"Alright!" Brian Carter slowly raised his hand, and instantly, everyone's eyes turned to the tabletop. It was actually completely empty—both coins had disappeared without a trace.

"Ah!" The onlookers all cried out in surprise.

David Foster was also stunned, but he did have some knowledge of magic tricks. He immediately grabbed William Harris's arm, grinned, and said, "Do you really think you can fool me with such a little trick? The coins must still be in your hand."

"So our Head David is this clever, huh." Brian Carter turned his wrist, but kept his hand clenched in a fist.

"Tch! This is the kind of magic even a three-year-old can see through. I've played this trick countless times before. And now you're showing it off? That's just ridiculous." David Foster laughed triumphantly. He knew better than anyone how annoying it was to have your magic trick exposed by someone else.

"I thought it was something impressive, but it turns out to be this simple. Brian Carter, you really are a joker." The other classmates also started laughing, though not as mockingly as David Foster; they just took it as a joke.

"Hurry up and open your hand! What, are you embarrassed now that I've seen through you? I don't think you're that thin-skinned, Brian Carter." David Foster urged Brian Carter even more smugly.

Brian Carter deliberately put on a helpless expression, then slowly opened his palm and said, "Sorry, but it looks like you guessed wrong. There are no coins in my hand."

"Eh?" The smiles on everyone's faces, including David Foster, froze instantly. Brian Carter's empty palm once again made everyone feel that this magic trick was truly amazing.

"The coins must still be with you!" David Foster quickly grabbed Brian Carter's hand. Although Brian Carter's magic was impressive, once the trick was exposed, it would lose all its magic. After all, he had studied magic for a while himself—just like his own trick earlier, which involved hiding the gimmick in his sleeve.

He turned Brian Carter's hand over and over, then felt along Brian Carter's sleeve, and finally shook Brian Carter's arm, but there was no sign of any coins.

"Hey, hey, hey, could you not get so touchy-feely with me? I don't have your kind of weird hobbies." Brian Carter impatiently shook off David Foster's hand.

Everyone burst out laughing, making David Foster feel awkward, but no one was paying attention to him now. "Where are the coins? Brian Carter, where did you put the coins?" they all asked, their faces full of curiosity.

"The coins are with me." A gentle voice sounded. Only then did everyone remember that this magic trick was actually being performed by both William Harris and Grace Cooper, and Grace Cooper's hands had been under the desk the whole time.

As Grace Cooper brought out both hands and held them out flat above the desk, everyone saw that in the palms of her two fair, jade-like hands... there was a white, genuine one-yuan coin in each.

The previously noisy classmates all fell silent at once, staring in unison at Grace Cooper's palms, unable to believe their eyes.

David Foster instinctively shouted, "A plant! She must be a plant—Grace Cooper is Brian Carter's accomplice!"

His outburst was so abrupt that even the students who had been quietly studying at their desks all looked over. The classmates gathered around immediately shot David Foster looks of disdain. If it were any other classmate, maybe they could believe they were cheating with Brian Carter, but Grace Cooper was the class goddess—she never got close to any boys. Borrowing books or notes from her was fine, but the idea that Grace Cooper would help Brian Carter perform a magic trick to fool people was simply unbelievable.

David Foster regretted his words as soon as he said them, but he really couldn't figure out how Brian Carter had pulled off the trick. Not understanding meant he had to admit he wasn't as good as Brian Carter, and he couldn't accept that. His eyes kept darting between Brian Carter, Grace Cooper's desk, and the two coins in Grace Cooper's hands.

Grace Cooper frowned slightly but ignored David Foster. Her eyes, clear as autumn water, were fixed on Brian Carter, filled with curiosity and confusion. Ever since she had been in the same class as Brian Carter in the second year of high school, this was the first time she had looked at him so closely.

Brian Carter wasn't handsome, but he wasn't unattractive either. His eyes were of average size, his eyebrows were thick and dark, his nose was fairly high and straight, and his lips were a bit thin. He was about 1.78 meters tall, but rather thin, giving him a somewhat slender appearance. There was nothing particularly remarkable about a boy like this, but the way the corners of his mouth curled up, along with his slightly lazy demeanor, made him quite different from the other classmates.

Besides, Brian Carter usually didn't like to study and had barely spoken to her, so Grace Cooper had never really formed an impression of him. Only now did she realize that the boy in front of her was actually a bit different from the rest.