Operation Red Book

"Start a war? Of course we can't start a war."

Victor had his hands behind his back, his ice-blue eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Let's not talk about the agents sent by the British first. The complete blockade of the Chinese docks has long been known to the world. How can we prove that these agents entered the gate openly?"

"Furthermore, the bodies of these agents were all found by the public on the riverbank outside the Chinese wharf. It has been confirmed that the holes in their bodies were not caused by humans, but were caused by fish biting and tearing their bodies..."

"How can you, Britain, prove that these bodies eaten by fish in the Thames have any connection with the Chinese docks? Except that the people who sent them know?"

"In the end, there is no way a war can start. The taxes paid by the Chinese docks every year are more than those paid by tobacco. If a war breaks out, neither side will gain anything."

Victor sighed heavily, and there was finally a hint of helplessness in his calm voice.

"So, big things can be reduced to small things, small things can be reduced to nothing, and the conflicts within the Chinese wharf can be investigated clearly, and both sides can continue to cooperate with each other as before."

"But..." Joshua scratched his head, "Didn't the British government cooperate with the Americans before and plan to destroy the Chinese docks in one fell swoop?"

The air was silent for a moment, and three pairs of eyes looked at Joshua.

The three of them had their own emotions, but only Joshua was consistently embarrassed.

"That's right. The British have never changed their mind about taking over the Chinese Wharf. It's just that Madison's scandal and the coup d'état at the Chinese Wharf have deviated from the direction of the whole thing..."

Victor explained patiently, pretending to clear his throat and changing the subject to Ivy again.

"So, Miss Ivy..."

"Of course."

Now three pairs of eyes with three different emotions stared at Ivy. One was surprised, one was angry, and one was admiring...

Ivy didn't expect that she would respond so quickly. In fact, she was hesitant when Victor first brought it up.

Lurking is very dangerous, the enemy is very powerful; one's own strength is not enough, and the enemy's background is unclear; being alone is very lonely, and the enemy is the entire Chinese wharf.

These reasons, any one of which could scare her to death, made her hesitate for a long time outside the crowd.

But the tea bags that Miss Mingcan gave were still at the front desk of Muyunzhai, and the two children in Chen Ma's noodle shop were about to start learning arithmetic...

Two lights in Shisanfang were still broken, and Bofu had never had the chance to pour a full pot of boiling water for the osmanthus tree he had planted in the backyard...

Mr. Zhu's bruises from the beating have not healed for a long time, and he has only checked one-third of the account book he left at the counter...

All these things, time and time again, were like jars of spring water at the foot of the mountain, warming her heart and dispelling the haze in her heart.

Helping SCO is the right thing to do, and Ivy has already made up her mind.

She smiled lightly, and the firmness, tenderness and warmth in her eyes.

"If you agree, then I must go with you."

Joshua clenched his fists and turned to Ivy.

"you……"

"It's always easier for two people to help each other than for one person to do it alone. What do you think, Mr. Victor?"

“I agree with you.”

Victor curled the corners of his mouth, slowly tilted his head, closed his eyes, and bowed slightly to Joshua.

Somehow, Victor looked so elegant and friendly when doing this gentlemanly action.

Ivy didn't argue. It was always better to have Joshua's company.

I don’t know if it’s because the two of them have become more familiar with each other, but Ivy always feels that her previous rejection of Joshua was a bit childish.

Thinking of this, she shook her head, trying to get rid of all the guilt in her heart.

Coming back to the present, Ivy suddenly found that she had no idea how to plan this matter.

"But Mr. Victor, where should we start?"

Ivy asked, meeting Victor's icy eyes.

"Why don't we listen to the person involved's description? This will be more intuitive and easier to answer your questions."

"Squeak-"

As if in response to Victor's words, Bell slowly opened the door of the ward during the conversation.

She was holding a blood-stained medical instrument, and there was a hint of fatigue on her plump face.

"He's awake now. You can talk to him now. Just remember not to talk for too long and to take your medicine on time..."

"Please go and rest, beautiful and selfless Ms. Bell."

Victor nodded slightly to Bell, then walked towards Mr. Zhu's bed with everyone else.

Mr. Zhu's complexion has improved a lot. Although his face is still pale and the rise and fall of his chest is small and rapid, at least he is conscious.

"Ivy, don't go to the Chinese dock... It's too abnormal and too dangerous there. You'll just die in vain if you go there..."

Mr. Zhu said to Ivy with half-opened eyes.

Seeing this scene, Ivy frowned unconsciously. She slowly sat down on the edge of Mr. Zhu's bed, and her small hand slowly clenched the icy left hand on the bed.

"You said you won't go unless you deduct my salary." Ivy said seriously.

"I won't deduct your salary..."

There was hardly a pause, it must have been unusually dangerous.

Ivy swallowed, gripped Mr. Zhu's hands a little tighter, and spoke in a more serious tone.

"I won't go unless you forgive the debt I owe you..."

"Snapped!"

Still without any hesitation, Mr. Zhu immediately shook off Ivy's hands.

"I don't care about you, little monkey! Go and die, I won't care about you anymore! Don't worry, I will collect your body and send a ship to take you back to the Yangtze River!"

Mr. Zhu's face turned almost the color of liver. He rolled his eyes fiercely and turned his head in the opposite direction.

"Okay, okay, I won't go!"

Ivy straightened her expression and asked seriously, "But first tell me, what happened two months ago?"

"I was wandering on the cobblestone road, and the Queen took a fancy to me. She locked me in Buckingham Palace and watched me drink water upside down every day..."

"I'm serious!" Ivy raised her hand and wanted to slap him.

"The morning after I had this dream, I received news that was impossible."

"The merchant ships from London to Shanghai arrived at the shore in the middle of the night. The ships were intact, the goods and merchandise were all there, and there were no casualties on the fleet..."

"It is not good?"

"Hear me out."

Mr. Zhu said softly, the frivolous tone had long since faded, leaving only endless pain.

"The problem is, I received news from the sea several months ago..."

"This caravan encountered a rare storm at sea during its voyage. The ship was torn into pieces, and none of the sailors and cargo on board survived. All of them sank in the center of the ocean."

"As a result, several months later, the ship, cargo and even personnel all arrived at the destination intact, and the arrival time was only one day later than expected."

"They act as if this never happened. If it were you, would you believe it?"

There was mist in Mr. Zhu's eyes. He took a breath and exhaled heavily.

"Maybe the information here is wrong..." Joshua asked cautiously.

"I thought so too... so as soon as I got the news, I went to check the boats parked on the shore."

"Zhao Minghua, he is the leader of this caravan, and also a good brother and assistant who grew up with me. He was right next to me at the time..."

"Now that I think about it, he had a lot of unusual behaviors, but I was too impatient at the time. I only glanced at him and rushed onto the boat."

"Who would have known that the moment we stepped onto the deck, a mutiny would begin... Damn it, can someone give me a cigarette!"

"If you smoke one, I'll slap you."

Ivy threatened, and her eyes told Mr. Zhu that she would indeed do so.

There was no other way, so Mr. Zhu had to put his head down and continue talking about the rebellion two months ago.

"They killed my attendants, then knocked me unconscious, and locked me in the bottom floor of the cabin, which is usually called the 'sea prison'..."

"I resisted. I shouted that I wanted to see Zhao Minghua, but all I got was fists and kicks to shut me up."

"I stayed in the dark for more than 60 days. I didn't see him, but I swore that I would confront him face to face..."