Spittle flew everywhere, even Director Walker couldn’t stop it, and rebellious words were uttered. Victor Smith grew anxious, stomped his foot hard, and just as Chad Bennett was getting excited, he let out an “ow!” and his train of thought was finally broken. He forgot to mention the food and instead shot a sideways glance at Victor Smith in a show of defiance, lecturing Victor Smith: “Why did you step on me? Was I wrong? You said it yourself at lunch, that dish was clearly pork, but it tasted just like pig slop… Didn’t you say that!? This is exactly what I can’t stand about you! Would telling the truth kill you!?”

As the two argued, Director Walker’s face darkened, and he turned to the even more displeased Director Harris for input: “Director Harris, maybe we should go investigate some other dorms… Please don’t mind him, Bennett suffered a head injury as a child, he tends to speak bluntly, please be understanding.”

“I did not…” Chad Bennett turned around, glaring, about to explain that his head was perfectly fine—he was actually quite smart. But the department head shot him a look so sharp that Chad Bennett swallowed his words. Under such authority and intimidation, he had no choice but to tacitly admit to a childhood head injury.

“Oh, fine… I’ll report your opinion to the school.” Director Harris grumbled, holding back his anger. The student’s words were a bit much, but they were true—he’d heard about these things before.

Taking a step to leave, he glanced back at the dorm. Aside from Chad Bennett’s bunk, the rest were at least passably clean. Trying to regain some dignity, Director Harris pointed at Chad Bennett’s bed and scolded, “Pay attention to your personal hygiene… Look how filthy this is. Do you even look like a college student?”

Chad Bennett’s bed really wasn’t very clean. There was an imprint of the back of his head on the pillow, and a pair of socks, not quite hidden, stuck out from under it. This hit Chad Bennett’s sore spot, especially with pretty girls from the class present. He hurried to block his bed from view. Director Harris didn’t press further, but glanced at Victor Smith, then happened to look up and saw that above Dan Brooks’s bunk hung a banner written on white rice paper, bearing the four characters “三好之家” (“Home of Three Virtues”). Director Harris couldn’t help but laugh, “With a dorm like this, you call yourselves the ‘Home of Three Virtues’?”

There was a mocking tone in his laughter. Victor Smith found it grating, straightened his collar, and, with a righteous air, retorted, “Director Harris, these ‘three virtues’ are not the usual ones. Ours are charity and kindness, public spirit and righteousness, and a love of learning. These are the three virtues of a gentleman, recognized throughout history, and taught to us by our esteemed Professor Scott from the Chinese department. Surely that’s not wrong?”

This pretentious scholar wasn’t entirely useless—his answer was quite good, and he even invoked the highly respected old professor. Director Harris was momentarily at a loss for words. Teacher Reed, meanwhile, looked on approvingly. Sometimes even she disagreed with the student affairs office’s nitpicking, which over time suppressed all individuality in students. Victor Smith was certainly a student with character. Still, Chad Bennett couldn’t help but curl his lip at such pretentiousness.

The two of them left Director Harris speechless. He turned to leave, but unexpectedly, Brother Chad remembered something. Seeing them about to go, he rushed after Director Walker and said, “Wait, there’s something I need to clarify.”

What was it? Everyone stopped, thinking Chad Bennett was about to protest being wrongly suspected of participating in the strike. Director Walker, worried this scatterbrained student would say something foolish, tried to cut him off: “We get it, Director Harris has heard your opinions. As for whether you were involved, we’ll talk after the investigation. You’re about to graduate—don’t cause more trouble for the department.”

“No, it’s not that. I mean…” Chad Bennett pointed at the banner above the eldest’s bed. “This needs to be explained. The calligraphy was done by Dan Brooks. Victor Smith is wrong—the ‘three virtues’ aren’t about being a gentleman.”

“Then what are they?” Director Walker asked instinctively.

“These three virtues are: loving to eat and be lazy, loving ease and hating work, loving women and money. These are the three virtues of men—everyone wants them. Really, I’m not lying to you, Director Walker. Victor Smith just loves to make things up.”

Chad Bennett counted on his fingers, speaking with a righteous and sincere air. There were several audible “uh”s caught in people’s throats. Director Harris left with a dark face, fuming. Director Walker pointed at Chad Bennett, glared twice, but was too angry to speak and turned to leave. Teacher Reed was both amused and exasperated, shaking her head as she left—clearly, none of them could bring themselves to stoop to argue with a student like this.

The class’s Youth League secretary, Emily Walker, couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Only the guys in Dorm 222 could manage to infuriate the dreaded Director Harris like this. The baseless suspicion cast on Class Two had already made Emily Walker anxious, but after Chad Bennett’s antics, she felt a weight lifted and was oddly happy. As she was leaving, she glanced back at Chad Bennett, who stood upright, not feeling at all that he’d said anything wrong. Emily Walker smiled, gave Chad Bennett a thumbs-up, fluttered her lashes flirtatiously, and lowered her voice: “Heavenly Lei, I never noticed before, but you’re the most handsome guy in our class.”

With a laugh, she walked away. Chad Bennett suddenly felt his heart tighten, clutching his chest for fear his little heart might leap out.