Legendary Captain

Chapter 253 Fourth-Level Co-pilot Transition Route Inspection

Xu Xian probably never imagined that he would be described as a lucky person who benefited from a woman's fame by some of the co-pilots. He was, after all, a member of the co-pilot group; was it necessary for them to speak ill of him? He didn't believe that the two co-pilots were unaware of the role he played in the 6333 flight incident.

Logically speaking, they should be on the same side, so why are they fighting amongst themselves?

Qin Yue, feeling indignant on Xu Xian's behalf, was about to argue when Xu Xian stopped him.

Although Qin Yue was stopped by Xu Xian, he still made some noise, attracting the attention of the two co-pilots not far away.

Since Xu Xian had his back to them, they only saw Qin Yue. Perhaps realizing that what they had said earlier had been a bit too much, the two exchanged a glance, stood up simultaneously, and without even bothering to drink their tea, hurried out to the lounge.

After the two left, Qin Yue's interest in chatting was ruined by them, and he couldn't help but complain, "What bad luck!"

Xu Xian, the person involved, drank the rest of the tea in one gulp, ruining his good mood that he had just gotten up. He couldn't continue the conversation and prepared to leave.

"Then I'll be going now. Let's fly together sometime in the future, preferably overnight, and then we can have a good chat." Xu Xian put away his chair and made to leave.

Qin Yue didn't get up. Since they knew each other, there was no need for such formalities as seeing him off. However, Qin Yue was a little worried that the two passengers' words had hurt Xu Xian's feelings, so he comforted him, saying, "There are all sorts of birds in a big forest. They're just jealous of you. Don't take it to heart. Most people still respect you."

"You can know a person's face but not their heart, who knows?" Xu Xian shrugged. "Anyway, I'm not flying for them now, so I don't care what they think of me."

Xu Xian is a very emotional person, and his perception of a group is influenced by the words and actions of certain individuals within that group. Even from a rational perspective, certain individuals cannot represent the entire group.

Previously, due to Lu Xinyu and some incompetent flight department leaders, Xu Xian instinctively felt that the entire leadership of Xingyou Airlines was incompetent. In fact, up to this point, Xu Xian's impression of Xingyou Airlines' leadership has not changed much.

Xu Xian acts with a strong sense of purpose; once he achieves his goal, he will not hesitate to abandon flying. Originally, if possible, he would have been willing to use his abilities to help the co-pilot group during this time. But now it seems that he was just being wishful.

It seems that the co-pilot of Star Travel Airlines is not in such a bad situation yet; at least he still has the leisure to slander people who are on his side.

"You're angry." Qin Yue sighed.

Xu Xian replied expressionlessly, "I think I should be angry. After all, I don't seem to be the kind of person who repays evil with kindness, do you think?"

After saying that, Xu Xian stopped talking to Qin Yue about the co-pilot group and left the lounge.

When Xu Xian left the base building, he originally intended to use the small south gate as usual. There was a bus stop directly opposite the south gate, and even when he took a taxi to the company, he usually got off at the south gate. He rarely used the main north gate.

Firstly, there's no bus stop near the main north gate. Secondly, the company specifically sent an email stating that employees are not allowed to get on or off taxis near the main gate. Therefore, if you want to take a taxi near the main gate, you need to walk a distance away; otherwise, if HR catches you, you'll inevitably be publicly criticized.

This regulation is mainly to avoid congestion at the main gate. Because the main gate is very close to the parking lot, most employees' private cars choose to enter and exit through the main gate, and crew vehicles also enter and exit through the main gate. So, if people get on and off at the main gate, it can sometimes block other vehicles from entering and exiting.

Of course, in reality, the probability of such traffic jams is not high; they only occur occasionally during peak departure times or commuting hours, and are not serious enough to warrant a special announcement. However, rumors suggest that a certain leader was once stuck in traffic and was annoyed, which led to this announcement.

A problem is only a problem if it affects the leader; everything else is not a problem.

Take parking spaces, for example. Employees have designated parking areas and rarely need to search for a spot. However, regular employees sometimes drive around the entire company compound without finding a parking space, and if they park in the wrong spot, they find their car locked when they leave work.

The real problem is the severe imbalance in parking space allocation, but the company has never thought of solving it because it doesn't affect the leaders' parking.

Conversely, the issue of getting on and off the bus at the main gate is actually a minor, occasional incident. It's ironic that a notice was issued specifically addressing this issue just because a certain leader was blocked for less than a minute.

Xu Xian wanted to go through the main gate because he had just heard the two co-pilots say that large numbers of reporters would gather at the gate from time to time, and he suddenly had the idea to go and see.

Having made his decision, Xu Xian went out and turned right. After turning a corner, he saw the main gate.

As he took a few more steps closer, he could hear the noise even before he saw the person; the rumbling din reached Xu Xian's ears.

"Wow, there really are people here!" Just by listening to the voices, you could tell there were quite a few. He hadn't used the main entrance for a long time, so he had no idea that reporters were gathered there.

As Xu Xian approached and exited through the small gate of the main entrance, he was surprised to find that both sides of the main entrance were already crowded with people. At the same time, four guards were responsible for maintaining order and ensuring the smooth flow of traffic in and out of the main entrance. As long as the reporter did not stand in the traffic lane and did not affect the entry and exit of vehicles, the guards did not care about the reporter.

Xu Xian had attended press conferences before, specifically the one about the forced landing on the Kunyang River. He had met quite a few reporters then, but this was the first time he had ever seen reporters lying in wait for him.

"Are they really that free?" Xu Xian didn't know about the profession of reporter. He couldn't understand why they would squat here all day. Even if Lian Shanxue was still here, if they wanted to avoid them, they could just go around her. Who would be stupid enough to run into her?

Xu Xian even noticed that many reporters had brought their own lunchboxes and were eating at random places, seemingly preparing for a long-term struggle.

Xu Xian was speechless. He had certainly seen something new today. He prepared to go back to the company and then head to the South Gate. But as soon as he turned around, reporters who had spotted him gathered around, and they were overjoyed to see him wearing a pilot's uniform.

Several bolder individuals surrounded Xu Xian, asking eagerly, "Brother, is it flying?"

"Yeah! What's up?" Xu Xian was very uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people; he always felt it was dangerous.

"Um... you know Lian Shanxie from your company, right? She's a female pilot. Is she still with the company?" one of the reporters asked. This reporter was Li Chengyu from Yunnan TV.

Xu Xian frowned. The two co-pilots had said that the reporters outside were all focused on Lian Shanxue and completely ignored him. At first, he was a little unconvinced, but after trying it out, it seemed to be true.

"Well... I'm not really sure, I'm not very familiar with her." Xu Xian quickly made an excuse to slip away. He was just curious, and if he got entangled with these reporters, they would be like sticky candy, very annoying.

Li Chengyu didn't pay much attention to Xu Xian's appearance at first, but as he got closer, he realized that the passenger in the front seat looked so familiar.

In that brief moment of doubt, Xu Xian seized the opportunity to slip away, but Li Chengyu quickly realized that the passenger was about to get away and reflexively grabbed Xu Xian's uniform shirt.

Xu Xianzhen never expected that the reporter would dare to tug at his clothes. As he exerted force, the reporter tugged again, tearing off a button from the collar of Xu Xianzhen's shirt.

When the security guard responsible for maintaining order saw that the reporters had actually started to attack, he immediately stepped forward and pushed them away, thus freeing Xu Xian from their clutches.

After being separated, Xu Xiancai realized his shirt was half-open, revealing the white vest underneath. He then touched the button at the collar and found it was missing. Annoyed, he glared fiercely at Li Chengyu. He regretted joining the fray; he hadn't expected the reporters to be so aggressive, even resorting to tearing at his clothes.

Li Chengyu, unfazed by Xu Xian's fierce glare, didn't retaliate. Instead, he stared in utter shock at Xu Xian's chest. Xu Xian was wearing a necklace, from which hung a gold lock-shaped ornament. This gold lock-like object looked incredibly familiar to Li Chengyu, truly, incredibly familiar.

His thoughts began to wander instantly, recalling the hidden video from the press conference about the emergency landing on the Kunyang River, in which Xu Qing practically vouched for Xu Xian's future. When Li Chengyu first saw that video, he thought Xu Qing was simply showing concern for a younger person. But seeing the golden lock with its special symbolism today, Li Chengyu began to think differently.

Could there be some big news? If it's really as I think, it would be even more explosive than the nerve damage test report for Xu Qing's hand that he secretly saw at the hospital before.

Just as Li Chengyu was lost in thought, Xu Xian packed his clothes and quickly made his escape. By the time Li Chengyu realized what was happening, Xu Xian had already vanished without a trace.

"Oh no, Xu Xian!" Li Chengyu cried out Xu Xian's name anxiously when he saw him run away.

Upon hearing this, the reporters nearby were all stunned for a moment before recovering and exclaiming in surprise, "You mean that was Xu Xian just now?"

"I was wondering why he looked so familiar? I'd seen the news about his emergency landing on the Kunyang River."

"Oh dear, how could we let him get away?"

The reporters were furious. Although their main target was Lian Shanxue, catching Xu Xian was still a great achievement. They'd practically delivered themselves to their doorstep, and they'd just let him escape! They were so angry!

Even a cooked duck can fly away; some reporters completely lost their composure.

The reporters grew increasingly angry and began to criticize Li Chengyu. They argued that he had already apprehended Xu Xian, so how could he let go? Even if the security guards came, he shouldn't have let go.

Li Chengyu was bombarded with criticism from his colleagues, but he was secretly delighted. Their focus on complaining meant no one had noticed the gold lock peeking out from Xu Xian's chest—perfect, another exclusive story.

At this point, he was already figuring out how to sell this information for a good price, and he had already decided on the buyer.

The saying goes, "Two tigers cannot share one mountain." Where in China is the person who most wants Xu Qing to fall?

In Northeast China!

At Kunlong Airlines!

As Xu Xian observed, the common people weren't particularly interested in anything technically advanced because they simply didn't understand how difficult Xu Xian's final leveling motion was. They seemed far more interested in Lian Shanxue's ordeal.

At the press conference regarding the Xingyou 6333 hazardous materials incident, the reporters present rarely asked about Xu Xian; instead, nearly two-thirds of the questions were about Lian Shanxue.

However, no one knows where Lian Shanxue is right now, and the bureau can only tell reporters what they know. Unexpectedly, the bureau's efforts to answer were perceived as vague by the reporters, who believed that the bureau was deliberately concealing information about Lian Shanxue to promote Xu Xian and prevent her from overshadowing Xu Xian's popularity.

Given this speculative thinking, some media outlets were quite dissatisfied with the authorities' cover-up. Consequently, they didn't report on Xu Xian's performance in the hazardous materials leak incident, or at least didn't give it much coverage. Instead, they focused their reporting more on the gossip surrounding Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue.

In the decompression incident involving Lian Shanxue, the leaked cockpit audio included a recording of Lian Shanxue talking to Xu Xian in her sleep. At the time, many people speculated about a possible romantic relationship between Lian Shanxue and Xu Xian. Unfortunately, the only evidence to prove a relationship between Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue was that cockpit audio recording; everything else was just speculation. Therefore, news about the relationship between Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue didn't spread widely.

But this time it's different.

To save the man's eyes, the woman bravely stepped forward, ultimately losing her own sight. What a moving and tragic love story! Even though the spokesperson specifically mentioned at the press conference that the plane had many malfunctions and Lian Shanxue was unable to land, she had to take over the plane to allow Xu Xian to conserve his strength so that he could land eventually.

Therefore, the authorities' question is whether Lian Shanxue's taking over the plane was beyond a friendship, which is possible. However, it was more likely a desperate measure. Since Xu Xian was the only one on board who could land, Lian Shanxue had to ensure Xu Xian's continued good vision during the approach and landing in order to survive.

The authorities are unwilling to engage in romantic pairings in this kind of situation. Special case handling is a very serious matter, and if they were to publicize the relationship between Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue, it would easily appear as if they were blurring the lines between public and private matters.

However, the causal relationship specifically pointed out by the authorities was not accepted by the public. Or rather, the general public instinctively ignored the arguments the authorities wanted to promote and focused on enjoying the romantic moments.

It's unclear when exactly, but shipping (pairing characters) has become an online trend that has endured for a long time, with netizens extremely enthusiastic about creating and shipping couples. Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue are almost the perfect couple, so after the press conference regarding the Star 6333 hazardous materials leak incident, the online focus was entirely on the relationship between Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue. What was supposed to be a serious special briefing turned into a shipping frenzy, something the authorities hadn't anticipated at all.

Fortunately, Xu Xian had a psychological trauma from the press conference following the Kunyang River forced landing incident, where he was "besieged" by a group of reporters and was unable to cope. Therefore, he absolutely refused to attend this press conference, even though it was a very good opportunity to make an appearance.

However, it turned out that Xu Xian's decision was incredibly wise. If he had gone to the so-called press conference, he probably wouldn't have been asked any professional questions; most of the questions would likely have been gossip about him and Lian Shanxue.

If there's any benefit to this situation, it's that it has deceived Xu Jingyang and Huang Ying.

Indeed, after Xu Jingyang and Huang Ying returned to China, they inevitably came across the Xingyou 6333 flight incident. However, at this time, there was almost no discussion online about how dangerous the 6333 flight experience was; instead, there were only gossip news stories about Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue, completely lacking any serious or professional news content. The entire online atmosphere was filled with a sense of romantic anticipation, which undoubtedly influenced Xu Xian's parents' assessment of the seriousness of the 6333 flight incident.

Xu Jingyang and Huang Ying figured that since there was basically no discussion online about how dangerous the emergency on Flight 6333 was, it probably wasn't that dangerous after all, the public's eyes are discerning. And so, they were successfully misled.

Xu Xian had previously prepared a story for his parents about Xingyou 6333 after they returned to China, but it was never used. Even Huang Ying herself was caught up in the online trend of shipping the two characters, constantly asking about Lian Shanxue's whereabouts, which annoyed Xu Xian to no end.

If we're talking about who was the most heartbroken after the press conference, it would undoubtedly be Marketing Director Li Chuan.

Once the news of the press conference was released, the already numerous interview requests flooded into his office like a tidal wave. Li Chuan was certain that all the interview requests he had received since becoming marketing director combined did not exceed one-tenth of the number in the past month alone.

Almost every well-known civil aviation media outlet in China, as well as many other high-traffic media outlets, sent interview requests to Li Chuan. This undoubtedly shows that the Lianshanxue incident has broken out of its traditional scope, and its influence has completely exceeded the realm of civil aviation, something unprecedented since the establishment of Xingyou Aviation.

Li Chuan was nearly driven mad; being a marketing director was truly worthwhile. However, almost every interview request specified that Lian Shanxue should also be interviewed, and this alone forced Li Chuan to reject at least 99% of the requests.

Now, Li Chuan does nothing but reply to interview requests at work. Every time he receives one, it feels like a knife is being slashed in his flesh. Before, he might not receive a single interview request for ten days or half a month, but now, at peak times, he can receive hundreds a day, and he has to reject almost all of them. It's more painful than killing him.

The only consolation for Li Chuan was the explosive growth in sales of Xingyou Aviation's merchandise store. The average daily sales in the past month were nearly twenty times higher than the same period last year. Looking at the performance reports that his secretary sent over every day, Li Chuan felt like he was dreaming.

Moreover, it wasn't just the surrounding shopping malls that saw a surge in sales; even airfare sales experienced a significant increase. In short, for the past month, the entire marketing department has been celebrating like it's a holiday every day.

In contrast to the jubilation in the marketing department, the flight department of Xingyou Aviation appeared gloomy. Even if the company performed well, it had little direct impact on them; in previous years, a good year-end bonus might have resulted in a larger bonus. Today, that was practically impossible.

The Kunyang River emergency landing and the recent hazardous materials leak have nearly bankrupted Star Travel. It would be a miracle if the year-end bonuses stay at last year's level.

Furthermore, due to the withdrawal of insurance policies, the flight department leadership now treats pilots like robots, fearing even the slightest mistake. Any minor issue results in immediate grounding. After all, Xingyou Aviation has been developing for so many years that there's already a surplus of pilots, so grounding a few won't have much of an impact.

This has put immense pressure on pilots, to the point that even instructors are hesitant to conduct pre-flight training. Now, even a soft warning for a hard landing is subject to commentary—it's simply outrageous.

Recently, the instructors' attitude has been that if the work is implemented successfully, they can take responsibility; they won't interfere. But forget about any operational issues—they can't afford to cause any problems. During this period, if an instructor makes a mistake, they'll still be reprimanded.

Previously, captains weren't promoted to instructors for the slight salary increase; it was mainly to secure a position. If problems arose, their instructor qualifications could be revoked, but at least their captain rank wouldn't be taken away. Now, things are different. The instructor title is no longer effective, and it's common to see people promoted directly from instructor to co-pilot, so even the instructors themselves are living in fear.

More importantly, the key factor causing the current tense situation in the flight department is the insurance companies withdrawing their policies. According to some part-time employees in the flight department, the company seems unable to find alternative insurance companies in the short term.

The insurance company hasn't completely withdrawn the policy yet; they're still in the negotiation stage. And the negotiating partner is no longer Star Travel Airlines, but the entire group. Because the insurance contract involves all aviation businesses under the Wens Group, Star Travel Airlines can't handle it, so the group itself has to negotiate.

However, more than half a month has passed, and the group's direct involvement seems to have had little effect; at least, there's not a single rumor that the two sides have reached an agreement. Often, rumors are the most accurate.

As long as the insurance company's problem remains unresolved, the flight department will continue to live in a state of high alert and paranoia. And this state is likely to persist for a long time.

Many pilots felt unbearable pain at the thought of having to endure inhuman living conditions for an extended period of time, and a pessimistic atmosphere spread throughout the Star Travel Aviation Flight Department.

It was in this environment that Xu Xian faced his fourth-level co-pilot promotion flight inspection.

What "minor" problems do you think will be found during this flight route inspection?

I've been reading some fighter jet novels lately to broaden my knowledge of fighter jet operation, hoping to create some scenes of piloting a fighter jet in the future.

(End of this chapter)