Although the Spring Festival Gala of Beijing TV can only be considered a local TV station's Spring Festival Gala, and apart from being held in Beijing with the official CCTV Spring Festival Gala, there is not much other connection between them, they are still both in Beijing. Local TV stations are quite wealthy and do not have as many restrictions as CCTV's Spring Festival Gala. Basically, every year they are able to invite a large number of popular and trending celebrities to perform on stage.
Xiao He was among the invitees this year.
It's no exaggeration to say that several local TV stations extended invitations to Xiao He.
However, considering their upcoming work schedule, Xiao He and his team only accepted the invitation to the Beijing Spring Festival Gala.
The program was quite interesting; it consisted of two segments: one involved being a "shill" in a magic show, and the other involved singing on stage.
Singing is actually very simple. You just need to remember the melody and stand still to sing. You don't even need to remember the lines. There will be a teleprompter on site. And there will be dance partners to accompany you. Even if you don't sing well, there will be post-production audio editing. So Xiao He just needs to show his face. There is really not much value in it.
This is the advantage of pre-recorded broadcasts. Nowadays, apart from CCTV, most local TV stations are pre-recorded, meaning the content of the gala is recorded in advance and then broadcast on the same day. Moreover, many singing programs don't even need to be sung live; they are recorded directly in a recording studio, and then lip-synced live at the end.
This approach can be considered a wise choice for all parties to avoid being lazy. It's convenient for the production team and the participating guests; once they arrive, the performance is already a success.
However, Xiao He wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics. After being questioned by the production team, Xiao He readily agreed to sing live on stage. Anyway, his fans know that his singing level is just average. If the production team is willing, they can edit it for him. At least he didn't just go through the motions.
Compared to singing, Xiao He was quite interested in being a "shill" in the magic show.
It is said that Zhuang Hongyi specifically assigned this job as a shill to him and the two main actors of "The Thieves 2," which was actually a way to subtly help promote the movie during the Spring Festival.
All I can say is, Director Zhuang, you have some impressive skills; you truly live up to your reputation.
Xiao He followed the staff directly into the front audience seats.
The magic show was performed in the audience area, so Xiao He saw the magician sitting in this spot as soon as he arrived.
He was a very handsome man dressed in a tuxedo, with a monocle on his face. He had a very gentlemanly smile and looked quite like a great Western magician.
"Hello, Professor Xiao He."
He warmly extended both hands to shake hands with Xiao He and greet him.
Xiao He shook hands and nodded, but then he felt something was wrong. Before he could let go of the hand he was shaking hands with, his other hand had subconsciously pressed down on the magician's hand that was about to be pulled back.
The magician's expression showed a lot of surprise.
Xiao He looked down and realized that in just one glance, the watch on his wrist had been discreetly placed in the other person's hand.
If Xiao He hadn't had a keen intuition and acted faster than his brain could react, grabbing the other person's hand as they were about to pull it back, he probably wouldn't have even realized that his watch had been taken.
Such incredible speed at which they "treasure hunted" was truly admirable.
The magician himself was somewhat embarrassed and surprised. He opened his palm and returned Xiao He's watch: "You... are the first person to catch me on the spot."
"How is it? How is it?"
A person also walked over from the audience, looking at the situation with curiosity.
This person is Xie Jingshi, the actor who plays Lu Xiaokong, the protagonist of "The Phantom Thief Alliance 2". He had previously collaborated with Xiao He on a New Year's Eve gala.
Seeing that Xiao He's watch had obviously been unlocked, Xie Jingshi raised an eyebrow: "Haha, Xiao He, you really got yours taken too. I was wondering why the production team checked our watches again earlier. It turns out it was all for this moment."
He didn't take it seriously at the time, nor was he on guard against the magician he was about to work with. As a result, in just a few minutes of conversation with the magician, Xie Jingshi had his watch, ring, belt, and even tie taken from him.
God knows why he didn't notice at the time. Anyway, as they were chatting, he kept dropping equipment like crazy. When Xie Jingshi saw the magician's hands full of stuff, he was so angry that he laughed at himself.
So when Xiao He arrived, he was hoping that Xiao He would join him in acquiring equipment.
That's it? I just lost a watch.
"I didn't succeed." The magician stated his failure quite frankly. "Teacher Xiao was very vigilant. The moment the watch was in my hand, he had already caught me."
"What? Xiao He, you reacted so quickly?"
Xie Jingshi was shocked and somewhat frustrated. "Am I really that stupid? No wonder I was always the one who lost my phone when we went abroad to film before."
As for overseas, whether you lose your phone yourself or have it stolen, it's all the same; there's no difference, you definitely won't get it back.
Xiao He sighed, "If that's the case, perhaps we can't entirely blame you."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ge Fu. I am very happy to be able to work with Teacher Xiao next."
The magician then took the initiative to introduce himself to Xiao He.
Xiao He: "Hello, hello, I'm also very happy to participate in your program performance."
"Come on, let's sit down first."
Ge Fu gestured for Xiao He and Xie Jingshi to come and sit down first.
"I heard that Teacher Chen You won't be able to arrive for a while, so let me first give you both a brief demonstration of the basics of this magic trick..."
A live performance is more impactful than a live commentary.
In essence, Ge Fu's performance was quite simple; it was just a trick involving stealing and switching cards. This required a lot of hand speed and the ability to improvise on the spot. It also involved using visual illusions to mislead people and then stealing the hidden cards back to show them to everyone.
Perhaps because Xiao He saw through his "treasure-touching" technique right away, when looking for someone to touch the cards, Ge Fu directly chose Xie Jingshi, who was obviously easy to control and could be secretly guided by psychological suggestion.
Xiao He didn't mind and carefully observed the other party's technique.
All I can say is that they definitely have something special.
Although it's a rather old-fashioned magic trick, the presentation is novel and appealing. Ge Fu also speaks fluently and eloquently. Perhaps he's more skilled in psychology than magic, easily putting people at ease during conversations and increasing their likability. This might be why Ge Fu was able to "steal" Xie Jingshi's light right away.
Xiao He also became somewhat curious: "Teacher Ge, can I draw a card this time too?"
Ge Fu glanced at Xiao He, his smile unchanged, and placed the cards in front of Xiao He with great composure: "Teacher # Nоvеlight # Xiao, please."
Xiao He glanced at the cards, then casually picked up one of them.
After showing it to everyone, he put the cards back.
—But where no one could see, Xiao He's fingers moved nimbly, and the card he had drawn disappeared into his palm the instant it was placed into the deck.
At this moment, the cards that Ge Fu wanted to steal were no longer in the deck.
