At this moment, Shen Ye was at a total loss for how to describe his mood.
He had originally planned to use this class to win the hearts of the female guests. After all, a mysterious performance art like magic was usually quite charming—yet all of those plans were now completely shattered.
However, Shen Ye wasn’t about to throw a fit over it. They were recording a show, after all, and pulling a long face wouldn’t look good on camera. He feigned a doleful expression and joked, “Ah, I was really hoping to look cool today. Total miscalculation on my part!”
As a seasoned live-streamer who dealt with audiences daily, he adjusted his mindset almost instantly and led the applause: “Still, Student Qi did a fantastic job!”
In truth, Qi Xiao was also a little surprised by his own performance. Though he had considered the possibility of succeeding, he hadn’t expected it to go this well. Scanning the other guests in the room, it was clear that they were all more or less stunned by his display. For a split second, Qi Xiao almost forgot where he was and felt like he was the actual guest performer.
Hearing Shen Ye’s praise, he smoothly took the cue and handed the stage back: “Now, let’s ask Teacher Shen to reveal the trick to everyone!”
As Qi Xiao walked down from the podium, he caught Lu Xingliang’s eye. He instinctively started to smile at him, but Lu Xingliang quickly turned his face away, as if trying to avoid any appearance of intimacy.
Back at his desk, Zhou Chongyu turned to him with a smile and said, “You were really amazing up there.”
It was just a simple compliment, yet Qi Xiao felt oddly embarrassed—probably because the look Zhou Chongyu gave him was just so intensely focused.
Qi Xiao couldn’t help thinking: Looking at him now, Zhou Chongyu really has the makings of a great actor too. This is so unfair! How come everyone around me can act except me?
Up on stage, Shen Ye began his explanation: “This trick is actually very simple and only takes two steps. The first time I flipped the card, I actually flipped two stacked cards together. The second time, I only flipped the single top card normally. That creates the illusion that the suit mysteriously changed.”
The principle behind the magic trick wasn’t difficult; the key was performing it smoothly without giving away the secret. Shen Ye demonstrated it again in slow motion. This time, his execution was much better, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Checking the clock hanging at the back of the classroom, he said, “It’s three o’clock now. I’ll give everyone half an hour of free practice. After that, I’ll teach you a second trick. Feel free to ask me if you run into any trouble.”
With Shen Ye’s green light, the guests scattered across the room began trying it out. Most paired up with their desk mates to practice together, but things didn’t go smoothly at first. Achieving a natural, fluid motion proved to be a real challenge.
After several failed attempts, Lin Zhiyao turned around with a sigh. “Qi Xiao, are you actually a genius, or is my motor control just that terrible? Why are these cards being so unruly in my hands?”
Overhearing her frustration, Shen Ye walked over with a grin. “Come, come, let me give you some one-on-one coaching.”
Requested by the seating arrangement, the seven of them were positioned in an interesting way: the female guests were all on the left side, while the male guests sat on the right. Shen Ye initially spent all his time floating among the four female guests, which inadvertently left the men’s side feeling a bit neglected.
Even though this class was originally tailored to impress the female guests, showing such clear partiality wasn’t great optics. So, Shen Ye called out, “Qi Xiao, since you’ve already mastered it, why don’t you act as the team leader for the guys and lead their practice?”
Qi Xiao nodded readily. “Sure thing.” With that, he turned around and attempted to guide Zhou Chongyu, who was sitting beside him.
Although Zhou Chongyu couldn’t pull it off on his first try, he was still doing better than Lin Zhiyao. He could reliably flip two cards at once; his movements were just a bit clumsy and unpracticed.
Qi Xiao really wanted to teach him, but he honestly had no idea how he had pulled it off himself—it felt as natural to him as eating or drinking, making it almost impossible to put into words! Getting anxious, he stammered through a long explanation that ended up being complete gibberish.
This amused Zhou Chongyu, who offered a soothing smile. “Don’t rush,” he reassured him. Pausing for a moment, he asked, “Do you see anything wrong with how I’m holding this?”
Qi Xiao leaned in closer to inspect his hand and tried replicating the motion with his own deck. “I think, maybe the angle of this hand needs to be tilted a bit more?”
“Tilted how?” Zhou Chongyu turned his head, his voice low.
“Well.” Qi Xiao thought to himself, How am I supposed to explain that? It’s not like I can pull out a protractor and tell him to rotate 15 degrees southeast! But halfway through his hesitation, he looked up and caught Zhou Chongyu’s quiet, focused gaze—and suddenly, the realization hit him.
This is part of the script!
In an instant, Qi Xiao switched right back into “acting mode”—dull eyes, rigid posture.
Just then, Zhou Chongyu reached out and gently shifted the hand holding the cards, casually saying as if he hadn’t noticed Qi Xiao’s sudden stiffness, “You’re blocking my view like that; I can’t see properly.”
Feeling the warmth radiating from the tips of Zhou Chongyu’s fingers, Qi Xiao gradually began to relax. Perhaps because Zhou Chongyu’s movement felt so natural—without a single trace of acting—Qi Xiao temporarily forgot that this was all scripted drama.
A sudden surge of pride and duty as a “teacher” welled up inside him. “Let me show you!” He said, shifting his chair closer to coach Zhou Chongyu step-by-step.
By now, the two of them were sitting very close to each other. Behind them, Lu Xingliang kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, staring through the narrow gap between them as if gazing at the empty air.
Thanks to the hands-on guidance, Zhou Chongyu’s technique steadily improved. While he wasn’t quite ready to perform in front of an audience yet, a little more practice later on would easily fix that.
It was Qi Xiao’s first time teaching anyone, and he felt a burst of excitement. “You learn so fast!”
Zhou Chongyu smiled warmly. “It’s because you’re a good teacher.”
Seeing that Zhou Chongyu was getting the hang of it, Qi Xiao glanced around the classroom to check on the progress of the other guests. His eyes landed on Lu Xingliang, who was sitting alone in the back silently stacking a house of cards.
In truth, Lu Xingliang had already figured out the knack for the trick after a few tries, succeeding roughly four or five times out of ten. Finding it boring to keep practicing—and unable to pull out his phone—he had resorted to building a card tower to pass the time.
Noticing Qi Xiao looking his way, Lu Xingliang’s hand trembled slightly as he placed the final card. The second it touched the top, the entire tower collapsed into a heap.
Qi Xiao immediately felt a pang of guilt. “Did I distract you?”
Lu Xingliang glanced up at him. “No.”
His expression was completely blank, yet for some reason, looking at him made an odd feeling rise in Qi Xiao’s chest.
How to put it, he just looked so pitiable.
Like that one lonely kid during group projects back in school.
Qi Xiao suddenly remembered his own childhood self. Moved by a wave of empathy, he couldn’t help taking the initiative to ask, “Senior, aren’t you going to try?”
Hearing this, Lu Xingliang’s hands froze mid-air as he gathered the scattered cards. A few seconds later, he lowered his eyelashes and said softly, “I’m no good at learning this.”