Legendary Captain

Chapter 187 What's on Fire? (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

"Isn't this just drawing a salary without working?" Xu Xian found it hard to believe that Lin Sheng could offer such terms. He usually only saw this kind of thing online, but he never expected it to actually happen to him today.

"Tsk!" Lin Sheng was displeased this time. "How can you talk like that? How is it considered drawing a salary without working? Doesn't he still clock in once a month?"

"What?!" Xu Xian's worldview was shattered. "Do I have some kind of misunderstanding about receiving a salary without working?"

What's the difference between this and the idea that prostitution doesn't count as prostitution if you don't pay?

I originally thought Lin Sheng had thick eyebrows and big eyes and a righteous air about him, but I didn't expect him to be so cunning.

"Anyway, if you can find someone, we'll definitely give you a kickback. It's just a different way now, installment payments." Lin Sheng seemed completely at ease, without a hint of unease.

Although Xu Xian is an employee of Xingyou Airlines, helping to make connections clearly exceeded his due obligations, and receiving a certain amount of kickbacks was normal practice.

After all, everyone in the civil aviation industry knows that Xingfei Airlines has excellent maintenance personnel, especially the older generation of veteran maintenance workers. However, those skilled veteran maintenance workers are all very temperamental. Without someone to help you, if you go directly to them, you're likely to be berated by them until you question your existence on the spot.

Therefore, if Xu Xian acted as the matchmaker, he would be credited with the greatest achievement.

However, Xu Xian hadn't expected that the kickback would be paid in installments in the form of wages.

"What, you're really planning to come here as an instructor?" Lin Sheng asked in surprise when he saw that Xu Xian was still somewhat hesitant.

"No," Xu Xian waved his hand. "I was just curious whether your proposal would be approved."

"Don't worry about that. While pilots don't need to know the intricate details of an aircraft's construction, it's still essential to be familiar with some basic or common malfunctions. There was a recent incident where maintenance personnel made a mistake and the crew didn't notice. Although it didn't cause any major safety issues, it shows that it's necessary to broaden pilots' knowledge. My plan will definitely be very useful for pilots. Our two vice presidents in the flight department are both very proactive; why wouldn't they agree? It's not like they're spending any money, and they'll gain a good reputation. Besides, if those veteran maintenance personnel really come, they can train our company's maintenance staff, which the maintenance department would absolutely welcome. Both the flight and maintenance departments will support it; why wouldn't my plan be approved?" Lin Sheng explained.

Xu Xian was still somewhat uneasy: "But won't there be any consequences for drawing a salary without working?"

"Xu Xian, which do you think is bigger, our company or Chimelong Airlines?" Lin Sheng suddenly asked.

This is hardly a question. Chimelong Airlines is more than three times the size of Star Airlines. Even if the information isn't perfectly precise, the difference between Star Airlines and Chimelong Airlines is obvious to the naked eye. Even those outside the civil aviation industry should be able to see it.

Before Xu Xian could answer, Lin Sheng continued, "Chimelong Airlines' ground planning department has 23 people, yet they manage to organize the entire airline's flight schedule perfectly. Our company's planning department has 25 people, more people doing more work, but fewer flights, resulting in a chaotic flight schedule. From co-pilots and captains to instructors, no one is satisfied. It's common at Xingyou to have one person working, two supervising, and one reporting. I haven't eliminated Xingyou's low efficiency and serious waste, nor do I have the ability to do so. I only want to do things that benefit our flights; I don't care about anything else, nor can I."

Lin Sheng could tell that Xu Xian still had some sense of shame, so he could only offer some advice. Actually, although Lin Sheng's so-called installment payment plan seemed like a joke, it was actually the most accurate description.

Compared to those who genuinely receive salaries without working, Xu Xian's deal was remarkably fair. Yet, the mere difference in form made Xu Xian uncomfortable. It just goes to show that Xu Xian still has a bottom line!

However, in Lin Sheng's opinion, Xu Xian had nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Why don't you just pay me the full amount instead of installments?" Xu Xian still couldn't accept taking money without doing any work.

"Then I need to go back and discuss it." Lin Sheng really didn't dare to agree on the spot. Capitalists have a natural instinct for saving money. The difference between installment payments and paying in full at once is huge.

However, only Xu Xian could help poach those veteran maintenance personnel from Xingfei Airlines. With this advantage, Lin Sheng felt the company would be more willing to cooperate.

Xu Xian was truly exasperated by the company's stinginess, but since Xingyou was the one providing the funds, how things would proceed depended on how urgent the company's needs were.

"Then I'll wait for your news." Xu Xian was the type to not act until he saw a tangible result. The implication was clear: if you don't resolve this for me, I won't put in any effort.

Lin Sheng smiled, indicating his understanding; he had no interest in advocating for the company's rights.

Suddenly, another voice chimed in: "What are you talking about? You seem to be having a great time?"

Instructor Wang Lingkun peeked out, curiously approaching Xu Xian and Lin Sheng: "You two know each other?"

"Instructor, are you with Xu Xian?" Even though he was an instructor, Lin Sheng still showed considerable respect for Wang Lingkun, a veteran instructor.

Wang Lingkun nodded, tossed his flight cap on the table, and yawned: "There was an inspection today, and this kid was just there to observe."

"An inspection?" Lin Sheng turned his gaze to Lian Shanxue, who seemed somewhat reserved, and suddenly realized, "Oh, I see!"

"Then you teachers go ahead with your work, I have something to do." Having finished discussing important matters with Xu Xian, Lin Sheng had no interest in chatting with Wang Lingkun, so he prepared to leave.

"Is it still a spot check?" Wang Lingkun asked casually.

"Yes! Several units have had problems getting up recently. A technical bulletin was issued a couple of days ago, so we came to do some spot checks."

Wang Lingkun hummed in agreement and waved his hand, indicating that Lin Sheng could go about his business.

Lin Sheng politely said goodbye to Wang Lingkun again before leaving Xu Xian and the others' table.

Not long after Lin Sheng left, Wang Lingkun, fiddling with his teacup, shook his head and spoke veiledly to Xu Xian, "Look at Lin Sheng, so young, and already a teacher, yet he's so respectful and polite to us!"

Wang Lingkun was clearly resentful because Qin Zongyang had suppressed him many times! But since Qin Zongyang was protecting Xu Xian, he could only make sarcastic remarks, but dared not take any real action.

Although Wang Lingkun's words had a hidden meaning, it did not mean that Xu Xian disagreed with Wang Lingkun's words.

"That's right! Brother Sheng is refined and capable; he's the future star of our company."

Wang Lingkun was taken aback by Xu Xian's sincere exaggeration and didn't know how to respond. After a moment, he said, "Yeah! If it weren't for Lu Xinyu joining the company earlier and having better luck, the position of deputy general manager of the flight department would have been hard to say."

Compared to Lu Xinyu, who was notoriously grumpy and stubborn, Lin Sheng was always polite, whether to the co-pilot or the senior instructors. How could he be like Lu Xinyu, who always wore a sour face?

Lin Sheng was clearly the kind of person who was easy to get along with. If he were in Lu Xinyu's current position, he would probably have a lot of support from the veteran teachers.

Unfortunately, Lin Sheng joined the company a little later than Lu Xinyu. While Lin Sheng was still an unknown trainee, Lu Xinyu had already earned the annual co-pilot honor with his Level 3 co-pilot skill level.

It can only be said that falling behind by one step leads to falling behind by every step, and Lin Sheng's brilliance was completely overshadowed by Lu Xinyu.

However, Lu Xinyu's reputation is really poor, while Lin Sheng's reputation is much better in comparison. At least, even the eccentric Wang Lingkun doesn't feel any dislike for Lin Sheng.

Putting everything else aside, Lin Sheng has a firm grasp on emotional intelligence.

Xu Xian had only made a casual remark, not intending to engage in a more detailed discussion, so he changed the subject: "Teacher, why are you here so early?"

There's still more than half an hour until the latest sign-in time. Lian Shanxue is too nervous to sleep, while Xu Xian wants to come early to discuss the inspection with her. Wang Lingkun has no reason to come so early! Aren't all those senior instructors arriving right on time?

"Oh dear, I'm getting old! I can't sleep! Come over early for some tea and a seat."

As people age, their sleep duration generally decreases. Therefore, you might notice that older people are waking up earlier and earlier than ever before.

Hot water is available in the flight preparation room, and there's a row of sofas. Wang Lingkun figured he couldn't sleep anyway, so he might as well come over early and make some tea.

"Teacher, you like drinking tea? Do you like Maojian tea? I have some top-quality Maojian tea at home, would you like me to bring you some?" Xu Xian said with a smile.

Wang Lingkun's hand, which was fiddling with the cup, suddenly stopped. He was somewhat surprised by Xu Xian's almost blatant act of bribery.

Xu Xian has Qin Zongyang backing him up, so he doesn't need to bother trying to please him. The only possibility is that it's because of that little girl who was inspecting the flight path today.

Actually, when Qin Zongyang kept saying that he also needed to "give Lian Shanxue a hand" that day, he thought Qin Zongyang had gone senile.

Qin Zongyang is a selfish person. Apart from Xu Xian's matter, why would he care about anything else?

But now it seems Qin Zongyang is still the same Qin Zongyang, unchanged. It's quite possible that the two young people in front of him have a closer relationship. In a sense, Qin Zongyang helping Lian Shanxue is also helping his disciple, which makes sense.

"It's true what they say, old habits die hard!" Wang Lingkun cursed under his breath. However, since Xu Xian had practically offered such a generous gift, how could he refuse? So, he cleared his throat, raised his eyelids slightly, and looked at Lian Shanxue: "Lian Shanxue, right? You're checking today? Which two sections?"

Lian Shanxue had been somewhat nervous, and being suddenly called upon by Wang Lingkun startled her slightly. She quickly replied, "Yes, instructor! I'm checking today! I'm checking the first two paragraphs!"

"Hmm!" Wang Lingkun's expression suddenly turned serious, and he held up two fingers: "Check both sections. At least one of the two landings must be in good condition! It doesn't matter if the other one looks a little ugly, but the load shouldn't exceed 1.6G, understand?"

"Understood!" Lian Shanxue replied immediately.

She had some understanding of the landing standards for the transition flight path checks, and it was roughly the same as what Instructor Wang Lingkun had said. At least on this point, Instructor Wang Lingkun didn't give her any trouble.

"Furthermore! The gliding route, entry and exit, and altitude! These three things are veto points. If any one of them has a problem, the result of this inspection will be a failure, without any room for negotiation. As for the standard calls and such, just do your best and don't feel any pressure. Get the priorities right!" Wang Lingkun stated his bottom line.

Of course, this doesn't mean that standard announcements aren't important. It just means that if the standard announcements are wrong, there's still a chance to correct them. But if you ski the wrong way, enter or leave the field incorrectly, or fly at the wrong altitude, those are fatal mistakes. If any of these three things happen during any stage of inspection, there's no reason for it to pass.

Even though Qin Zongyang had already warned him, there were still some bottom lines that could not be crossed.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian realized that the inspection requirements explained by Wang Lingkun were indeed quite lenient. Lowering them any further would seem like a joke.

Actually, even if Qin Zongyang hadn't greeted him, Wang Lingkun probably wouldn't have made things difficult for Lian Shanxue. Even though Wang Lingkun had a somewhat eccentric temper, it hadn't reached the point where he'd make things difficult for a young woman.

Therefore, Xu Xian's gift was, in a sense, given away for free.

"Do you think it's alright?" Wang Lingkun asked, not to Lian Shanxue, but to Xu Xian.

Xu Xian understood immediately: "The instructors all follow the standards, so naturally there's no problem!"

Upon hearing that the young man was getting the hint, Wang Lingkun laughed heartily: "Kid, you know how to talk!"

As he spoke, he put away his teacup to get more hot water. Before leaving, he said to Xu Xian, "When you have time, talk to the planning office and schedule someone to fly with me!"

"Of course, remember to bring the instructor's teacup too!" Xu Xian said with a smile.

"Not bad, not bad!" Wang Lingkun could tell that Xu Xian had understood. "The more I look at you, the more pleasing you seem!"

After praising Xu Xian a few times, he still headed towards the water source.

Once Wang Lingkun was out of sight, Lian Shanxue hurriedly said, "Xu Xian, I checked, where is there any mention of you giving gifts?"

Xu Xian waved his hand: "They're all leftovers from before. Anyway, my dad has changed his ways now. If we don't give them away, they'll just get moldy anyway. It's just making the most of them."

Xu Jingyang used to enjoy drinking tea, and his family had a considerable collection of fine tea. Later, his family fell on hard times, and some of the good tea leaves remained. However, after the setback, Xu Jingyang lost his interest in tea, and the good tea leaves were left unused at home.

Xu Xian is making use of waste materials today, so he doesn't feel guilty at all.

"Really?" Lian Shanxue was still a little skeptical.

Xu Xian laughed, "How could it be fake? If it were a good product, perfectly packaged and unopened, I wouldn't bear to give it to him. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I always remember I'm a penniless wretch!"

"That's good!"

Seeing that Wang Lingkun wouldn't be back anytime soon, Xu Xian reopened the electronic navigation chart: "Let's go over the procedures and common mistakes again!"

"My old bones are really not suited to flying such large flights anymore." In the captain's seat, Wang Lingkun shifted a few times to loosen his muscles.

This is now the last of the three stages, meaning that, theoretically, Lian Shanxue's examination is over, but Wang Lingkun has no intention of signing it yet.

Honestly, if Lian Shanxue's flight route inspection is this thorough and there are still problems, then it can only be said that Lian Shanxue is destined to be just a pretty face.

Is Lian Shanxue just a pretty face? When Xu Xian was working on the initial modifications to Lian Shanxue, he discovered that she possessed considerable talent and worked even harder than the average person.

Although there were some minor flaws in the takeoff and landing techniques, there were no major problems. In fact, Xu Xian felt that Lian Shanxue performed better than him in terms of procedure execution and standard announcements.

In terms of some standardized, fixed, and procedural operations, Lianshanxue performed quite well.

Meanwhile, just as Xu Xian had predicted, the approach conditions at Qinghu Airport and Nanyong Airport were excellent. During the descent phase after the final approach positioning point, there were virtually no ups and downs; one could only say that Lian Shanxue was lucky.

The issue of military activity at Qinghu Airport, which was the biggest concern before the flight, did not occur. Of course, military activity is a low-probability event, so it's normal that it didn't happen.

Overall, despite Lian Shanxue's various worries before the inspection, the inspection itself was surprisingly calm and uneventful.

There was no way around it; the path that Xu Xian and Qin Zongyang had paved for Lian Shanxue was too smooth, and Lian Shanxue could walk across it with her eyes closed.

Although theoretically the inspection should be over, and Wang Lingkun should have given an explanation by now, he hasn't said anything, leaving Lian Shanxue a little worried. In contrast, Xu Xian was much calmer. He felt that Wang Lingkun wasn't deliberately withholding the signature, but rather it was just his personal habit to sign after landing in Hong Kong.

Of course, even if they had a pretty good idea of ​​what Wang Lingkun was thinking, they still had to appease the inspector.

"Yeah! It would be so much better if we just chose a two-stage class. It's a shame we had to make it a three-stage class. It must have been hard on the instructors." Xu Xian, sitting in the back, chimed in.

Wang Lingkun curled his lip: "I only fly these kinds of flights when there are flight line inspections. I usually just travel around within the province."

Even though he was very unhappy with Wang Lingkun's almost blatant boasting, Xu Xian still forced a smile: "Instructors, you veterans should be flying within the province. The airport environment in the province is so complicated, and flight safety over the years has been maintained by you."

Flattery will get you everywhere. Wang Lingkun, flattered by Xu Xian, became somewhat smug.

Don't underestimate Xu Xian just because he's a junior co-pilot; he's been through a lot. A forced landing on the Kunyang River due to a dual-engine failure is something many captains and instructors might never encounter in their entire careers. Therefore, Xu Xian's words carry considerable weight.

Thinking of this, Wang Lingkun became even more smug.

Just then, the flight attendant in the front cabin called to ask if they needed hot water. Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue hadn't brought water cups, so Wang Lingkun had.

Wang Lingkun glanced at his cup and saw that there wasn't much water left. He then asked Lian Shanxue to tell the third flight attendant that he needed more water.

Not long after, flight attendant number three opened the door and took Wang Lingkun's cup. Wang Lingkun added, "Remember to fill it up."

A few minutes later, the cup filled with water was brought in again. During this time, Wang Lingkun, already completely swayed by Xu Xian's flattery, was almost forgetting his own identity. Taking the cup, he unscrewed the lid and began boasting to Xu Xian about his tea: "Let me tell you, my tea has quite a history."

Then came a long, rambling discourse.

Xu Xian knew his mission, and even though he was already getting impatient, he pretended to be very interested and even chimed in from time to time.

Perhaps it was because they had been talking for so long. Wang Lingkun subconsciously leaned closer to the cup and took a sip of water. But he forgot that the flight attendant had added boiling water, and even though the lid had been opened and it had cooled down a bit, the water was still very hot.

Caught off guard, Wang Lingkun spat out his entire mouthful of tea. At that moment, Wang Lingkun was preoccupied with bragging to Xu Xian, his body leaning to the right, his face directly facing the central control console.

In this way, not a single drop of the water that Wang Lingkun sprayed landed on the central control console.

"Oh my god!" Wang Lingkun exclaimed as soon as he saw that the central control panel was wet. He didn't care about the burning sensation in his mouth and hurriedly went to find something to wipe it.

Fortunately, Lian Shanxue on the right was quick-witted and had a pack of tissues with her. She pulled out a bunch and covered the water stains with them.

The paper towel absorbs water very quickly, and with another wipe, most of the obvious water stains have been removed.

"Thank goodness!" Wang Lingkun breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that the water on the central control panel had been almost completely wiped dry. His smugness at escaping death was even more palpable.

Wang Lingkun, beaming with pride, boasted to Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue, "A few days ago, I heard a Kunlong aircraft requesting an emergency landing due to overheating of its communication panel. I immediately told the co-pilot that it must have been water spilled on the central control panel. But when it came to us, hey! Nothing happened! Can't you believe it?"

Xu Xian was also startled, but when he saw that the water stains had been cleaned up in time, he relaxed a little. He was just about to say something when his expression suddenly changed.

Wang Lingkun, who was all smiles just a moment ago, also turned solemn, and that smug look vanished in an instant.

He took a deep sniff: "What's on fire?"

(End of this chapter)