Chapter 112: The Wonderful Cause and Effect
"This interview is so bland, there's no hype. Go back and revise it."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
Before he could even connect the person giving the feedback with their name, Yamada Koichi hurriedly turned and ran to his workstation. The elongated hallway and the strange background noise seemed a bit abrupt. When he stopped to take in the details, all he could see was the shape of the ceiling light gradually becoming clear in the darkness. Next to the circular plate was the imprint of a slipper sole, left by swatting a mosquito the day before.
As I slowly came to my senses, I noticed that the phone next to me was ringing cheerfully.
He grabbed the phone, and the dazzling LED light illuminated the dim room. He squinted his eyes and looked at the 7:00 on it and clicked his tongue.
I forgot to turn off the alarm last night.
Annoyed, he turned off several subsequent alarms, rolled over, and closed his eyes. The lingering echoes of his dream lingered, preventing his heart rate from returning to its normal rhythm. After a few minutes of struggling, he sat up in bed, grabbed his laptop from the nightstand, and flipped open the screen.
My plan to have a good sleep in after finishing the live broadcast of "New Year's Day" was aborted.
As a program planner with three years of experience, capable of independently handling projects, it's hard to blame Yamada Koichi for his lack of mental fortitude for worrying about the show's content. He was also hard-pressed to hear guests express dissatisfaction with the content of the interviewed footage after the show ended.
Last night, backstage after the show ended, Koichi Yamada was finalizing the finishing touches when a casual conversation caught his attention.
"I thought this interview would allow us to have an in-depth discussion about Yuzuru Hanyu's love life."
He tried hard not to look up to see who was talking, and deliberately flipped through the information in his hand over and over again, listening to what the other party said. His expression was normal, but the barrage of comments was already flying all over his mind.
"Yeah, it's such a hot topic lately."
The implication was, why didn't the production team mention this? Yamada Koichi flipped through the materials in displeasure. These artists were just so out of touch, ignoring the context and accusing people without even considering the consequences. None of those recent hotly debated issues had occurred when he went to interview them!
When he was paired with Yuzuru Hanyu, his relationship had just become public, but he'd mostly avoided discussing it. Hasegawa, his opponent, was even more defensive. After several rounds of back-and-forth, he finally came up with this interview format reflecting on his entire competitive career, slipping in the question of his views on marriage.
"I'm also really looking forward to it, especially since they specifically brought up [Views on Marriage] during yesterday's promotional video. Who knew it would only be this short? The production team is really good at capitalizing on everyone's curiosity~"
Why don't you think about how hard it is for me? Yamada Koichi rolled his eyes inwardly and started to complain. He didn't want to engage in this kind of false publicity, but he also knew what everyone was expecting. If he didn't promote [Marriage Views], how could he meet his KPI?
"It's not easy for the production team. I was thinking maybe we could connect live. It would be inconvenient for the production team, but maybe we can help ask questions during the live broadcast~"
Oh, that's easy to say.
Yamada Koichi couldn't listen any longer. The conversation between these artists had devolved into a chaotic rant. They each boldly discussed how they would make Yuzuru Hanyu come clean about his relationship if they were to capture him, constantly complimenting each other, creating an inexplicably confident and cheerful atmosphere in the room.
A few days ago, we should have tried our best to persuade Yuzuru Hanyu to agree to a live broadcast, so that you guys could feel the level of the king who has been facing the media since childhood.
On the day of the interview, Yamada Koichi had just finished setting up the camera setup when Yuzuru Hanyu was already waiting nearby. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit. As the staff spoke to him, he responded earnestly with a typical Hanyu smile, a natural glint in the corner of his eye, the kind of boy next door, full of affability. His smile illuminated the surroundings like sunshine. He clasped his hands in front of him, looking well-behaved, though he occasionally twitched his ankles, his playful demeanor giving off an air of intimacy.
"I'll take care of today's interview." He greeted the staff around him with full energy, then took small steps into the camera's range.
The script was progressing smoothly until the topic of love and marriage was cueed. Yuzuru Hanyu's eyes were obviously more curved than before when he smiled. He tilted his head, and the subtle pause and elongated ending made Yamada inexplicably nervous.
"Hanyu-san, do you still remember your answer to the question about your views on marriage?"
"Eh~ I remember a little bit." He answered with a curled lip, but did not continue.
"We looked through previous materials and saw that it was mentioned that falling in love would disappoint fans and make them feel betrayed. What do you think now?" Yamada straightened his back, displayed his professionalism, and continued to guide the topic.
"Yeah~ I did say that... But I think I also said at the time that I'm not some kind of idol... Compared to my love life and marriage, being able to skate for my fans and give them a good show is probably more important. Fufufu~" He finished, chuckling to himself, "Ah, what I was just saying, a marriage or love life that can inspire a great passion for skating..."
Yamada wasn't sure where the muttering came from, but he saw an opportunity to ask.
"Then, let me ask, is it because ballet inspires figure skating that you choose to date a ballet dancer?"
"This sounds like a philosophical trap, Mr. Yamada." Yuzuru Hanyu replied with a smile on his face and a playful tone.
However, the statement that followed not only invalidated the answer, but also made Yamada Koichi feel a chill down his spine when he thought about it while sitting on the bed.
He scratched his head, pulled himself together, and began to read the comments of the show.
"Ah...as expected..."
He took a quick look and saw quite a few complaints about the use of "Marriage Views" for promotional purposes. However, some even hoped the production team might have some hidden material to air later.
I really want to reply, but there is no more. If there was, he would definitely have it edited out instead of being scolded here.
Fortunately, a highly-rated comment made it to the front row, sparking some other discussions.
[Free Youjiang: I guess this promotion is just to attract attention, but it's reasonable to speculate that the production team may have been unlucky. If they had interviewed Hanyu recently, maybe he would be willing to talk about it. I don't know what Hanyu is doing now, why don't the production team interview him now?]
The discussion about what athlete Hanyu is doing now is in full swing in the comment section of this program. The person who holds the answer just typed a few words, hesitated for a few seconds, and then deleted the answer.
"Mom, what are you looking at?" Yuta sat on the examination bed, leaning over to look at his mother's phone. His foot was still being patched, feeling rather bored. His other, still healthy foot, kept moving restlessly, revealing his restlessness.
"Nothing, just sit still. How about I go buy you some rice balls for breakfast?" Mrs. Mitani stood up, bowed toward the nearby examination bed, and said politely, "Hanyu-san, do you want me to bring you and...your girlfriend some breakfast as well?"
"Ah, no, no~" Yuzuru Hanyu, who was also lying on the examination bed, smiled and waved his hand. There was an acupuncture needle on his knee. When he moved, the pulse wire clamped on the acupuncture needle also shook.
"No need, you're too polite." Le held Yuzuru Hanyu's arm and bowed to Mrs. Mitani beside him to decline her kindness on his behalf.
"No, if you two hadn't bothered us today, Yuta might have missed the acute care." She bowed gratefully. This morning, Yuta had rushed to the mailbox to check if the gift had arrived, and had fallen hard on the icy concrete floor outside her home, twisting her knee and locking her into a crouch. She immediately wanted to bring her child to see Dr. Morimoto, but when she saw the sign at the door announcing the suspension of appointments, she realized that this was Hanyu's appointment time.
But she didn't know where to go in the early morning, so in a moment of nervousness she knocked on the door regardless.
"I'm glad Yuta is okay~ It's really a small matter. Actually, it's me who has caused trouble to everyone." Yuzuru Hanyu said these words while lying down. He always felt something was weird. He wanted to prop up his upper body, but was held down again.
"Mrs. Mitani, you are too polite. It is more important that Yuta handles this in a timely manner without affecting the subsequent figure skating training~" Le took over Yuzuru Hanyu's words.
"Then I'll go first. I'll leave Yuta here, please."
After Mrs. Mitani left, the room fell silent again. Yuta wandered around aimlessly, no one paying him any attention. Yuzuru Hanyu lay in bed, eyes closed, resting, happily reading something on his iPad.
"Sister, what are you looking at?" She tried to get her head closer to Le, but couldn't see clearly. Instead, because of her dishonest movements, she dropped the medicine bag on her injured leg. Before the bag hit the ground, Le caught it steadily. "Wow, sister, you are so amazing."
"Don't move around. I'll lend you my iPad to read comics." Le saw that Yuta was bored, so he took out the comics from the iPad and handed it to him.
"Hey, the comics are also about figure skating. Sister, do you really like figure skating? Do you want to marry Hanyu because you like figure skating?" Yuta looked up at Le with an innocent face. His chubby face made this strange logical statement seem not annoying at all, but rather cute.
Le glanced at Yuzuru Hanyu, who had his eyes closed beside him. The noticeable trembling of his eyelashes betrayed the fact that he was pretending to be asleep. She smiled, put her index finger to her lips, and answered quietly.
"I'm not getting married yet."
"Hey~ If you guys aren't getting married, why don't you marry me? I can figure skate too~"
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