Operation Red Book

"But I don't want to. I was born to stand on the stage with spotlights, so that everyone can see my shining self."

"So I work hard like this, trying to be an excellent student in school, trying to be the most popular girl, trying to fight back against discrimination that shouldn't exist, and trying to realize my own life value..."

"Then I came to this hellhole in the 19th century. I was like a freak. No matter how I corrected my mentality, I couldn't get along with this world."

"The gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger and bigger, class stratification is getting more and more serious, and the only mission of women is to get married and have children. My proud motherland is now poor and weak..."

"You know, I can't try anymore because no matter how hard I try, it's all in vain."

"As long as I am a woman, as long as I am a commoner, as long as I am Chinese... as long as any of the above conditions are met, I am only worthy of being a stepping stone for the nobles, who can force a smile when needed and kick me hard when not needed."

Ivy choked up, her eyes sparkling with unspeakable sadness and sorrow.

"Sometimes I really envy you, Joshua, I really do..."

"You are like a fish in water in this place. As soon as you travel through time, you land in front of two famous big men. Once you work hard, your potential is discovered and you can enter the royal organization. You are so smart, but you never have to worry about those interpersonal relationships."

"No one cares that you were just a nobody on campus before, but I can't change my damn arrogance. I always remind myself to be valuable, to be noticed, and to be liked by everyone..."

"It's clear, it's hard to move forward, but I still dream of returning to the peak and having the audience applaud me again..."

"I'm so tired, Joshua. I want to go back to the 21st century. That's my comfort zone. It's not a perfect era, but it's the best era. It belongs to me..."

"I can't do anything..." Ivy cried and then laughed.

"In the real world, I can't do anything. I'm just an ordinary person, so ordinary that I can't accept my own ordinariness..."

The night wind suddenly blew the coolness of the stream water to the shore. Ivy's long black hair fluttered slightly, blending with the falling tears.

Joshua's flaxen curly hair stood still. The breeze occasionally moved a few strands of hair, but it could not blow the corners of his mouth.

"How could you not do it? I mean, you've already done a lot, Ivy..."

"what?"

"You don't know how much I admire you. From the moment you introduced yourself on the podium, I was attracted by your energetic personality..."

"When you saved me on the basketball court, I cared about you even more. I wanted to be remembered by you, and I tried every way to get into your sight..."

"You know, I always think of you as a knight who saved me, handsome and brave!"

"No one has ever noticed me, Ivy. In the past three years, no one knows me, no one sees me, no one recognizes me. I don't enjoy it, but I don't care..."

"I lurked in every place in the school like a praying mantis, silently observing the many things that happened there..."

"At the sports meet, you always win the championship, even in the high jump, which is your worst sport; at the dance, you always smile brightly, even when facing those seniors with bad intentions..."

"At the Chinese dock, you held a brush in your hand and arranged all the repair work in an orderly manner; at the Florence Welfare Home, you took the initiative to volunteer and bravely protected those children who had nowhere to go."

"Not to mention the birthday party you were in charge of. Please, it was the Duchess's party. What's more, you encountered various difficulties..."

"BTW, I have absolutely no dealings with that demon. This is what a lady named Goodwin said. She also said that she is your friend. This is absolutely ridiculous."

Joshua adjusted his glasses and wiped his nose.

Ivy finally couldn't help laughing out loud: "You don't stutter when you speak, how rare!"

In just a moment, Joshua's face turned red as if blood was about to drip out. He smoothed his hair on the back of his head and stuttered as before.

"I, I, I, I am not, I just, just just..."

"I just want to tell Ivy that you are good and you don't need to prove yourself because you are unique in the world. Everyone has their own value. You are not surprised, right?"

Ivy was suddenly stunned. She stared at Joshua's wet eyes and a warm feeling surged in her heart.

"I understand you. The 19th century was terrible. There were no mobile phones, no computers, no good music, and women and black people were not allowed to enter the political arena."

"Everything is different, isn't it? Whether it's the degree of openness or the ideas, everything is just starting out, and we haven't even laid any theories..."

Thick lenses blocked Joshua's deep eyes. He slowly raised the corners of his mouth and bit the tip of his tongue with his teeth.

"But that's what makes it fun, isn't it, like a game waiting to be conquered?"

"We are people of the 21st century. I have never forgotten that we are more than 100 years ahead of them. We know the endings of many histories, which is more than enough..."

"Rules are made to be broken, and history has always been about that... so who says we can't adapt to 19th century London? Maybe we're here to make history."

Joshua gently grasped Ivy's shoulders and pulled her towards him.

"You just said that you wanted to be a strong woman like Ivy's mother, and you have always regarded it as your goal..."

"A new China will be established, women will get the rights they deserve, the aristocracy will come to an end, and the empire on which the sun never sets will eventually become a sunset, so classmate Ivy..."

Joshua's breathing was disordered for a moment, he was breathing heavily, and the look he gave Ivy was firm and courageous.

“Even if I’m on the edge of the stage, I will always be the audience member who silently applauds you.”

A huge full moon rose in the sky, like a bright spotlight, quietly illuminating the two young men under the willow tree.

"I missed you so much, Ivy-san."

Ivy paused for a long time, and she laughed even louder.

“Ahahahaha!” Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. “This is the first time we’ve ever confided in each other!”

"You've changed a lot. I don't know what you've been through, but I guess it must have been something bad."

"I will tell you those things slowly..." Joshua's eyes were red.

"Ah! The Red Book should have records of it. The Red Book..."

Ivy smiled with her eyes curved. She pursed her lips and said in a pleasant voice: "I like us like this, Joshua..."

"So? Your answer..." Joshua became visibly nervous.

"Will you stay in Monet's garden, waiting for tomorrow's wedding, and then waiting for death the day after tomorrow... or will you come back to reality with me and face those annoying troubles together..."

"I think……"

Just as Joshua was listening carefully to Ivy's response, suddenly, for some reason, his heartbeat suddenly magnified hundreds of times.

Joshua's back suddenly felt cold, and the chill spread throughout his body, as if ten thousand ants were crawling all over his body.

"who!"

A pair of eyes, a pair of cold red eyes, were staring at him from somewhere.

Joshua was sweating profusely and his hair stood on end. He heard Ivy's puzzled call in front of him, but he could not hear any sound.

"He's coming, where is he..." Joshua's voice trembled.

"He's going to kill me... He's coming soon..."

"Joshua! Joshua! Are you okay?"

Ivy shook Joshua's shoulders anxiously. His face was pale and his pupils had lost their luster.

"Joshua..."

A figure suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision, and Ivy immediately stopped shouting.

Her heart was pounding and all the blood in her body seemed to rush to her brain.

The shadow was getting closer and closer, without any footsteps or breathing, like a bat, hunting patiently in the dark night.

Without time to think, Ivy quickly dragged Joshua to the stream and pushed him hard in the chest.

"thump--"

The dull sound of falling into the water, the fleeting splash of water, the dazzling yet reassuring white light, the disappearing body...

It happens in seconds and returns in seconds.

"He went back." Ivy tried her best to suppress her emotions.

"What about you?" said the voice behind me.

"I'm staying here."

"very good."