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

Contemporary Editorial Department.

It's 8:30 in the morning.

He Chongshan pushed open the office door, put his briefcase on the table, and without sitting down, peeked out into the main office and called out, "Xiao Chen!"

Assistant Xiao Chen looked up from a pile of manuscripts: "Editor-in-Chief He, I'm here."

He Chongshan walked to the door, leaned against the doorframe, and asked directly, "Among the submissions received today, are there any related to Infernal Affairs?"

Xiao Chen shook his head and answered decisively, "No."

He Chongshan nodded, said nothing, and turned back to his office.

This is the eighth time he has asked this question this month, and each time he has given the same answer.

He sat down behind his desk, picked up today's newspaper, glanced at it, and then put it down.

He took out several letters that Xie Lu had sent him from the drawer and read them again.

The most recent letter was from a week ago, in which Xie Lu said that the prequel was coming to an end and would be finished soon.

How long is "soon"? It's been a week already.

Although it's common for a good article to take one or two months to finish, He Chongshan wished Xie Lü could finish it in a single day.

He put the letter away, leaned back in his chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

At 9:30, the editorial department held its regular meeting.

The meeting room wasn't large, but it was filled with about ten people. Xiao Chen read out the statistics of submissions for this week. The number had increased by 10% compared to last week. Most of them were written by newcomers who were attracted by "Infernal Affairs." There were imitations, sequels, and reviews. They were all different.

"How's the quality of the manuscript?" He Chongshan asked.

Old Li, who was in charge of the initial review, shook his head: "Most of them are no good. Those who have ideas lack writing skills, and those who have writing skills lack ideas. There aren't many usable ones."

He Chongshan nodded: "That's normal. After all, not everyone can write Infernal Affairs. Continue reviewing, and don't miss any good ones."

After the meeting, he returned to his office and officially began his day's work: reviewing manuscripts.

There were two stacks of manuscripts on the table. The ones on the left were the ones that had just arrived today, and the ones on the right were the ones that he hadn't finished reading yesterday. He casually picked up the top one from the left and opened it.

It's a novel about factory reform. The beginning is alright, quite well-structured. But by the third page, the characters start talking big, the plot starts to be made up, it becomes detached from the real environment, and the characters seem unrealistic.

He frowned, flipped to the last page, and put it in the "Not Used" pile on the right.

The next one was poetry; I read two lines and put it down.

The next one was an essay about my hometown. The writing was alright, but it was too familiar. I could guess what the next sentence would be about after every sentence.

He read through them one by one, his brows furrowing more and more deeply.

It's not that these manuscripts are bad.

Some of them would normally be considered above average, and with some modifications, they could be published.

But now, looking at it, he always feels like something's missing.

The characters are not vivid enough, the plot is not engaging enough, and the language is not fluent enough.

He knew where the problem lay.

He compared these manuscripts to Xie Lu's "Infernal Affairs".

Compared to that, it's no good.

Xie Lu wrote about Chen Yongren, and he brought the character to life in just three pages.

The character of Officer Huang is portrayed so vividly through a single dialogue that the complexity and contradictions within him are fully captured.

The author of the novel, Liu Jianming, uses the line "I want to switch places with him" to highlight the man's struggle and twisted nature.

The characters in these manuscripts, though written over ten pages long, are like two-dimensional figures, devoid of flesh and blood.

He Chongshan sighed, put down a manuscript in his hand, and rubbed his eyes.

He knew that this comparison was unfair.

With Xie Lu's talent, one like him might only appear once every few decades.

Comparing him to an ordinary person is just asking for trouble.

Even though I knew it, I still couldn't help myself when reading the manuscript.

He watched for another hour or so, then looked at his watch; it was almost 11:30.

Half of the new manuscripts on the left have been removed, and only a few usable ones have been selected.

He stood up, stretched his stiff neck and shoulders, and realized he was a little hungry; it was time to eat.

Before dinner, he had to write another letter to his old classmate Zhou Shaoyuan, asking him to indirectly urge Xie Lu to join the conversation.

He sat down again, took out some letter paper from the drawer, spread it out, picked up his pen, held the nib above the paper, thought for a long time, and only wrote the beginning:

Then it stopped again.

How many times have I urged him? He himself has lost count.

Zhou Shaoyuan replied quickly, always politely, saying he had already conveyed the message, that Xie Lu was writing it, and that it would be ready soon.

It's so fast, but I haven't seen the manuscript yet.

The wait is truly agonizing.

It's like knowing there's a big meal waiting for you, but you still have to wait and don't know when it will be served.

He went back to the table, ready to finish writing the letter.

I had just picked up my pen when there was a knock on the door.

Bang bang bang, very urgent.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Xiao Chen stood in the doorway, holding a manila envelope in his hand, smiling and panting: "Editor-in-Chief He, it's here! The prequel to Infernal Affairs has arrived!"

He Chongshan was stunned for a moment.

"What?"

"Infernal Affairs prequel!" Xiao Chen walked in and handed him the manila envelope. "Just received it, a registered letter from Wuhan University."

He Chongshan took it from him.

The envelope did indeed have a label from the School of Literature at Wuhan University and Zhou Shaoyuan's signature. He squeezed it; it was thick and heavy.

He tore open the seal and pulled out the manuscript paper inside.

The top image is the cover, with the words "Infernal Affairs Prequel" written in pen.

He turned to the second page and began to read.

In the first paragraph, Han Chen chats with Huang Zhicheng at the police station.

The casual tone of their voices, the undercurrent of tension beneath the surface, immediately drew him in.

He turned another page, and another.

Xiao Chen was still standing at the door, watching him intently, and gently asked, "Editor-in-Chief He, aren't you going to eat?"

He Chongshan didn't even look up: "I'm not going."

Xiao Chen stood there for two seconds, then quietly slipped out and closed the door behind him.

The office fell silent, save for the sound of turning pages.

He Chongshan read on, page by page.

Seeing that Han Chen rejected Huang Zhicheng's hint, he said, "My master often told me that karma always comes in its time."

I saw young Liu Jianming walking down the street and walking into that opera troupe.

Upon hearing the gunshot, Ni Kun fell to the ground.

He froze for a moment.

Ni Kun died just like that?

After all that buildup, he died so easily?

No, Xie Lu wouldn't be so hasty; there must be something fishy going on.

He continued reading.

The Ni family is in chaos, with the eldest members each harboring their own ambitions and on the verge of internal strife.

Then Ni Yongxiao appeared.

Without firing a single shot or killing a single person, they simply made a few phone calls and took advantage of the underhanded dealings between the gang leaders to stabilize the situation.

Upon seeing this, He Chongshan couldn't help but whisper, "Okay."

He continued scrolling down.

Time passed slowly, and the light outside the window gradually changed, from the brightness of midday to the softness of the afternoon, and then gradually dimmed.

He forgot the time, forgot he hadn't eaten, and forgot he had a ton of things to do.

I was completely immersed in the world of Infernal Affairs, sharing the tension, sighs, and heartache with the characters.