“Hello, everyone. I’m Ji Ran, third-year A-Class, administrative systems and public coordination track. I’m a Beta from an ordinary family. Being able to enter Imperial Academy and participate in this programme with so many outstanding seniors and classmates is a great honour.”

His smile was clean.

His voice was warm.

Not too humble.

Not too ambitious.

A perfect introduction.

【Ji Ran speaks so comfortably.】

【Public coordination track suits him.】

【Very decent.】

Ruan Qingyao followed.

“Ruan Qingyao, third-year A-Class, etiquette governance and cultural diplomacy track.”

A short introduction.

Elegant and proud.

Enough.

Bai Suling stood up.

“Bai Suling, third-year A-Class, environmental restoration and planetary governance. I hope to learn more practical methods through this programme.”

Xu Cheng said, “Xu Cheng. Military command preparation track. I hope the programme does not interfere with training.”

The director’s smile stiffened.

Tang Miao smiled. “Tang Miao, media communication and public image studies. I’ll work hard and hope everyone enjoys the show.”

Han Yue lifted his hand lazily. “Han Yue. Commercial circulation and resource exchange. Just an ordinary student from an ordinary merchant family.”

The bullet comments immediately rejected this.

【No, you are not.】

【Ordinary merchant family? Your family owns three asteroid ports.】

【Han Yue, stop pretending.】

【He said it so sincerely that I almost believed him.】

Then it was S-Class’s turn.

He Lianzhou leaned back. “He Lianzhou. Transport routes. If anyone loses something during filming, tell me early. If you tell me late, the retrieval cost may become unreasonable.”

The director remembered what the academy teacher had said about a billion-star spacecraft and felt his eyelid twitch.

Wen Shuo said, “Wen Shuo. Astrophysics, ancient civilisation data, and translation correction. If my speech becomes too long, please interrupt me before the third footnote.”

Qi Nian hugged his teddy bear. “Qi Nian. Pharmacy. Do not touch my bear.”

The teddy bear added, “Unauthorised contact may trigger defensive protocol.”

Han Yue silently moved his chair two centimetres away.

Luo Jingshen said, “Luo Jingshen. Finance, resource modelling, and risk assessment. I recommend the production team control unnecessary expenditure before episode three.”

The director: “…”

Finally, Mu Xiyu looked up.

“Mu Xiyu,” he said. “Mechanical manufacturing, military engineering, emergency pharmacy.”

Then he stopped.

The director waited.

The room waited.

The audience waited.

Mu Xiyu lowered his eyes back to the data ring.

Apparently, the introduction was complete.

The director looked hopefully at Yin Canglan.

Yin Canglan smiled.

“Yin Canglan. Imperial governance, military strategy, and administrative systems.”

His voice was gentle, but the moment he spoke, the hall naturally quieted.

“Thank you to Imperial Academy, the Ministry of Education, and the production team for arranging this programme. I hope the filming process will allow the public to understand Imperial Academy more accurately.”

A perfect official answer.

Stable.

Elegant.

Appropriate.

The director almost wanted to applaud.

The contrast between the couple was too strong.

One spoke like a carefully polished imperial document.

The other spoke like a completed registration form.

The comments were merciless.

【Mu Xiyu: name, field, done.】

【Efficient.】

【Too efficient.】

【The Crown Prince’s speech saved the director.】

【His Highness is very suitable for official occasions. Mu Xiyu is suitable for… laboratories.】

【And being fed water by His Highness.】

The director followed the programme flow and began guiding conversation.

“Since everyone will film together for some time, do the A-Class students have any first impressions of the S-Class seniors?”

This was a safe question.

At least, it should have been.

Tang Miao answered first, smiling lightly. “The seniors are even more impressive in person than in the public profiles. I feel a little nervous.”

He Lianzhou smiled back. “Don’t be nervous. We don’t bite.”

Qi Nian opened one eye. “Speak for yourself.”

The room laughed.

The atmosphere loosened.

Han Yue said, “Actually, I always thought S-Class would be very serious. Now I feel…” He paused, searching for a word that would not offend anyone. “Very individual.”

Luo Jingshen said, “That usually means strange.”

Han Yue choked. “Senior Luo, I didn’t say that.”

“You wanted to.”

“I didn’t!”

“You hesitated for 1.4 seconds.”

Han Yue looked wronged.

The comments laughed again.

【Luo Jingshen is terrifying.】

【Han Yue’s rich-boy disguise failed in 1.4 seconds.】

【S-Class is strange, but they know they are strange.】

Bai Suling spoke more sincerely.

“I think the seniors’ work seems very practical. I’ve read Senior Mu’s stabilisation paper and Senior Luo’s resource allocation model. They helped me understand some planetary restoration problems.”

Mu Xiyu looked up when his name was mentioned.

“You used the second edition?” he asked.

Bai Suling paused. “Yes.”

“The third edition corrected the pressure-loss calculation. I can send it to you.”

Bai Suling’s eyes brightened. “Thank you, Senior Mu.”

Mu Xiyu nodded once.

Then he looked back at the data.

The exchange was short, but the bullet comments noticed.

【He offered her the updated paper?】

【That was nice.】

【His tone is still flat, but he directly gave useful help.】

【Bai Suling asked about practical work, so he responded quickly.】

【Maybe he likes clear questions.】

Ji Ran watched this scene quietly.

His fingers moved once against his knee.

Too smooth.

Bai Suling’s gratitude was too real, and Mu Xiyu’s response was too easy to interpret positively.

This was not the opening Ji Ran wanted.

The first meeting needed a contrast.

S-Class and A-Class.

Privilege and effort.

Coldness and warmth.

Distance and approachability.

If the audience saw only competence, they would forget to judge emotion.

Ji Ran lowered his eyes slightly, then raised them with a thoughtful smile.

“Actually, I also feel the seniors are very impressive,” he said softly. “Before coming here, I was worried we might not be able to keep up. After all, S-Class students have already completed so many credits early and don’t have formal teachers anymore. Compared with us, your time and resources are much freer.”

His words sounded admiring.

Even humble.

But the air shifted subtly.

A-Class students with more sensitive backgrounds understood first.

Time and resources.

Much freer.

The sentence itself was not wrong.

But placed here, under the camera, it gently pushed the audience toward another thought.

S-Class had more privilege.

More freedom.

More access.

More room to be eccentric.

A-Class had to follow classes, assignments, examinations, rankings.

Commoner students had to work harder.

Scholarship students had to fight for every chance.

The director’s eyes moved slightly.

This Ji Ran was indeed good at speaking.

The bullet comments also began to follow the direction.

【That’s true. S-Class has so many resources.】

【A-Class students still need normal classes, right?】

【No wonder S-Class can pursue private projects. Family background matters.】

【But they completed credits early first.】

【Both can be true. Talent plus resources.】

Ji Ran continued, still smiling.

“I don’t mean anything else. I just think it’s admirable. If I had that much freedom, I might not know how to arrange my time properly.”

He looked toward Mu Xiyu.

“Senior Mu must have very strong self-management ability. Even when meeting us, you’re still checking research data. It makes people feel that ordinary social occasions probably don’t affect you much.”

Again, gentle.

Again, reasonable.

Again, with a hidden hook.

Ordinary social occasions do not affect you.

In other words, you do not care about people.

Ruan Qingyao’s fingers tightened slightly.

She knew this tone.

She had heard Ji Ran speak like this before.

Soft.

Considerate.

Never directly accusing anyone.

Yet after he finished, people would somehow begin to remember only the uncomfortable parts of someone else’s behaviour.

In the past, Ruan Qingyao had not hated this.

Sometimes, she had even felt comforted by it.

Because Ji Ran always seemed to understand the grievances she could not say out loud.

Mu Xiyu was too cold.

Too indifferent.

Too hard to approach.

Even when they had known each other since childhood, Mu Xiyu still looked at her as if she were a piece of information filed in the wrong category.

But today, under the cameras, Ruan Qingyao suddenly felt something different.

Perhaps because Bai Suling had just received a useful paper from Mu Xiyu.

Perhaps because Yin Canglan’s hand was still resting near Mu Xiyu’s water cup.

Perhaps because S-Class did not seem isolated around Mu Xiyu at all.

They were strange together.

Familiar together.

Mismatched, but not distant.

Ruan Qingyao looked at Ji Ran.

For the first time, his gentleness sounded slightly deliberate.

Mu Xiyu did not answer immediately.

Not because he was embarrassed.

He was processing.

He reviewed Ji Ran’s sentence.

Strong self-management ability.

Research data.

Meeting us.

Ordinary social occasions.

Do not affect you much.

There were several possible meanings.

Too many implied assumptions.

Not enough direct question.

So Mu Xiyu looked at Ji Ran and said calmly, “Your statement contains an evaluation and an assumption. Which part requires response?”

The room became quiet.

Ji Ran’s smile paused for less than half a second.

The bullet comments hesitated, then surged.

【Uh.】

【This is awkward.】

【He really asks for question clarity every time.】

【But Ji Ran was praising him, right?】

【Was he? It sounded a bit like saying Mu Xiyu doesn’t care about people.】

【You’re overthinking. Ji Ran was being polite.】

【Mu Xiyu is too blunt.】

【I actually think he caught the hidden meaning.】

Yin Canglan lowered his eyes.

The corners of his lips curved slightly.

It was a familiar expression.

Not surprise.

Not embarrassment.

Almost indulgence.

As if he had seen this scene countless times before: someone wrapping seven layers of social implication around a sentence, only for Mu Xiyu to calmly cut through the wrapping and ask where the actual object was.

Ji Ran adjusted quickly.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a soft laugh. “Maybe I didn’t express myself clearly. I only meant that Senior Mu seems very focused.”

Mu Xiyu accepted the correction.

“Yes.”

Ji Ran waited.

Mu Xiyu did not continue.

The director felt sweat forming at the back of his neck.

This conversation was like throwing a silk ribbon at a wall of snow.

The ribbon was beautiful.

The wall did not care.

Tang Miao, aware of the camera atmosphere, quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Senior Mu’s focus is really admirable. But maybe because today is our first official meeting, everyone is a little curious about each other.” He smiled. “Senior Mu, you don’t seem happy to see us.”

The second the sentence left his mouth, Tang Miao realised something was wrong.

It was too casual.

Too emotional.

Too imprecise.

Beside him, Bai Suling silently lowered her eyes.

Xu Cheng looked at Tang Miao with a trace of sympathy.

Ruan Qingyao’s expression became complicated.

Han Yue took a careful sip of his expensive ordinary coffee.

The S-Class side was even calmer.

He Lianzhou raised his eyebrows.

Wen Shuo looked faintly interested.

Qi Nian opened both eyes.

Luo Jingshen’s gaze moved from his report to Tang Miao, as if evaluating how much social compensation this sentence would require.

Yin Canglan’s smile deepened by a nearly invisible degree.

Mu Xiyu looked at Tang Miao.

“That is a statement,” he said. “What is the question?”

The room froze.