Legendary Captain

Chapter 266 The Supreme Circulation Lianshan Group

Xu Qing didn't take some things too seriously, such as the fact that his right hand was partially crippled.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Kunlong Airlines is using this as an excuse to cause trouble, but if Kunlong Airlines only focuses on the injury to his right hand, Xu Qing probably wouldn't have reacted much.

Even if his right hand injury were exposed, the fastest outcome would be a permanent retirement from the civil aviation industry. Xu Qing would only feel regret and pity, not anger or any other kind of emotion.

However, attacking Xu Qing's private morality under the pretext of having an illegitimate child carries a completely different meaning.

Xu Qing and Mei Tingting have been through thick and thin together for more than 20 years. Their relationship is the most precious thing to Xu Qing. He knows that Mei Tingting will not be affected by these pointless accusations. However, just because Mei Tingting doesn't care doesn't mean that Xu Qing can let go of the instigator.

Xu Qing pressed one hand against Li Chengyu's head, his eyes fixed on the face of the Kunlong Airlines representative, and said coldly, "Didn't Yun Shang tell you that some things can be said, and some things cannot?"

For over twenty years, since Xu Qing became famous, he has always presented a gentle and refined image in the public eye, and has never shown such anger before.

For someone of Xu Qing's status and position to publicly assault someone, this might not just be a matter of anger, but rather that Kunlong Airlines had crossed Xu Qing's bottom line.

Even though the representative of Kunlong Airlines knew that he was now in a bind and could not back down, he still felt genuine fear in the face of Xu Qing's fierce gaze. When he tried to retaliate, he couldn't even speak coherently.

Beside him, Li Chengyu's eyes were practically bulging out, his face was flushed red, and he could only make intermittent sounds like a broken bellows coming from his throat, as if he would run out of breath at any moment.

Not far away, Mei Tingting's secretary lowered her voice and said, "Chairman, shouldn't we stop this?"

Xu Qing's current behavior will have a significant impact on his image. Publicly assaulting someone is unacceptable at any time, in any place, and by any person. Moreover, Xu Qing is generally perceived as a peaceful person, and such an uncharacteristic behavior will definitely impact his public image.

For a celebrity, the public's impression of them needs to be carefully managed.

Mei Tingting watched Xu Qing's actions quietly, and said calmly, "No need!"

Many of the media reporters present were shocked and panicked, and nearly 70% of them hurriedly called headquarters to request personnel support.

Since Xu Qing's routine promotional event didn't offer much news value, the reporters sent by various media outlets weren't their core personnel. These reporters were fine handling ordinary situations, but the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, leaving some feeling overwhelmed.

Faced with what could be described as the most sensational civil aviation news in nearly two decades, these reporters were completely overwhelmed. Some even panicked, unsure of what to do next, so many reporters were calling over more of their own people.

Seeing many reporters making phone calls, Mei Tingting turned to her secretary and instructed, "Have the security department seal off this area and also block the building's signals."

"Chairman, a complete lockdown would be difficult. Judging from the current situation, a lot of people will be coming later," the secretary said frankly.

She understood what Mei Tingting was up to, but given the current situation, with reporters gathering in the audience, the crowd that was about to surge in would likely be beyond imagination, and the current security force at headquarters might not be able to handle it.

"Then notify Lianshan and have them send someone over."

The headquarters of Lianshan Group is also in Tianning. If Qingyuan is short of manpower, they can borrow manpower from Lianshan Group. After all, they are all one family.

"Okay, I'll contact them right away." The secretary nodded. With the help of Lianshan Group, things would be much easier.

In the room, Xu Qing's gaze moved past the representative of Kunlong Airlines and gradually back. As his gaze fell upon them, the representatives of other airlines all turned their faces away. Finally, Xu Qing stopped searching in a seat at the very back of the room.

"It really was you!"

Xu Qing released his right hand from Li Chengyu's head and slowly moved towards the back of the venue.

As Xu Qing released his hold on Li Chengyu, Li Chengyu gasped for breath, still feeling intense pain near his temples.

"Why didn't you help me just now!" Li Chengyu stared at Xu Qing's departing figure, still shaken and extremely dissatisfied with the Kunlong Airlines representative beside him. Just now, he really felt that Xu Qing had the urge to kill him.

Before he could finish speaking, the representative from Kunlong Airlines slapped Li Chengyu across the face, leaving him dazed and confused: "We agreed from the beginning that we would only talk about Xu Qing's injured right hand, and the matter of the illegitimate child was absolutely not to be mentioned. Are you deaf to human language?"

Kunlong Airlines was also intimidated by Xu Qing's power. If they were to really use the matter of Xu Xian's illegitimate child, they would likely be locked in a life-or-death struggle with Xu Qing. Moreover, based on their understanding of Xu Qing, they felt that the claim that Xu Xian was Xu Qing's illegitimate child was highly improbable. Therefore, after careful consideration, they decided to be cautious about using the illegitimate child card.

But Li Chengyu couldn't hold back and deviated from the original plan, directly revealing the matter of the illegitimate child. Now they have a blood feud with Xu Qing.

"If we don't completely cripple Xu Qing this time, will we have another chance?" Li Chengyu was equally furious. He felt that the people from Kunlong Aviation were really timid and hesitant, missing opportunities in vain.

The representative from Kunlong Airlines turned around and saw Xu Qing walking towards the back. He immediately gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, "Damn it."

In Xu Qing's view, a familiar figure was sitting at the back of the venue. He walked up to him, stopped two steps away, and said coldly, "Yun Shang, you are far inferior to your father."

The man slowly raised his head, revealing a handsome face; he was none other than Yun Shang, the chairman of Kunlong Aviation.

Yun Shang smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Xu, you are not in good health, so please don't get angry."

"I have always felt guilty towards your father, Yun Zhan, so I bear responsibility for the fact that Kunlong Aviation has developed to its current scale and some inappropriate thoughts have arisen," Xu Qing said with a slight sigh.

"Mr. Xu, the way you speak makes it sound like Kunlong's current success is all thanks to your charity," Yun Shang chuckled. "Rather than charity, I feel like this is something you owe us, something we deserve."

At this moment, all eyes in the venue were focused on Xu Qing and Yun Shang. Compared to Xu Qing, who was well-known to the public, Yun Shang's identity was much more low-key. However, some industry insiders were aware of Yun Shang's identity, but they did not expect that Yun Shang would leave no way out and directly bring up the old issues of the X10 project.

Back when Kunlong Aviation was still called Kunlong Group, it invested heavily in the X10 project. However, the first prototype test flight of the X10 project had a huge mishap, almost resulting in a crash and loss of life. This caused Kunlong Group's investment to be almost completely wasted, and as a result, Kunlong Group's cash flow was severely disrupted.

In the end, Kunlong Group sold off a large number of its assets, leaving only Kunlong Aviation as the sole remaining company.

In Yunshang's view, Xu Qing should be held responsible for the near bankruptcy of Kunlong Group, which is the reason for the so-called "you owe us" statement.

The entanglement between Xu Qing and Kunlong Airlines is no secret in the industry, but it takes on a different tone when Yun Shang says it.

To be honest, Kunlong Aviation is now larger than Kunlong Group was back then, but it is clear that Yunshang still cannot get past the X10 project. Now, with Xu Qing in a fit of anger, Yunshang is bringing up the old issue again, which has a strong sense of revenge.

Those in the industry who knew Yun Shang's identity included many journalists. They had just been immersed in the explosive news of Xu Qing assaulting someone in public, but in the blink of an eye, Xu Qing was facing off against the chairman of Kunlong Airlines, and the tension between the two was palpable.

Currently, Kunlong Airlines and Qingyuan Group have jointly divided nearly 70% of the domestic civil aviation market. However, unexpectedly, these two civil aviation giants have turned against each other.

Even from the journalists' limited understanding of economics, neither of these two airline giants holds an overwhelming advantage over the other. If they were to truly fight to the death, the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction, with other airlines ultimately reaping the benefits. No rational businessman would choose this path, and perhaps it is for this reason that Yunshang dares to so bluntly provoke Xu Qing.

However, they misjudged one point: just because a normal businessman wouldn't do something doesn't mean Xu Qing wouldn't, because Xu Qing, strictly speaking, isn't a businessman. He wouldn't consider the so-called "when two birds fight, a third party benefits" scenario; he only seeks to have his mind at ease.

Suddenly, Xu Qing sighed, filled with endless regret: "If that's how you think, then I should correct my previous mistakes even more. It was my fault that Kunlong Group didn't go bankrupt back then and has survived until now."

Although the venue was large, Xu Qing's sigh was clearly heard by everyone present. The Kunlong Aviation representative at the front stood up abruptly, staring at Xu Qing's back in utter shock.

What is this? Is this Qingyuan Group declaring war on Kunlong Aviation?

No, this isn't what they expected!

The reason why Kunlong Airlines' board of directors ultimately approved Yunshang's plan was because, according to their calculations, even if Qingyuan Group was slightly stronger than Kunlong Airlines, the difference was not significant. In other words, as long as Qingyuan Group's board of directors was still thinking clearly, they would not agree to launch a full-scale war against Kunlong Airlines.

Therefore, all things considered, this "attack" on Xu Qing can be considered a costless act. Even if Xu Qing is angered, Qingyuan Group will be mindful of the enormous costs of a full-scale war with Kunlong Aviation and will not actually fight to the death; at most, they will just put on a show and vent their anger.

Kunlong Aviation's thinking is actually quite reasonable. If they had only focused on attacking Xu Qing's injured right hand, Xu Qing might not have done anything to them. However, they were courting death and said some things they shouldn't have.

"This is insane, insane!" The representative of Kunlong Airlines was in his throat. If the company's board of directors knew what Xu Qing was saying, they would probably be furious.

"What! Qingyuan Group is going to have a deadly battle with Kunlong Aviation?"

The ever-changing situation on the scene was almost too much for the reporters to handle; they felt that all the news they had ever gotten in their lives combined did not equal what had just happened in the past fifteen minutes.

"Is it all set up?" one of the reporters urged his assistant hurriedly.

After confirming, the assistant said, "Okay, the live stream can start anytime."

"Okay!" The reporter tidied himself up a bit and then gestured to his assistant to start.

The reporter had just picked up the microphone, ready to speak, when he saw his assistant fiddling with the equipment again. He frowned immediately: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Why is there no signal?" the assistant asked, checking the device. He muttered to himself, "That shouldn't be the case; it had a signal just now."

"No signal?" The reporter was taken aback. Just then, another reporter next to her, who was on the phone, suddenly stopped talking, put down her phone with a puzzled look, and looked at the screen: "No signal?"

The reporter's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly took out his phone. He checked the signal bars and, sure enough, it showed that there was no signal.

She looked up abruptly at Mei Tingting on the stage and exclaimed, "Such a quick reaction!"

She then scanned the entrances and exits around the venue and discovered that a number of security personnel had been deployed and blocked them off.

As Xu Qing sighed, Yun Shang's expression changed slightly. He slowly stood up and, with a half-smile, said to Xu Qing, "Mr. Xu, I remember you weren't the chairman of Qingyuan Group. When did you become the one in charge?"

Strictly speaking, Xu Qing did not hold any position in Qingyuan Group, and the real owner of Qingyuan Group should be Mei Tingting.

Xu Qing pointed at Mei Tingting and said softly, "I am not in charge of Qingyuan Group, but I can be in charge of hers."

Yun Shang's face darkened, and his gaze swept past Xu Qing to Mei Tingting, who was standing not far away: "Miss Mei, aren't you going to do anything about this?"

At this point, the leaders of the two civil aviation giants finally began a direct dialogue.

But Mei Tingting raised her snow-white chin slightly: "At home, I control him, but outside, he controls me! Every word my husband says is my word. If he wants to bankrupt your Kunlong Airlines, then he will naturally make his promise."

Yun Shang suddenly shouted, "Mei Tingting, do you think you can run the board of directors of your group by yourself?"

Any businessman with a modicum of sense knows what it means to wage a full-scale war against a giant of similar size. Yun Shang doesn't believe that Qingyuan Group's board of directors will allow Mei Tingting to do as she pleases!

Although Mei Tingting is the chairman of Qingyuan Group, her shareholding does not exceed 50%, so she is still subject to the constraints of the board of directors.

"Who do you think you are, calling Mei Tingting that name?" Mei Tingting's phoenix eyes flashed with a cold light.

Strictly speaking, Mei Tingting is actually a nickname; her real name should be Mei Luoshuang. She extremely dislikes strangers calling her by her nickname, especially people like Yun Shang, whom she finds repulsive.

Mei Tingting leaned forward slightly and said in an extremely contemptuous voice, "You've only inherited your father's legacy, yet you dare to bark here? Have you forgotten who inscribed the plaque in the main hall of your Yun family ancestral home?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Shang's expression changed drastically, and he almost lost his balance. He gritted his teeth and slowly uttered, "Mei Zhirong!"

"That's right, Mei Zhirong is my father. You say my husband owes your Yun family, but actually, it's your Yun family that owes my father, and it's you who owes me!" Mei Tingting coldly retorted, "Back then, your father, Yun Zhan, was just a lowly employee at my family's Lianshan Group. After leaving the group, my father admired Yun Zhan's character and handed over the entire Northeast logistics market to him. Otherwise, do you think your penniless and powerless father could have become wealthy in such a short time? Your Yun family started out in logistics, which was a gift from my father. Now you dare to bite the hand that feeds you? You're truly an ungrateful wretch!"

Yun Shang's face turned ashen. His Yun family had indeed started in logistics, and Kunlong Airlines' initial main business was actually freight, intended to complement their core logistics operations. However, as Kunlong Group's strategic focus shifted, the logistics business gradually became marginalized. Even though the logistics business was now declining within Kunlong, it didn't change the fact that the Yun family had built their fortune on logistics.

For the past thirty years, there has only been one true god in the domestic logistics market, which has always monopolized more than 80% of the domestic logistics market. Without its permission and support, Yun Zhan would never have been able to quickly take over the logistics network in Northeast China.

Unlike Yun Shang, who was ungrateful, his father Yun Zhan remembered Mei Zhirong's kindness and asked Mei Zhirong to write a calligraphy for him. This is the origin of the plaque in the main hall of the Yun family's ancestral home.

"When your father was alive, he would visit you on every major festival, never daring to neglect him for a moment. Could it be that when your father passed away, he took the Yun family's sense of propriety and honor with him?"

Among those in the audience, some were unaware of the various secrets and were somewhat confused. He didn't understand why Mei Tingting could point at Yun Shang and berate him, while Yun Shang didn't dare to utter a single word in response.

"Who is Mei Zhirong that she mentioned? Is she very powerful?" a friend asked.

The friend's eyes gleamed with excitement. He hadn't expected to witness such a spectacular show today; the trip had truly been worthwhile. He grinned and exclaimed, "You don't know, the chairman of Qingyuan Group is actually a rich second-generation. Although Yunshang's Kunlong Aviation, inherited from his father, is quite large, it still falls short compared to Miss Mei."

"What did she inherit?" the man pressed.

A friend looked at Mei Tingting on the stage with great envy: "The highest circulation, Lianshan Group."

(End of this chapter)