Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 29 Professional

Nanfeng thought carefully for a while before replying confidently, "I'm sorry, I don't think I've heard your voice before."

His memory is poor, but his ability to distinguish sounds is an almost instinctive talent that makes it absolutely impossible for him to make a mistake.

Lisa also felt that there had probably never been any real communication between the two of them, but that vague sense of familiarity came from the instinctive intuition that a strong woman had cultivated through her experience in the workplace.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, as if she had remembered something: "Excuse me, but were you previously a piano performer?"

Nanfeng's smile froze.

"Then that's it." Lisa's attitude instantly became professional and enthusiastic. "Mr. Nanfeng, three years ago, my program booked an interview with you. Although I wasn't the one who liaised with you, I handled many things behind the scenes."

"It's a real shame that you couldn't make it to our show as planned because of that sudden car accident."

"Hahaha, what a coincidence! It turns out we're all acquaintances. Hahaha..." Zeng Xiaoxian tried his best to smooth things over, but his laughter unconsciously lowered in the increasingly tense atmosphere until there was complete silence.

In the past, the south wind that Xiaoxian had seen was just like his name: warm, comfortable, and without any sense of oppression.

It was precisely because of Nanfeng's ever-warm and bright eyes that even his occasional pranks were just Nanfeng's occasional mischief.

Many times, Xiaoxian thought that he was really like a free and warm breeze from Jiangnan, unrestrained and free.

It wasn't until today that Xiaoxian realized that this wasn't the case; it turned out that sadness and heaviness could also be seen in his eyes.

When Lisa mentioned the piano and the car accident, Nanfeng's eyes revealed an emotion that was almost one of deathly stillness and despair.

It can only be said that karma comes quickly. Just a moment ago, Nanfeng was enjoying Ziqiao's helpless and desperate state, but now it's his turn to want to open a door to leave.

Nanfeng admits that he is an awkward and willful person. It's not that he can't accept the topics of car accidents and pianos, but these are topics that only he can bring up.

Like repeatedly tearing open his still-unhealed wounds and deriving a self-destructive pleasure from the pain, he could bring up these things again and again, casually mocking his current worthlessness, and then pretend nothing had happened.

But if anyone touches on these two topics, he doesn't want to answer and just wants to stay away from anyone who knows about them.

I can tell you, but you can't ask.

Nanfeng glanced at Lisa, then at Zeng Xiaoxian, who looked embarrassed. The sharp words he was about to blurt out turned into a less-than-smooth agreement: "It is indeed quite a coincidence. It seems we are all destined to meet."

"It really is quite a coincidence. I tried to invite you to complete the previous interview many times afterward, but I couldn't contact you anymore. I never expected that I would finally meet you in person today by chance."

"Since it's such a coincidence, I'll personally invite you again, Mr. Nanfeng. I wonder if you would still be willing to continue our coincidence and complete that interview that should have been finished three years ago?"

Nanfeng's face was full of reluctance and resistance: "You may not understand my current situation. My hand injury can no longer support me to play a complete piece, and I have also been out of the piano world for a long time."

"I don't do such a glamorous or dazzling job now, and I don't think there's anything worth being interviewed about."

Lisa sat up straight, as if she were in a conference room rather than an apartment: "Mr. Nanfeng, many things in the world are not valued by whether they are glamorous or dazzling."

In my opinion, there is no difference in value between a young pianist who is at the peak of his career and a young pianist who was once a young prodigy.

"Please trust my professional abilities. I assure you that both of us will benefit greatly from this interview."

"If you doubt my abilities, I can quickly provide you with a perfect interview process and a series of follow-up arrangements. If you are worried that the interview questions will offend you or have a negative impact on you, we will also prepare a script of the interview questions for you, and ensure that the topics asked by the host will never deviate from the scope of the script."

Nanfeng still wore a polite smile, but it was a bit too stiff. He refused Lisa's invitation without hesitation: "I'm sorry, neither the benefits nor anything else are what I want right now."

"I'm not questioning your ability or professionalism, I just don't want to sit in the spotlight anymore."

"If the host sitting across from you were your friend, wouldn't you be less averse to the spotlight?"

Zeng Xiaoxian and Nanfeng were both taken aback.

Nanfeng glanced at Zeng Xiaoxian, gesturing for him to pour Lisa another glass of water: "So you've already decided to have Teacher Zeng host this new show?"

Lisa calmly accepted the water poured by Zeng Xiaoxian, expressed her gratitude, and then spoke softly.

"He could be."

Zeng Xiaoxian heard the sneer of Xiaoxian in a suit again.

Nanfeng pondered Lisa's words, but those three words seemed overly clever in the current context.

"Xiaoxian has professional skills, but given his unsatisfactory performance in his previous radio programs, I think his on-the-spot performance and psychological adjustment skills are not very good... If he can have a reliable friend to help him during his first TV hosting, I believe he can deliver a satisfactory performance for me and the leaders."

That's what I meant...

Regardless of Nanfeng's true feelings at this moment, his response this time was at least more resolute and... ready to die than before.

"If the host is Teacher Zeng, I think I can give it a try."

Nanfeng agreed so quickly that Zeng Xiaoxian was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend why he had made such a dramatic reversal.

"You have one, no, two good friends." Xiao Xian in a suit slowly walked to Xiao Xian's side. "One of them took all the blame and responsibility for you, and the other was willing to face the bloody past again under the spotlight for you."

"Zeng Xiaoxian, how come you're so lucky?"

Xiao Xian in the suit was half jealous and half satisfied: "But it doesn't matter. With friends like this who are willing to make way for you, I wouldn't mind having a hundred more."

"Celebrate, Zeng Xiaoxian, go stand where you belong, and enjoy the spotlight that is about to shine on you."

"You mean... with all the spotlights shining on me, so bright and dazzling, how can I see anything outside the spotlight?"

Zeng Xiaoxian looked directly at Xiaoxian in the suit. For the first time, he no longer looked up at the illusion in his mind, but looked at him straight on.

"Will I still be able to see Ziqiao's determination to desperately try to escape responsibility, yet still take all the blame upon himself?"

"Will I still be able to see Nanfeng, her heart and eyes filled with resistance and pain, yet willing to grit her teeth and endure it all for my career?"

Zeng Xiaoxian smiled, a smile that was both relaxed and smug.

"I don't know if I'll still be able to see by then, but at least this is Love Apartment, and there aren't any spotlights here yet. My eyes haven't been blinded by the glaring lights, and I can still see now."

"Therefore, I disagree!"

"What did you say?" Lisa and Nanfeng both doubted that they had heard correctly.

I said, I disagree.

Zeng Xiaoxian stood up and bowed to Lisa, saying with the courage of someone facing death, "Lisa, thank you for your favor, but I hope that your favor comes from my professional ability and your recognition of me as a person, and not from any other reason."

"If other hosts are better than me, then they should be more qualified for this opportunity."

"Of course, I'm not so naive as to think that everything can be accomplished simply by ability. The main reason I disagree is that I don't want to see my friends make sacrifices because of this."

"I can tell that Nanfeng is not willing to participate in this interview at all, and I believe you can also see it. Since he is unwilling, why force him with this kind of thing?"

"This is not only an insult to Nanfeng and me, but also a violation of the professional ethics of television interviews. The most basic thing about television interviews is to take care of the guests' feelings. If a guest doesn't want to come at all, all we can do is respect them."

"I'm sorry, Lisa, thank you for your help today."

Xiaoxian tried to pull Nanfeng away, but Nanfeng broke free.

"No, Zeng Xiaoxian, are you sick? It was a sure thing, and you went crazy at the last step?"

"Are you stupid? Do you really have to show your heroic qualities and fine virtues at this time?"

"It's just an interview, it'll only take a few hours. Besides, if you were sitting there hosting, could you possibly make things difficult for me?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I've finally made up my mind to be a hero, and you can't convince me otherwise," Zeng Xiaoxian said through gritted teeth. "Just tell me, even if I were the host, and you had the choice, would you participate in this interview?"

"to be honest!"

Nanfeng remained silent for a long while before answering somewhat hesitantly, "It should be..."

"I don't want to, do I?"

"I'll ask you again, do you really believe in my professional abilities, Brother Xian?"

"You're such a man, so how about I... reluctantly give you my opinion?"

Zeng Xiaoxian's face fell, but he quickly regained his composure: "That's settled then. If we don't want to go, we won't. I refuse to believe that someone as capable as me can't find another opportunity!"

"Zeng Xiaoxian, are you out of your mind today?! With your career at the forefront, what are you talking about brotherhood for? What could possibly be more valuable than your career?"

"Do you only value your career? What about friends? Are friends worthless?"

Zeng Xiaoxian's question left Nanfeng speechless.

"South Wind, there's a saying: 'You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish?' Similarly, you are not me, so you don't know what is most important to me."

"For me, career is important, and so are friends. To be honest, I still don't know which is more important to me, but I absolutely cannot compromise one to serve as a stepping stone for the other."

"Because... I am a good man, I am Zeng Xiaoxian."

Nanfeng let out a long breath. He felt both helpless at Xiaoxian's heroic act and, more than anything, proud and happy.

One of the best things in the world is to treat someone as your best friend and then let the facts tell you the truth.

Actually, he was the same way.

"You've even quoted classical allusions like 'How can you know the joy of fish if you are not a fish?' What can I say?"

Nanfeng decided to respect Xiaoxian's opinion.

Throughout Xiaoxian and Nanfeng's heated argument, Lisa quietly observed the situation until everything was settled. Then, she slowly said, "Now that you two have reached an agreement, could you perhaps free up some time for me to continue with the unfinished host review?"

Nanfeng and Xiaoxian's eyes lit up.

Xiao Xian tentatively asked, "You mean... I still have a chance to try for a TV host position?"

"Why not?" Lisa asked in confusion. "Caring about friends is a good quality no matter where you are, especially for a talk show host. If he doesn't even care about the joys and sorrows of his close friends, he probably won't be able to empathize with his listeners either."

"Then you said before that I could be...?"

"I didn't say that just because Mr. Nanfeng didn't come to the interview, you're definitely not one. Whether you are or not depends on your value. If you can invite a former genius pianist to participate in the program, that is certainly a reflection of your connections and abilities."

"But to put it bluntly, this kind of thing is just a bonus. It's best to have it, but if you don't, it just puts you back on the same starting line as everyone else. It won't deduct points from your score."

Lisa gently put down her water glass and gave a professional smile.

"As I said at the beginning, I am very professional."

I have a bad cold and I still have to take someone to see a doctor... I'm so resentful.

I'll only be able to update once a week until I recover, but 3,700 words is pretty good.

The "You Are Not a Fish" episode is expected to end tomorrow. It was a good episode, but the ending felt a bit strange because of my cold. However, I still managed to write the main points. I started to reconstruct the characters in the TV series according to my ideas, giving them some different feelings, and fleshing out the main characters in the process.

The Advisors Alliance arc mainly focuses on reconstructing Yi Fei's character, while the Zi Fei Yu arc mainly focuses on Zi Qiao and Xiao Xian. As for the subsequent characters, I'll talk about them when I think of them.

Feel free to share your thoughts with me. With the book's popularity, you don't need to worry about me seeing what you write.

(End of this chapter)