During the interview, that middle-aged pilot kept noticing the hints given with his by-standing supervisor's eyes and dared not answer frankly.
Examples (Wiktionary)
Mandarin
于是，他用眼角的余光扫视了一下四周，发现旁边太监也纷纷向他使眼色，便顾左右而言他，用“人自然是怕鬼”的话敷衍了事。
於是，他用眼角的餘光掃視了一下四周，發現旁邊太監也紛紛向他使眼色，便顧左右而言他，用“人自然是怕鬼”的話敷衍了事。
yú shì ， tā yòng yǎn jiǎo de yú guāng sǎo shì le yī xià sì zhōu ， fā xiàn páng biān tài jiān yě fēn fēn xiàng tā shǐ yǎn sè ， biàn gù zuǒ yòu ér yán tā ， yòng “ rén zì rán shì pà guǐ ” de huà fū yǎn liǎo shì ．
Thus, he scanned the surroundings with his peripheral vision and discovered that the eunuch beside him kept winking at him, so he tried to dodge the question and ended the discussion perfunctorily by saying, "People are naturally afraid of ghosts."