On Saturday morning, Rong Shi woke up early to prepare breakfast.

As soon as he brought it to the table, Song Yu and Qin Luo, as if smelling it, arrived punctually to knock on the door.

“What time did you finish yesterday?” Song Yu yawned and sat down at the dining table.

“Around two o’clock.” Rong Shi sat opposite him, picked up a boiled egg, and began to peel it. “I’m going to pick up Mian Mian later. Are you coming?”

Song Yu took a bite of black rice porridge, winced at the heat, and stirred it with his spoon in the bowl.

“Of course, I haven’t seen little bunny in ages. I’ve prepared a gift for him.”

A basket of bunny dolls, R10 custom edition.

Rong Shi handed him the peeled egg: “Little sister-in-law is very competent.”

Song Yu didn’t take it, but bit off half of it from Rong Shi’s hand: “Little brother-in-law is cuter than my wife.”

Rong Shi casually put the remaining half into his own mouth.

“Nonsense, it’s clearly sister-in-law. “

Qin Luo tried hard to bury his head, pretending he didn’t exist.

Being shown affection so early in the morning.

He also wanted to find a wife to bicker with, boohoohoo—

---

Half an hour later, a black levitating car stopped at Qian Fan’s front door.

Rong Shi got out of the car and saw Mian Mian waiting eagerly through the gap in the iron gate.

“Ge!” Mian Mian’s eyes lit up, and he ran down the steps.

Rong Shi’s brow twitched, and he stepped over the threshold with his long legs, bending down to catch the little ball of energy that pounced on him.

“What kind of skill do you have to jump off the steps?”

The little one’s growth rate was astonishing; he had grown quite a bit in a month.

Mian Mian: “I already broke the rabbit—cough, cough—”

He was too eager to prove himself and accidentally choked on his saliva.

Rong Shi gently patted his back, frowning: “Speak slowly.”

Mian Mian coughed, his little face flushed red, and looked at his elder brother worriedly: “Ge, are you not hurt?”

Rong Shi carried him inside, correcting him expressionlessly: “En, call me Gege.”

Mian Mian: “…”

Song Yu, who had parked the car and followed them: “…”

How obsessed was he with the title “Gege”?

He slowly walked up the steps but was blocked by a fierce-looking little one at the door.

Cola stood with his arms crossed, frowning, and glaring at him angrily.

Song Yu, hands in his pockets, leisurely met his gaze: “Is there something you’re unhappy about?”

Cola pointed at Rong Shi’s back and then at himself, extremely angry: “Can’t you learn from Mian Mian’s Gege? You’re always late, you don’t hug me, and you don’t care about me!”

“I didn’t come to see you,” Song Yu scoffed, walking past him into the house. “Excuse me.”

Cola puffed up like a pufferfish, spreading his arms to block him: “Don’t come in!”

Rong Shi reached the living room and heard a commotion behind him. He turned around and saw Song Yu walking ahead with a smile, while a fuming little furball chased after him, grumbling.

Song Yu took one long stride, and the little furball had to run ten.

Rong Shi: “…”

This was truly “walking the younger brother.”

Song Yu walked closer, and Mian Mian obediently bowed: “Hello, Yu Ge.”

Mian Mian was really polite to the little cat.

Rong Shi vaguely felt something was amiss, but before he could figure it out, his brother in his arms was snatched away.

“Little milk rabbit, so soft.” Taking Rong Shi by surprise, Song Yu pulled Mian Mian away like pulling a radish, and gave his soft, bouncy cheek a loud kiss.

“Little Song Cat.”

Hearing Rong Shi’s ominous voice, Song Yu looked up and met his icy gaze.

He smiled brazenly: “What, can’t I kiss my brother?”

Saying that, he kissed the other cheek with a loud smack.

Rong Shi frowned, his face completely darkened, and he moved like lightning to snatch his brother back.

Song Yu shielded the little one and stepped back, raising his leg to block Rong Shi’s hand.

Back and forth, the two played around the living room as if fighting.

Mian Mian was kissed until he was dizzy, steam rising from his head, and he was afraid of being thrown off, so he froze, not daring to move.

“So much fun, I want to too!” Cola’s eyes lit up, he stomped his feet impatiently, ran over, and pounced, hugging Rong Shi’s long leg and swinging back and forth in the air.

With an extra leg accessory, Rong Shi’s leg’s combat power plummeted by 99%, giving Song Yu a loophole to attack relentlessly.

He sidestepped, scooped up his foolish apprentice, and tucked him under his arm.

“I don’t want to be tucked!”

Cola kicked his legs in protest, but after yelling for a long time, no one responded.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something blue emerge from Rong Shi’s sleeve. Cola fixed his gaze on it, and a teasing stick for cats trembled in front of him.

Cola: “…”

Does Mianmian’s brother clothes grow grass?

To avoid being kicked again by Dad, 01 tried hard to minimize its presence.

[Just one scan, it won’t hurt a bit, hehehe—holy crap!]

Cola grabbed the teasing stick and pulled it out, randomly slapping it a few times in his hand, then splat, threw it away.

[As expected of Dad, too vigilant, iris scan mission failed QuQ]

Rong Shi: “…”

So useless.

[Wuwuwu—]

Suddenly, a cough was heard.

The two looked towards the staircase.

Qian Fan walked over in homewear, his condemning gaze sweeping between them, his voice cool: “If you want to fool around, go outside. Don’t drop my two children.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu: “…”

---

A moment later, the few of them sat in the living room, and Rong Shi casually asked, “Professor Qin isn’t here?”

Qian Fan placed Mian Mian on his lap and peeled an orange for him to eat: “He’s been busy with a project recently, working overtime even on weekends.”

Rong Shi: “Is it also research related to omega pheromones?”

Qian Fan: “Yes, that’s what he’s done his whole life.”

Rong Shi and Song Yu exchanged glances while drinking water.

Song Yu put down his cup and casually said: “Has Professor Qin never researched anything else? I remember seeing in the data that he worked at V99.”

“V99?” Qian Fan paused in peeling the orange, thought for a moment, and said uncertainly: “Laboratories often invite him for guidance, but only short-term.”

At this, Qian Fan smiled: “We’ve been married for so many years and have never been separated for long. At most, it was for a month.”

Song Yu wanted to ask more, but Rong Shi stopped him.

Elder Qian and Professor Qin’s relationship was undoubtedly good.

Judging from the previous life’s situation, Old Qian might not know some things, and even if he did, she might not say. If they rashly expressed their suspicions about Professor Qin now, regardless of what they might find, Elder Qian’s position would become very difficult.

Not wanting Old Qian to be hurt was his most basic bottom line.

When they left, both little ones were very reluctant to part, especially Cola, who was teary-eyed and leaning on Qian Fan’s lap.

“Tell Grandpa Qin that I didn’t secretly run off, I’ll send him messages.”

Qian Fan was already soft-hearted, and seeing him cry made him cry too.

“It’s too quiet at Grandpa’s house without you.”

When Qian Fan cried, Cola also burst into tears: “I don’t want to leave Grandpa, waaaah—”

Rong Shi held the tissue box, expressionlessly handing tissues to Qian Fan.

“Wrinkles are appearing.”

Qian Fan pressed tissues to the corners his of his eyes, trying hard to widen  eyes and cry.

“You brat, can’t you speak like a human?”

Rong Shi: “…”

---

On campus, the heat from the league matches was still ongoing.

Among the participating students, 20 successfully paired up this time, an unprecedented success. However, not a single pair came from the champion team, and even the popular figure Rong Shi showed no signs of pairing up.

Compared to this, negative comments gradually increased—

“Don’t say anything about not wanting to pair up, no one wants to pair with him at all.”

“They say Lu Ming is not as good as him, but he paired up with General Zhao Ji!”

“The chairman’s personality isn’t suitable for the military. He’s too self-centered.”

“Don’t talk about the champion team, the military high-ranking officials aren’t blind. Their choices show who is the most capable.”

No matter where, there were always fickle people who blindly followed others, and some of them liked to add fuel to the fire.

In just one weekend, Rong Shi had been criticized as useless.

In the dormitory, Chen Chen and Chen Mu, the two brothers, watched the fierce debate on the forum, almost spitting blood in anger.

Chen Mu: “These people just believe whatever others say, don’t they have brains?”

Chen Chen scoffed coldly: “Of course they don’t. What’s the point of having a brain when you’re just gossiping? They’re not the ones being cursed at.”

Chen Mu’s fingers rapidly tapped on the virtual keyboard: “I don’t care about that much. I’m going to expose the usernames of those who cursed the chairman the most and post them on the homepage.”

Chen Chen was about to join in when his terminal suddenly rang; it was Liu Hong.

“Old Liu?”

Liu Hong didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point: “The chairman can’t be bothered with the forum stuff, but we’ll take care of it for him. We’ll make those bastards suffer!”

“My brother is currently tracking down the IP of the troll leader,” Chen Chen took a sip of coffee to refresh himself. “Do you think I should post about Qian Li liking the chairman?”

Liu Hong pondered for a moment.

“Hard to say. We don’t know if they’ve actually paired up. If we announce it rashly and get proven wrong, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”

Chen Chen clicked his tongue in annoyance: “The emperor isn’t worried, but the eunuchs are dying of worry.”

Liu Hong: “…”

Chen Mu: “…”

---

With two little ones and Song Yu around, Rong Shi had an unusually lively weekend.

By late Sunday night, the two small ones had gone to sleep, and Rong Shi and Song Yu sat on the living room carpet, working and researching information.

Rong Shi looked at the information he had recorded about V99 and Qin Lin, rubbing his temples tiredly.

He vaguely felt that the accidental virus leak at V99 might be the key to unlocking many mysteries, but it was difficult to ask Qian Fan and Qin Lin directly. With his father missing and his dad in a hibernation pod, he could only investigate himself.

“In a couple of days, I’ll go to the school’s data center. Maybe I can find information about the V99 virus leak incident.”

The military academy was known as a military officer factory; almost all overt military tasks involved military academy students.

Perhaps the data wasn’t as complete as in the military archives, but if something couldn’t be found at the school’s data center, it likely couldn’t be found anywhere else.

[Master, sugar daddy is already asleep.]

Suddenly hearing 01’s prompt, Rong Shi looked to his side.

Song Yu had a book spread in front of him and was fast asleep, resting his chin on his hand.

Afraid of waking him, Rong Shi gently supported his head to lean against himself.

Just as he was about to bend down to pick him up, the person in his arms moved.

“Gege?” Song Yu’s voice was lazy and sleepy.

Rong Shi’s voice was very soft: “Want to sleep on my bed?”

Song Yu shifted slightly, adjusting his position, and leaned on his shoulder: “With you—”

Before he could finish a sentence, he fell back asleep.

He was quite clingy when asleep.

Rong Shi stroked his head and kissed his smooth forehead.

“Good night.”

As he looked up, the corner of Rong Shi’s raised mouth stiffened.

Mian Mian was standing at the bedroom door at some point, rubbing his eyes and looking at them.

Rong Shi waved at him: “Why are you up?”

Mian Mian sleepily opened his eyes and walked over swaying.

“Potty.”

Rong Shi wrapped him in front of him, checked the temperature of his cold feet, and pulled a thin blanket from the sofa behind him to wrap the little one.

“Are Grandpa Qian and Grandpa Qin good to you?”

“Good,” Mian Mian’s gaze fell on the low table, his voice very soft, with the husky tone unique to children. “I originally thought Grandpa Qin wasn’t good, but now I think he’s a good person.”

Rong Shi: “…” What an old-fashioned tone?

Rong Shi: “How is he good?”

Mian Mian was silent for a moment, then said seriously: “…He tells me bedtime stories.”

Rong Shi: “…”

The little one’s affection was so easy to gain.

“Ge,” Mian Mian suddenly spoke.

Rong Shi: “Hmm?”

Mian Mian: “You really like Yu Ge, don’t you?”

Why was his three-year-old brother suddenly asking such a question?

Was it because he saw him kiss Xiao Yu just now?

The little one’s understanding of “like” was completely different from an adult’s.

But Rong Shi didn’t want to perfunctory him.

“En,” Rong Shi said softly, “It’s the kind of love Father has for Dad.”

Song Yu, who was “deeply asleep” leaning against Rong Shi, secretly curved his lips.

Mian Mian was so sleepy his eyes were dull, and his voice was muffled.

“Okay, I agree.”

Rong Shi: “…?”

Mian Mian: “Treat him well, he’s waited for you for a very, very long time…”

His voice trailed off, becoming softer and softer. Rong Shi leaned in to listen but found that the little one had already fallen asleep.

Waited for a long time?

Talking in his sleep?

---

Monday morning, Rong Shi and Song Yu took the two little ones to the kindergarten department together.

Passing students looked at them sideways.

They’ve been stomped on like that, how are these two acting like nothing happened?

As soon as the two walked into the classroom, the noisy discussions instantly quieted down.

Lu Ming sat in the last row, his gaze sweeping over them, and he silently lowered his head.

“Ge, Chairman, over here!” Qin Luo waved to them from the last row on the other side.

Before the first class in the morning, there was a weekly morning meeting, usually held by the class teachers. However, as they were top students in their grade, the head of academic affairs, Qian Fan, always personally held it.

The bell rang, and Qian Fan walked into the classroom. He stood at the podium, his gentle gaze sweeping over all the students.

“Students who participated in the league matches are returning to school for their first day of class today. Please adjust your routines and mindsets well to prepare for next week’s monthly exam—”

“Ah—! Another monthly exam!”

“Why are there exams every day?”

The classroom erupted in wails and groans.

“Don’t be too nervous.” Qian Fan looked at Rong Shi, who was sitting in the corner. “This time, the third-year head of academic affairs set the paper, so the difficulty will be lower. Some people, please pay attention. If you score 60 again, I’ll talk to you about your life goals in my office every day.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Qian Fan: “Second thing, this Friday will kick off the annual mecha simulation competition. The top ten will receive extra credits, and the top three will have additional rewards. Those interested can sign up online.”

The class started buzzing with discussion again—

“Good! Been waiting for this for a long time!”

“We haven’t had professional, systematic mecha piloting training. Isn’t this just asking to be someone else’s stepping stone?”

“Star Wars experience isn’t very useful. The simulation system doesn’t have smart key compensation; you have to memorize so many key positions.”

“It’s a competition exclusively for pros. We can watch gods fight again.”

“Although you haven’t learned mecha yet, participation is key. You can go and witness the fighting techniques of the senior students, which will be very helpful for your future.” Qian Fan paused. “Did you hear that, Rong Shi?”

Rong Shi, who was called out again: “…”

A few of Lu Ming’s loyal fans jumped out, speaking sarcastically.

“Chairman Rong is so good at mecha combat, why would he need to learn from others?”

“Exactly, he casually got first place in the league match too.”

“But he got first place and no one paired with him, pfft—sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Hahahaha, don’t say it out loud, our chairman needs face, doesn’t he?”

The group became more and more excessive with their words. Some students couldn’t stand it, but out of consideration for Lu Ming being there, they didn’t dare to openly refute.

“The face of a small person who got what they wanted.”

“Relying on Lu’s pairing, they’re dragging the chairman out to step on him, so disgusting.”

“The chairman didn’t bother with them, so they’re pushing their luck.”

“Who said he didn’t pair up?”

Qian Fan’s raised voice drowned out all the noise.

Once everyone was quiet, he continued: “This is exactly what I wanted to say for the third point.”

Qian Fan pressed a few buttons on the podium’s control panel, and the virtual screen on the right descended.

“The pairing results from the league matches will not be publicized, but the school has already received the military’s first batch of mission assignments.”

They just paired up, and missions are already being issued?!

Everyone’s attention shifted to the virtual screen.

Many military campaigns and operations were regular, like pioneering, patrolling for space pirates, etc. Therefore, the military academy’s missions also had a cyclical nature, usually releasing a batch of mission lists on the military academy’s homepage for public display each week.

Everyone’s eyes scanned down the long list of missions.

The upper part listed higher-grade students, with freshmen at the very bottom.

There were 30 paired individuals in the league, 8 of whom were freshmen.

However, on this list, there were only two freshman missions.

Type: Pioneering

Mission Location: Andromeda V99 (Level 4 Danger Zone)

Expeditionary Force: Imperial Second Legion

Invited Military Cadets: Rong Shi, Song Yu

Mission Issuer: Qian Li

When they saw the last two lines of content, the class erupted in an uproar.

What was going on?!

The 8 paired freshmen, including Lu Ming, had no missions! Instead, Rong Shi and Song Yu, who hadn’t paired up, immediately received a Level 4 mission?!

The issuer was Qian Li?! This was a big shot among big shots!

What Zhao Ji, what Lu Youqi, they were all little brothers compared to Qian Li!

The military academy forum almost simultaneously reposted this mission list, and public opinion began to shift—

“Ahhh, Daddy Rong is still Daddy Rong, he actually silently paired up with the Qian family!!”

“The first chairman to directly pair up with the Commander-in-Chief! Recorded in military academy history!”

“The earliest freshman to receive a Level 4 mission! Breaking military academy records!”

“I said it was impossible that no one would pair with him! Turns out no one dared! Who would dare to snatch someone Elder Qian fancied?!”

“Is this the first time Elder Qian has taken a disciple? I still can’t believe it’s real!”

“Slacker Rong: In the end, it was a mistake.”

“Where are those who were jumping around earlier? Does your face hurt? Get out and apologize to Papa!”

“Our Slacker can casually leave some people eighteen streets behind!”

When activity was at its highest, the fixed-code analyst jumped out again to gain attention.

[Morning Light: Today, nothing else, just analyzing some people’s IPs—yes, I’m here to expose people, come and hit me.]

The situation reversed, and the students who had previously defended Rong Shi and been cursed at became more confident, rebuking without repeating themselves.

The military academy forum, which was supposedly never down, crashed.

---

On the way to the next classroom, Song Yu wasn’t particularly happy about that mission; he couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought about it.

He wasn’t surprised that Qian Li would take a liking to Rong Shi, but why was he included in this mission?

“What do you think?” Song Yu asked.

Rong Shi observed his expression: “You don’t want to go?”

Song Yu shook his head: “It’s a good opportunity to investigate, so it’s best to go, but Qian Li’s attitude makes me—”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Rong Shi walked beside him, leaning in and whispering a few words into his ear.

Song Yu’s eyebrows furrowed in disbelief: “Are you crazy?! You actually made such a condition to him?!”

The surrounding people and the setting didn’t allow it, but he really wanted to shake this silly little bunny awake. To actually propose such an almost impossible condition was practically gambling with his own future!

Rong Shi: “If I don’t propose it, it will never be possible.”

Song Yu lowered his eyes, his fingers clenching, knuckles white.

“Once you step in, there’s no turning back!”

Rong Shi took his hand, his eyes smiling, “I promised you, I won’t break my promise again.”

Song Yu’s eyes flickered, then he heard Rong Shi whisper in his ear: “This path is difficult, but this time, I’ll walk with you to the very end.”

---

Author’s Note:

Song Cat: The bunny with a mouth suddenly became cute.

Rong Bunny: …[I was cute to begin with]