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

He took a deep breath and picked up a new manuscript.

This time it was about factory life. The beginning was okay, but it started to drag on from the third page. He patiently read to the fifth page, but he couldn't stand it anymore and put it down.

My eyes involuntarily glanced at the corner of the table again.

The stack of manuscripts lay there quietly, as if waiting for him.

He Chongshan sighed.

Ever since receiving the first half of Xie Lu's "Infernal Affairs," he had been thinking about the sequel. The story ended at the most critical point: Officer Huang sacrificed himself, Chen Yongren lost his only contact, and his identity could be exposed at any time. Meanwhile, Liu Jianming was rising through the ranks in the police station, but he was becoming more and more anxious. He wanted to be a good person, but as long as Han Chen was alive, he could not be a good person.

What happens next?

What will happen next?

He Chongshan considered several possibilities.

Will Chen Yongren be exposed? Will Liu Jianming betray them? Will Han Chen be arrested in the end?

He thought about it over and over and felt that either way was possible, but neither seemed exciting enough. He wanted to know how Xie Lu would write it.

But Xie Lu just happened to stop here.

These days, He Chongshan would go through all the manuscripts of the day before reviewing them. The emails from this morning had already been sent over, and he had gone through them all, but there was still no trace of Infernal Affairs.

He Chongshan glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 2:30 PM. All the emails for today had been processed. If there were any more, he would have to wait until tomorrow.

He was a little irritated.

He himself found this kind of irritability funny. He had been reading manuscripts for more than 20 years. What good works hadn't he seen?

Why did you lose your composure when it came to Xie Lu?

But he just couldn't hold his temper.

"Infernal Affairs" is different. It's not about how fancy the writing is or how profound the ideas are, but about the rhythm, the tension, and that urgency that leaves you breathless.

Having read manuscripts for so many years, He Chongshan rarely saw an author who could tell stories so well. Every twist and turn was just right, every line of dialogue was thought-provoking, and every character was believable.

What's even more remarkable is that this story has a certain energy, a kind of energy that's always been held back, suppressed, and ready to explode at any moment.

He Chongshan liked that kind of spirit.

He Chongshan stood up and paced around the office, which was small, about seven or eight square meters, with two large bookshelves against the wall, filled with books and manuscripts.

He's in Beijing, and Xie Lu is in Liaoning.

They're thousands of miles apart.

If he weren't so tied up with work, He Chongshan really wanted to buy a train ticket and go to Shuangshui Village. He wanted to see what kind of young man could write such a story.

Is he mature beyond his years, or is he born with innate wisdom?

He wanted to move a chair next to Xie Lu and watch him finish writing the second half, writing one page and then reading one page.

The idea was somewhat absurd, but he had indeed thought about it.

He Chongshan shook his head, returned to his desk and sat down. He still had work to do and manuscripts to review.

He picked up the manuscript about the factory again and forced himself to read on. When he got to the eighth page, he finally saw a glimmer of hope. The protagonist was a flesh-and-blood old worker, not the stereotypical model. He perked up, picked up a red pen, and made marks on the manuscript.

This lasted for more than an hour.

By the time he finished reading the manuscript and wrote down his review comments, it was almost four o'clock. He stretched and felt his neck was a little stiff.

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Assistant editor Xiao Chen poked his head in. Xiao Chen was in his early twenties, had just graduated from university, and had been assigned to the publishing house as an editor, learning from He Chongshan. The young man was clever, but a bit impetuous.

Holding a stack of manuscripts, Xiao Chen asked somewhat embarrassedly in a low voice, "Editor-in-Chief He, is this what you're looking for?"

He Chongshan looked up.

The top document in Xiao Chen's hand was a kraft paper envelope with the inscription "To He Chongshan, Chief Editor of the Editorial Department of Contemporary Literature, People's Literature Publishing House" written in pen, and signed "Xie Lv, Shuangshui Village, Liaobei County, Liaobei Province".

He Chongshan's eyes lit up immediately.

He jumped up abruptly, moving so fast that his chair slid backward and crashed into the bookshelf with a bang.

"Where did it come from?"

"As usual, I went through the emails by category first today, and when I saw this one, it reminded me of the movie 'Infernal Affairs' that you've been talking about these past few days..."

Xiao Chen walked in, put the manuscript on the table, and before he could finish speaking, He Chongshan had already snatched the manuscript away.

The kraft paper envelope was bulging and felt very thick. He Chongshan tore open the seal and pulled out the manuscript paper inside.

One stack, two stacks, three stacks... a total of 80,000 words, neatly bound with thin rope.

The top page reads "Chapter Eleven," which is exactly where the story ended abruptly last time.

He Chongshan looked up and glared at Xiao Chen: "You've seen it?"

Xiao Chen was a little embarrassed: "I... I only read a few pages. I just couldn't resist, and I secretly read the first half of your book too..."

"Nonsense! How can you just read an author's manuscript like that?"

Xiao Chen lowered his head and took the initiative to admit his mistake.

But He Chongshan didn't scold him anymore, because he had already sat back down in his chair and impatiently opened the manuscript.

He found the place where he had stopped last time. Chen Yongren stood at the scene where Officer Huang had sacrificed himself, looking at the bloodstains on the ground with disbelief in his eyes and deep sorrow in his heart. He was even a little dazed for a moment, but he remembered his identity and his mission. When he came to his senses, he still had to put on a blank expression on his face. Then he turned around and left, his back disappearing.

Start from here and read on.

He Chongshan was completely absorbed in the story, shutting out all the surrounding noise. He didn't know when Xiao Chen left; his entire mind was focused on the manuscript, drawing him into the black-and-white world through Xie Lu's writing.

Silly Qiang took Chen Yongren away, but in the gunfight they just had, Silly Qiang was shot.

While driving, Sha Qiang kept talking to Chen Yongren, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Chen Yongren's mind was filled with the image of Officer Huang falling from the high-rise building onto the taxi, and he had no interest in listening to Sha Qiang.

Sha Qiang continued babbling on and on, but soon his face turned ugly, his speech became intermittent, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

Sha Qiang, barely holding on, continued to describe to Chen Yongren what had happened after they went upstairs.

"That policeman was tough. They took him upstairs and beat him for a full ten minutes, ten minutes, without him saying a single word."

"Brother Chen said that the policeman was very good at covering up, and whoever didn't show up today was an undercover agent."

"I didn't. I didn't say you went for a massage. If Brother Chen finds out you went for a massage, you'll be in trouble."

"In short, remember this: if someone is not paying attention to what they are doing and is looking at you, he is a policeman."

"..."

Upon seeing this, He Chongshan stopped. He couldn't help but admire Xie Lü's writing skills. In just a few words, Xie Lü had completely changed the image of Sha Qiang in his original understanding.

He Chongshan was completely immersed in the story. He could sense that Sha Qiang had known all along that Chen Yongren was an undercover agent. What he said on the way was deliberately meant for Chen Yongren to hear, and what he wanted Chen Yongren to remember in the end was his final advice to Chen Yongren.

Sha Qiang has truly come to regard Chen Yongren as a brother.