Operation Red Book

"Uncle store manager, I'm here! Hey, why are you here at August Street at this time, Miss Ivy?"

A childish voice sounded at the door of the bakery. Ivy raised her head and looked forward. It was indeed Henry, the cheerful boy.

"Henry!" Before Ivy could respond, the manager walked towards Henry with a smile in his deep baritone voice.

He put his arm around Henry's thin shoulders and excitedly introduced everyone in the room:

"This is Mr. John Watson, whom I always told you about, and his boss, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who is a famous detective. Ah! And Mr. Watson's friends!"

"Isn't your name Joshua? Did I remember it wrong? Never mind, hello Mr. Watson and his friends!" Henry looked up at Joshua and greeted the four people with his white teeth bared.

As one of "Mr. Watson's friends", Ivy was very unhappy. She widened her eyes, winked at Henry, and under Henry's puzzled eyes, she pointed at herself and then at the store manager.

Henry immediately understood what she meant and proudly introduced Ivy to the store manager:

"Mr. Manager, do you still remember Miss Ivy whom I often mentioned to you? She is the one standing next to Mr. Watson!"

"Haha, Miss Ivy is not only kind-hearted, but also a pretty little beauty! You are all kind-hearted people who selflessly support children, thank you so much! I'll give each of you a freshly baked Croissants!"

Ivy straightened her back proudly, accepting the enthusiastic praise from the store manager with a smile on her face. Under the influence of the store manager's kind words, a blush of happiness appeared on Ivy's face.

“Hi, I want to buy these.”

The clear boy's voice echoed in the warm bakery, attracting everyone's attention.

Dorian turned his back to the people gathered at the door and carried two large bags of bread to the cashier counter.

The steaming bread piled up like two small mountains, and everyone's eyes widened - he almost cleared out all the bread and pastries in the bakery.

"Ah!" The manager and Henry both screamed, their movements like those of brothers in perfect harmony.

The store manager immediately ran to the cashier counter, and Henry followed closely behind, almost falling down.

Dorian stood aside with his hands behind his back. Henry was busy packing bread beside him, and the store manager was busy calculating the price of the bread.

Ivy looked blankly at the few pieces of bread left in the store, and then looked blankly at the large bag of silver coins that Dorian took out. Suddenly, she had a full imagination of the luxury of the upper class.

"That's 5 shillings and 7 pence in total! Thank you for your patronage! Plus a freshly baked Croissant!"

The store manager’s cheeks were rosy and his whole body was filled with happiness and warmth.

Henry also smiled widely, and his eyes curved into crescents like the store manager's.

Ivy saw Dorian's mouth curled up and she couldn't help but start to worry.

It was a smile as bright as the sun, and also Dorian's signature smirk.

"Excuse me, how much is a croissant?" Dorian took two large bags of bread back to the cashier counter and asked the manager with a smile.

"Threepence apiece, sir!"

"Oh, then please give me two more croissants!" Dorian said with a smile.

Somehow, Ivy always felt that his words were a little cold. She wanted to interrupt him, but Dorian had already said:

"Here are fourpence, and the rest you can pay with the twopence you have on your scales."

The smiles of the store manager and Henry froze on their faces. Ivy and Joshua looked at each other and saw the same emotion in each other's eyes - embarrassment.

"Oh oh oh!" Only Holmes crossed his arms and looked at the manager and Dorian with a look of anticipation.

When Ivy and Joshua visited the bakery for the first time, they were attacked and two pennies were quietly taken from each of them.

It was during Henry's final confession that Ivy and Joshua realized the friendship between the bakery owner and Henry.

All the pennies caught under the bakery's scales were donated to the children in the orphanage. This was an unspoken secret among all the residents of August Street.

"It's all my fault. I forgot to tell Dorian!" Ivy winked at Joshua. "He too, why did he just say it out loud?"

The little devil is still the little devil. He is loved in the upper class, but when he condescends to the lower class, he doesn't know any worldly wisdom, just like his poor acting skills can be seen through by Ivy at a glance.

There was still silence after a while. Ivy felt the warm air in the bakery slowly turn cold. The cold air stung her spine and made her shiver involuntarily.