After a short while, Chad Bennett came back, his face dripping wet. The beds had been made by Victor Smith, and the four visitors were all standing there. As soon as their eyes met, Chad Bennett was startled, feeling guilty, and hurriedly explained, “Hey, what’s going on? Why are you all looking at me like that? I haven’t posted any ‘looking for girls’ notices in the girls’ dorm for a long time! Besides, these days all the girls go out to work as hostesses on their own, so me openly looking for a girlfriend isn’t really a crime, right?!”

Emily Walker burst out laughing, then quickly pressed her lips together. This classmate of hers could always shock everyone with just a few words, but laughing in such a solemn situation was really a bit inappropriate. Director Harris, as the head of the student affairs office, couldn’t quite keep a straight face. He quickly changed the subject: “We’re not asking about that. Is Dan Brooks also in this dorm?”

“Yeah, top bunk, that one... Dan Brooks is the eldest, I’m the second, Victor Smith is the third.” Chad Bennett pointed to the eldest’s bed, which was empty, and not only pointed but also explained in detail: “Dan Brooks isn’t just the eldest in the dorm, he’s also my sworn brother. I call his mom ‘godmother’ and his dad ‘godfather’. So, we’re sworn brothers... Even though his surname is 单 (SHAN), it’s a polyphonic character, and it can also be pronounced 单 (DAN), so in the underworld he’s called Eggy, and the brothers all call him Painful Eggy.”

Painful Egg!? The slang popular among students was blurted out by Chad Bennett without any scruples, which startled Emily Walker. Not just her—Homeroom Teacher, Department Chair, and even Director Harris were all stunned. Underworld? Hearing this, Director Walker felt the urge to kick this guy.

But Chad Bennett thought he hadn’t explained clearly enough, so he elaborated: “Don’t get the wrong idea, he himself isn’t Painful Egg, it’s just that whoever runs into him ends up Painful Egg.”

At this, even Homeroom TeacherReed couldn’t help but laugh, probably half out of exasperation. Victor Smith, seeing his second brother act like this, also couldn’t help but smile. Actually, anyone who runs into this second brother of ours ends up feeling the same way: Painful Egg!

Director Harris didn’t laugh. He frowned, looking a bit angry. Never mind the one called Dan Brooks, just the one in front of him was enough to make him Painful Egg. Director Walker couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and scolded Chad Bennett: “If we’re not asking you, don’t talk nonsense. Four years of studying Chinese, and all you’ve learned is Painful Egg!?... Where did you eat lunch today? What were you doing during lunch? So much useless talk.”

“The cafeteria...”

Chad Bennett replied, a bit deflated. With the department head, the student affairs director, and the homeroom teacher all here, he was clearly at a disadvantage. But when he heard them ask about lunch, a lightbulb went off in his head. He pointed at everyone, and even a fool could figure out why they were here. He let out a few surprised “oh”s, then grinned inexplicably, laughing and boasting as he spoke: “Oh, oh, oh, I get it, you’re here about the cafeteria strike, right? Haha... Well, you’ve got the wrong guys this time. I ate lunch in the cafeteria today, Victor Smith hadn’t even finished eating, there was half a bowl left. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to the kitchen to check. I really did get my food from the cafeteria, and I even told you, today the whole school, only the two of us didn’t join the strike, haha... If you don’t believe me, just see for yourselves.”

He laughed loudly as if he’d just pulled off some brilliant scheme, and while laughing, he pulled out his unwashed lunch bowl as evidence. The lard had already solidified into a white, jelly-like mass. Whether intentionally or not, Chad Bennett thrust it right in front of Director Harris, startling him into stepping aside. Victor Smith, afraid this guy would cause trouble, quickly stepped forward to stop him and explained how the two of them had seen the strike at lunch and then snuck into the cafeteria through the back door to get food. As for stirring things up, Chad Bennett wasn’t completely stupid, so he flatly denied it. He even rolled his eyes and refused to admit to chanting slogans. As for the eldest in the dorm, Dan Brooks, he wasn’t even at school today—he’d gone home, and had been home for two days already.

With that, the search for the ringleaders of the cafeteria strike ended up finding two people who hadn’t joined the strike, leaving Director Harris completely uninterested. Reed and Emily Walker finally breathed a sigh of relief—as long as it wasn’t their class causing trouble, they could rest easy.

Now Director Walker had something to say, his expression softening as he pointed at Chad Bennett: “Director Harris, you know the situation in the fourth year—there are only a few boys. If it weren’t for them, it definitely wouldn’t be our Chinese department leading the charge. I think we shouldn’t make things more complicated, and this approach is debatable. If the students strike to improve food quality and optimize logistics services, isn’t that enough? There’s no need to elevate it to a moral or political issue, right?”

“Exactly, Director Walker, you’re so wise. This is just a matter of the stomach—what does it have to do with ideology? The food at our school is really something else.”

Chad Bennett didn’t see himself as just one of the crowd. Feeling smug, he jumped in, and though Victor Smith tried to stop him, Chad Bennett just had to get it off his chest. He pushed Victor Smith aside and pointed at everyone as he spoke: “You have no idea, the food at our school is amazing—it could be used as building material... Why? The noodles are so soft they could be used for plastering walls, the rice is so hard you could build houses with it, and the soup—its taste beats cement slurry... And the steamed buns, they come out of the pot like reinforced concrete. If you don’t have good teeth, you can’t even bite into them... I suspect all our school’s chefs used to work on construction sites... This isn’t cooking, it’s basically forcing everyone to go up Jinggang Mountain. There’s no way not to rebel.”