Operation Red Book

Chapter 473 At the Party Door 1

Night fell quietly, and the low-hanging clouds were stained with several layers of light purple-gray.

As the winter months progressed, the temperature in the city dropped, the sun was obscured by clouds, and the moon and stars refused to come out.

But this wasn't a big deal since it was just after 6pm.

Even without the presence of the sunset, the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" event at the Chinese Wharf is still in full swing.

A huge colorful tent was set up, and countless strong hemp ropes ran through the entire square. Colorful flags fluttered on the ropes, injecting infinite vitality into the monotonous night.

Various small stalls were set up, with various Western desserts on one side and various Chinese cakes on the other; on one side were beautiful golden agates and on the other side were exquisite mother-of-pearl and jadeite.

Eastern and Western faces mixed in, filling the entire Chinatown Square.

Of course, the large circular platform in the middle and the four avenues running east, west, south and north were all cleared.

There are two highlights tonight. One is the selection of the "Most Popular Hundred Demons Award" and the other is the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" parade.

First of all, the contestants who have registered for the competition will perform wonderful shows on the round stage. After all the shows are finished, everyone present will vote anonymously on the above contestants. The performer with the most votes will become the most dazzling "Most Popular King of Ghosts" of this party.

Of course, those who receive this honor will not only receive a three-day luxury ship tour experience package prepared by the Chinese Wharf, but will also be able to enjoy the treatment of the "King of the Hundred Ghosts" in the following "Hundred Ghosts Parade"...

Simply put, it is a carnival for E people and a nightmare for I people.

"Oh! Then I must sign up for the competition!"

Mrs. Hudson said cheerfully, covering her mouth.

She was wearing a dark green satin empire dress. Just by looking at the lustrous material and the upright shape of the dress, one could tell that it was very expensive.

"Excuse my poor eyesight, may I ask which lady you are dressed as, madam?"

Inspector Lestrade asked, walking behind the ladies.

"Oh! Can't you guess it? I'm dressed up as Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice! She's a great woman, and I love her novels!"

"Jane Austen died of illness at the age of 40. You are a little too old to dress up as her..."

Holmes said this bluntly, and the next second he was hit hard by the fan.

"Who said Mrs. Hudson was old? Mrs. Hudson is great!"

Lestrade hurriedly flattered her, and after saying several auspicious words, Mrs. Hudson reluctantly put away the exquisite and elegant French mother-of-pearl lace folding fan.

"Humph!"

Mrs. Hudson rolled her eyes, squeezed the hard fan ribs, making a "crackling" sound, and quickly caught up with Ivy who was walking in front.

Mrs. Hudson, like Ivy, was looking forward to the dress-up party. She got up early before dawn to put on her makeup and went to the largest department store in London with her sisters.

Ivy and Christine had a clear goal. After spending a whole morning getting their hair done, they returned to Baker Street early.

But Mrs. Hudson spent almost the whole day there. The first place the sisters went to was the beauty department on the first floor. They first had a full facial treatment together, and then had a half-hour head treatment.

After relaxing their bodies and minds, the old ladies began to trim their eyebrows, apply powder, paint their lips, and do manicures, just like dolls in a Barbie factory.

At the end of the process, Mrs. Hudson, in full makeup, sat with her sisters in pink aprons to get their hair permed.

Each of them held a fashion magazine in their hands, and while choosing their favorite clothes and accessories from the pages, they were also shouting bad things about others.

The golden bachelor is always the topic of their conversation. No wonder Holmes has been sneezing all morning.

"I'm so sorry, baby, for keeping you waiting for so long!"

"You have returned just in time, my dear lady."

Mrs. Hudson gently put her arm around Ivy's shoulders and they spoke in low voices.

In fact, Mrs. Hudson hurried back just as the sky began to darken, making her almost a full hour late according to her original plan.

If you want to blame someone, just blame the shop assistants in the luxury department store. They are so good at talking. With just a few words, they can keep the wealthy and free old ladies and try on a variety of jewelry.

Seeing that the champagne on the table was almost gone, Mrs. Hudson hurried back with her bags.

In that time, Lestrade had eaten all the bread and cheese in the kitchen, and Holmes had smoked a whole bag of cigarettes and matches.

As for Ivy, she was wearing pajamas, lying on the soft sofa in a daze, bored.

I don't know what she just did. The blush on her face has not completely faded, the mist on her fingertips has not completely dissipated, her curly hair is gathered high behind her head, and her white and tender little feet are swaying behind her.

When she turned around after hearing the noise, the flames from the fireplace illuminated her dark eyes, and her young and innocent face shone brightly in the dry room.

What a young and pretty face!

Deliberately ignoring Holmes's dissatisfied complaints, Mrs. Hudson held Ivy's face in her hands like a treasure and put on a little light makeup for her with the expensive cosmetics she had just bought.

"Tell me again, dear, who are you dressed as today?"

"Christine, the heroine of The Phantom of the Opera, is a theater soprano with a beautiful voice."

Ivy replied that her voice was a little hoarse, and she didn't know if it was because of the cold wind blowing from the banks of the Thames.

"So you are a famous artist. No wonder you look so beautiful today, my dear..."

These were not just empty words Mrs. Hudson said to cheer Ivy up; Ivy was indeed very charming now.

Her face, which was covered with a layer of fine powder, looked delicate and fragile, with a lingering redness rippling under the eye circles, pink applied to white, and even the tip of her nose and the corners of her eyes had a rosy and tender complexion.

Some misty shadows were drawn on both sides of the nose and in the center of the eyebrows, and two small, smooth and thick lines were drawn at the corners and ends of Ivy's eyes with a charcoal pencil dipped in water.

Mrs. Hudson trimmed her eyebrows slightly, and filled in the missing parts with two lines of dark brown eyebrow powder. As a result, Ivy's eyebrows became more stable, and her eyes under her eyebrows became deeper and brighter.

It's amazing that with just a few strokes of Mrs. Hudson's brush, Ivy's face became more mature and elegant than before.

In this way, coupled with fluffy natural black curls and pink and crystal glossy lip gloss, Ivy's appearance suddenly changed from a pure and neat East Asian to a mixed-race person with both Chinese and Western characteristics.