Legendary Captain

Chapter 146 A Precarious Flight Route Inspection

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad!" Xu Xian quickly reassured Qin Zongyang.

"It can't be that bad, it can't be that bad!" Qin Zongyang's faith collapsed.

He originally thought Xu Xian was his chance to fulfill his dream, but it turned out to be the final nail in his coffin.

Whether it's Wen Jingshu or Wen Mingyuan, either of them could easily kill any further chance of him advancing.

Xu Xian glanced sideways and said, "The emperor is far away, why should they care about you?"

Wen Mingyuan and Wen Jingshu are both top figures in the group, so why would they care about a department leader in a second-tier subsidiary? The difference is simply too great.

Of course, this is Xu Xian's opinion, but the reality is not so.

Qin Zongyang gritted his teeth in anger: "The emperor is far away, what kind of joke are you talking about! Our current president of Xingyou is Wen Jingshu, and you still say it's far away?"

"What? She's our company's president?" Xu Xian exclaimed in shock. "When did this happen?"

Xu Xian knew that Chimelong Airlines, the parent company of Star Travel Airlines, was a business of the Wens Group. However, the Wens Group rarely paid special attention to second-tier subsidiaries like Star Travel Airlines, so Xu Xian didn't feel any pressure about applying for the position.

After all, Star Travel's salary level is considered good in the industry, and it's also much more convenient as you don't have to move.

Of course, if Xu Jingyang hadn't broken ties with Xu Qing, choosing Xingfei Airlines would have been the best solution for Xu Xian.

In fact, the connection between Xu Qing and Xu Xian's family is Huang Ying. After all, Xu Qing saved Huang Ying's life on the plane. In addition, Huang Ying took the initiative to bring the two families closer. So Huang Ying is the key figure. Moreover, Mei Tingting and Huang Ying have a very good relationship in private.

It was precisely because of this that Xu Jingyang's stubbornness back then angered Huang Ying, leading to their divorce, which greatly displeased Mei Tingting. After that, Mei Tingting made Xu Qing sever all ties with Xu Jingyang.

Without Huang Ying, Xu Jingyang was a complete stranger; who would care about him? Xu Jingyang's self-awareness was accurate: unless he died an unnatural death, Xu Qing's family wouldn't care about him at all. This was only because of the gold lock on Huang Ying and Xu Xian's chests.

However, that alone was enough for Xu Jingyang to intimidate Wen Mingyuan!

The moment Xu Jingyang and Huang Ying divorced, the two families essentially went their separate ways.

Of course, if Xu Xian disregarded his father's life and death and went to Xu Qing's side alone, Xu Qing would certainly accept him. But how could Xu Xian abandon his father?

"It hasn't been long! Just these past few months, you didn't know?" Qin Zongyang suddenly realized, "It's normal that you didn't know, I only found out by accident, I didn't know at all before."

Wen Jingshu's joining Xingyou Airlines was done in a very low-key manner, and she was able to keep it a secret, so many people at Xingyou Airlines did not know that their president was the group's second princess.

"Just these past few months?" Xu Xian pondered for a moment. "Then that's close to when I started working here?"

Thinking of this, Xu Xian suddenly recalled that since joining Xingyou Airlines, he seemed to have encountered a lot of trouble for no reason. For example, he was tricked by Fu Xing, the assistant of the cadet team, during his first exam. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and had the help of Ning Sheng, an enlightened instructor, otherwise he would have suffered a serious setback.

Then came a bizarre simulator test for the flight crew. This test was unheard of before; aside from Xu Xian, no one else had ever encountered it—it seemed tailor-made for him. Now it seemed that it wasn't just "seemed," it was undeniably true!

Later, Xu Xian, who had passed the flight simulator test, was unexpectedly and without reason assigned to assist Lian Shanxue with the initial modifications, which was a complete waste of Xu Xian's time. Based on this, it's likely that this assignment wasn't random.

"What are you muttering to yourself?" Qin Zongyang asked curiously as he leaned closer to Xu Xian, who was muttering to himself.

Xu Xian frowned: "I'm wondering if I'm being targeted!"

"Targeted? You? By whom?" Qin Zongyang's little brain raced, and a terrifying thought popped into his head: "That person from just now?"

Xu Xian nodded very honestly.

Having only recently joined the company, I shouldn't have offended any leaders. But if Wen Jingshu is the president of Xingyou, then everything seems to make sense.

"You actually nodded?!" Qin Zongyang was struck dumb. "You're going to die! You're going to die! You're going to die! We've come all this way to get you, and you're still calling us half an enemy? Even the deepest grudges aren't this serious! Tell me, did you deceive our CEO's feelings? Let me tell you, if you really did that, don't blame me for cleaning house!"

Qin Zongyang's words revealed an unparalleled sense of justice.

"Our CEO? When did you switch sides and join her side?" Xu Xian couldn't help but smile wryly.

Qin Zongyang shook his finger: "I'm standing on the side of justice. The old man hates shameless scoundrels like you who play with emotions the most."

"Shameless scoundrel?" Xu Xian asked helplessly, "Master, what has made you so unprincipled?"

Qin Zongyang remained unfazed: "What are principles? I don't know. All I have is the will to survive! If you drag me down, I'll drag you down with me even if I die!"

Xu Xian shuddered involuntarily; hearing such vicious words sent a chill down his spine. But Qin Zongyang's bloodshot eyes made it clear he wasn't joking.

"No, no! We pilots are all materialists. It would be bad if people heard us talking about ghosts and gods all day long. Look at the second-in-command of the flight department, he keeps talking about all sorts of nonsense. Isn't that inappropriate?" Xu Xian began to lecture him earnestly.

"Really?" Qin Zongyang was taken aback. "That seems to make sense."

"Understood?" Xu Xian was very satisfied with Qin Zongyang's comprehension; he grasped it immediately.

Qin Zongyang smiled and nodded: "I understand, I understand. You've explained it so clearly, how could I not understand? We can't talk about ghosts or gods, so let's do this: if I don't become the general manager of the flight department, I'll just take a knife and chop you up. That way, there won't be any supernatural connotations, and it'll be in line with materialism, right?"

"There's nothing supernatural about it!" Xu Xian roared, "But this is fucking inhumane!"

"If I don't become the general manager of the flight department, it's most likely because of you. What's wrong with turning against you?" Qin Zongyang snorted.

"You're really good at making excuses for yourself! Not becoming the general manager of the flight department is my fault? How could you say such a despicable thing?" Xu Xian said.

Qin Zongyang shrugged nonchalantly: "You can just say it if you have the nerve! Skinny things don't exist for this old man!"

"They're not ashamed, they're proud of it!"

"That's called optimism!" Qin Zongyang was quite unhappy with Xu Xian's teasing. Suddenly, his phone rang. While still trying to intimidate Xu Xian, Qin Zongyang answered the phone with an air of arrogance: "Who is it!"

"I'm your father!" A deafening roar came from the other end of the phone: "Old man Qin, what did you do to the crew of Blue Sky Airlines? Later today, Blue Sky Airlines went directly to the Aviation Safety Office of the General Administration! They directly named Star Travel 6777 for disregarding human life! Star Travel 6777, isn't that the flight you flew today?"

It has to be said that the people at Blue Sky Airlines have a big temper; they say they'll go to the General Administration of Customs but will never go to the Southwest Regional Administration. They are incredibly arrogant.

"Oh, it's Old Zhang! I was wondering where you got this weird habit of wanting to be someone else's dad? Being a dad used to be comfortable, but now it's not such a good job. Are you sure you want to be my dad?" When it comes to witty banter, Qin Zongyang is never one to back down.

Zhang Qingyu had no time to waste words with Qin Zongyang and went straight to the point: "Stop talking nonsense, what is it? I heard from the authorities that Blue Sky Airlines is eager to skin you alive!"

Zhang Qingyu works in the safety department of Xingyou Airlines. Lantian Airlines went all the way to the State Administration of Taxation to sue the crew of Xingyou 6777; how could he, a mere safety supervisor, ignore it?

"Skinned alive? No way, no way! Those guys from Blue Sky Airlines are used to being arrogant and don't know their own words. It's just a joke, a joke!" Qin Zongyang said.

"So what exactly happened?"

After organizing his thoughts, Qin Zongyang recounted in detail what had happened when he took off from Yunnan.

By the end, Zhang Qingyu was drenched in cold sweat, and he muttered, "If it were me, I'd not only skin you alive, but also fry you in oil! You deserve to die!"

Qin Zongyang's eyes widened in anger, and he roared into the phone, "Old Zhang, don't think you can piss on my head just because you're a few years older than me! My life is precious!"

"You almost drove the crew of Blue Sky Airlines to their deaths, and you still dare to spout nonsense here? Don't fly tomorrow. The company has booked tickets for you. Get back here right now!" Zhang Qingyu said angrily.

"Why are you going back to the company?"

Zhang Qingyu snorted coldly: "A joint trial by three courts!"

"Is this what you call a joint trial?" Qin Zongyang glanced at Zhang Qingyu, Lu Xinyu, and Cao Jinwen in front of him, and said disdainfully, "A retired old man, an ignorant brat, and a sycophant—this is how they interrogate me?"

Zhang Qingyu was also a pilot, but he was older than Qin Zongyang and had reached retirement age. He no longer flies and now only does ground work in the safety supervision department.

The arrogant and ignorant brat undoubtedly refers to Lu Xinyu. As for the tagalong, unfortunately, the label fell on Cao Jinwen.

Previously, Cao Jinwen and Qin Zongyang had some acquaintance. But now he finds that Cao Jinwen is getting closer and closer to Lu Xinyu, practically acting as her follower, which makes Qin Zongyang extremely unhappy.

"With your rank, do you expect the vice president to question you? Aren't you overestimating yourself?" Lu Xinyu glanced at Xu Xian behind Qin Zongyang, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips.

With both master and disciple present, it's perfect to resolve this all at once!

Qin Zongyang and Lu Xinyu had never gotten along. Qin Zongyang had just been mocked in the previous sentence, and he wanted to get back at Lu Xinyu in the next sentence, but Zhang Qingyu stopped him.

"Hey Lao Qin, what are you smug about? Explain yourself clearly! Stop trying to talk your way out of this!" Zhang Qingyu said sternly. "Let me tell you, the control tower at Dianyun Airport has also reported this. The authorities take this very seriously, and you can't afford to be glib."

Seeing the somewhat tense atmosphere, Qin Zongyang scoffed, "This has nothing to do with us! It was probably caused by the wake turbulence of the preceding aircraft; we can't be held responsible!"

"A wake vortex from the preceding aircraft?" Zhang Qingyu frowned. "Explain yourself in detail, tell me everything you're thinking! I'll say it again, no lying, no collusion. If you're caught, the punishment will be more severe!"

While flight data recorders can provide a lot of information, combining it with the pilot's own experience can provide a clearer understanding of the situation, provided that the pilot is honest.

Of course, with DFDR being so advanced now, if a pilot lies, it's very likely they'll be exposed. Having technical problems with flying is one thing, but lying is a serious character issue! A harsher punishment is practically a certainty.

"Why would I lie? It wasn't even our problem, why would I lie?" Qin Zongyang rolled his eyes. "It's all about radiation inversion and winglets... Hey, Xu Xian, you tell us! Repeat your analysis from the plane!"

Veteran pilots like Qin Zongyang might have been highly skilled in manual combat, but their theoretical knowledge was relatively weaker. Of course, this isn't absolute, but it's true that this was more common among pilots of Qin Zongyang's era.

The cabin noise is much weaker now than before. Otherwise, in the past, the entire cabin noise would have been recorded, so there would have been no need for Xu Xian to speak.

However, this was no problem for Xu Xian. His memory was excellent, and he could repeat exactly what was said yesterday.

Xu Xian, not showing any hesitation, organized his thoughts and said, "That's right."

Xu Xian spoke for almost an hour, during which Zhang Qingyu asked questions about details, all of which Xu Xian answered with great composure.

Seeing their apprentice answer fluently, while Zhang Qingyu and Lu Xinyu, who had been asking questions, were running out of ideas, they were overjoyed: "That's enough, you've asked everything you needed to ask, are you still not done?"

His apprentice had given him face, so Qin Zongyang spoke with his head held high and chest out, displaying an air of authority.

Zhang Qingyu glanced at the question list. He had already asked all the questions that were listed in advance, and he had also asked most of the questions that came to mind on the spot. There were really no additional questions.

He turned to look at Lu Xinyu beside him, as if to ask if Lu Xinyu had any further questions.

Lu Xinyu gave Xu Xian, who still had plenty of energy, a deep look, then glanced at the beaming Qin Zongyang. His right hand unconsciously clenched, and even his cheeks puffed out slightly. "President Qin has truly taken on a fine apprentice!"

Qin Zongyang, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky, simply waved his hand and said, "This lowly disciple is dull-witted and cannot compare to President Lu's talent. My clumsy remarks just now were truly laughable!"

Qin Zongyang's demeanor was the perfect fuel for Lu Xinyu's anger. However, unlike before, Lu Xinyu wasn't overtly pleased; his face remained expressionless as he calmly said, "I think President Qin's apprentice is about to be promoted! Since he's President Qin's apprentice, his abilities are undoubtedly top-notch. Such strength deserves an excellent inspector! Let me think... what about Wang Lingkun?"

"Wang Lingkun!" Qin Zongyang's eyelids twitched violently. This was a notoriously short-tempered instructor in the entire company, who didn't even give Qin Zongyang any face. Qin Zongyang's status as his apprentice didn't carry any weight with Wang Lingkun.

Moreover, Wang Lingkun has a very strange temper. If he wants you to pass, you can pass no matter what; if he doesn't want you to pass, you can't pass no matter what! If Xu Xian falls into his hands, the flight path inspection will be in danger!

"Our CEO Lu really has a lot to manage!" Qin Zongyang mocked.

Lu Xinyu smiled and said, "It just happens to be within my jurisdiction, there's nothing I can do about it!"

Although Lu Xinyu and Qin Zongyang are both deputy general managers, their positions overlap considerably. However, Lu Xinyu tends to have a stronger sense of professional responsibility. For example, Lu Xinyu has more say in assigning inspectors than Qin Zongyang. If Lu Xinyu is determined to appoint Wang Lingkun as the inspector for the route inspection following Xu Xian's promotion to first-class co-pilot, Qin Zongyang really won't be able to do anything about it.

Wang Lingkun is a complete hothead. If he's in a bad mood on the day of the inspection and wants to prevent Xu Xian from passing the inspection, there's really no way to stop him.

If a flight route inspection fails, it takes some time before it can be rescheduled. It's not that if you fail once, you can have a second inspection a few days later. The waiting time between two flight route inspections is calculated in months.

Such a long waiting time is unacceptable to Qin Zongyang, who is hoping for Xu Xian to turn the tide.

Qin Zongyang didn't expect that Lu Xinyu, seeing that he couldn't do anything to him in this incident, would turn his malice towards Xu Xian.

However, the twenty years that Qin Zongyang lived longer than Lu Xinyu were not wasted.

He sneered, "A mere trick, watch me break it!"

(End of this chapter)