"Tsk tsk tsk, how embarrassing!"
"They'd even throw away their dignity just to count the ration coupons!"
"Serves them right! They were so arrogant before!"
The security guards had clearly had enough of the farce. They stepped forward and swiftly separated the two men who were wrestling, each grabbing one of them and dragging them away without resistance.
"Let me go! I'm not going! Xu Kuo, you'll die a horrible death!"
"Help! I've been wronged!"
The cries and curses of the two gradually faded away, and the courtyard finally returned to silence, leaving only a mess and an awkward atmosphere.
Xu Kuo walked to his still-shaken mother, Ren Hongmei, gently patted her back, and softly comforted her, "Mom, it's alright. They won't come again."
Ren Hongmei looked at her son, her eyes reddening, feeling both heartache and lingering fear. After a long while, she finally nodded.
Jiang Xiuying, who was standing next to her, also breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at Xu Kuo curiously: "Xiao Kuo, didn't you go to the county to prepare for the gala? Why are you back so soon?"
Xu Kuo gave a mysterious smile and casually dusted off non-existent dust from his clothes: "Oh, I've finished my business and learned some new skills, so I came back early."
"A new skill?" Ren Hongmei and Jiang Xiuying were both puzzled.
"Yes," Xu Kuo nodded, "I learned some magic tricks."
"Magic?!" Ren Hongmei and Jiang Xiuying exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.
"It's only been a few days? Where did you learn this, husband?" Jiang Xiuying pressed. "We've never heard of anyone around here who can do magic tricks!"
Ren Hongmei nodded repeatedly: "Yes, son, you must not have been deceived."
In their view, magic is a mysterious skill that only itinerant performers know, and it's not something that can be learned in just a few days.
Seeing the suspicious looks in their eyes, Xu Kuo didn't explain further, but simply smiled.
He casually pulled a coin from his pocket, held it out in front of the two men, then slammed his palms together. When he opened them again, the coin had vanished!
"Huh?!" Ren Hongmei and Jiang Xiuying both leaned closer, their eyes widening.
Xu Kuo blew a breath into his empty palm, then made a grabbing motion in the air. When he opened his hand again, the coin appeared out of thin air in his palm!
Immediately afterwards, he picked up a small teacup from the table, covered it with a handkerchief, muttered something to himself, and then suddenly lifted the handkerchief—the teacup was gone!
He then pointed to the corner of the wall, gesturing for them to look, and there stood the teacup perfectly still on the ground in the corner!
Ren Hongmei and Jiang Xiuying were completely stunned!
The two men stared wide-eyed at Xu Kuo's hands, then at the teacup in the corner, unable to utter a word for a long time.
This...this is magic! It's incredible!
For the next few days, Xu Kuo stayed at home, partly to comfort his mother and partly to practice the magic tricks and stage performance knowledge that the system had instilled in him.
Practice makes perfect, and he had to ensure that everything went smoothly at the gala.
Niu Erbao and Tan Wang also became his loyal assistants and the first audience members. The two were amazed by Xu Kuo's endless stream of magic tricks.
At the same time, under Xu Kuo's direction, they began to actively help prepare props that might be needed for the evening performance, such as specially made boxes, colorful ribbons, etc., and were very busy.
Time slipped away quietly in this tense yet somewhat novel atmosphere.
Before we knew it, it was the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the eve of Chinese New Year's Eve.
Only one day remained until the highly anticipated commune gala.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
In a simple room at the supply and marketing cooperative's guesthouse, a middle-aged man named Zhang Zhihe, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, with long, clean fingers and sharp eyes, was pacing impatiently.
He was originally a well-known magician in the provincial capital's cultural troupe. This time, he heard that a "remarkable person" had emerged here. Sheng Xu's few words piqued his interest, so he came here specifically to exchange ideas and learn from him, and also to see if he could find a promising talent.
He stopped and looked at Sheng Xu, who was drinking water from an enamel mug across from him, his brows furrowing slightly: "Captain Sheng, when exactly can we meet that expert you mentioned? We've been waiting for several days already."
Sheng Xu put down the jar, his face showing apology but also some helplessness: "Teacher Zhang, don't worry. I already said that it's the grand finale performance of tomorrow's New Year's Eve gala, so they must be busy preparing right now. Besides, today is such a mess, with arrests and interrogations, how could we possibly have time to arrange a meeting between you?"
Zhang Zhihe snorted, somewhat unconvinced.
In his view, magic requires honed skills and sophisticated props; how could a "master" just appear out of nowhere in the countryside? Most of it is just boasting.
But since he had been invited, he couldn't be too impolite, so he could only suppress his temper and say, "Alright, then tomorrow it is. I want to see who this person is that you speak so highly of."
Meanwhile, Zhou Changke and Secretary Wen were also busy in the commune compound.
The two were looking at a simple program list, discussing the details of tomorrow's gala.
"Secretary Wen, smooth out the red cloth on the stage backdrop, and have Xiao Li check the slogans again to make sure there are no mistakes," Zhou Changke instructed.
"Don't worry, Secretary Zhou, everything has been handed over." Secretary Wen brushed a stray hair behind his ear, but his eyes glanced at the last name on the program list.
"Is Xu Kuo's magic trick really reliable? We don't want to embarrass ourselves in front of the whole commune."
Zhou Changke smiled.
"The kid agreed himself, we'll see when the time comes."
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