Chapter 13 first quarter

"There is a magic man named Zhang Xian in Tianqiao. His tricks are incredible. If you saw it with your own eyes, your jaw would fall off! What kind of trick? One is Jigong drinking! A bowl of wine is conjured from the painting, After drinking a few sips, you can send it back to the painting, so there is really less wine in the painting. In addition, the living Buddha Jigong in the painting will really smile when he sees the wine! You can hear clearly, it is a painting The Jigong living Buddha in the movie is not a real person who can grin. Am I talking nonsense? I am not talking nonsense, many people have witnessed it! What I am going to tell is a lie, you just slap me. This morning I went , this strange man Zhang Xian, did a puppet trick, guess what, with one swipe, an iron cage with two big heads was created, and then a puppet figure that could talk and jump around was created with a slap , Standing up straight is less than two fingers long, this puppet can do tricks in an iron cage by himself, and can make five eggs out of his crotch! Five eggs, how do you change them? From such a big little puppet On the puppet? Hey, you didn’t see it. If you see it, you can’t do it without admiration! You have to call grandpa and grandma, and the Bodhisattva will show up! Where is the performance? A remote place, where no one usually goes, at the entrance of Daliu Zhazi Alley , Have you heard that the Chengnan Market is still going south! Do you want to see it? All right! I’ll take you there at noon tomorrow! You can come early, the strange man Zhang Xian will perform a show, without repeating the show, the show is over Just leave and never return!"

This kind of similar words are spread ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one thousand thousand in different ways. Those who have seen it can tell the truth, and those who have heard it can add embellishment. After one afternoon and one night, people in the Tianqiao area often Those who hang around, those who like to watch operas, listen to books, and watch juggling, those who pour water at tea stalls, those who run small businesses, those who perform at juggling stalls, waiters, those who shine shoes and dig corns, those who run teahouses and restaurants, those who manage people, and those who are bosses, Almost everyone knows anyone who has free time and can chat.

The version became more and more evil, and there were more than a dozen different theories. Some said that Zhang Xian was a Taoist priest who would catch little devils to sing in operas; A villain; some said that Zhang Xian could perform a performance, flying sand and rolling stones, the sky was dark and the earth was dark, and the sun and the moon were dark;There are all kinds of things, but the more evil it is, the faster it will spread! Even though no one wanted to believe the evil ones in the end, Zhang Xian still aroused enough interest from everyone. One out of ten people moved their minds to go to see the excitement the next day.The owners of hundreds of teahouses, lodging halls, juggling halls, etc. who need to invite people to perform, spend their evenings thinking about whether the story is true or false, maybe it is a sensationalist who deceives the public with false rumors.Naturally, there are shrewd ones, knowing that this is not an easy matter, they searched for the source overnight, and only after asking one or two people who had seen Zhang Xian's performance did they understand what was going on.

He has long understood that Chen Guo from Wangfenglou is indispensable. He sent Ermao, a clerk in his shop, to keep an eye on Zhang Xian. Ermao is the one who has watched Zhang Xian's two tricks.This Ermao rushed back to report to Chen Guo after watching the first scene.Chen Guo was surprised and happy, but worried that Zhang Xian would still be doing his old tricks the next day, so he asked Er Mao to watch it again the next day. After Er Mao saw it, he came back and reported Zhang Xian to perform a puppet trick, but Chen Guo was shocked and restless. If this Zhang Xian was invited by others, Duan Shizhang might not even come to his shop.Chen Guo made up his mind, as long as Zhang Xian is willing to move, he will invite Zhang Xian no matter what, even if he is playing tricks, he will be tied up, and then he will try to coerce and lure him, so he is not afraid that Zhang Xian will not act.

At noon on the third day after Zhang Xian appeared on the overpass, there were not many pedestrians at the entrance of Da Liu Zhazi Hutong on weekdays.On a small side street, there were dark crowds of people, noisy people standing still, groups of three or four, couples in pairs, discussing a lot, all staring at the entrance of the alley. Among these people, apart from watching the excitement, they are the shifts, stewards, and shopkeepers of the major teahouses.For the smaller ones, the owner of the shopkeeper brought people in person.Everyone saw this kind of battle and knew what was going on in their hearts. They all came to see Zhang Xian's performance and wanted to invite Zhang Xian over.

Strange to say, in the Tianqiao area, juggling has been a painless routine for decades (one of the details of the performance), and the status of juggling is not high, and even the popularity is not as good as playing head-cracking boulders and slashing backs with big knives. Yes, occasionally there are a few tricks with new tricks, most of them are short-lived, and they are performed over and over again, lasting at most half a month. So this time so many shopkeepers came here in person, each of them was taken aback, and they all thought: "Damn it and I have figured it out together, the more unpopular tricks, the more we have to grab them? This is too late. almost!"

In fact, this is not a coincidence. Chinese tricks flourished during the Tang and Song dynasties. It was originally a favorite performance of the Chinese people, and even the emperor used to enjoy it.The common people in China have deep feelings for tricks in their hearts, and they just mourn them. For thousands of years, many ancient and famous tricks have been lost. Not only can no one reproduce them, but no one can even figure out a trick. When new tricks come, they are tossed back and forth, but the soup is changed without changing the medicine, and the taste is gone. People in Tianqiao have heard that "Yanglizi" is very wonderful, that is, Western magic, but not many people have actually seen it, only heard of it, and they don't think it is anything special.These Western magicians also have a big face, they are respected abroad and have a high status. At that time, China was still being bullied by foreigners. It wasn’t long before the big braids were cut off. Western magicians didn’t even bother to perform magic tricks. The Chinese see it, so even Wangfeng Lou, one of the best juggling halls, never invites a foreigner.

The author is quite emotional. In the 2009 Spring Festival Gala, Liu Qian’s fresh magic that conjured a ring from an egg suddenly created a super typhoon of magic on the land of China. The momentum is incredible.It would be a lie to say that there has never been a magic performance at the Spring Festival Gala, and that Liu Qian is the first magic show performer in the history of the Spring Festival Gala. The magic trick is an old trick that makes people feel sleepy after watching it, so Liu Qian played a fresh and bizarre enough magic trick, which made hundreds of millions of Chinese TV viewers confused.

So in 1926, more than 80 years ago, after Zhang Xian appeared, in just two days, there was an explosion effect on the overpass. Many people rushed to see Zhang Xian, and it was similar to the appearance of Liu Qian in the 2009 Spring Festival Gala. . Huo Yajin, Li Yi and a group of hooligans, Li Fengren from Yueke Restaurant, and Ermao from Wangfenglou were all in the crowd, and they were all looking forward to Zhang Xian's appearance. Huo Yajin had asked Li Yi about the results of his follow-up long ago, and wanted to know where Zhang Xian lived, but Li Yi resolutely refused to say, saying that he was afraid of scaring the snake, and anyway, he would definitely give it to Huo Yajin after the matter was completed.Huo Yajin was very unhappy in his heart, but the matter had come to an end, there was no need to turn against Li Yi now, joking a few words, even if it was done first.

The crowd roared: "Here we come! Here we come! It's him! Zhang Xian! Zhang Xian!" All eyes turned to the entrance of the alley, and people had already surrounded it. Zhang Xian still dressed as yesterday, that is, he came empty-handed, and did not carry his big suitcase.This caught Huo Yajin in his eyes, stabbed Li Yi, and said in a low voice: "See? You didn't bring a suitcase. This is your chance. Don't wait, go." Li Yi frowned, still listened to Huo Yajin's orders, slipped out of the crowd, and left the place. Zhang Xian didn't pay attention, seeing so many people waiting for him, smiling all over his face, clasped his hands together, and couldn't stop thanking him.

Everyone welcomed Zhang Xian into the venue, and Zhang Xian said loudly: "There are so many people today, it's so lively! Everyone really flatters me! Don't crowd, don't crowd, step back and stand outside the white line." As Zhang Xian said, he took out a bag of white flour from his pocket, and drew a white line on the ground.Some enthusiastic people volunteered to help Zhang Xian with his affairs, and shouted for everyone to back off. Zhang Xian drew a large semicircle all the way to separate everyone from the white line. Zhang Xian said loudly: "Today I will show you the technique of forecasting, everyone must not enter the circle, or I won't be able to perform it!" Everyone responded: "Yes! Yes!" Anyone who frequents the overpass knows this rule, street performers, paint the ground as a pot, and count it as their own place, most people will not enter it rashly, otherwise they will be scolded by others, saying that this person has no vision and no tutor Not clean up.So Zhang Xian drew a large semicircle, everyone obeyed the rules, stood outside the white line, and lived in peace. With the help of the shop assistants, the proprietors of all the stores squeezed to the front, all staring at Zhang Xian intently.Ermao had seen this kind of scene a long time ago, and sent someone to invite Chen Guo to come over, for fear of losing the wind. When Zhang Xian finished drawing the white line, Chen Guo also hurried over and squeezed to the front. Although everyone in the audience spoke slightly, they didn't say much when they saw that they were all famous shopkeepers with big names.Fortunately, the circle drawn by Zhang Xian is big enough to surround three floors inside and three floors outside, so that everyone in the store has a convenient place to watch. Seeing that everyone in the audience had already stood up, Zhang Xian clasped his fists together and said loudly: "Zhang Xian's ability is low, and he is really ashamed to be supported by so many brothers, friends, and uncles!" Someone shouted: "Mr. Zhang, you are so capable! We all know it!" Zhang Xian said with a smile: "I had a dream last night. I dreamed about today's scene. Many noble people came to support me. I have already written down the content of the dream on a piece of paper. I don't know if it is accurate or not? Dare Ask today, who are the bosses who opened the scene on the bridge?" Immediately, someone shouted loudly: "Boss Zhao Guangyao and Mr. Zhao of Debao Building are here!" Debao Building is a well-known tea house in Tianqiao, and it belongs to the top ten.Everyone turned their heads and saw that it was the guy from Debaolou who was calling. Boss Zhao raised his hands high and clasped his fists at everyone, obviously very happy that his guy was the first to announce his name. Of course, some people didn't want to be at a disadvantage, and immediately someone shouted: "Qingyunxuan, Mr. Chang Baoliang, Chang Bao, come and make a place for Mr. Zhang!" Qingyunxuan is also a famous Kun library in Tianqiao. "Boss Liu Peiren Liu of Changxingzhai!" "Boss Sun Chengde and Sun of Anleju!" In the blink of an eye, someone showed five or six famous restaurant signboards on Tianqiao, clearly showing that they were competing with each other, and they were all of equal strength.The owners of some small shops, knowing that these people were present, probably would have found it even more difficult to invite Zhang Xian, so they dared not call out their numbers. "Boss Chen Guochen of Wangfenglou, he has heard of Mr. Zhang's name, so he made a special trip to cheer for Mr. Zhang!" Er Maozi shouted. Chen Guo is considered a celebrity in Tianqiao. Before the Wangfeng Tower was opened, he had a nickname called "Bainiao Chen", but he was a well-known big name in Tianqiao back then. Chen Guo looked around, smiled and nodded to several bosses around.The others knew it well and snorted to each other. Zhang Xian smiled and said: "Okay! What a coincidence, it is exactly the same as the noble person I dreamed of last night! Where is my piece of paper? Strange!" Zhang Xian patted his chest and back, showing embarrassment, and said: "Why is it gone? Strange! I brought it out."