Dream of the Red Chamber: A Refined and Elegant Young Man in a Turbid World

After saying that, he picked up the other two copper coins on the low table, held them together in his left palm, and showed them to Daiyu. Then he placed his right hand on his left hand, rubbed them gently, and when he opened his hands again, all three copper coins were lying in his palm, two more than before.

Daiyu was genuinely surprised, but her brows furrowed even more, and her tone still carried a hint of apprehension.

"They must have taken it from the wooden tray while I was distracted. There are only the two of us in this room; do you think copper coins can just grow on their own?"

She said this, but couldn't help but glance at his sleeve, wondering if he had any extra copper coins hidden there.

Seeing Daiyu's subtle gesture of wringing her handkerchief, Jia Cong knew she was mostly convinced, but stubbornly refused to admit it. He chuckled to himself.

"Since you don't believe me, why don't you feel my hand yourself and see if there are any coins hidden there?" With that, he opened his palm and held it out to her.

Daiyu was stunned for a moment, her cheeks instantly turning red. "Who wants to touch your hand again? It must be rough from practicing martial arts all day!" Although she said this, she couldn't help but be curious, her gaze lingering on his palm. Zijuan watched from the side, secretly covering her mouth with her handkerchief and chuckling, but dared not say anything more.

Jia Cong raised his eyebrows, and gently tossed the three coins in his palm. The coins spun in the air, and he caught them with a flick of his wrist. The coins landed steadily in his palm. Then he pretended to hide the coins and said, "Since my sister is unwilling, then this magic trick will be canceled, so that my sister won't say that I don't know the rules."

"Who asked you to give up?" Daiyu blurted out, but immediately realized her mistake. Her ears turned even redder, and she quickly added, "I just thought your trick was clumsy and wanted to see what other tricks you had up your sleeve. I didn't really want to see it."

Jia Cong suppressed a laugh and nodded, ceasing his teasing. He tossed the copper coin in his palm into the air, but as it fell, he grabbed it and then opened his hands to show Daiyu that the coin had vanished into thin air.

"Look, girl, the copper coins are gone."

His tone was somewhat playful. Upon seeing this, Daiyu frowned and was about to question him when she saw Jia Cong raise his hand and gently touch the end of her hair. Then he withdrew his hand, revealing the three copper coins lying in his palm.

Daiyu's body stiffened instantly, her cheeks flushed, and her tone was both angry and urgent: "How shameless! You're even more insane than Baoyu!"

He was cursing, but he wasn't really angry. The grievances he felt when he entered the room had long since vanished, leaving only a bit of panic.

Seeing her like this, Jia Cong became even more pleased with himself. He quickly put away the copper coins and smiled apologetically, "It was my rudeness, sister. Please don't be offended. That was just the end of a magic trick."

After saying that, he put the copper coin back into the black lacquered wooden tray, reached into his sleeve, and took out a water-red silk handkerchief. It was soft and had a faint luster in the firelight. "I found the magic trick boring, so I'll perform a tearing handkerchief trick for you. This is more interesting than the copper coin trick."

Daiyu glanced at the handkerchief, her tone still laced with sarcasm: "It's just an ordinary handkerchief. Tear it and put it back together, and either you've just replaced it or you've hidden some kind of mechanism inside. I don't find it particularly novel." Despite saying this, she handed the teacup in her hand to Zijuan, sat up slightly, and looked at it intently.

Jia Cong held up the handkerchief and showed it to Daiyu. He held the two corners of the handkerchief with both hands and shook it gently. The handkerchief unfolded perfectly, with neat edges and no flaws.

"Look carefully, little sister, is this handkerchief completely undamaged?"

After saying that, he crumpled the handkerchief into a ball, held it in his palm, and waved it at Daiyu. "Tear it up later. If you can't put it back together, feel free to laugh at me, little sister."

Daiyu snorted coldly, "I'd like to see how you put the torn handkerchief back together. If you can't, you'll be punished by having to compose ten poems for me!"

Jia Cong smiled and agreed, "Alright, if it can't be restored, then we'll do as you say, sister."

After saying that, he placed the handkerchief in his palm into his left palm, clenched his hands together, and then squeezed them open to the sides with a soft "ripping" sound. He then opened his hands, revealing that the handkerchief had been torn into three or four pieces with jagged edges, clearly indicating that it had been shredded.

"Hmph, it really was torn." Daiyu's tone was smug, as if she had caught him red-handed. "I'd like to see how you put these pieces back together. Are you planning to switch the handkerchiefs when I'm not looking?" With that, she got up to check if he had a spare handkerchief hidden in his sleeve, but she stumbled as she stood up, perhaps because she had been sitting on the warm couch for too long and her body was a little stiff.

Upon seeing this, Jia Cong instinctively reached out to support her, his palm steadily cradling Daiyu's body. Even wrapped in winter clothes, he could still feel her slender figure.

Daiyu's body stiffened instantly, as if she had been burned. She tried to break free, but accidentally used too much force and ended up leaning closer to him, her cheek almost touching his temple.

"Let go for now!" The girl probably didn't really care, she just scolded her a few times and then gave up.

Daiyu sat back on the warm couch, her heart pounding and her cheeks burning. She was speechless for a long time. After a while, she forced herself to remain calm and said, "Who needs your help? I can stand on my own. It was just a momentary lapse in concentration. Hurry up and perform your magic trick. Don't dawdle."

Jia Cong suppressed a smile, picked up the torn handkerchief in his hand, and showed it to her.

"Look, sister, isn't this fragment real?" With that, he crumpled the tattered handkerchief back into a ball, held it in his palm, covered it with his left hand, gently blew on it, and murmured...

"May the tattered handkerchief be restored, bringing continuous good fortune." He then rubbed his hands together a couple of times before slowly unfolding them.

When he opened his hands, the light red silk handkerchief lay perfectly intact in his palms, with neat edges, completely different from its previous torn state, without even the slightest trace of tearing.

Upon seeing this, Daiyu's eyes widened in astonishment, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "It's really restored? What method did Third Brother use?"

"It's just a few little tricks to make people happy. There's no real way to do it. If you like it, I'll show you again in the future."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu glared at him and regained her sharp tongue, saying, "I find it quite boring. It's just some unorthodox trickery, even worse than storytelling and opera."

He said this, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Zijuan, who was watching from the side, understood what was going on and couldn't help but chime in, "Third Master's magic tricks are truly amazing. Miss, you watched very carefully just now, and you were even staring at Third Master's hands the whole time."

"You little vixen, don't talk nonsense!" Daiyu's cheeks flushed instantly upon hearing this, and she glared at Zijuan lightly. "You're just trying to find flaws in his clumsy tricks; who actually paid any attention?"

Seeing this, Jia Cong smiled and smoothed things over, saying, "Miss Zijuan is right. You were indeed watching very carefully just now. It seems that my magic trick has caught your eye."

"Who has caught my eye?" Daiyu snorted coldly. "It's just something to pass the time. If it were Baoyu, he would definitely go crazy and pester you with all sorts of questions. Unlike me, I have no interest whatsoever."