Legendary Captain

Chapter 161 The Legendary Successor

"Is this what you call review?" In the president's office, Wen Jingshu coldly questioned Li Yuan.

Li Yuan was already trembling like a leaf at this point. She didn't understand what was wrong, and that was what terrified her the most.

"Why is Xu Xian up there?" The air around Wen Jingshu began to cool rapidly, clearly indicating that she was extremely angry.

Li Yuan said tremblingly, "Xu Xian's name was changed later. I checked, and Xu Xian did indeed issue the penalty notice on behalf of someone else. According to the standards, he should be in the penalty notice."

"Li Yuan!" Yang Ning spoke up at this moment, stopping Li Yuan from trying to argue. Wen Jingshu was completely enraged, and Li Yuan actually dared to try to reason with her; wasn't she just courting death?

Li Yuan was stopped by Yang Ning, and could only look at Yang Ning innocently without saying anything more.

Wen Jingshu paused for a moment, then said, "Go back to the group headquarters."

"President Wen," Li Yuan tried to resist. Wen Jingshu was trying to kick her out of her inner circle, which meant getting her away from the center of power. You see, Wen Jingshu had recently taken over as chairman of the group; following Wen Jingshu was the shortcut to success.

Without Wen Jingshu, she would just be one of the tens of thousands of employees in the entire group, no different from anyone else. She knew her own abilities; relying on herself alone, she could basically see the end of her life ahead.

Yang Ning stepped forward and stopped Li Yuan again: "Li Yuan, you should go out first."

"Director," Li Yuan said, still somewhat apprehensive.

"Go out." Yang Ning gently pushed Li Yuan, allowing her to leave the office.

"Miss, Li Yuan didn't know about your relationship with Xu Xian, so it's understandable that she didn't specifically remove Xu Xian from the list. She's somewhat innocent in this punishment." It's likely that only Yang Ning could advise Wen Jingshu at this point.

Wen Jingshu sat down: "If she knew, she would have packed her bags and left long ago."

"The person who was talking to Xu Xian just now was Lian Shanxue, right? I'm not mistaken!" Wen Jingshu said coldly.

Lian Shanxue was someone she had brought over at her own initiative, but she hadn't been involved much in the matter, so she didn't have a very deep impression of Lian Shanxue. Even after seeing Lian Shanxue's appearance, she still had to ask Yang Ning to confirm it.

Yang Ning nodded: "It's Lianshan Snow."

Wen Jingshu's fingernails lightly traced the surface of the table before she asked, "What's her relationship with Xu Xian?"

"Miss, do you need to terminate the contract with Lian Shanxue?" Yang Ning's answer was different, more direct and more brutal.

"No need!" Wen Jingshu directly rejected Yang Ning's suggestion.

If she were to force Lian Shanxue to leave the company, wouldn't that mean she was afraid of her? Her strong sense of self-respect would absolutely not allow Wen Jingshu to show weakness.

Yang Ning noticed that Wen Jingshu and Xu Xian's relationship seemed to have progressed further. At least in the past, Wen Jingshu would never have expressed such direct favoritism towards Xu Xian. Now, Li Yuan had simply failed to remove Xu Xian from the list, yet he was directly "exiled to the frontier," a method that was extremely cruel.

Yang Ning hesitated for a moment: "Miss, you and Xu Xian?"

Previously, the meeting between Xu Xian, Xu Jingyang, Wen Mingyuan, and Wen Jingshu was quite private; even Yang Ning was unaware of it. Now, the external factors between Xu Xian and Wen Jingshu have been exposed, and it remains to be seen how things will develop between them.

"Aunt Ning, you don't need to worry about this. From now on, you don't need to give Xu Xian any special treatment," Wen Jingshu said.

The "special treatment" here doesn't mean it literally, but rather the opposite; it refers to the past practice of setting traps for Xu Xian at Wen Jingshu's behest. There's definitely no need to set traps for him now.

"Okay," Yang Ning replied, "Should I investigate the relationship between Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue?"

Wen Jingshu muttered to herself, "To be honest, Lian Shanxue shouldn't be Xu Xian's type! Aunt Ning, you should still go and check it out."

As Xu Xian's former fiancée, Wen Jingshu had a fairly good understanding of his preferences. In romantic relationships, Xu Xian preferred to be in a subordinate position. Therefore, he preferred women with a mature, sophisticated aura like Xia Qing or a strong, independent personality like Wen Jingshu.

Lian Shanxue's appearance and temperament seem completely different from Xu Xian's preferences. Wen Jingshu doesn't believe that Xu Xian really likes Lian Shanxue; they are probably just friends of the opposite sex.

Of course, it's not a bad idea to investigate secretly, just in case.

The airline exchange meeting was in full swing, with Xingyou Airlines' reception department leading the attendees from various airlines on tours and sightseeing. However, the real bigwigs were gathered together in a conference room of Xingyou Airlines.

The small conference room was filled with the heads of various airlines. Originally, a small airline exchange meeting wouldn't have attracted so many airline leaders, but the rumors of Xu Qing and Han Qi's upcoming visit had already spread like wildfire, causing many airline leaders who hadn't planned to attend to change their plans.

"I am very grateful that everyone has graced me with their presence. I assume you have all received the security verification materials for the new device model that I sent in advance. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask." Xu Qing sat in the main seat, acting as the meeting host.

Xu Qing asked the leaders of the various airlines to speak, but after several seconds, none of them spoke.

Finally, a representative from Kunlong Airlines spoke first: "Our Captain Han said that there are special offers for airlines that place orders within the next year. Mr. Xu, is this true?"

The safety verification materials for the new model are the bare minimum. If even the safety verification fails, today's meeting would be a joke. Therefore, this gathering is definitely not to discuss the safety of Qingyuan Group's new model, but rather its economic viability.

"Among the company leaders present, there are some with aircraft maintenance backgrounds, so they should know how high the maintenance and after-sales training costs are for mainstream aircraft models now," Xu Qing said with a smile.

Many airline executives are also professionals in their field, including pilots and mechanics. Anyone in mechanics should understand what Xu Qing is saying.

Actually, looking at the prices of mainstream passenger aircraft models alone doesn't yield much profit. Making money once isn't enough; the key to wealth is a steady, long-term approach. The real profits come from subsequent sales of aircraft parts and training services, especially parts sales. It's normal for a small light bulb to cost several hundred dollars. Aircraft parts expenses are a substantial expenditure. Anyone with even a little industry knowledge understands this.

Xu Qing: "For airlines that place orders within the next year, aircraft parts will be sold at cost price. At the same time, Xiangyu Training Center will also offer appropriate discounts for conversion training. The discount period is three years, and can be extended to five years if additional orders are placed later."

The new passenger aircraft developed by Qingyuan Group is completely different from mainstream models. Pilots who want to fly it need to undergo type conversion training, which requires flight simulators. Qingyuan Group's Xiangyu Training Center is one of the top flight simulator training centers in China, which is why Xu Qing has the confidence to offer preferential treatment in training.

"Is there a minimum order amount?" Wen Jingshu asked at this point. As a joint representative of both Star Travel Airlines and Chimelong Airlines, Wen Jingshu was also present at the meeting.

Xu Qing glanced at Wen Jingshu and smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "Jingshu, you can make decisions now?"

"You can make all the decisions now, Uncle Xu." Wen Jingshu smiled sweetly at Xu Qing.

Because of Xu Xian, Wen Jingshu and Xu Qing had met several times, and their relationship was better than that of strangers.

"You can enjoy the discount if you place five orders within a year," Xu Qing said with a smile.

It's not that you can't buy less than five, but you have to buy at least five to get the discount.

"It seems that Mr. Xu doesn't want to make money in the short term," said the representative of Kunlong Airlines.

"If we don't get off to a good start, the road ahead will be difficult and long." Xu Qing stretched and yawned. "Everyone has to have some ambition. Making the X10 a new mainstream model in China is my ultimate goal."

"But Mr. Hsu, no matter how much you increase the discounts or how much charity you do, it will all be in vain if the public doesn't accept the new aircraft. We can't afford to maintain an aircraft model that no one dares to fly on." At this moment, the China Airlines representative spoke up, directly addressing the core issue of the new aircraft model.

China Airlines, once a leader in China's civil aviation industry, suffered a severe blow after the MAX incident and never recovered. After a brief respite, it missed its last chance to return to its peak when Kunlong Airlines from the north rose to prominence. Since then, China Airlines has been struggling to survive, but it still has a considerable legacy from its wealthy past. Although it can no longer regain its leading position, it is still a company that should not be underestimated.

Influenced by the previous MAX incident, the public developed an almost instinctive resistance to new models. Strictly speaking, the MAX wasn't even a new model; it was merely a modification of an existing one. Even so, the public still couldn't accept new models. This is why, even after twenty years, no new mainstream model has emerged.

In reality, prejudice against new aircraft models is merely a ingrained perception among the public. Since the MAX incident, safety verification standards both domestically and internationally have become significantly stricter. Aircraft models that pass official safety verification generally do not have obvious structural defects. However, prejudice remains a formidable obstacle, difficult to overcome. Even when some airlines find that current mainstream aircraft models can no longer adequately meet their transportation needs, they still hesitate to hastily replace them with new models.

It's not that no new aircraft models have been developed in the last twenty years; some have even passed safety verification like the new models from Qingyuan Group, and a few airlines have even purchased small quantities. However, during the commercial period, for the same flight schedule, the ticket sales of the new models were less than 20% of those of the older models, which was simply appalling.

When purchasing tickets, customers can see the aircraft type information of the selected tickets. This information cannot be hidden. If anyone dares to hide the aircraft type information and is discovered by the authorities or reported to the authorities, the airline will be punished.

Unsurprisingly, the previous new model ultimately failed to materialize. Learning from this experience, subsequent research and development of new models became much more cautious. This resulted in the mainstream models remaining largely unchanged for twenty years. Therefore, many people believe that Qingyuan Group's development of new models is purely out of passion or simply because they have too much money.

Public acceptance remains a real and harsh issue, which in turn affects subsequent ticket sales and is an unavoidable problem.

In fact, Xu Qing, as the main person in charge of developing the new model, had an inherent advantage compared to the previous failure. Rigorous but tedious safety verification data wouldn't dispel public concerns; they might not even bother to look at it. They needed someone they could trust to assure them that the new model was safe.

They used to trust official sources, but the MAX incident taught them that sometimes even official sources aren't entirely trustworthy.

Who else can they trust? Xu Qing is clearly a good candidate.

But that's not enough!

"We need a crew that the public can trust to conduct the first commercial flight. This is not to verify the safety of the aircraft, but to convey a message and an attitude to the public, to remove the mountain of prejudice in their minds," Xu Qing said.

A China Airlines representative echoed, "But how can we find a crew with such a strong appeal? Mr. Xu Qing, are you going to personally take the lead?"

Xu Qing, as one of the greatest civil aviation legends of the past two decades, is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. This makes the success of this new aircraft model a little more likely. Otherwise, if someone else were in charge of the new aircraft model, the airline representatives wouldn't have bothered to come. It is precisely because of Xu Qing's presence that things are no longer destined to fail, which is why these airline representatives took time out of their busy schedules to come.

But Xu Qing didn't think so!

"No, my body is no longer suitable for normal commercial flights." Xu Qing shook his head.

His body had already suffered irreversible damage during the test flight of the X10 prototype more than a decade ago, and since then, he has had to request special permission from the authorities for each flight.

Perhaps under certain special circumstances, Xu Qing might be able to fly again, but definitely not in regular commercial flights.

The maiden flight of a new aircraft model must be universally applicable. Situations like Xu Qing's, where flights are only permitted by special regulations, are absolutely unsuitable for commercial flights. Allowing Xu Qing to fly the maiden flight would be utterly unconvincing.

Everyone present knew about Xu Qing's health condition and that Xu Qing was not intentionally unwilling to fly the maiden flight.

but

"If Mr. Xu is unable to operate the inaugural flight, China Airlines will withdraw from this new aircraft procurement." The China Airlines representative made the decision directly.

Without Xu Qing, the promotion and operation of the new model would be a joke.

"Is it indispensable to me?" Xu Qing asked with a smile.

The China Airlines representative said indifferently, "If it weren't for Mr. Xu, I wouldn't even have come. Besides Mr. Xu, I can't think of any other suitable candidate."

For a moment, the entire room fell silent, clearly in agreement with the China Airlines representative's viewpoint, even Wen Jingshu shared this sentiment. This was the consensus within the industry; they urgently needed an aircraft model that could keep up with the times, yet they were equally cautious and apprehensive.

Just then, the representative from Kunlong Airlines coughed lightly, and the conference room door opened, allowing someone to enter.

"I'll go!" Han Qi strode in with the air of a dragon and the presence of a tiger, his presence alone commanding respect from the entire audience.

His gaze shifted, finally settling on the China Airlines representative: "I wonder if I qualify as a suitable candidate?"

Looking at the person who had cut off China Airlines' path to revival, the China Airlines representative dared not utter a single word, no matter how much he gritted his teeth.

Kunlong Airlines and China Airlines have very similar core businesses, with even significant overlap. Before Kunlong Airlines rose to prominence, China Airlines was the dominant force in the northern aviation industry, leaving Kunlong Airlines trembling in the northeastern corner. However, Han Qi's sudden emergence, coupled with the impact of the MAX incident on China Airlines, led to a rapid reversal of the situation in just a few years.

Faced with the new hegemon in the northern region, China Airlines could only barely survive on its remaining assets. No matter how much they hated Han Qi, when it came to actually confronting him, the China Airlines representative was still at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.

From a rational point of view, Han Qi is the leading figure in China's civil aviation industry after Xu Qing, and is the most perfect candidate to succeed Xu Qing.

However, as Han Qi's arch-rival, the representative of China Airlines was unwilling to say those words.

"Captain, this will make things very difficult for the company's review committee," the representative from Kunlong Airlines said helplessly.

Even though Xu Qing and Han Qi are considered two unparalleled talents, the pioneers are ultimately different. From an insider's professional perspective, Han Qi and Xu Qing are equally matched. However, in the public's mind, Xu Qing still has a slightly greater appeal than Han Qi; Xu Qing's position is irreplaceable.

Han Qi said calmly, "This is my personal behavior. If the company feels that my behavior will have any negative impact on the company, I can change companies."

Han Qi is the soul of Kunlong Airlines, and Kunlong Airlines must maintain consistency with Han Qi, at least on the surface. However, if Han Qi conducts the maiden flight of the new aircraft, then Kunlong Airlines should, in principle, participate in the procurement of the new aircraft.

The company's review committee had already concluded that if Xu Qing did not directly participate, the new model would not be purchased.

Indeed, even Kunlong Airlines' own review committee felt that Han Qi's influence was not as great as Xu Qing's.

That's just how reality is!

Unfortunately, there is no third person in the entire domestic civil aviation industry who can bridge this gap.

The representative from Kunlong Airlines was shocked: "Captain, that's not what I meant."

Han Qi sat down next to Xu Qing and said calmly, "I have already brought enough to Kunlong. Now I want to do my own thing. The company doesn't need to consider me; they can make their own decisions."

The people at Kunlong Airlines were stunned. What was going on? Han Qi was leaving Kunlong?

A different kind of light began to appear in the eyes of many representatives from other airlines.

"Has Captain Han finally figured things out and found a new goal?" Xu Qing said with a smile.

Han Qi leaned back in his chair and said expressionlessly, "I can't just spend the rest of my life doing nothing."

"Captain Han, it seems that relying on you alone is not enough!" Wen Jingshu said bluntly, "I'm just telling the truth, and I hope Captain Han won't mind."

"No, no, no! It's fate, there's nothing we can do about it." Han Qi was quite magnanimous, not at all annoyed by Wen Jingshu's words.

In fact, Wen Jingshu simply said what others dared not say.

"As for what to do? Mr. Xu, you must have some idea, right?" Han Qi asked Xu Qing, "If all else fails, how about you be my co-pilot? You can't be the captain because of your health issues, but you can be the co-pilot, right?"

The eyes of the airline representatives lit up. If Xu Qing and Han Qi were to operate the maiden flight together, wouldn't the effect be explosive? Everyone showed a glimmer of hope, waiting for Xu Qing's affirmative answer.

Xu Qing blushed slightly: "Are you kidding me? If my body were to meet the normal medical examination standards, I wouldn't even qualify as an observer. Why don't you ask the Civil Aviation Administration of China to revise the medical examination standards? Allow people who are almost deaf in one ear and have intermittent numbness in one hand to perform normal flights? If the Civil Aviation Administration of China can introduce this new standard, I'll immediately become your co-pilot, how about that?"

"Never mind what I said." Han Qi slowly closed his eyes, seemingly beginning to rest.

What's going on here? So you've run out of solutions?

The airline representatives were speechless. If it was just Han Qi replacing Xu Qing, then they obviously could not accept this plan.

If Xu Qing cannot provide a satisfactory solution, they will have no choice but to reject the introduction of the new model once again.

Just as the representative from Letu Airlines was about to state their position, Xu Qing waved his hand and said, "Can't we just find someone else?"

The representative from Letu Airlines twitched his lips. Find another one—everyone knows that's what should be done, the question is, where to find one?

Only figures like Xu Qing or Han Qi have the power to persuade the people; if you don't reach that level, no matter how many people there are, it won't make a difference.

And now, apart from Xu Qing and Han Qi, there are simply no other people of the same caliber.

However, Wen Jingshu had a different thought: "Uncle Xu, have you found someone like this?"

Logically speaking, if such a person truly existed, they, as seasoned industry professionals, should know about it. But right now, there's not a single whisper of it, and they're even starting to suspect that Xu Qing is just spouting nonsense.

Wen Jingshu didn't believe Xu Qing was the type to exaggerate, which is why she asked him the question.

Xu Qingyi shrugged: "Not yet!"

"Not yet?" Wen Jingshu was stunned. What kind of question was that? Didn't that mean there wasn't one? Wasn't that obvious? In another thirty or fifty years, maybe another one would appear, but would it still make a difference?

Xu Qing grinned, revealing her teeth: "I meant it will be here soon!"

(End of this chapter)