Operation Red Book

"Mr. Zhu——"

"Shut up!"

Mr. Zhu tapped Mingcan's head gently with his pipe, forcing her tears away.

"You cried as if I were dead. What bad luck!"

Mingcan sobbed softly, she wrapped her hands around Mr. Zhu's outstretched arms, and staggered to the sofa in the middle of the living room.

Ivy hurriedly poured Mingcan a glass of water. The water was warm. Ivy glanced at the kettle on the stove and it should have been warmed not long ago.

"Ms. Ivy..."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhu has seen your paintings. In fact, it is thanks to the evidence you recorded that the British side agreed to add more personnel to participate in this rescue operation."

Ivy patted Mingcan's back and spoke softly.

"Then how did you ..."

"There's no time to talk so much, you two come here."

Mr. Zhu interrupted Mingcan's question without any hesitation. He held his cigarette holder in his mouth and winked at the two of them.

He walked out of the door first, and although the two girls didn't know what was going on, they followed him out obediently.

"I originally wanted to ask Ivy to put it up there. Now that you two are here, it will be easier to do..."

Mr. Zhu muttered to himself, he gently placed his pipe on a stone beside him, took off his clothes, and took out a bright red flag from the haystack in the corner.

"what?"

After staying here for so long, this was the first time Ivy knew there was something hidden in the haystack.

"Ah for what."

Mr. Zhu retorted, he walked between the two girls and motioned for them to squat down.

"Put your hand here, and then put your hand here... Yes, yes, yes! Hold on tight, don't let go..."

Ivy followed Mr. Zhu's instructions, holding her own wrist with one hand and Mingcan's wrist with the other.

Of course, Mingcan's posture is the same as Ivy's.

In this way, a simple sedan chair was built.

Mr. Zhu held the red flag in one hand and a pipe in the other; he stepped one foot into the circle formed by Ivy's arms and the other foot into the circle formed by Mingcan.

"Okay, lift it up slowly..."

Ivy and Mingcan followed the instructions and slowly lifted Mr. Zhu off the ground.

"Carry me there."

Mr. Zhu pointed towards the corner, and Ivy and Mingcan gritted their teeth and moved towards there with all their strength.

"You need to reach the corner, but this height isn't enough..." Ivy said with difficulty.

Mr. Zhu sat on a "bench" made of four arms, and the overall height was not as high as if he stood up directly.

"So you guys need to get closer. I want to stand on your shoulders..."

"Oh no!"

Before Ivy could refuse, Mr. Zhu pushed their heads up and stood up, with his feet planted straight on the physical "bench".

How could the two girls withstand the strength of a grown man? As soon as Mr. Zhu stood up, Ivy and Mingcan couldn't help but stagger.

Fortunately, he didn't stay there for long. After another flying kick using the force, Mr. Zhu's feet were firmly on the shoulders of Ivy and Mingcan.

"Why are you one taller than the other?" Mr. Zhu looked down in dissatisfaction. "How tall are you?"

"168 with shoes on." Ivy said truthfully.

“I’m just 160cm tall…” Mingcan was obviously half a head taller than Ivy.

"Mingcan is 5 centimeters taller than you. The difference in your heights affects my work."

"If you mind, why don't you just climb up the ladder over there?" Ivy asked with a pout.

“Because I paid you.”

"Oh shit……"

Ivy rolled her eyes.

“Rampant capitalism…”

She pouted and deliberately tightened the fingers that were holding Mr. Zhu's ankle.

Mr. Zhu did not cause any trouble. He removed a few bricks and stones, revealing the hole hidden in the wall.

"What is he doing?"

Ivy asked as she watched Mr. Zhu's skillful movements.

"This is the tradition left by the old commander."

Mingcan explained, grabbing Mr. Zhu's legs obediently.

"When the Chinese wharf is in trouble, the commander will place a red flag in the windward direction. Red represents the Chinese wharf, and it also means that the commander will personally take action to resolve the crisis."

As he spoke, Mr. Zhu had already put the flag on the top of the wall. A gust of wind blew, and the dazzling red became the most obvious color in the white world.

This is not the end. He pulled the flagpole and extended it upward against the wind.

The red flag slowly rose until it was level with the highest tile of Muyunzhai.

"Mr. Zhu raised this flag to tell everyone at the Chinese Wharf that the commander is still here, the commander is back, and the commander will go through fire and water for the Chinese Wharf..."

Hearing this, Ivy swallowed and her heart couldn't calm down for a long time.

She looked up and saw Mr. Zhu tapping his clogged pipe on the masonry.

He tilted his head back and took two puffs of the cigarette, then lit the fuse hanging from the flag.

"Is he going to fire more?"

"It's a smoke signal, indicating that danger is coming and the alarm is sounding..."

Mingcan looked upward, his eyes full of worry.

When the fuse was half burned, Mr. Zhu rolled over and landed steadily on the ground.

Ivy rubbed her sore shoulders, and at the same moment she turned her head to look, she saw billowing yellow smoke coming out of the fluttering flag.

"But if that's the case, wouldn't the enemy know about it too?" Ivy asked.

"So time is very tight." Mr. Zhu took a few puffs of his cigarette with his hands behind his back. "Mingcan, are you the only one here?"

"There are also Aunt Wang and the chef, but they are both injured..."

"That group of people took Xiaoqi and Xiaojiu away. Aunt Wang and the chef cried and tried to stop them, but they broke Aunt Wang's hand with tongs."

As he spoke, Mingcan's eyes unconsciously filled with tears.

"The chef protected Aunt Wang and his back was beaten to pieces. And the young man Fang Yi, in order to prevent his child from being snatched away, was beaten to a bloody mess and was finally dragged out by them..."

"My children... my husband... did they also experience these terrible things... I don't know..."

“Wuwuwuwu…Mr. Zhu! Mr. Zhu, save us!”

Mingcan could no longer control his emotions, and he collapsed beside Mr. Zhu's legs and burst into tears.

"Ms. Mingcan, we are here to save you..."

Ivy felt distressed and hurried to support Mingcan, but she couldn't pull him up.

Mr. Zhu did not dodge. He smoked his cigarette with a snap and his brows were almost twisted into a knot.

"Ms. Mingcan..."

"Can you three still move?"

Suddenly, Mr. Zhu squatted down, held Mingcan's shoulders and asked.

Mingcan immediately straightened up, sobbing and nodding randomly.

Seeing this, Mr. Zhu handed the pipe in his hand to Mingcan, his tone gentle yet majestic.

"Someone will come to rescue you soon. They are wearing military uniforms and holding guns. They look like foreign devils. Don't be afraid when you see them. Just follow their actions."

"Um……"

"Take my pipe and the keepsake and go to each person's home. Knock on the windows and lift the tiles. Walk in secret so as not to be discovered by those monsters."

"Um……"

"Tell them everything I told you. Have them disperse and wait for rescue. Get everyone out of here as soon as possible."

"Um……"

"Some people with guns need to be persuaded. If you can persuade them, persuade them. If you can't persuade them, just ignore them."

"Mingcan, the task of evacuating the people is now left to you."

Mr. Zhu raised his eyebrows and asked:

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Um……"

"Go."

Mr. Zhu helped Mingcan up and gently smoothed the scattered hair around Mingcan's face.

Mingcan tried to smile back, grabbed his pipe and ran up the corridor.

"and many more!"

After she ran a few steps, Mr. Zhu suddenly called her.

"Ok?"

Mingcan stopped and waited for instructions.

"Say hello to Aunt Wang and Xiaowen for me."

"Ok!"

Mingcan responded heavily, then disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"Have you rested? We'll leave soon, wait for me."

After watching Mingcan leave, Mr. Zhu turned around and shouted to Ivy, then went straight into the house.

"where to?"

Ivy stood on tiptoe and asked in confusion.

There was no echo in the house, and a series of ping-pong sounds blew through the blooming chrysanthemums in the courtyard with the breeze.

Ivy stared at the darkness in the house. Not long after, a tall black shadow slowly walked towards the door.

Mr. Zhu was holding an exquisite long sword in his hand and wearing a hard armor that looked quite old.

He threw the smaller armor to Ivy, and pushed open the back door of Muyunzhai with the sword in hand.

He walked hurriedly, his expression tense and serious, and even the words he said were still frivolous.

"Of course I'm going to Shisanfang to cause trouble for that beauty..."