Operation Red Book

The kitchen of Shisanfang was bright, but there was no one in sight.

Melon seeds and snacks were scattered all over the floor, the spareribs on the chopping board were chopped in half, and the fish in the wooden barrel had its belly turned upside down.

The iron pot and rice bucket were overturned on the ground, the kitchen knife and spatula were lying crookedly on the table, and broken white porcelain plates were scattered around.

The most shocking thing was the large pools of dark red blood. The white walls were covered with spurted blood and there were obvious dragging marks on the cement floor.

At the deepest part of the kitchen there is a solid wooden door where all the ingredients of Shisanfang are stored.

Ivy and Mr. Zhu each took a kitchen knife and a shovel, and they leaned against the door, gasping for breath.

Ivy touched her numb calves and grumbled aggrievedly, "My legs are numb... It would be strange if they weren't numb after jumping from such a high place."

"I led you to jump and run, and kicked several puppets during the process. I didn't even cry out in pain, but you cried out first?"

Mr. Zhu gasped and twisted his sore ankle.

"You didn't even discuss it with me. Who can handle this sudden attack?"

"I asked, I said jump quickly, you said no... that puppet won't discuss it with you before it chops people, I've been very polite."

Mr. Zhu frowned and sat down on the wooden barrel against the door, and the weapon in his hand slipped uncontrollably.

He tilted his head to look Ivy up and down, and changed his previous frivolous tone: "I haven't asked your name yet."

"My name is Ivy."

"No, no, no, Chinese name, don't use foreign stuff here."

"Lee Ivy."

"I don't believe it." Mr. Zhu raised his chin. Ivy looked back and saw that he really didn't believe it.

"I can tell that your real name is definitely not this."

"What's your name, Mr. Zhu?"

"Ahem, Zhu Yuanzhang."

"I am Li Qingzhao, and my nickname is Li Taibai!"

"Believe it or not! My name is Zhu Yuanzhang!"

"Believe it or not, my name is Li Aiwei!"

Mr. Zhu turned his head away angrily, while Ivy sat beside him, lifted the hem of her clothes and checked the bruises on her calves.

Mr. Zhu looked at the purple bruises of various sizes on Ivy's fair calves and couldn't help but sneer: "How can you be so open-minded, girl? Lifting your clothes in front of a stranger? Oh, you can't run away, you can't scold me, why would you come to a place like mine to survive?"

Ivy ignored his sarcasm, gently touched the bruises on her legs with her fingers, and replied: "I'm not a young lady. I'm just an ordinary person who lives from the Yangtze River to the Thames."

"I live by the Yangtze River, too!" Mr. Zhu suddenly became happy, "I'm from Shanghai!"

"Oh, I'm from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. I moved to England with my mother when I was 10 years old." Ivy said nonchalantly.

She gently brushed the sleeve of her left hand, and a long red mark appeared on her forearm, from which dense beads of blood were oozing out.

Ivy blew gently, then pinched it with a frown, and made sure there were no other wounds before slowly lowering her sleeves.

Mr. Zhu saw this and couldn't help but take back the joke that was about to come out.

He pursed his lips unconsciously and said, "Don't go to the pier alone. It's too unsafe..."

"Don't talk about me. What should I do now? Am I trapped here forever?"

Ivy looked around the room and raised her head to look at the moon outside the small window. The moonlight poured into the dark room, bringing peace and quiet to the place, which gave Ivy a sense of security.

"I have informed SCO and my assistant, and they immediately sent people to provide support, hoping that it will not spread to the market, especially outside the Chinese wharf area."

"SCO..." Ivy blinked twice, "Is that Mr. Victor?"

"You know SCO? And you've met Victor? I underestimated you! Are you a spy sent by the parliament and the cabinet?"

Mr. Zhu's eyes became alert, and he picked up a weapon beside him, ready to give Ivy a shovel.

"I'm not..." Ivy rolled her eyes at Mr. Zhu, "I can't wait to hate them. They did a lot of evil in China during this period, and they did a lot of bad things in our country..."

"What?" Mr. Zhu didn't hear the second half of the sentence clearly.

"I say, SCO and your assistant." Ivy asked, "Is your assistant very capable? Can he rescue us?"

"My assistant knows where I'm hiding. He will bring people from SCO to rescue me."

At this moment, there was a rustling sound outside the door, and both of them quickly pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

After it lasted for a while, the sound disappeared.

Mr. Zhu knelt on the wooden barrel with his legs, and continued to listen carefully with his ear against the wooden door.

"Who is it, a human or... a puppet?" Ivy spoke carefully, but was interrupted by Mr. Zhu before she could finish.

"Hush—be quiet, I'm listening."

Mr. Zhu opened his lips slightly, his expression serious: "If it were a human, he would speak naturally."

Ivy frowned and narrowed her eyes, then straightened her posture and said, "What if it's someone being hunted? As the leader of the Chinese wharf, aren't you worried about those residents?"

"Please, we can't even protect ourselves now!" Mr. Zhu said gritting his teeth.

"You are safe now, and you start to push me again. I am not as moral as you... Now shut up! Be quiet, or I will throw you out."

After a while, he stood up in disappointment, touched his hands up and down, sighed, closed his eyes and sat on the barrel.

"Tsk, I forgot to bring my cigarettes."

Ivy also closed her eyes. Fatigue, fear and worry made her eyelids gradually become heavy.

When people calm down, they will think about many things. In this quiet environment, Ivy thought of Joshua in the afternoon again.

"Am I being too sentimental?" she asked.

"Yes." Mr. Zhu responded lazily.

"I have received their help and I am very grateful to them. Seeing them suffer in such a difficult situation, I really can't bear it."

"Then wait until you are able to help." Mr. Zhu opened one eye, his emotions unclear.

"Talk less and do more. Someone once told me this, and now I tell you...Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Da da da da da-"

There was a deafening gunshot outside the door, and soon the entire door fell to the ground.

"Ah——" Ivy screamed and fell unconsciously into a warm embrace.

Mr. Zhu leaned back with the door and fell over.

"Shuyang! Why don't you catch me!"

After Mr. Zhu stood up, he slapped the handsome young man standing next to him.

"Are you okay?" A gentle female voice called Ivy.

Ivy opened her eyes and was caught by a red-haired sister with a high ponytail and thick bangs. Ivy found that her amber eyes were surrounded by a circle of thick eyelashes.

Ivy quickly stood up and nodded slightly to thank the two of them.

"Hilda, we've cleaned up the outside. Have you found Mr. Zhu?"

A deep baritone voice came from outside, and then a sturdy man over two meters tall walked in.

He touched his yellow crew cut. There were two hideous scars near his black eyes, extending from his eyebrows to a finger's width below his eyes.

His thin purple lips were pressed tightly together, and his calloused hands were rubbing his thick ass chin.

Hilda stood up, her black combat uniform making her look slender.

She threw the spear in her hand to the burly man, took out two small brown pills from her pocket and gave them to Ivy and Mr. Zhu respectively.

"Eat it, and your bodies will heal quickly. Keep going, Alexander."

Hilda gave the two men some instructions, then walked out of the kitchen of Shisanfang with the burly man.