Legendary Captain

Chapter 261 War with Xu Qing

A conference room at Kunlong Aviation.

Yun Shang, chairman of Kunlong Airlines, made an impromptu decision to convene a board meeting. Within half a day, except for some directors who were away on a long trip, all the other directors gathered at the headquarters of Kunlong Airlines.

Once everyone was seated, one of the directors spoke first: "Chairman, what happened? Why is it so urgent?"

Normally, board meetings are convened several days in advance, and even extraordinary board meetings aren't held in such a rush. Therefore, some directors naturally felt that something serious had happened.

Yun Shang gave his secretary a wink, and soon something resembling a medical report appeared on the conference room projection screen.

"Look at the patient's name in this report," Yun Shang reminded him.

The board members were all baffled; some didn't even know what it was. However, since the chairman had spoken, the people below obediently looked at the submitted report.

They didn't bother to read the report carefully; they just stared at the name column on the first line. That one glance caused a look of surprise on the faces of many directors.

Xu Qing!

This is a report about Xu Qing.

Since it concerned Xu Qing, the directors, who were initially somewhat confused, suddenly became interested and began to carefully read the report.

"A report on nerve damage in the hand?" a director murmured, and when he saw the details of the report, his eyes began to show shock.

"Numbness in the right hand, inability to fully adduct the thumb, accompanied by intermittent, uncontrollable hand tremors?"

When the board members saw the report describing Xu Qing's symptoms, they were all stunned into silence.

Finally, one of the directors recovered from the shock and asked incredulously, "Xu Qing's right hand is useless?"

The patient's self-report in this report on hand nerve injury reveals that Xu Qing's right hand can only perform basic hand movements. It is very difficult for him to complete slightly more delicate movements. What is the difference between this and being crippled?

"Chairman, where did you come from?"

Yun Shang was satisfied with his subordinates' reaction to the report. Instead of explaining directly, he smiled and asked, "Leaving aside the source and authenticity of this report, what are your thoughts after reading it?"

"this"

The board members below exchanged bewildered glances. These were all shrewd individuals, and they certainly understood the weight of this report, but there were some things they dared not say.

Yun Shang's face immediately darkened. The report was right there on the table, yet no one dared to voice any objections. Normally, these people wouldn't be this hesitant when resorting to underhanded tactics.

"What? Are you all scared? You dare not keep quiet?" It's truly disappointing that no one dares to seize on such a weakness that has been handed to them.

Faced with Yunshang's reprimand, all the directors lowered their heads and remained silent. Even if they were to say something, it was not something they should say.

"Hmph!" Yun Shang said coldly, "Are you afraid I'm lying to you? Do you think this report is fake?"

An older director, perhaps more senior, sitting in the front row, mustered his courage and continued Yun Shang's words: "Chairman, putting everything else aside for now, we need to first find out if this report is actually true. Only after confirming its authenticity can we discuss anything else."

"I'd like to see if you dare to discuss the rest later!" Yun Shang sneered, beckoned to his secretary, whispered a few words to her, and the secretary left the conference room. A short while later, a man in his thirties was led into the conference room by the secretary.

The secretary led the man to Yun Shang's side. Yun Shang didn't even glance at him, and simply said, "Introduce yourself."

The man respectfully responded, then addressed the board members, saying, "My name is Li Chengyu, and I am a reporter from Yunnan TV. This report on the nerve damage in the hand was provided by me."

"A reporter from Yunnan TV?" One of the directors frowned. This seemed completely unrelated to them, so he hurriedly asked, "Where did you get this report?"

Li Chengyu didn't answer immediately, but instead glanced at Yun Shang. Yun Shang seemed to know Li Chengyu's request and said with a smile, "Just answer whatever they ask. Don't hold back."

"Okay!" Li Chengyu said, "Not long ago, Xu Qing suddenly fainted at a press conference and was subsequently taken to a hospital in Tianning. Xu Qing fainting in public is quite big news, so the station sent me to Tianning for on-site reporting. I originally planned to investigate Xu Qing's fainting, but I unexpectedly found Xu Qing's electronic medical record on the computer of Xu Qing's attending physician. I glanced at it, and Xu Qing's medical record contained relatively normal information, nothing serious, only this report contained key information."

The board members were aware of Xu Qing's collapse some time ago. However, Qingyuan Group later claimed that Xu Qing's collapse was due to overwork and was not serious. Xu Qing's constant focus on the new aircraft model is nothing new in the civil aviation industry; overwork leading to a temporary fainting spell is not unusual. Therefore, the board members didn't take Xu Qing's collapse seriously.

However, according to the reporter named Li Chengyu, Xu Qing's fainting spell didn't have any particular reason, but it inadvertently uncovered a much larger secret, which was quite an unexpected gain.

After Li Chengyu's explanation, the board members understood the specific source, but many were still uneasy. To this day, the authenticity and source of the report are only Li Chengyu's side of the story, and it remains uncertain.

After much deliberation, one of the directors still couldn't make a decision: "Chairman, this is a matter of great importance. I don't think it's appropriate to rely on his opinion alone."

Perhaps eager to prove himself, Li Chengyu interrupted before Yun Shang could speak, saying, "I guarantee with my integrity that this report is indeed true."

Upon hearing this, the director scoffed, "What's your reputation worth? You think you can make us fall out with Qingyuan Group just because you're some nobody? You think you have that much influence?"

The board members certainly understood what the medical report presented meant. They also knew why Yunshang had convened an emergency board meeting in such a hurry. However, using this report to attack Xu Qing would mean breaking ties with Qingyuan Group.

The sheer size of Qingyuan Group is something even the notoriously arrogant board members of Kunlong Aviation would have to think twice about.

To be honest, most of these directors are unwilling to get involved in this mess. Kunlong Airlines already has enough market share in civil aviation to make them rich, and they're afraid of choking on Qingyuan Group's share if they want to swallow it up as well.

The problem is that the current chairman, Yun Shang, is young and impetuous, much more difficult to deal with than the usually composed old chairman, Yun Zhan. They had also heard that Han Qi had grievances against Kunlong Airlines, and a significant part of the reason was this young chairman.

"Oh? So you knew? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Yun Shang laughed. "Can't we just fall out with Qingyuan Group?"

Upon hearing Yun Shang's words, all the directors below turned green. The seemingly experienced director advised, "Chairman, let's not even talk about whether we can beat Qingyuan Group. Even if we win, our company's size isn't enough to absorb Qingyuan Group's share. In the end, it would just benefit outsiders for nothing, which would be a losing proposition!"

The domestic civil aviation market is too large. If Qingyuan Group collapses, Kunlong Airlines simply cannot absorb the vacated market share in a short period of time, and it will eventually be taken over by other airlines. Isn't this just wasting effort to benefit others? Moreover, all of this is based on the premise of being able to defeat Qingyuan Group.

Yun Shang waved his hand: "If Qingyuan Group collapses, we'll be the only dominant player in the civil aviation market. Who will be our rival? Even if there's some market share we haven't yet captured, let other airlines have their cake and eat it too for a while. Once we've developed again, won't they have to obediently give it up?"

The old director said anxiously, "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. Besides, Qingyuan Group is stronger than us. Trying to win against a much larger opponent is more likely to lead to the smaller one's own destruction!"

The old director's words undoubtedly struck a chord with the other directors.

Although Xu Qinghan and his team are known as the two pillars of China's civil aviation industry, they know that Kunlong Airlines is no match for Qingyuan Group.

Kunlong Airlines operates on a conventional airline model, focusing only on a specific segment of the civil aviation market. Qingyuan Group, on the other hand, encompasses everything from upstream aircraft development and personnel training to downstream hotel and travel services. Rather than a commercial organization, Qingyuan Group resembles a meticulously functioning mini-nation, capable of achieving a perfect cycle.

They were genuinely intimidated by such a behemoth. Most importantly, Kunlong Airlines was currently reaping the benefits of Han Qi's success and living comfortably; why would they want to fight Qingyuan Group to the death?

"Everything Qingyuan Group has is built on Xu Qing. As long as Xu Qing falls, Qingyuan Group will be like a rootless duckweed. What's there to be afraid of?" Yun Shang insisted.

"That's true, but Xu Qing has stood firm for so long, how could he fall so easily? Besides, it's still inconclusive whether this report is even true," a director muttered.

At this moment, Li Chengyu spoke up: "More than 20 years ago, a serious accident occurred during the test flight of Qingyuan Group's X10 project. Xu Qing was on the plane at the time. Although he survived, the accident must have caused serious damage to him. I later investigated the pilot who was in the cockpit with Xu Qing at the time, and he now has numbness in half of his body. They were in the same cockpit and the same environment. How could one of them almost lose half of his body and the other only suffer some minor injuries? Isn't the difference a bit too great?"

When the X10 test flight accident occurred, Xu Qing's injuries were announced to the public as minor cuts and bruises.

"But if we follow the report, then there's no illogical inconsistency in their injuries. So, I feel that Xu Qing must have developed a hidden ailment back then, and as time has passed, that ailment has begun to recur," Li Chengyu said. "Furthermore, I checked the number of times Xu Qing has appeared in formal settings recently, and it's less than half of what it was during the same period last year. He's deliberately reducing his public appearances! Logically speaking, now that Xu Qing is promoting a new model, he should be giving it more exposure to boost its popularity, but his actions are actually going against the grain. Isn't that very strange?"

After Li Chengyu's speech, the room fell silent, and many directors began to show signs of interest.

If this report is true, it would undoubtedly be a fatal blow to Xu Qing's image. With Xu Qing gone, Qingyuan Group would be like a ship without its backbone, and thus wouldn't seem so formidable anymore.

The old director sighed, "Chairman, this reporter you brought in is really cunning!"

"Mr. Wang, whether it's Xu Qing of Qingyuan Group or Han Qi of our company, their era will eventually pass. We must seize the opportunity, or we will regret it later. Xu Qing hasn't left the civil aviation industry yet, so this report is still useful to him. But the day he announces his complete withdrawal from the civil aviation industry, the report will be much less useful," Yun Shang said.

If Xu Qing were to announce his complete withdrawal from the civil aviation industry one day, it would be equivalent to retirement. It's normal for a retired person to have minor ailments, and the public even feels it's unethical to nitpick about a retired person.

Moreover, if Xu Qing were to announce his complete withdrawal from the civil aviation industry, public attention on him would drastically decrease, his profile would certainly drop, and the level of discussion he would generate would be significantly lower. Therefore, if anyone wants to take down Xu Qing, they must do it now.

Yunshang's words were undoubtedly intended to urge the directors present to express their opinions as soon as possible.

Even though this report was a major weakness for Xu Qing, the directors present dared not act rashly due to Xu Qing's prestige.

"Chairman, what do you think your father would do if he were still alive?" the director, known as Old Wang, asked softly.

Yun Shang's gaze sharpened: "Stop fighting and accept the status quo."

After saying that, Yun Shang's tone became defiant: "But I'm not your father!"

Just then, Li Chengyu spoke up again: "Distinguished directors, there's something else interesting. This matter not only involves Xu Qing, but also Xu Xian, who's been making headlines lately."

The lobby on the first floor of Xingyou Aviation.

After attending a study session today, Xu Xian felt extremely thirsty, so he went to the vending machine on the first floor to buy a drink before going back.

After buying a bottle of iced tea, he drank it nearby. However, while he was drinking, two passenger seats walked past him. Xu Xian didn't notice them at the time, but the conversation between the two passenger seats caught his attention.

"Ugh, another training session! It's never-ending, and all my rest time is gone. After today's session, I have an early flight tomorrow. Ugh!"

"There's nothing we can do. There was that accidental entry incident recently, so everyone's on edge."

"What does that wrong approach have to do with our flight operations? It's not a dispatch issue, yet we're the ones who suffer! I heard from Chengshan that he was punished yesterday by being sent to the fleet for a week of training because he didn't report the change in decision altitude during the circling approach at Shangdu Airport. Is there no justice in this world?"

"A circling approach? Our company—no, our entire group—doesn't fly circling approaches, does it?"

Star Travel Airlines, or more precisely, all aviation businesses under the Wens Group, are explicitly prohibited from circling approaches. Therefore, Star Travel Airlines pilots rarely pay attention to anything circling during an approach.

At Star Travel, nearly 70% of pilots do not know how to perform a circling approach, including captains and instructors.

Therefore, it seems absurd to ground a pilot for retraining simply because of a circling approach incident.

"Exactly! That insurance company's withdrawal incident already caused a lot of panic. Now, even though it's clearly the dispatcher's fault, they're making it seem like it's our responsibility. Now they're putting even more pressure on us. It's so tough. Every flight is incredibly frustrating. It's not like I'll die without this job. Rather than flying like this, I'd rather go home and live off my parents! My parents never wanted me to do this job; they're hoping I'll become a freeloader!"

"Yeah! We haven't been flying much lately, but I still feel incredibly tired. It's so boring. Especially our second mate, we're always the first to get into trouble. It's just unbelievable."

"It doesn't matter. In a few days, the company will definitely find out what the consequences will be for treating us this way."

Upon hearing this, one of the co-pilots' eyes lit up: "How's the contact going?"

"Seventy to eighty percent of the co-pilots have already joined the group. We won't force the remaining twenty percent; our current size is enough to make the company suffer! When the time comes, we'll definitely teach the company a lesson!"

As the two passengers were talking, a voice suddenly rang in their ears: "What's so interesting?"

(End of this chapter)