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

Shuangshui Village.

It has been almost half a month since Xie Lu went to Wuhan.

It was mid-September, and the weather hadn't completely cooled down yet.

The midday sun was still scorching, making the ground scorching hot.

In the cornfield, the leaves were wilted and drooping, and the cicadas were chirping incessantly in the trees, one chirp after another, making the whole village feel exceptionally hot.

At Secretary Wang's house, all the doors and windows were closed.

The room was dimly lit, with only a little light filtering through the paper windows.

Party Secretary Wang sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a pipe and smoking it puff by puff.

The tobacco in the pipe was burning red-hot, and the smoke slowly dissipated in the dim light, tasting both pungent and bitter.

He smoked very slowly, taking a deep breath, pausing for a long time, and then exhaling.

His eyes were fixed on the ground, his gaze unfocused, lost in thought.

Li Cui sat on the stool opposite, sewing shoe soles. The needle pierced through the thick fabric, making a smacking sound. She would occasionally look up at the old man, as if she wanted to say something, but didn't.

The room was quiet, with only the sounds of smoking, sewing shoe soles, and the crowing of roosters in the distance.

After finishing his pipe, Party Secretary Wang tapped the tobacco bowl on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

He didn't even bother with the cigarette ash that fell on the ground.

He then pinched a pinch of tobacco from his pipe, stuffed it into the bowl, pressed it down with his thumb, and then struck a match to light it.

Li Cui finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Still smoking? How many batches has this been? Smoking too much is bad for your health."

Secretary Wang didn't say anything, he just took a puff.

Li Cui sighed.

She knew what the old man was struggling with.

For the past two days, Party Secretary Wang has not gone to the village committee and has been staying at home.

She asked him several times, and he only said, "I don't want to go."

But Li Cui knew that the old man didn't not want to go; he just didn't want to see Li Hanwen.

Ever since Xie Lu's incident, Secretary Wang has felt a lump in his throat. He feels sorry for the Xie family and for Xie Lu himself.

Although Xie finally received the acceptance letter and went to school, the matter was not over.

Li Hanwen is still working as a clerk in the village, while his brother-in-law is still working as the deputy secretary of the county education bureau.

They were perfectly fine, eating and drinking as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Party Secretary Wang couldn't swallow this insult.

Li Cui knew that he was struggling with whether or not to go to the county to file a complaint.

To file a lawsuit would mean a complete break with the Li family, and it would also mean he would lose his position as village party secretary.

If he doesn't tell, he can't get over that mental hurdle.

Li Cui put down her shoe sole: "Old man, if you want to go... then go."

Party Secretary Wang looked up at her.

"I know you're upset. That Xie family kid had such a hard time getting into Wuhan University, and it almost ruined his life. If you don't do something about it, you'll feel guilty about it from now on."

Party Secretary Wang didn't say anything, he just smoked.

"If I don't want to be the village party secretary anymore, then I won't be," Li Cui continued. "Our family doesn't rely on your meager salary to make a living. I can do the farm work myself, and the children are all grown up and can earn their own money. What are you afraid of?"

Party Secretary Wang remained silent, but he paused his smoking.

After a long pause, Party Secretary Wang finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse: "I just feel like I'm letting this position down. I'm a Party member, I'm the village Party secretary, but I can't even protect the children in the village from going to school. What's the point of being the Party secretary?"

"Then go! Tell the organization what you need to say, and report what you need to report. Even if it doesn't work in the end, you'll have done your best and won't feel guilty."

Party Secretary Wang remained silent for a long time.

When the tobacco in the pipe had burned out, he tapped it again.

This time, it wasn't renewed.

He stood up, walked to the cabinet, and opened the drawer.

Inside was a cloth bag, which Li Cui had sewn a few days ago to hold the materials he had collected.

He took it out, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be very heavy.

"Are you really sure?" Li Cui asked.

Party Secretary Wang nodded: "I've thought it through. I'm going all in. I refuse to believe that the Li family can control everything."

After saying that, Secretary Wang put the cloth bag into his pocket, patted it to make sure it was in place, then walked to the door and pushed it open.

The sunlight outside was blinding, so he squinted.

"I'm going."

Li Cui did not stop him and watched as Secretary Wang left.

"Old man, be careful on the road, and come back soon."

Party Secretary Wang nodded, walked into the yard, and took out his bicycle.

The bicycle was an old-fashioned 28-inch model, the paint had all chipped off, revealing the rust underneath, but he had cleaned it very well and even applied oil to the chain.

He pushed the bike out of the yard and rode it.

The wheels rolled over the dirt road, raising a fine cloud of dust.

From Shuangshui Village to the county seat, Secretary Wang rode neither too fast nor too slow.

His mind was in turmoil. One moment he was thinking about what to say when he met the county leaders, and the next he was wondering what to do if it didn't work.

But more than anything, it was a determination to go all out.

He is fifty-five years old this year and has served as the village party secretary for more than twenty years.

He hasn't done anything earth-shattering, but he hasn't made any major mistakes either.

The villagers all say he is honest and reliable.

But now, he felt he had to do something, not only for the Xie family, but also for his own pride, and even more so because he was a Party member!

As he passed through several villages, people who recognized him greeted him, "Secretary Wang, where are you going?"

"Go to the county," he said vaguely.

"Getting something done?"

"Yes, get things done."

He didn't go into details, after all, the fewer people who know about this, the better.

After riding for almost two hours, it was nearly noon when we arrived in the county town.

The county government building is located in the center of the county town. It is a four-story cement building with yellow paint on the exterior walls, some of which has peeled off.

There is a small square in front of the building, with a cement surface, where several bicycles and two jeeps are parked.

There's a sign hanging at the entrance of the building.

Party Secretary Wang parked his bicycle in the bike shed next to the building and locked it.

He touched the cloth bag in his arms; it was still there.

Then he took a deep breath and walked towards the building entrance.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance, I was stopped by the security guard.

The security guard was a young man in his twenties, wearing a uniform and a peaked cap.

He looked Wang, the Party Secretary, up and down. He was wearing a faded gray Zhongshan suit, liberation shoes, and his trousers were covered in mud. He looked like he came from the countryside.

"Comrade, who are you looking for?" the security guard asked, his tone relatively polite. Stopping strangers from entering and exiting was part of his job.

"I, I'm here to report this," said Party Secretary Wang, stammering slightly as he spoke, a little nervous.

"Report someone?" The security guard paused, then asked, "Report someone?"

"They reported our village clerk and his brother-in-law," said Party Secretary Wang. "His brother-in-law works at the Education Bureau."

The security guard frowned.

He had only been working for a short time and hadn't seen many of these kinds of things, but they weren't unheard of either. Just as he was about to ask for more details, someone came out from inside.

The man was middle-aged, around forty years old, not very tall, but he exuded energy and vitality.

Wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit, glasses, and a folder in his hand, he saw the security guard and Party Secretary Wang at the door and walked over.