1985, the year of the great writer, began with Infernal Affairs!

Just as he was about to take a bite of the egg, a clear shout came from outside the courtyard gate:

Is Attorney Xie home?

It was a female voice, young and clear, with a slight county town accent, quite different from the native accent of Shuangshui Village.

Xie Youshan was squatting on the threshold smoking a pipe when he heard the sound and looked up.

Wang Yufen also wiped her hands and peeked outside.

Xie Lu stopped holding the egg in his hand, which was about to his mouth.

He remembered that voice.

He stood up, dusted off the eggshell fragments from his hands, and walked to the door.

A young woman was standing outside the courtyard gate.

The afternoon sun was shining at an angle, giving her a fuzzy, golden glow.

She wore a light pink floral polyester shirt with the sleeves neatly buttoned up to her wrists, dark blue polyester trousers with straight creases, and white plastic sandals that revealed her fair insteps.

Her hair was tied into a high ponytail, secured with a red rubber band, with a few wisps of hair falling down her forehead and gently swaying in the breeze.

This is Zhao Wanwan, formerly the prettiest girl in our class.

Xie Lu looked at her, and for a moment he was in a daze.

Zhao Wanwan was a classmate of Xielu County No. 1 Middle School.

The girl sitting two rows in front of him always had her hair in a ponytail, sat up straight during class, and was always the first to raise her hand when the teacher asked a question.

She has excellent grades and is almost always in the top three of her grade.

Of course, he always comes after Xie Lu.

She often competed with Xie Lu because of this, always trying to outdo him in every exam. She could never beat him, but she just wouldn't admit defeat.

Her family is a dual-income family in the county town.

The father, Zhao Jianguo, was the head of the security department at the county steel plant. He was a school leader with a straight back and a strong voice. The mother, Li Xiuqin, worked at a textile factory and was gentle and virtuous.

Zhao Wanwan is their only daughter, and her family is much better off than most of their rural classmates.

However, she never showed off; instead, she studied exceptionally hard.

Xie Lu remembered that Zhao Wanwan had also come at this time in his previous life.

It was just as hot that noon.

She rode her bicycle from the county town to Shuangshui Village, her wisps of hair damp with sweat and clinging to her smooth forehead.

She pulled him to the jujube tree behind the house, took out a handkerchief bag that smelled strongly of soap powder from her pocket, peeled it open layer by layer, and inside was a small stack of ten-yuan bills neatly arranged.

Her face turned bright red as she spoke: "This is all the hundred yuan I saved up. You can take it and use it first."

However, Xie Lu was still a bookworm back then.

His mind was preoccupied with the news of his acceptance letter, and he felt inferior because of his family's financial difficulties. In a panic, he decisively rejected Zhao Wanwan's kindness.

He said his father had already come up with a solution and that they had enough money.

In fact, at that time, Xie Youshan, the father, was already preparing to kneel down at Li Hanwen's house.

Later, they all went to university in Wuhan.

He was at Wuhan University, while Zhao Wanwan was admitted to East China Normal University.

The two schools are not far apart, only a few bus stops away.

They had met a few times when the semester started. Zhao Wanwan came to him to borrow books, and he also went to East China Normal University to listen to lectures with Zhao Wanwan.

But somehow, the connection between the two gradually faded.

Perhaps it's because of busy schoolwork? Or perhaps it's because of the ridiculous pride of a teenager.

At the time, Xie Lu always felt that he owed her a favor, but he couldn't repay it.

Later, he heard from Liu Zhenyu that Zhao Wanwan returned to the county after graduation and taught at the county's No. 1 Middle School, and had never gotten married.

Her parents were extremely anxious and asked around to introduce her to several men, but she turned them all down.

When Liu Zhenyu said this, his tone was full of regret: "Wanwan is such a good girl, I don't know what she's waiting for."

At the time, Xie was preparing materials for his professorship evaluation. He simply nodded and said that everyone has their own way of life.

But now that I think about it, I realize how much regret was hidden in that sentence, something he never really considered.

"Attorney Xie?"

Seeing him standing there in a daze, Zhao Wanwan called out softly again.

She stood outside the courtyard gate, holding the handlebars of the 26-inch women's bicycle.

The bicycle is a Phoenix brand, very well maintained, with a gleaming bell.

The combined savings of both working parents were laid out before him.

"Oh, yes."

Xie Lu snapped out of his daze and quickly walked over. "Zhao Wanwan, what brings you here?"

Zhao Wanwan glanced at Xie Youshan and Wang Yufen, who were looking this way from the courtyard, and lowered her voice: "I heard about you... I heard about your acceptance letter... Can I come in and talk?"

"Come in." Xie Lu stepped aside.

Wang Yufen had already come out to greet us, her face beaming with a warm smile: "Are you Xie Lu's classmate? Please come in and sit down, it's hot outside."

Zhao Wanwan pushed her bicycle into the yard and parked it properly next to the cracked mud wall of her house.

She turned and bowed slightly to Wang Yufen: "Hello, Auntie, I am Xie Lu's classmate, Zhao Wanwan."

"Oh, good...good." Wang Yufen looked Zhao Wanwan up and down, her eyes filled with the joy of a son finding a wife.

This girl is pretty, fair-skinned, well-dressed, and speaks politely; she's clearly from a good family.

"Have you had lunch yet? We just boiled some eggs, shall I get you one?"

"No need, Auntie, I've already eaten."

Zhao Wanwan quickly waved her hand, then looked at Lawyer Xie, "Lawyer Xie, may I say a few words to you?"

Seeing her serious expression, Xie Lu nodded: "Let's go to my room."

The two entered Xie Lu's room one after the other. The room was not large, with a kang (a heated brick bed) taking up most of it. An old desk was placed by the window, with high school textbooks and review materials neatly stacked on it.

There are some certificates of merit on the wall, all of which Xie Lv has received over the years.

After entering the room, Zhao Wanwan did not sit down, but stood in front of the desk, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the desk.

Sunlight streamed through the paper window, casting dappled shadows on her face.

Xie noticed that the tips of her ears were slightly red and translucent.

"What's wrong?" Xie Lu asked, though he already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Zhao Wanwan took a deep breath, as if she had made a great decision, and pulled a handkerchief pouch out of her pants pocket.

The light blue checkered handkerchief, washed until faded, with some fuzz at the edges, had a pleasant scent of soap powder in the air.

She opened each layer, revealing a stack of money inside.

Ten yuan each, ten in total, neatly stacked.

"Here, take this." She handed over the money, her voice soft but clear.

Xie did not answer.

He looked at the stack of money, then at Zhao Wanwan.

Her face was completely red, from her cheeks all the way down to her neck, and the knuckles of her fingers holding the money were slightly white, showing that she was gripping it very tightly.

"I heard... I heard that the clerk in your village will only give you a notice if you pay two hundred yuan."

It reached her ears so quickly?

Xie Lu's heart sank, but he did not reach out to take it.

Seeing that he didn't take it, Zhao Wanwan suddenly became a little anxious and spoke faster: "This is... I've saved up for a long time... This is all... a total of one hundred yuan... Take it first, and we'll figure out the rest later. It's not easy to get into Wuhan University... We can't let something like this delay things."