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

Just then, someone walked over from the other end of the corridor.

He was a middle-aged man in his forties, bald, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and holding a stack of documents in his hand.

"Xiao Wang!" Zhou Shaoyuan called out.

The man looked up, saw Zhou Shaoyuan, and quickly walked over: "Dean Zhou, you were looking for me?"

"Yes, you've come at the right time." Zhou Shaoyuan pulled him into the office. "Let me introduce you. This is my old classmate, He Chongshan, the editor-in-chief of 'Contemporary' published by People's Literature Publishing House."

Chongshan, this is Wang Zhiguo, our freshman counselor.

"Editor-in-Chief He, hello." Wang Zhiguo extended his hand respectfully.

"Hello, Teacher Wang." He Chongshan shook hands with him.

Zhou Shaoyuan closed the door and said to Wang Zhiguo, "Xiao Wang, is there a student named Xie Lü among the freshmen you're supervising this year?"

"Lawyer Xie?" Wang Zhiguo paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, he's in the second class of the Chinese department that I teach. What happened? Did he get into trouble?"

"I remember this student; he doesn't usually seem like the type to cause trouble. Is there some misunderstanding here?"

He Chongshan felt relieved; he had finally found him. However, seeing that Wang Zhiguo had some misunderstanding, he quickly explained that Xie Lu was fine and that he had come here to get to know him.

Can you tell me about him?

Wang Zhiguo looked at Zhou Shaoyuan, who nodded: "Go ahead and speak, Editor-in-Chief He is no outsider."

Wang Zhiguo thought for a moment and said, "Xie Lu is a pretty good student. He comes from Liaobei Province and is from a rural background."

He doesn't talk much, but he seems very composed. He's been behaving well these past two days since the start of the semester. Yesterday, he didn't run for class committee, but he was very supportive of the other students' work.

"That's all?"

"That's all. It's only been a few days since the start of the semester, so I don't know much. Editor-in-Chief He, is there something you need from him?"

He Chongshan didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Does he have class today?"

"Yes, there is one this morning." Wang Zhiguo glanced at his watch. "They should be in class now, in classroom 201."

"Classroom 201, Arts Building." He Chongshan noted it down. "Thank you, Teacher Wang."

"You're welcome," Wang Zhiguo replied. Seeing that He Chongshan didn't want to talk about the specifics, Wang Zhiguo took the initiative to say goodbye: "If there's nothing else, I'll go and get back to work."

"Go."

Wang Zhiguo went out and gently closed the door behind him.

The office fell silent immediately.

Zhou Shaoyuan looked at He Chongshan with some curiosity: "Chongshan, can you tell me now? Who exactly is this Xie Lu? Why would you travel all the way from the capital to find him?"

He Chongshan picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea.

He put down his cup, looked at Zhou Shaoyuan, and slowly spoke:

"He's the author you kept urging me to publish the second half of Infernal Affairs a couple of days ago."

The words were spoken.

Zhou Shaoyuan nearly dropped the teacup in his hand.

His eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief: "What? Xie Lu? A freshman? The author of Infernal Affairs?"

"Yes." He Chongshan nodded solemnly.

"Impossible!" Zhou Shaoyuan blurted out. It wasn't surprising; after all, it was almost impossible for a freshman to write a work like *Infernal Affairs* in such a short time. "How could the level, depth, and writing style of *Infernal Affairs* be written by a freshman?"

"I also thought it was impossible, but it really was him."

He sent me the manuscript; I recognized his handwriting. He also mentioned in the letter that he was a freshman at Wuhan University, and his admission notice had been withheld by his village. He asked me to help verify this, and I did; there is indeed such a person.

Hearing He Chongshan's words, Zhou Shaoyuan opened his mouth, unable to speak for a long time.

"So you came to Wuhan to see him?"

"Well, I came to deliver the payment for the manuscript and also to meet him. I also want to see what a freshman who can write Infernal Affairs looks like."

Zhou Shaoyuan was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"How interesting! Our School of Arts has produced such a genius, and I, as the dean, didn't even know."

Classroom 201.

Teacher Sun is giving a lecture on the podium. He is in his fifties, with gray hair, wearing reading glasses, and speaking slowly and deliberately.

Xie Lu sat in the middle seat by the window. He opened his notebook and held a pen in his hand, but he didn't take any notes.

He was very familiar with this content; he had learned it in his previous life and even taught it to others. He just listened and occasionally glanced at the sycamore trees outside the window.

Chu Yunfei sat on the right, slumped over the table, his eyelids drooping. He had been playing cards until midnight last night and lost 50 cents, which had made him quite angry.

Zhou Wenbin sat next to Chu Yunfei, writing furiously down every word the teacher said.

Suddenly, the classroom door was pushed open.

Everyone looked up and towards the doorway.

Wang Zhiguo stood at the door with a serious expression. He nodded to Teacher Wang on the podium, then his gaze swept around the classroom before settling on Xie Lu.

"Attorney Xie, come out here for a moment."

Xie Lu was stunned for a moment.

The three people next to Chen Xiangdong were also stunned for a moment, and looked at each other, wondering what had happened.

Teacher Sun stopped lecturing, adjusted her glasses, and asked, "Teacher Wang, what's the matter?"

Wang Zhiguo explained, "I need to speak with Xie Lu, it will take a few minutes."

"Okay, sure." Teacher Wang nodded and said to Xie Lu, "Go ahead."

Xie Lu put down his pen, stood up, walked out of his seat, and headed towards the door under the watchful eyes of the entire class.

Chu Yunfei winked at him and mouthed what was wrong.

Xie Lu shook his head; he didn't know what had happened either.

After leaving the classroom, Wang Zhiguo closed the door behind him.

The corridor was quiet, with only the sounds of lectures coming from other classrooms nearby.

"Advisor, what's up? I got a call from home?"

When Xie Lu took the initiative to ask, the only reason he could think of was that his family had suddenly called.

Wang Zhiguo did not answer immediately.

He looked Xie Lu up and down a few times with a serious expression, then pointed to the other end of the corridor: "Let's talk over there."

The two walked to the corner of the corridor.

Wang Zhiguo turned around, looked at Xie Lu, and frowned.

"Attorney Xie, have you gotten into any trouble lately, or offended anyone?"

Ok?

Xie Lu was even more confused.

"Causing trouble? No, I've been pretty well-behaved lately."

"Really not?" Wang Zhiguo stared into his eyes. "Think about it carefully again. Have you offended anyone? Or done anything you shouldn't have?"

Xie Lu thought about it carefully.

Since arriving at Wuhan University, his daily life has been incredibly regular.

He got up early, washed up, went to class, ate, strolled around the campus, and secretly wrote the prequel to "Infernal Affairs" in his dormitory bed at night. Apart from treating others to lunch yesterday, he didn't even leave the school gate.

What trouble could such an honest and simple person like him possibly cause?

"Advisor, I've been walking around campus during the day and writing in my dorm at night these past two days. My schedule is very regular. What trouble could I possibly be causing?"