The Old Magician Who Can't Do Magic

There was a road with substandard thickness, strength, and smoothness. The only thing "worth praising" about it was the potholes on the road. These potholes would fill up and become flat as soon as you filled them, but they would reappear as soon as you walked away. When a little rain or sewage flowed into the potholes, they would remain unchanged despite the scorching sun and the wheels of vehicles, not diminishing for ten days or half a month. The local residents complained bitterly, but no one took action.

One day, an elderly man was passing by on this road. He was tall and stout, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, dressed in a silk Tang suit that flowed elegantly, with his collar neatly buttoned and his leather shoes polished to a shine.

As the old man walked, he suddenly felt that someone was following him from behind about four or five meters away. The follower would speed up when the old man did, and slow down when he did. The old man was puzzled, and in his distraction, a car sped by, its wheels splashing mud from a pothole all over the old man, drenching him in mud from head to toe.

The old man was annoyed when he heard the sound of "click click" from behind. He looked back and saw the person who had been following him taking pictures of his sorry state with a camera! The old man took a closer look and saw that the photographer was wearing a canvas vest with many pockets. The old man understood: this fellow was a photojournalist! He probably saw that the old man was well-dressed and walking on such a dilapidated road, and there must be a good story, so he followed him. He might have been waiting for just this moment.

Thinking this, the old man was furious. He reached out to grab the fellow's collar, but halfway there, he suddenly changed direction, clutching his own mud-soaked clothes, sniffing them, then went to the small pit, squatted down, and with his well-maintained, delicate hands like orchids, scooped up some mud from the pit and sniffed it. Then, rolling up his sleeves, he started feeling around in the pit.

The old man's series of actions not only confused the photographer but also attracted many onlookers who couldn't figure out what he was doing.

After feeling around for a while and finding nothing, the old man muttered to himself, "No, it seems I need professional tools." He then hailed a taxi.

The onlookers, seeing the old man's extraordinary attire and strange behavior, were sure he was no ordinary person, so they didn't disperse, all wanting to see what professional tools the old man would produce. Many thought that the old man must have found something valuable in the pit and also wanted to reach down and feel around, but they were afraid of finding nothing and being laughed at. The photographer was indeed a journalist, and he sensed that this would be a good news story, so he didn't leave and took several photos of the crowd.

After a while, the old man returned with a large box, and the crowd quickly made way for him. The old man came to the edge of the pit, opened the box, and first took out a small stool, then a fishing rod and worms, which he baited and put into the pit to fish.

The old man fished for over an hour. The mayor, upon hearing the news, couldn't sit still: "If he really catches fish in a pothole on the road, how can I still be the mayor?" So the mayor quickly called the traffic police to solve the problem.

The traffic police arrived and, citing the obstruction of traffic, dispersed the crowd and the old man. The old man said, "Comrade traffic police, can you wait a bit longer? The thing I'm fishing for is quite significant!"

The traffic police, impatient, were about to pull the old man away when he lifted his fishing rod, and with a "plop," he fished out a round object about the size of a pancake from the pit. Everyone gasped in unison, "Hey, he caught something, there really is something!"

The object slowly stretched out its head, and it turned out to be a little turtle. It stretched its legs and claws, and with a "swish" sound, it opened a small scroll held in its claws. The crowd gathered to see that it read:

"Millennium-old pit, United Nations World Cultural Heritage, no disturbance by unauthorized persons!"

Everyone burst into laughter and clapped their hands. It turned out the old man was a magician, no wonder he was so well-dressed; he had left for a while to prepare this little turtle.

At this moment, the reporter pushed forward for a close-up, and the traffic police quickly took the old man away, whispering as they went, "We will report to the relevant departments immediately and repair the road at the fastest speed, how about that?"