The vice president in charge of student affairs made a rare appearance in the student dormitories.
The hallway instantly erupted.
"Holy shit! A surprise inspection!"
"Damn it, we're about to graduate, and now they pull this?"
"Quick, quick, put the cards away!"
"Shit, stop watching porn! Shut down the computer!"
Doors slammed, belongings were hastily hidden, and frantic footsteps sounded all at once.
Unlike the routine inspections organized by the student council, this inspection team consisted entirely of university administrators and department counselors. They carried little notebooks, their expressions stern as they moved swiftly and decisively.
The vice president stationed himself on the fourth floor, his face grim.
Bang!
A dorm room door was pushed open.
Takeout containers and instant noodle cups littered the floor. Game screens still glowed on several computers, and the pungent stink of smoke and sour odors hit them in the face. The occupants lay on their beds, snoring away.
Who knew how long they had gone without sleep?
Even that much noise failed to wake them.
The vice president's face darkened. "What a mess! This isn't a student dormitory-it's a garbage dump! Write it down! Issue a public reprimand to the entire college!"
Bang!
Another dorm room door was pushed open.
There was no one inside.
"Staying out overnight! Write it down!"
Bang!
The third dorm room.
After checking,
they found a male student from another university sitting inside, drinking and boasting.
"Well, well! Treating the dormitory like a hotel, are we? Write it down!"
Even more outrageous, in a room at the end of the hallway, the inspecting teachers found only a couple cuddling together.
The vice president's fury had reached its peak. He berated them as he walked.
"Do any of you behave like university students anymore? No discipline! No ambition! It's downright heartbreaking!"
His angry voice drew closer.
Finally, he stopped outside Room 404.
At a signal from the vice president, a young teacher shoved the door open.
The expected reprimand caught in the vice president's throat.
He stopped short.
Every teacher following him stopped too.
Nothing looked bad until you compared it with something else.
Compared with those earlier "garbage dumps," Room 404 was the cleanest student dorm room in the entire building.
The floor was spotless, clean enough to reflect light. The desks and chairs were neatly arranged, without any clutter on them. The walls had clearly been cleaned as well, and the windowpanes gleamed in the night.
There was not a trace of foul odor in the air. Instead, a faint lemon fragrance lingered.
The whole room was bright and immaculate, without even a whiff of sweat.
Much of the anger on the vice president's face faded without him realizing it.
His gaze swept around the room before settling on the unusual cloth curtain on the opposite side.
The fabric was blue and white, with writing in ink on it.
He walked over, stopped in front of the curtain, and instinctively read out the three characters on the left.
"Three-Wash Pavilion..."
He turned toward Li Jun, who had opened the door, then looked at Wang Xiaoliang, who had just sat up in bed with a bewildered expression.
"Who wrote this?"
Li Jun instinctively pointed at Wang Xiaoliang. "He... Wang Xiaoliang wrote it. We hung it up together."
The vice president studied the three characters again and nodded. "Good calligraphy. There's some solid technique here. What does 'Three-Wash Pavilion' mean?"
How was he supposed to answer that? He couldn't exactly say it was a place to wash their bodies, their clothes, and their dicks, could he?
Li Jun thought fast and almost blurted out his improvised explanation. "Sir, the three washes mean washing the body, washing clothes, and washing the heart. It means that we should not only wash the grime from our bodies and the dust from our clothes, but also regularly cleanse our souls to keep our spirits pure."
Washing the body, washing clothes, and washing the heart.
The vice president mulled over those words, then smiled. "Interesting. Well said! Then..."
He pointed at the curtain on the right.
"Does 'For macho men only' mean exactly what it says?"
Li Jun hurried to answer again. He puffed out his chest and declared loudly, "Sir! 'For macho men only' means we hope every male student who leaves Jiang University will become an upright, dependable man-a strong man who contributes to society!"
Even the vice president was taken aback for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Good! Well said! That's ambition! We certainly do need strong men these days."
He patted Li Jun on the shoulder, glanced at Wang Xiaoliang, and nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. Your dorm room is very good! Keep it up!"
The surprise dormitory inspection focused on the higher floors. Every room's windows received particular attention, and the vice president even personally closed one that had been left open.
Wang Xiaoliang's observation had been correct.
At first light, a team of university maintenance workers arrived at the upper-floor dorm rooms.
They fitted a special device to the windows of every room above the third floor.
The device restricted how far the windows could open.
After it was installed in Room 404, Wang Xiaoliang tried opening a window.
He found that it would only open a crack.
Now, to jump out from here,
he would either have to smash the glass,
or know how to contort his body through tiny gaps.
And that wasn't all.
The roof access hatch
had been locked too.
Wang Xiaoliang understood.
This surprise dormitory inspection
was really an emergency response to the death and the mental breakdown in Room 404.
The inspection was merely a pretext.
The following afternoon, the university held an emergency assembly for all students in the college.
At the assembly, the vice president sternly and sorrowfully announced the results of the previous night's surprise inspection. He singled out a large number of filthy dorm rooms and students who had broken the rules, casting a heavy pall over the hall.
Just when everyone thought the meeting would end on that somber note, the vice president changed tack.
"However! During last night's inspection, we also discovered a shining example! A model worthy of emulation by every student in the college!"
"Room 404! Wang Xiaoliang! Li Jun!"
"Without being asked or supervised, they took the initiative to transform their dorm room. Not only was it clean and tidy, it also reflected a positive, creative spirit!"
"After deliberation, the university has decided to award Wang Xiaoliang and Li Jun the honorary title of 'Advanced Individual in Environmental Hygiene'! Each will also receive a cash reward of five hundred yuan in recognition of their efforts."
Wang Xiaoliang was utterly baffled.
He had only wanted to improve his luck and ward off some ominous energy. How had he ended up an advanced individual, with a five-hundred-yuan reward to boot?
Thunderous applause rose around them, and Li Jun excitedly stood up, ready to go onstage and collect his award.
Wang Xiaoliang rose in a daze, with only one thought circling through his mind.
Had he... actually changed his luck?
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