Operation Red Book

Joshua came back to his senses from the rumbling sound of the train. Ivy had stopped sobbing and was sitting on the train bench, twisting her fingers boredly.

Looking at the tears that had not yet dried on Ivy's face, Joshua stammered, not knowing how to start.

He simply turned his back and carefully recalled the experience he had with Ivy before the time travel.

That class was physical education, and Ivy and Joshua were the only two people in the huge classroom.

Joshua had taken off his uniform jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and was busy cleaning the tile wall under the blackboard.

Suddenly, his peripheral vision dimmed, he stopped what he was doing, slowly raised his head to look at Ivy, then quickly lowered his head again.

"What are you doing?"

Ivy frowned and spoke to him for the first time.

Joshua kept wiping the wall without looking up:

"I, I'm on duty."

"Isn't it Tommy's turn today?"

"He, he and Nick went to play football, so they don't have time, so, so let me help him."

"Why don't you resist? How many times has this happened?"

Joshua stopped his hand and still didn't look up. After a long while, he hummed "hmm" from his mouth.

Tommy and Nick's gang are simple-minded, strong-limbed fools who don't care about anything except gym class and cheerleading.

Joshua was often used as a lackey by them, either taking turns on duty or passing notes. This had become a habit for him.

If it was Ivy who was being ordered around, Joshua believed that the moment Nick opened his mouth, the Coke in her hand would fly into the faces of those bastards.

Ivy ignored him and walked straight to her seat.

The students on the playground were chasing and playing, and the classroom was silent with only the bucket of water swaying slowly.

Joshua meticulously cleaned the tiles and wiped the podium.

Even though a blush had already crept up his cheeks, even though the tides in his heart were surging again and again, even though he had countless words stuck in his throat.

But the distance between them was like a chasm, and Joshua never dared to take that step.

He was washing the rag in the bucket, oblivious to what was happening behind him.

When he turned around, the scene in the classroom made his face turn pale.

Ivy had already risen more than two meters high and was looking at him with tears in her eyes, full of fear and panic.

She held a red-covered notebook in her hand, with thick black ink pouring out of the notebook, forming a spiral around Ivy as if it had life.

The ink swirled upwards and turned into a black hole on the ceiling, from which black mist was emanating.

Without even having time to think, Joshua threw away the rag, stepped over the table and chair in two or three steps, grabbed Ivy's ankle, and pulled her down with both hands.

The ink gradually wrapped around the two people's bodies. The moment Ivy's head touched the hole, the ink underneath suddenly generated infinite power and quickly pushed the two people into the black hole.

When he opened his eyes again, Joshua was lying in front of two British gentlemen.

After recalling the past, Joshua took a deep breath and said stutteringly, "Ai, classmate Ai Wei..."

He turned around, his entire neck already red.

"Do you remember the red notebook you were holding?"

Ivy blinked and nodded slowly.

How could she forget that red notebook? When she thought about it carefully, this notebook was really too bizarre.

She was caught late by the teacher that morning. Since this was her fifth time late that week, the teacher, on the orders of the principal, handed her over to Mr. Zhu, who was also of Chinese descent.

Mr. Zhu’s name is Zhu Houde. He is a teacher who came from Shanghai to teach in the UK.

He is about 40 years old and always holds a thermos in his hand. Although he teaches mathematics, he seems to know everything about astronomy and geography.

She can talk about gossip ranging from summit meetings to the Dean of Academic Affairs, dine with the principal to relieve his worries, and provide psychological counseling to young teachers who have suffered a breakup.

Anyway, he could always fool all the British teachers in the office, and his tricks were similar to Ivy's.

"You've been late all the time recently. Do you always have the same dream?" Teacher Zhu lowered his voice and asked Ivy in Chinese.

Ivy took a breath and swallowed unconsciously, looking up and down warily at the middle-aged man in front of her who couldn't be more ordinary.

"I've experienced this before. When I was in college, I had the same dream for several days in a row. As a result, I was late every day and missed the exam."

"I can relate to you. It's just because the pressure is too great."

"Oh...oh." Ivy responded listlessly.

"See, right? Let me tell you a way. Keep a diary and record your dreams. It's the best way to release stress."

As Teacher Zhu spoke, he bent down and pulled out an old red cloth-covered book from under the table.

This old red book looks like it's been around for several decades. The cover has been worn and faded to a dark red color, with threads showing in some places.

The papers on the side had already turned yellow, but they seemed to have not been read often. There was not a single gap between the papers, and the corners of the books below were also flat. It felt quite heavy when weighed in the hand.

"Okay, go back. Believe me, there will always be a place where you can be useful!"

After saying that, Mr. Zhu hurriedly pushed her out of the office and slammed the door.

Just like that, Ivy returned to the classroom in a daze, holding a tattered red book, and sat down in her seat.

Ivy looked down at the red book and slowly turned to the first page.

The paper is a bit hard, slightly thick, and has small particles on it. The whole book makes a "crunching" sound when you turn the pages.

After reading the first page, Ivy was shocked.

In the middle of the paper, there was a sentence written in red pen - it's my fate.

There is also a row of Chinese characters below - you have to accept it.

"This is too similar to my dream. And why does this word look so familiar? It seems to be... mine?"

Feeling anxious, she picked up a stack and flipped through them quickly, feeling increasingly uneasy.

With a nervous mood, Ivy read all the way to the last page.

"What is this word?"

The entire last page was filled with regular script, which was written very sharply and powerfully. Even an amateur like Ivy could tell that the words were written by someone with extremely strong calligraphy skills.

Suddenly, countless inks with black smoke poured out from the strokes, instantly submerging Ivy's body.

Ivy was stunned for a moment, and when she came to her senses, she realized that she could no longer move her body.

The circle under her feet gradually shrank, carrying her into the black hole.

Looking at the ink flowing out of the last page, Ivy felt a great fear in her heart and tears of fear flowed down her face.