Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 518 Zeng Xiaoxian in a Dilemma

"Nanfeng's father... actually looks a lot like Guan Gu."

Yifei spoke carefully about Nanfeng's father, partly because there was always a strange feeling about Nanfeng's dream about his deceased father, and partly because she wasn't really familiar with her senior brother.

After all, Nanfeng was only eight years old when she was young, and what she knew now was all from snippets of conversation between her grandfather and maternal grandfather.

"Like Guan Gu?"

Youyou asked in surprise, "You mean... Nanfeng's father also speaks with this kind of accent?"

"Oh no, that's not it!"

When Youyou asked this question, the originally heavy atmosphere suddenly became subtle. Yifei, who had been looking serious, suddenly didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What I mean is that his personality and experience are a bit like Guan Gu's."

She counted on her fingers, recalling the old man's complaints about this "rebellious son": "Male chauvinist, stubborn, meticulous, prone to getting stuck on details, and always hoping to do things according to his own plan."

"They're all unwilling to inherit the family business, prefer to go against their fathers, are determined to pursue their own dreams, run away from home, and even date actors..."

Yifei grew increasingly surprised as she spoke, her eyes widening as she exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

You won't know until you try it out, and once you do, you'll be amazed!

Isn't this similarity too extreme?

Youyou felt a chill run down her spine: "This doesn't just look a bit like Guan Gu, it's clearly like looking in a mirror!"

Mario nodded as if he understood, and he vaguely understood why Nanfeng had taken the initiative to talk to Guangu about his father that time.

"Stay calm."

Yifei patted Youyou on the shoulder: "At least Nanfeng's father and Guangu are different in one respect."

"Nationality or accent?"

"...At least Nanfeng's father and Guangu are different in three ways."

She said helplessly, "You may not know, but Nanfeng's father is actually a pianist... a professional in the piano industry."

"However, compared to Guan Gu's talent in comics, Nan Feng's father's talent in piano can only be described as adequate. But the more niche the industry, the higher the requirements for talent. A talent at the level of 'adequate' is obviously not enough."

"No matter how hard he tries, if he doesn't have the talent, he just won't succeed."

Yifei paused for a moment, then continued, "In short, according to the old man's assessment, if he had diligently practiced martial arts when he was young, he could at least have made something of himself with the help of his family. But if he had gone to learn that lousy piano, he would have been able to barely make a living at best."

Xiaoxian and Youyou blinked repeatedly upon hearing this, but ultimately chose to remain silent.

They both have their own dreams, passions, and perseverance. It is because of this that they can understand how cruel Yifei's words, "If you don't have talent, you just don't have talent," are.

At least for pure idealists, nothing is more painful than not having the talent to do what you love most.

But before they could feel sad for Nanfeng's father, Yifei finally brought up the protagonist of this beautiful dream.

"Actually, I don't know much about Nanfeng's family. After all, Nanfeng and I only get together during winter and summer vacations. His father had a falling out with the old man and hasn't come back much throughout the year."

Yifei sighed: "All I know is that Nanfeng didn't really like playing the piano when he was little; he was just interested in sound."

"The reason he started learning piano from elementary school was simply because Nanfeng's father hoped that he could inherit his ideals."

Even so, Nanfeng wasn't very interested in the piano.

"Moreover, Nanfeng was a disliked and unruly child when he was young. It was impossible to expect him to be obedient. He also resisted a lot when he first started learning piano."

"Later, I don't know what happened, I just know that Nanfeng practiced the piano for longer and longer periods of time every day, and he became less talkative."

"Then, when he was eight years old, his father... passed away unexpectedly."

Yifei paused, but still didn't mention the suicide. She continued vaguely, "In short, Nanfeng was like a different person after his father left."

He became more and more attentive, gentle, understanding, caring, and tolerant of others.

"And then..."

She shrugged and said in a very somber tone, "Then he became the Nanfeng you all know."

Actually, the change is a good thing for Nanfeng. Otherwise, given his unruly and sarcastic personality when he was a child, he wouldn't be very likable.

But Yifei never wanted him to change because of this.

……

……

……

The crowd remained silent, letting their breaths and heartbeats fill the quiet and empty Zhenwu Hall.

After a long while, Youyou tentatively asked, "What about Nanfeng's mother?"

"Nanfeng's mother... I really don't know anything about her."

Yifei said helplessly, "All I know is that he and his mother have never had a good relationship. It's not that they have any major disagreements, but they just don't see each other more than a few times a year."

"As for whether they keep in touch regularly... Nanfeng didn't say, and I didn't ask."

The five people looked at each other, unsure of what to say for a moment.

They finally understood why Nanfeng, who was usually calm and reliable, would choose to immerse herself in a beautiful dream and refuse to wake up.

Zeng Xiaoxian immediately lost his appetite for fried rice. He put down his chopsticks and sighed, "So we can be almost certain that Nanfeng's dream is his childhood and his parents. This is going to be difficult."

While they were all immersed in their dreams, Youyou and Yifei were more immersed in their desires, and what they obtained were things that did not belong to them.

But Nanfeng is different. He is fixated on the past, on the happy childhood he should have had but lost.

It's easy to persuade someone to give up something that never truly belonged to them, but it's incredibly difficult to convince them to relinquish something they've regained after losing it.

Xiao Ze and Mu Feng nodded in agreement: "Moreover, Nan Feng is still a brat, and a brat's way of thinking is different from an adult's."

"If we tell Xiao Nanfeng that all he has now is a dream without being prepared, he will really get angry and hit us."

"Hey, hey, hey, you guys don't have to be so pessimistic."

Yifei clapped her hands, trying to get everyone excited: "Even the most difficult things to face and bear have been over for more than ten years now."

"What can be overcome, and what cannot be overcome, is ultimately in the past."

"These are all in the past; life is in the future!"

Yifei had great confidence in Nanfeng: "You really underestimate Nanfeng. He's not as fragile as you think. I believe Nanfeng can't just stay immersed in his dream forever."

Youyou sighed, "I hope so."

Mario nudged Xiao Xian in his suit: "Teacher Xian, you're so smart, do you have any ideas?"

"idea?"

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, gave a wicked smile: "My idea is that since it's troublesome and difficult to handle, we might as well not do anything at all."

"Just think of yourselves as tourists visiting the dream world. We'll wait for the dream machine to overload and crash, forcibly ending the dream."

"what?"

Everyone looked at Xiao Xian in the suit in disbelief, unable to understand what kind of surrenderist idea this was.

Facing everyone's shocked gazes, Xiao Xian in a suit shrugged: "Logically speaking, this is the simplest and most convenient method. Since we already have a sure-win solution, why bother considering anything else?"

Youyou twitched the corner of her mouth: "We've saved ourselves some trouble. Xiao Hei will probably be in tears from repairing the machines."

Xiao Ze, feeling a pang of pity, said, "Actually, I think Teacher Xian's idea is quite good, but the main thing is... do we really want to shatter Nanfeng's happy dream?"

Yifei and Youyou were immediately put in a difficult position upon hearing this.

Xiao Ze and Mu Feng are both soft-hearted, and neither of the two girls are heartless.

If Nanfeng just wants a happy and fulfilling childhood in his dreams, is it really necessary for everyone to shatter his beautiful dream?

Or... how about we do as Xiaoxian in the suit suggested?

Let Nanfeng have a wonderful childhood, even if it's fake.

"No, absolutely not!"

At this moment, Zeng Xiaoxian was the most determined: "Even without considering the repair costs of Xiao Hei, doing this is only a temporary solution."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Have you ever thought about what level of cutting-edge technology the Dream Device is?"

Even if the Dream Machine is currently just a tool exclusive to Nanfeng, Xiaohei will never give up on improving it, and Nanfeng will certainly not refuse to cooperate with Xiaohei in improving the Dream Machine.

"In other words, this may be the first time Nanfeng has entered my dream, but it will definitely not be the last time."

"If we choose to take him out by overloading and crashing him this time, who can guarantee that he won't fall into a dream again next time?"

"Who can guarantee he won't keep indulging in his fantasies?"

Zeng Xiaoxian slammed his fist on the table and said in an unquestionable tone, "If Nanfeng is really immersed in his dream time and time again, are we going to use this overload and crash method to take him out every time, until Xiaohei improves the dream device to the point that it can forcibly pull Nanfeng back to reality?"

"But even so, what's the point?"

Zeng Xiaoxian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He himself was a person immersed in a beautiful dream. When Laura came back, he thought about holding on tightly to what he had regained and never letting her disappear again.

Even though he knew perfectly well that Laura's reappearance in his life was just a beautiful dream, a dream that would end sooner or later, he was still immersed in it, unwilling to wake up, and even did a lot of stupid things because of it.

But dreams always have to end, because if you stay in an illusory dream, you'll only stay in the same place.

The path to happiness never exists in the dreams of the past; it exists only in reality, in the present and the future.

"I know that Nanfeng may just want to make up for his regrets in his dreams, and I can't bear to shatter his beautiful dream."

"But is it more painful for him to have his dream shattered, or for him to be repeatedly immersed in his dream and then pulled back to reality time and time again?"

"I don't know, and I don't need to know."

"Because the dead will never come back to life, what we need to change is not the irretrievable past, but the present and the future."

Zeng Xiaoxian smiled brightly and said, "We need to wake Nanfeng from his sweet dream and let him return to reality on his own."

"Even if we are to respect Nanfeng's wishes, he should tell us himself after he wakes up."

"Anyway, the Dream Machine isn't a one-time use item; if you miss it this time, you can have it again next time."

"What we need to do now is listen to Xiao Hei and wake Nanfeng up as soon as possible."

"Otherwise... what if the machine overloads and Xiao Hei makes us pay for it?"

Yifei and Youyou were stunned by Zeng Xiaoxian's words. They stared at the righteous and impassioned Zeng Xiaoxian in front of them, as if trying to see the traces of another person in him.

Is this really Zeng Xiaoxian?

Could he be someone in disguise?

Yifei absolutely refused to believe that Zeng Xiaoxian could deliver such a long and impassioned speech, but his words did indeed make everyone present no longer hesitate.

Zeng Xiaoxian is right. No matter what, they have to bring Nanfeng back to reality first. They can talk things out face to face and face any difficulties together.

As long as we're all together, there's no past that can't be overcome.

"Sure, Zeng Xiaoxian."

Yifei was unusually impressed with Zeng Xiaoxian: "I never expected that such a reasonable statement would come from your mouth."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Xiaoxian grinned smugly and said, "Not at all, it's all thanks to Lao..."

He slammed on the brakes and quickly changed his tune, saying, "Labor, labor, labor... The inspiration I received from the working people."

Yifei raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "The working class can give you this kind of inspiration?"

"You believe that?" Xiao Xian in the suit scoffed. "It was Laura who inspired him."

Yifei's eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

"No, how did you know?!"

Zeng Xiaoxian turned his head in shock to look at Xiaoxian in the suit, completely unaware of Yifei's increasingly dangerous gaze.

【Lola, right?】

Still hung up on your old flame, huh?

[What a useless green-haired turtle!]

【Pah!】

Yifei cursed inwardly.

As for Xiao Xian in the suit, he simply shrugged smugly: "I'm your fantasy partner. Didn't you know that fantasy partners have the ability to read minds of their real selves?"

"I can't believe such a thing exists!"

Zeng Xiaoxian was taken aback: "Where did this setting come from? How come I didn't know about it!"

"Because you're not a fantasy partner."

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, smugly pouted: "Don't believe me? Ask them."

Xiao Ze nodded to Mu Feng and Mario.

This setting is actually quite normal, because the fantasy partner can talk to the real person without restriction in any situation, but often the real person will only silently confide what they want to say to the fantasy partner in their heart.

Without mind-reading abilities, how could they possibly know what the real person is thinking?

"Depend on!"

Zeng Xiaoxian cursed under his breath. He turned around and saw Yifei looking at him with a tender expression.

Zeng Xiaoxian immediately went on alert, and he smiled ingratiatingly, "Yifei, little Feifei, Feifei Feifei..."

"I just suddenly remembered I still have a little experiment to do with my Fei's Innovative Fried Rice." Yi Fei winked sweetly, almost scaring Zeng Xiaoxian out of his wits. "Zeng Xiaoxian, why don't you give it a try?"

"I don't think we need to... Ah!!!"

With a snap of her fingers, Yifei sent Zeng Xiaoxian sprawling to the ground.

Fei's Innovative Egg Fried Rice, Ten Times More Thrilling!

Who says you can't have your digestive system working and promoting intestinal absorption in your dreams?

Now let the fried rice give this green-haired turtle a good cleansing!

So, at Yifei's command, the countless tiny grains of rice in Zeng Xiaoxian's stomach began to throb violently, and the electric-like tingling sensation emanating from his stomach to his whole body almost made Zeng Xiaoxian cry out in pleasure.

However, he quickly lost interest in having fun.

Because he wolfed down too much fried rice, the undigested rice grains in his stomach started jumping around wildly and irregularly. Some of them even flowed back up his esophagus and got stuck in Zeng Xiaoxian's throat.

Feeling a tingling, electric-like sensation throughout his body, Zeng Xiaoxian stretched out a trembling hand to cover his mouth: "Up there, up there isn't good!"

"Oh, no!"

His slightly trembling legs suddenly tightened, and he began to forcefully lift his hips.

"The area below, the area below is even worse!"

Youyou, Xiaoze, and Mufeng looked at Zeng Xiaoxian with sympathy.

Why do you eat so much fried rice?

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, even revealed a contented smile.

Serves you right for ruining my plans!

I'm coming

It's accelerating, it's accelerating.

(End of this chapter)