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

Xie Lu rolled his eyes at Liu Zhenyu, annoyed. He was going to rob a bank? He didn't want to get shot so soon.

To prevent Liu Zhenyu from continuing to guess, Xie Lu took the initiative to confess.

"I earned it by writing articles. I submitted an article to 'Contemporary' magazine and it was accepted. I received the 600 yuan fee today."

Liu Zhenyu stared wide-eyed at Xie Lu, as if he didn't recognize him.

Contemporary?

The manuscript fee is six hundred yuan?

These words are too far removed from his life.

He was from an ordinary family; both his parents worked, and although their life was a little better than that of people in the countryside, it was still limited.

Six hundred yuan is a huge sum of money for his family.

Xie Lu, who was a poor student who was worried about two hundred yuan just ten days ago, now actually has six hundred yuan in royalties.

"You, are you serious?" Liu Zhenyu still couldn't believe it.

Attorney Xie handed the approved draft to Liu Zhenyu.

"Contemporary Publications," Liu Zhenyu muttered to himself, looking at the accepted manuscript responses from the journal. "That's a major publication, Ritsuko, you're really something!"

Knowing that Xie Lu was not short of money, Liu Zhenyu didn't stand on ceremony with him and took the money. He counted it—ten bills, no doubt.

But instead of putting it in his pocket, he handed it back: "Although you have money now, you should take this money first. It will cost a lot of money on the way to Wuhan, and you will also need money when you get to school. Six hundred yuan will never be enough."

Xie Lu pushed the money back, saying, "I have it, and this money was originally a loan to you; it should be returned."

After a few moments of polite refusals, Liu Zhenyu finally gave in and accepted the gift.

He stuffed the money into his pocket, a smile spreading across his face. "Okay, I'll take it. But Ritsuko, you have to treat me! Six hundred yuan in royalties, it wouldn't be right not to treat me!"

Xie Lu readily agreed: "Okay, I'll come to the county town again the day after tomorrow. Make sure you're on an empty stomach then, I'll treat you to a big meal."

Xie Lu was admitted to Wuhan University this year, but Liu Zhenyu failed the exam.

He has already discussed it with his family and plans to study for another year.

According to Xie Lu's memories from his previous life, Liu Zhenyu would have been admitted to a vocational school after repeating a year of high school and become a physics teacher. However, he later met the wrong person. In order to celebrate the greatness of love, he chose to leave with nothing when he got divorced, and a woman took all his property. Not long after, she found another partner. Later, Xie Lu helped him find a job, but their contact gradually faded.

Having been given a second chance at life, Xie Lu naturally wanted to change Liu Zhenyu's less-than-ideal life.

How can this be changed?

Let's start with taking the college entrance exam!

When he comes up the day after tomorrow, I must remember to bring my high school notes and such.

The two chatted for a few more minutes.

Liu Zhenyu asked about the manuscript, and Xie Lu gave a brief explanation. However, Liu Zhenyu wasn't very interested in literature, so he changed the subject after listening for a while. The two grown men seemed to have endless things to talk about, and before they knew it, they had been chatting for about half an hour. Xie Lu looked at the sky and said it was time to go.

"I'll take you," Liu Zhenyu said.

"No need, you go about your business." Xie Lu waved his hand and pushed the cart out of the yard.

After getting on his bike, he thought for a moment and instead of heading directly out of the city, he turned and rode towards the steel factory's residential compound.

Zhao Wanwan's home is over there.

Xie Lu wanted to go and pay her back first, otherwise he felt uncomfortable about owing her money.

After riding for about ten minutes, I arrived at the entrance of the family compound.

It's still the same row of red brick bungalows, still the same small courtyards.

It was a little past four in the afternoon, the sun was setting in the west, and the sunlight cast long shadows.

The courtyard was quiet; the adults hadn't finished get off work yet, and the children were still playing outside.

Xie Lu parked his car outside the gate and went inside.

Zhao Wanwan's house was in the innermost row. As soon as he walked near that row of houses, he saw a familiar figure pushing a bicycle out of the gate.

It's Zhao Wanwan.

She changed her clothes today: a light blue polyester shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, dark gray trousers, and white sandals. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, with stray hairs held back with hair clips.

She was pushing her cart, about to walk out, when she looked up and saw Xie Lu.

Both of them were stunned.

Zhao Wanwan stood at the gate of the courtyard, holding the handlebars, her eyes wide open. Sunlight shone from behind her, gilding her with a golden edge. Fine beads of sweat glistened on her face in the sunlight.

Xie Lu stood a few steps away, pushing a cart.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Freshly washed clothes hung on the clothesline in the yard, water droplets falling and hitting the ground. The sound of a loudspeaker came from not far away, broadcasting the story of the Yang family generals. Shan Tianfang's hoarse voice drifted over intermittently.

Zhao Wanwan spoke first.

"Lawyer Xie?" she called out, her voice filled with surprise. "What brings you here?"

Xie Lu took two steps forward: "I came to find you."

"Looking for me? I was just about to look for you."

"Looking for me?" This time it was Xie Lu's turn to be surprised.

"Hmm." Zhao Wanwan nodded, her face slightly flushed. "I wanted to ask you if you've bought your train ticket to Wuhan next month. My dad said he can ask someone at the train station to buy it for me; they might be able to get a sleeper berth."

After she finished speaking, she added, "Sleeper berths are more comfortable. Sitting for two days and one night is too tiring in a hard seat."

Xie Lu looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"What a coincidence, I also came to talk to you about the train tickets."

Xie Lulai was certainly not there because of the train tickets; he hadn't even thought about them.

He came to repay the money, but seeing Zhao Wanwan's condition, he changed his mind.

"We're not going in, we'll talk here."

Zhao Wanwan was taken aback for a moment, then understood what he meant. Her face flushed slightly, she nodded, propped the bicycle against the wall, then turned and went into the house, bringing out two small stools and placing them under the jujube tree in the yard.

"sit."

Xie Lu didn't sit down immediately. Instead, he took out a wad of cash from his pocket, counted out sixteen ten-yuan bills, totaling one hundred and sixty yuan, and handed it over.

"Here, take this."

Zhao Wanwan didn't take it. Her eyes widened as she looked at the wad of money in Xie Lu's hand.

"this?"

"The train tickets from Liaobei to Wuhan cost 40 yuan for a hard seat and about 80 yuan for a sleeper. Two sleeper tickets would cost 160 yuan. I'll have to trouble you, Uncle, to help me buy them."

Xie Lu could buy a hard seat at the train station, but a hard sleeper required connections. Unlike later years, there weren't many hard sleeper beds available these days, so they were in high demand.

Zhao Wanwan glanced at the wad of money in Xie Lu's hand, then at Xie Lu himself, her brows furrowing slightly.

Zhao Wanwan's voice carried undisguised worry: "Where did you get so much money?"

She glanced around, and seeing that no one was looking at her, she quickly took half a step forward, using her body to block the money in Xie Lu's hand, and lowered her voice: "Xie Lu, are you... are you in trouble again?"

"You, you robbed a bank?"

Zhao Wanwan was on the verge of tears when she said this.