”

Rong Shi: “Human cubs are all the same.”

Song Yu: “Are they? But some people are born old beasts.”

Rong Shi: “…” Rong Shi recalled the virtual keyboard, clearly not intending to entertain guests.

“Ten minutes for you.”

With privacy mode enabled, Song Yu couldn’t see his screen content, so he went to the kitchen to find some fruit to eat.

“You’d better decide soon. The longer you drag it out, the more disadvantageous it will be. At least for now, the initiative is in our hands.”

Rong Shi’s expression was cold: “I’m not on your side.”

Song Yu: “But now we’re on the same boat.”

Ten minutes meant ten minutes. After Song Yu left, Rong Shi stopped typing code.

Being tied to Song Yu could indeed avoid many troubles, but it would also create many, given that he was a prince.

Most importantly, he didn’t want to get married so easily for something like this.

After losing contact with Little Cat in his previous life, he tried searching many times but found no results. If he had proposed meeting earlier, he wouldn’t have died without knowing who the other person was.

Now that he was back, he wanted to find an opportunity to meet the other person, and if possible—

The next day, Rong Shi reported to the Student Union office. For the next month, there would be a transition period between old and new members. As chairman, he first had to hand over all work before recruiting new Student Union members.

An hour past the agreed time, the previous chairman, Jiang Xingze, arrived late.

“Sorry, I was held up by something.”

Rong Shi put down the military theory overview in his hand, his expression unchanged: “An hour late. In the military, you’d already be fired.”

Jiang Xingze’s eyes narrowed. He forced a smile: “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. The principal insisted I help him, said he didn’t trust anyone else.”

The Student Union office was even larger than Qian Fan’s office. Jiang Xingze sat down at the desk, pulled out an open folder from a pile of files, and pushed it towards Rong Shi.

Inside were not files related to work handover, but rather disciplinary records.

Rong Shi: “What does this mean?”

Jiang Xingze showed a polite smile: “The handover isn’t a one or two day affair. You’re new to the school and unfamiliar with everything, so let’s start by handling these disciplinary cases.”

At the top of the folder was a document for which an official disciplinary notice had not yet been issued.

Jiang Xingze: “A week ago, five second-year mecha department Alphas took a second-year Omega into a warehouse and beat him. By the time the Student Union received the news and arrived, that Omega was already in heat. If they hadn’t found him in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

“These five Alphas have currently received a warning and a halt to all missions. How do you think this should be handled?”

Rong Shi took the folder, his gaze quickly scanning the contents.

He was very familiar with the names of the five Alphas. Their most recent assessment ranks were noted next to them, placing them close to last place, if not exactly last.

Although they were academic underachievers, their family backgrounds were each more powerful than the last.

Why this case had been suppressed was obvious.

Not a word about the handover of work, yet he was pushed this difficult case. Was this a show of power?