@Kamelpov
Huh. I forgot about that.
Not sure if the Gigolo thing was a real offer or someone being a smartass to him, mind, but the degree thing actually makes a depressing amount of sense, now that I'm thinking about it again.
Baiyang appears to be the weakest of the three fleets at the start of the story, and it's made up of:
-Cannon fodder, aka the soldiers and Angels, most of whom don't have any formal education. Most of them apparently find their current circumstances, crappy as they are pre-Mu Siyun, still a step-up from before they were recruited. IE, really crappy lower-class circumstances.
-Asshole Second Gens, who don't give a shit about that sort of thing and are too busy wallowing in the wealth their families have (apparently gained via treating the Ladies like shit) to bother with a full education.
So it looks like he seriously might be the best educated person in the fleet, which at least explains why Beiyang and Duan Wing were so desperate to recruit him.
Man, grimdark series is grim!
(Still wondering why Three Legged Crow was initially interested in him, though.
Amusingly, I suspect that Himiko, at least, was being honest in her recruitment efforts, even if Mu Siyun wasn't interested. Not sure about her superiors, mind, but they were the ones behind the recruitment effort. It's a mystery!)
Edit: *doing a quick re-read* Oh, huh. I'd also forgotten that the initial reason the grudge started was Ding Yuan smashed up Main Jackass' car when she was recruiting Mu Siyun. Heh.
Edit 2: ...man, and (some of) the real proof that the Beiyang's admins are corrupt assholes (as if we needed more).
'Well, we'll be at the bug planet in 24 hours to attack.'
'Doesn't the transformation sequence actually take 48 hours for them to properly adjust?'
'Yep.'
'...Wow. Wait, isn't their battle plan to send the girls in 24 hours?'
'Mmmmhm.'
'The Supervisors know how long the transformation takes, don't they?'
'Yeah, probably.'
'Man. What Dicks.'
Edit 3: Huh, I'd forgotten how polite the Dragon Empress was.
'Excuse me, good sir, would you mind terribly if I borrowed your body?'