Chapter 9: The Scheming Frog, Always Touching Your Belly!

"Li Yuntang? Tangtang?"

"How could that be possible, the one on stage isn't Tangtang either!"

"Did it fail?"

"That really can't be a plant."

A single sentence stirred up waves among the crowd; the venue immediately erupted into commotion. Li Yuntang was an absolute top-tier celebrity in Lonely City, and she was the flawless kind—beautiful and talented, with a powerful background, a gentle demeanor, a low-key approach to dealing with things, and a huge fan base. At least half of the audience present were her fans.

"Today, she will tie her hair into a ponytail, which she seldom does, wear a blue tracksuit, and a pair of white, affordable sneakers. She will look youthful and pretty, unlike her usual seductive self. And she will write down a number that will only be '2' away from the number I've written." The girl continued to recite, but even after finishing, she still hadn't snapped back to reality.

"It seems she got everything right except the name."

"Still, there are some flaws."

"It's a pity. It might have been better if she didn't guess the name." Sighs tinged with regret came from the audience.

"No, that's not right." Kirie shook her head; the expression on Jiang Shu's face didn't look like that of a failed performance, but rather one of confidence.

With that thought...

She suddenly remembered something and quickly pulled up the database. In the right field of her vision, Li Yuntang's silhouette in the database slowly merged with the girl's figure onstage, "Really, it's pretty easy to recognize her using the police database."

"Let me think about how you did it." She rhythmically tapped her knuckles on the armrest while her gaze gradually moved to the complementary fruit plate.

At that moment, Jiang Shu also said with a smile, "So Miss Li, may we remove the mask now?"

The girl didn't speak; she looked at him deeply and then cracked a helpless smile, "I really don't know how you figured it out."

Immediately after, she tore off the human skin mask on her face to reveal a visage even more exquisite and beautiful than before. Li Yuntang bowed slightly to the audience, "Good evening, I am Li Yuntang."

The atmosphere on stage instantly exploded. In Lonely City, Li Yuntang was an absolute superstar; the act of removing the mask created an enormous contrast, the reversal leaving everyone in disbelief and thrilled.

"Is that really Li Yuntang?"

"How... How is this possible? Was it all staged?"

"How could it be, what status does Tangtang have? How could she ever be a plant?"

"But... How did he do it? Tangtang was sitting in the row in front of me and I didn't even recognize her!"

The effect of the magic trick 'Past Life and Present Life' was very potent. After the initial shock, almost everyone's instinct was to think there was a plant, but when reason returned, no one could believe Li Yuntang was a plant, as the gulf between their statuses was like a chasm.

Asking Li Yuntang to be a plant? Hah.

"Can you tell me how you did it?" Li Yuntang asked with interest. This performance, both in terms of the magic effect and the stage atmosphere, was perfectly executed, and she was fully immersed in it, full of surprise.

"I said from the start, this is just a dream, and I really don't believe in 'Past Life and Present Life'," Jiang Shu didn't explain, just smiled. Through his earpiece, he could hear Sister Mei's voice, "You've performed for twenty minutes, but the atmosphere is good. Since you're already overtime, perform another magic trick, about ten minutes long."

As expected, Sister Mei had even allocated the time from the next act over to him.

Jiang Shu nodded; he looked at the girl in front of him and said, "In the dream, you said you liked hibiscus flowers the most. So, would you be interested in helping me complete a magic trick about hibiscus flowers?"

"I would." Li Yuntang nodded, luminance swirling in her eyes.

At this time, Su Xiaoou also brought over some props: a pot of hibiscus flowers, an antique-looking flashlight, and a white cloth.

"Even the beautiful hibiscus flowers need some pruning, but it's not something everyone can do with ease," Jiang Shu glanced at the potted plant and white cloth arranged in front of him, his smile solidifying.

Hmm?

Was that a black cut?

"Xiaoou, do you have any suitable tools for trimming?" he politely called out to Su Xiaoou, who had finished arranging the props and was about to go downstairs.

"Ah?" Su Xiaoou blinked, stalled, realized she hadn't brought it with her, so she rummaged through her clothes and handed him a nail clipper before quickly running down the stage.

Jiang Shu took the nail clipper, equally stunned, and slowly formed a "?".

God, nail clippers are only for trimming nails!

"Ha ha, quite amusing."

"A bit of comedy in the act."

The audience below also started laughing, subconsciously thinking it was intentional, only Li Yuntang on stage, who had been watching closely, could not help laughing.

The ability to handle unexpected situations on stage was also very important, she was curious to see how Jiang Shu would respond next.

"Fine, nail clippers it is," Jiang Shu said helplessly, then he called out to backstage, "Turn off the lights."

The next second, the three-story hall plunged into complete darkness, and at that moment, he also turned on a flashlight, directing the light onto the Hibiscus flower, which cast a corresponding shadow on the white cloth.

"Now, Miss Li will help me by holding the flashlight, just aim it at the Hibiscus flower like this," Jiang Shu passed the flashlight to Li Yuntang, then he walked towards the white cloth and stood to the side.

"Hmm," Li Yuntang responded, her eyes filled with even more curiosity.

"If you want to trim effortlessly, you might try this," Jiang Shu slowly extended his hand, placing the nail clipper on the shadow of the Hibiscus flower, and with a little force, he cut the shadow of the flower, and the physical branches and leaves of the Hibiscus also fell onto the table along with the shadow.

"What?"

"He's cutting the shadow?"

Exclamations arose from the audience below, the visual effect of Jiang Shu's performance was incredibly powerful, and the most visually shocked was Li Yuntang, who was closest to the flower. Her mouth hung open in surprise, this scene completely exceeded her understanding, and she, being so close, could not see any flaws!

"It's that simple," Jiang Shu said with a smile, trimming all the excess branches and leaves with the nail clipper, speaking in a very relaxed tone, "Isn't it easy to learn?"

"Exactly, exactly, easy to learn."

"If you can't learn, I suggest installing the magician's model prosthetics."

The atmosphere below the stage became cheerful, and the audience's attention was entirely focused on the stage.

The lights came on, Jiang Shu put away the nail clipper, bowed slightly, "Thank you for watching, and thank you, Miss Li Yuntang, for unknowingly participating in my magic show."

"By the way, this is not magic, just a little trick that needed some preparation," Jiang Shu said with a smile, showing off his Character Card, which only had his Mysterious Coefficient of 0.5, an index belonging to the scientific Sequence, "Everyone should still believe in science."

He packed up his things and moved all the props backstage with Su Xiaoou, thus ending the performance and leaving behind an audience abuzz with discussions.

At that moment, nobody noticed, Kirie Tsukimiya sitting in the corner stood up excitedly. She stepped towards backstage, her mind suddenly flooded with numerous thoughts.

Yes! She knew! She knew how Jiang Shu had done it!

Of course, Kirie considered herself a sensible girl; she wouldn't expose him publicly since it was his livelihood. All she intended to do was unveil Jiang Shu's trick in private, followed by the line she had pondered for a long time—

"You cunning frog, I've always been patting your belly!"

But before Kirie could make it backstage, she saw Jiang Shu with his apprentice carrying their props up to the fourth floor.

"The fourth floor? The office?" Kirie's eyes shone brighter, she made up her mind with a clap of her hands, "Decided, that's the battlefield!"