Legendary Captain

Xu Zijin then realized that she had been too excited and had forgotten that her father had an old injury on his right hand.

He quickly released Xu Qing's right hand, smacked his lips, and stood obediently beside Xu Qing, not saying a word or daring to move.

Mei Tingting had already reached the father and son, glaring fiercely at Xu Zijing, and said with slight anger, "So reckless! Can your father even touch anything with his right hand? Get out!"

Unlike her usually cheerful father, Xu Qing, her mother, Mei Tingting, played the role of a strict mother. Whenever her face darkened, Xu Zijing would instinctively tremble.

Xu Qing patted his son on the back, signaling him to go out first.

"Dad, I'll wait for you outside." Xu Zijin didn't forget her promise to Xu Qing as she left.

"Stop waiting!" Mei Tingting said coldly, "Your father won't be going there anymore."

Faced with her mother's unyielding attitude, Xu Zijing swallowed back the words of rebuttal that were on the tip of her tongue. After considering it for a moment, she still didn't have the courage to argue with her mother, so she left dejectedly without saying a word.

After Xu Zijin left the office, Xu Qing smiled wryly: "Don't be so harsh on the child. Can't you tell the child isn't close to you?"

When she was pregnant, Xu Qing kept saying she didn't like children, but after the child was born, she became the one who doted on the child more.

On the contrary, Mei Tingting, who has a gentle temperament, is exceptionally strict with her children, which is a complete reversal of her personality.

"You've spoiled him rotten. If I don't put him in a little more discipline, he probably won't even know who he is anymore." Mei Tingting had one attitude towards her son and another towards Xu Qing. She gently massaged Xu Qing's right arm: "He's so rough. Is he feeling alright?"

Xu Qing thoroughly enjoyed Mei Tingting's meticulous care, and said with half-closed eyes, "So many years have passed, it's nothing."

Mei Tingting was still worried, and said with a hint of reproach, "You're such a rascal! You don't want a peaceful life; you just can't settle down. You can't stand not causing trouble, can you? I'll talk to the people in the research lab, and you're not allowed to go there anymore. The development of new models has nothing to do with you!"

Xu Qing was somewhat displeased: "I've shed blood and tears up there, why am I forbidden from participating? No! I didn't participate at all! I was just watching, is that not allowed?"

"No way!" Mei Tingting said firmly, not giving Xu Qing any chance to take advantage.

Seeing his wife's extremely firm attitude, Xu Qing knew that things were probably beyond saving today. He figured he would have to find an opportunity to whisper sweet nothings in her ear.

"I heard the Xu family went bankrupt?" The research questions were put aside for the time being, and the rest of the time was for casual conversation. Xu Qing asked about a piece of news he had just heard.

To be honest, Xu Qing hadn't paid attention to the Xu family's affairs for quite some time. The last time someone mentioned the Xu family was recently, it was because of the news of their bankruptcy.

Mei Tingting simply hummed in response and then fell silent, seemingly uninterested in discussing the Xu family.

In comparison, Xu Qing was more curious and, quite tactlessly, continued to ask, "Do you know why?"

Mei Tingting's hands stopped abruptly, her gaze sharpening, and her expression slowly turning to disgust: "Ha...men!"

Faced with this unwarranted mockery of his personal dignity, Xu Qing immediately became furious: "Why are you mocking me?"

"Men are all the same!" Mei Tingting stood up, glancing sideways at Xu Qing. "Xu Jingyang has only himself to blame; don't interfere!"

"Why should I get involved? It's just a little tiring to live, but we're not going to die!" Xu Qing wasn't the kind of person who was overflowing with compassion. Although the Xu family had gone bankrupt, they were just having a tough time, not on the verge of death. What reason did he have to help? He wasn't the Xu family's maid.

Seeing that Xu Qing promised to behave himself, Mei Tingting finally relented and stopped worrying about the Xu family.

"By the way, remember to show your face at the founding ceremony of Qingyuan Commercial Aircraft Company in a while. The research lab is burning through cash too fast, and relying on us alone will affect the group's cash flow. We need to bring in external investment," Mei Tingting said.

Xu Qing muttered, "It's been so many years since I've participated in any activities, why are you making an exception?"

"Will the research on the new model continue?" Mei Tingting asked.

"Research, of course! If I don't do research, wouldn't all the pain I suffered in my right hand be for nothing?" Xu Qing said. "But what's the meaning of you asking me to raise money for you, yet not letting me into the research lab?"

"Can't you treat this as a simple business? What are you meddling in for?" Mei Tingting complained. "It's settled! You're only responsible for attracting investment, and you don't need to haggle over anything else."

After saying that, Mei Tingting got up and went back to her previous spot.

"Is she really just a tool?" Xu Qing sighed deeply. Seeing that Mei Tingting didn't want to talk to him anymore, he knew that his persistence had probably angered her. Continuing to talk would only make him look foolish, so he decided to let Mei Tingting calm down first. He would try to persuade her again in a couple of days, and maybe there would still be some chance.

As soon as she left the chairman's office, Xu Zijing was waiting outside. Seeing her father emerge, she rushed to greet him excitedly, "Dad, what if they really succeed in developing the new model? Wouldn't our family be rich?"

"Send you money my foot! Not enough money right now?" Xu Qing gave her son a flick on the forehead. "And watch your step on your mother's turf! If you keep acting recklessly, you might just die! I don't want to bury my child!"

"Dad, 'dying young' means before adulthood, but I'm an adult!" Xu Zijin corrected.

Xu Qing sneered: "He's not even fully grown yet, and you call him an adult?"

"However, if the new model is really developed, Dad, you should stay home this time! I don't want to be a child from a single-parent family," Xu Zijin retorted.

"Curse me?" Xu Qing gently patted Xu Zijing on the back of the head, then stopped him from following and left alone.

After entering the elevator lobby and disappearing from Xu Zijing's sight, Xu Qing did not press the elevator button, but instead leaned against the glass curtain wall and looked out the window.

His memory quickly flashed back to a rainy night... a nighttime test flight for a new aircraft model...

With a muffled thud, the two windshields in front of the cockpit shattered, and dense rainwater poured into the cockpit! Lack of oxygen, cold, blood loss... even Xu Qing, whose will was as strong as iron, almost gave up hope at that moment!

Even with unimaginable effort, Xu Qing managed to survive. However, the sound in his right ear remained forever from that night, and his right arm still feels slightly numb to this day.

After that night, it wasn't a question of whether Xu Qing wanted to give up his flying career, but rather that his physical condition had already determined that he would have to take off that uniform forever.