Chapter 896: 896

As far as Yuan Zhou knew, Chinese Ring Puzzle and Moving Beans Invisibly were the two representatives in the manipulation tricks . To put it bluntly, Chinese Ring Puzzle was a trick of nine iron rings . During the performance, they were hooked either in threes or in nines . Even if you watched face to face, you still couldn’t understand how the trick worked .

After the craftsman, who carried the water vat on his head, finished his performance, a beautiful announcer dressed in a cheongsam went on the stage .

“Next, please enjoy the magic performance of manipulation today . ” The announcer declared once in both Chinese and English, respectively .

During the introduction of the announcer, the folk artist Master Deng, who would perform the manipulation tricks today, went on the stage .

Judging from his appearance, Master Deng was in his forties . He was a plain-looking man and wore a bluish long gown . As soon as he went on the stage, he handed all the nine iron rings to the audience on site .

“Everybody, come . Please check if there are any issues with the iron rings,” said Master Deng .

There were quite a few teahouses in Auspicious Alley . The charge was almost the same as that of a concert . The closer to the stage you were, the more expensive the ticket was . Of course, the teahouse wasn’t very large, so one could clearly see there were only 7 rows inside .

The teahouse would provide a pot of tea and some small dishes of dry fruits to the audiences . There was only one type of tea . The audience mainly watched the performance of the craftsman on the stage, so it was called listening to storytelling .

On the contrary, drinking tea was really tasting tea on a balcony . It was said that the teahouse had two types of good tea . Of course, Yuan Zhou didn’t need it .

There were three different charges for different services, 188RMB, 288RMB, and 388RMB . As Yuan Zhou wanted to get some inspiration, he chose the charge of 388RMB and was seated in the first row .

388RMB wasn’t really cheap . If it were two years ago, he would be absolutely reluctant to spend the money . Of course, he also felt some heartache even now . However, he had gradually understood what his mom said before, “A man doesn’t need to be very rich, but he must have enough money . ”

Having money didn’t necessarily mean spending money extravagantly, but when his relatives were sick and had to go to the hospital, he could afford the hospital expenses . And after he worked overtime or worked hard all day long, he could choose to take a cab without considering how much it would cost instead of getting on a crowded bus .

A man didn’t necessarily need to be very rich, but he must have enough money so that he could have other choices . Actually, it was a common goal that most people endeavored to reach . As Yuan Zhou was seated in the first row, he happened to get an iron ring handed to him by Master Deng .

Yuan Zhou first looked carefully at Master Deng’s hands and found they weren’t as slender and good-looking as he imagined . Instead, they felt quite rough and had large finger knuckles . After that, he began to check the iron ring in his hand .

The other customers who got the iron rings also checked them directly, knocking on them . There was even one who bit it .

“No problem . ” Yuan Zhou checked the rings and then gave them back to Master Deng .

Anyway, there were no problems with the iron rings . Master Deng took the nine iron rings returned to him and asked for applause twice before he got started . And the audience also showed due respect to him and answered him with fervent applause . After the second round of clapping, he finally began to perform .

He first hooked two rings together and then hooked three together . After he pulled them toward the right, the three iron rings separated from one other . Even before the audience had time to praise his excellent manipulation, the six iron rings in his left hand were hooked together again in threes .

The movement speed of Master Deng’s hands were so fast and along with some false movements, people could hardly take it all in .

Though Yuan Zhou had never studied tricks before, his hands moved very quickly, too . Besides, he had made the best use of his sharper eyes . However, he still didn’t find out anything during the process . The only thing he could see was that Master Deng often attracted the attention of the audience by the means of shaking the rings with one hand and meanwhile, finished a more miraculous manipulation with the other hand .

Chinese Ring Puzzle included several varieties such as Begonia, Silk Ball, Flower Basket, and Black Gauze Cap . Except for the Black Gauze Cap, Master Deng completely performed all the remaining varieties one by one in the face of Yuan Zhou . Every time, he could get the applause and claps from the audience .

After Master Deng finished his performance, Yuan Zhou also started taking action . He stood up and followed Master Deng to the backstage .

On the door was a conspicuous poster reading Entry Denied Except For Staff . However, Yuan Zhou still took a deep breath and began to knock on the door in order to get what he wanted .

“Sorry for bothering you unexpectedly . I have an emergency and need to consult Master Deng . May I come in?”

Maybe it was because not many people had done that before, so only after a long while of silence in the room did a male voice came to him, “Come in, please . ”

Yuan Zhou entered the room and shut the door gently and then found Master Deng, who had just performed the tricks on the stage just now, seated on a chair and having a rest .

“What’s the matter, young man?” Master Deng asked him first .

“Sorry to trouble you, Master Deng,” Yuan Zhou said courteously first .

“You know you will trouble me, but you still come in . That means you really have something to discuss with me . Say it, young man . ” Though there weren’t many smiles on Master Deng’s face now compared to just now, he appeared quite warm .

“Here’s the thing . I want to consult you about a trick,” said Yuan Zhou .

“Do you also study magic tricks?” Master Deng knitted his brows and looked at Yuan Zhou .

“No, I’m a chef . ” Yuan Zhou shook his head .

“A chef?” Master Deng didn’t look good .

He had reasons to be angry . As Yuan Zhou said first that he wanted to consult him about tricks, Master Deng naturally believed Yuan Zhou was studying magic . But after that, Yuan Zhou contrarily said he was a chef, which gave him a feeling that Yuan Zhou was making fun of him .

“Here’s the thing . I need to restore a lost dish named Three Fragrance to the Ocean . But before it’s served, I must separate three kinds of beans in different colors instantly . I think there might be some skills needed, so I come to consult you about the tricks . ” Yuan Zhou immediately brought out the reason when he found Master Deng didn’t look good .

“A lost dish? Have you finished your apprenticeship at such a young age?” On hearing that, Master Deng appeared better . Instead of answering Yuan Zhou directly, however, he contrarily looked at Yuan Zhou and asked .

In Master Deng’s eyes, the restoration of the lost dish touched him slightly . After all, there were even more ancient magic tricks lost in history . And the work of restoration needed exactly these kind of motivated young people .

However, the restoration was unlikely to be realized as soon as one wanted to do it . Therefore, Master Deng asked him that question .

“On culinary skills, I still have a long way to go . I’m still studying hard . ” Yuan Zhou answered earnestly .

“Master Deng, I forgot to introduce myself just now . My name is Yuan Zhou and I have a small restaurant on Taoxi Road . Please come to my restaurant for a meal when you are free . I will treat you to dinner . ” Before Master Deng answered him, Yuan Zhou suddenly remembered that he hadn’t made a self-introduction and hence added .

“Yuan Zhou from Taoxi Road?” Master Deng looked at Yuan Zhou’s appearance carefully and then nodded his head as if he had confirmed something .

“Yes . Remember to my small restaurant when you are free . I’ll treat you to dinner,” said Yuan Zhou generously .

“If so, the lost dish might actually be restored . ” Master Deng wasn’t interested in food . Instead, he muttered something else .

Yuan Zhou hadn’t had time to say anything when Master Deng continued, “I haven’t heard of any skill for separating beans of the dish Three Fragrance to the Ocean . What I’m good at doing has already been presented on the stage just now . ”

“Um . ” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and continued listening to him .

“But I can tell you, Boss Yuan, it’s also impossible to reach the effect with pure manipulation,” said Master Deng .

“Do you mean it’s not possible to separate different beans manually? Yuan Zhou asked .