Chapter 42 first quarter

The preliminaries of Group A started smoothly. One hour after the end of the competition, the results of the competition were announced. The great American magician Jonard and the great French magician Valenziger ranked first and second, with scores of 9.36 and 9.26 respectively. The scores of the third and fourth magicians who followed also reached 9.19 and 9.13 points, and the gap between the top six is ​​beyond everyone's imagination.Of course, the results of the last few in Group A are also terrible. Three out of no points, and three others with zero points. It can be seen that the judges and the audience are merciless. If you can do it, you can do it. Don't talk about it.It's no wonder that the judges and the audience are all celebrities, no matter which ones are famous figures, why should they show affection.

In addition, one point that needs to be explained is that the World Magic Conference does not allow only one magician to participate in a country, only weak, poor, and colonial countries allow only one magician. There are as many as six contestants in the Commonwealth of Nations, and five in the United States. , France has four people, Germany has three people, and all Western powers that have invaded China have at least two people participating in the competition, except for Japan. The bald-headed magician who performed at the lottery ceremony swallowing colored balls raw and popping paper out of his nostrils.

That night, there were a large number of magicians staying at the Wallace Hotel watching the results of the Group A competition. There was a lot of discussion, and they all felt the pressure, which was even worse than in previous years. It is very likely that the third place in a certain group will not make it to the top two ten. Almost all the magicians went to see the results of Group A, but Zhang Xian didn't go, and he didn't even call Zhao Chengxu and Cao Qian. Buy some items and stay up almost all night. Cao Qian took on the role of guard. Except for Zhang Xian's orders, no one can come in to disturb him. Even Zhao Chengxu's purchases are not allowed in, and Li Yi takes them into the room.

In the afternoon of the second day, the competition in Group B ended. The Russian Galanovsky and the Spaniard Godos ranked first and second, with scores of 9.41 and 9.40 respectively, and the scores of the third and fourth place They were 9.36 and 9.26. This result is even more surprising. The third place in group B scored higher than the first place in group A!I'm afraid that the third and fourth magicians in Group A will be squeezed out of the top twenty. Group B has five OUTs and five zeros, almost half more than Group A. It can be seen that this group of audiences and judges have even more spicy tastes.

Zhang Xian still did not show up, and the figure of the Chinese people seems to have disappeared... I don’t know why people speculate that the Chinese people are afraid of being OUT, and have already quit the game and fled. can't come back. On the afternoon of the third day, it was the competition of Group C where Zhang Xian was. Since the morning, the magicians of Group C have come to the backstage warehouse of the Wallace Theater, assembling and debugging their own large-scale props one after another. The figure of Zhang Xian. At noon, a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner came from the China Hotel where Zhang Xian was staying. He got off the carriage alone and walked to the store in full clothes. He was the favorite to win the championship——British magician Bailey.

The shop owner rushed forward to greet him, but he didn't know that this handsome and tall foreigner was Bailey. Bailey asked the shop owner Zhang Xian directly if he lived here. "Has Zhang left London?" Bailey asked. The shop owner replied: "No, no! He lives on the second floor and has been shutting himself out for the past two days." Bailey said: "Oh! Then please take me to see him. My name is Bailey." The shop owner didn't know who Bailey was. According to Zhang Xian's order, he didn't see anyone else. The shop owner said, "Sorry, Zhang doesn't see anyone else."

Bailey snorted and asked, "Don't Zhang know about the game in the afternoon? He doesn't want to participate?" The shop owner waved his hands again and again, saying that he didn't know. Bailey said: "I think I should talk to him!" As he said, he pushed the shopkeeper away and walked in. The shop owner couldn't hold back the tall foreigner, no matter what the shop owner said, Bailey insisted on walking in. Seeing that Bailey was about to go up to the second floor, Cao Qian came out from the stairs, blocked Bailey, and shouted: "What are you doing! Where are you going?"

Bailey couldn't understand Cao Qian's Chinese, so the store owner happened to be nearby, and hurriedly translated to Bailey: "This is Zhang's friend. He stopped someone who was going to see him for Zhang. He just asked who you are." Bailey said to Cao Qian: "I am Bailey, and I want to talk to Mr. Zhang." The owner of the shop translated it to Cao Qian, but Cao Qian didn't care about it, and refused without hesitation, blocking the stairs to death. Bailey took a few steps up the stairs, stood in front of Cao, looked inside, shrugged, and said, "Okay! Please tell Mr. Zhang, I very much hope to see him on the field!"

The shop owner translated it to Cao Qian again. Cao Qian stared and snorted coldly: "You foreigners, you are not a good bird! I only regret that the Boxers didn't kill you all back then! I know, I will tell Mr. Zhang!" Of course Bailey didn't understand, and the store owner wouldn't translate it truthfully.Bailey was about to leave when a man's voice came from the stairs and said loudly in English: "Mr. Bailey, hello!" Bailey looked up and saw Zhang Xian came out wearing a straight gray robe with his hands behind his back, smiling brightly at Bailey. Zhang Xian invited Bailey to a meeting in the room. The two chatted for half an hour. No one knew what they talked about.

When Bailey left, his expression of excitement and disappointment was beyond words. He hurried out of the store, got into the car, and left here. Zhang Xian then brought Li Yi out, and Cao Qian and Zhao Chengxu helped to move out some magic props covered in the curtain. The shop owner asked the staff to roll out the cart in the shop and put these props on. Everyone walked towards the Wallace Hotel. When Zhang Xian and his party arrived at the Wallace Hotel, the competition had already started, and the first contestant in Group C was performing on stage. All the magicians and entourage are staying in the huge backstage warehouse of the Wallace Theater. No one can see the performance on the stage. Everyone is making final preparations in a hurry, waiting for the conference staff to call them on stage .Although it was only the preliminaries, the backstage warehouse was very noisy and lively, and there were piles of people busy everywhere.Some magicians employ more than 20 assistants, both men and women, and many women even dress up as showgirls, which undoubtedly increases the stage effect.Even the Indian magicians in Group C have more than a dozen assistants, dressed in gold and silver, glittering in gorgeous clothes, very ostentatious.The most shabby ones were Zhang Xian and the others. There were four of them in total. There was only one assistant, Li Yi, and the props were only a few simple things on a cart. Even the accompanying military officers and diplomats acted as porters.

But Zhang Xian's arrival somewhat caused a commotion. Many people thought that Zhang Xian had given up the game and left London secretly, but he came here at this time, which was quite unexpected. Bailey was doing the final inspection in front of his mechanical props that were as tall as two people. Seeing Zhang Xian coming, he just nodded slightly to Zhang Xian from a distance, and did not go forward to greet him, as if he had never met Zhang Xian before. Zhang Xianru entered the land of no one, without looking sideways, he found an open space, and the four of them took the props off the cart together, sat down quietly, and did not make any preparations. There was no applause, and the first magician in Group C returned with a livid face. His performance was over.The magician threw his hat on the ground, and kept yelling at an assistant beside him. The assistant was downcast, and despite the magician's berating, he dared not refute a word.Several huge props and mechanisms were moved back, and everyone sighed. From this atmosphere, it can be seen that the first magician's performance must have been a mess, or it didn't achieve the effect. The second magician arranged to come on stage with fear, and with the sound of applause and music, his magic show had already begun. In less than five minutes, the sound of "OUT" like a mountain roar and a tsunami could be clearly heard coming from the front desk in the backstage warehouse, and soon the second magician returned to the backstage disheartened, his face flushed red, his nose more like A fat red pepper.He walked away quickly without saying a word, not daring to look up at the expressions of the crowd. His assistants packed up the props that had been removed from the stage, and left in the blink of an eye. The magic competition in Group C continued. Of the ten or so players in front, three were kicked out by OUT, and three came back dejected and unwilling, but there were also those who came back triumphantly. Loud applause spread to the backstage.The Indian magician is a successful one. He came from the stage, his beard was shaking up and down for joy, and he danced with his hands and feet. He even danced a circle with his assistants in the background to celebrate. Magician Bailey played before Zhang Xian. He led his assistants confidently and walked past Zhang Xian. Before leaving, he did not forget to show a proud smile to Zhang Xian. Bailey's magic was indeed a great success. Thunderous applause and cheers could be heard from the backstage, which was obviously much more popular than the ten or so players in front.Bailey returned to the backstage almost surrounded by the staff and assistants of the conference, and even photographers who appeared out of nowhere surrounded him, holding up their cameras to take pictures of Bailey, with the bang of spotlights Flashing randomly.