Recently, however, Fu Mingyu had been troubled by one matter.

Three years ago, when major airlines signed procurement contracts with Commercial Aircraft Corporation for the ACJ31, the company had already begun planning to train pilots for the corresponding aircraft model, so that pilots could be delivered along with the aircraft. Simply put, they would sell you the aircraft and include the already-trained drivers as part of the package.

Since the ACJ30 was Commercial Aircraft Corporation’s first independently developed passenger aircraft and had not yet been released but was receiving much attention, while also being under enormous pressure, the training of pilots was particularly strict.

This batch of pilots had already been narrowed down from over ten thousand candidates in the initial screening, followed by rounds of elimination through the insane attrition rate at the flight academy.

But even so, the abilities of those pilots who successfully graduated varied greatly.

So two months ago, major airlines had already begun vigorously competing for pilots, each wanting the most excellent ones, as they were one of the strongest guarantees of aviation safety.

At this stage, the most outstanding batch had already been divided up completely.

However, just as there is always a top scholar in every year’s college entrance examination, there is always a best student in each class at the flight academy.

Until now, only that best student’s destination remained unknown.

“President Fu, the negotiation wasn’t successful.” The new secretary Bai Yang walked into Fu Mingyu’s office, looking troubled. “That top student still prefers North Airlines.”

“Did they mention why?” Fu Mingyu asked.

This term’s top student had beautiful flight records. Whether in theoretical knowledge or practical ability, this student had outperformed peers in every exam, stomping on a group of elite talents to steadily maintain first place. Even the instructors repeatedly praised how rarely they had seen such a formidable student, which sparked fierce competition among various airlines.

“No,” Bai Yang answered. “We’ve already offered the best conditions we can accept, definitely not inferior to North Airlines, but she still chose North Airlines. It seems to be a personal preference.”

Fu Mingyu raised his hand, pressing two fingers against his forehead, and made a “tsk” sound.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Fu Mingyu said. “Vice President Hu is also on a business trip there. Tomorrow, you and Vice President Hu will go personally.”

Bai Yang straightened his collar and immediately went out to book tickets.

Early the next morning, a call came from the flight academy.

Fu Mingyu had just arrived at the company and was striding through the corridor when the administrative secretary brought coffee and quietly placed it on Fu Mingyu’s desk.

“President Fu, it still doesn’t seem to be working,” Bai Yang said on the phone, already out of patience. “She said North Airlines’ airplane food tastes better. What kind of reason is that? Our first-class chef is Michelin-level!”

This was just toying with them.

Fu Mingyu stopped at the floor-to-ceiling window and asked, “Where are you now?”

“Just outside their academic affairs office. Vice President Hu is still inside.”

“Have him take the phone. I want to talk to him.”

Bai Yang paused, then agreed.

Fu Mingyu took a sip of coffee, and the person on the other end of the phone changed, though they remained silent for a while.

“Hello.”

Fu Mingyu spoke first, “This is Fu Mingyu, Operations Director of Heng World Airlines.”

There was still a pause on the other end of the phone before a light “Hello, President Fu” was heard.

Fu Mingyu paused.

A woman?

Suppressing his momentary surprise, Fu Mingyu turned and sat down. “May I ask which of World Airlines’ conditions you’re not satisfied with?”

The person on the other end spoke lazily: “I’m not unsatisfied with anything. It’s just that North Airlines’ food tastes better.”

Fu Mingyu considered himself someone who valued talent, as he could still maintain his good temper despite such a pretentious reason. “That’s simple. If you have requirements, the head chef can prepare special meals for you before each flight.”

“That would be too much trouble.”

“It’s not trouble. Do you have any other thoughts?”

On the other end of the phone, conditions were listed one by one.

It went on for a full twenty minutes.

They weren’t exactly unreasonable demands; Fu Mingyu could still accept them.

During the call, Fu Mingyu opened the detailed pilot profile folder on his computer, sorted it by flight record scores, found the highest one, and looked at the image section where there was a photo.

Pilots have requirements for physique, so a full-body photo was attached.

The person in the photo wore a student uniform, had a tall and straight figure, stood under an aircraft wing, looked vibrant, and had an excellent demeanor.

Was that a bare face without makeup?

Fu Mingyu enlarged the photo and saw a face without cosmetics.

His gaze lingered for a moment, feeling a hint of familiarity.

But this feeling flashed by and was quickly dismissed by himself.

If he had seen this woman before, he would have a deep impression.

“President Fu, are you still listening? If you think it’s too much, we can forget it. I guess I don’t have a connection with World Airlines.”

“What?” Fu Mingyu lightly clicked the mouse, closing the photo. “The signal was poor just now. I didn’t hear clearly.”

The other side seemed to give a light laugh. “I said, I want double the annual salary.”

Fu Mingyu immediately replied: “Fine.”

Now it was the person on the other end who was stunned.

She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.

“Are there any other conditions?”

“N-no more.”

“Then, shall we cooperate?”

The other side changed their tone, seeming to have recovered. “President Fu, do you want me to come?”

Fu Mingyu didn’t know why she asked this, but he felt his patience today was unusually good.

Perhaps it was because he couldn’t stand the smug look of Yan, the president of North Airlines who had always been at odds with him.

But his mind flashed back to that graceful figure under the aircraft.

“Yes, looking forward to it.”

“I’ll think about it a bit more.”

?

She still seemed somewhat reluctant.

After hanging up, Fu Mingyu’s hand remained in the position of holding the phone, stunned for a moment.

Could it be that World Airlines had a bad reputation in the pilot community?

Logically, that shouldn’t be possible. World Airlines was definitely at the forefront of the industry regarding employee benefits.

Fu Mingyu put down his phone, and thought for a while, not knowing where the problem lay.

During the wait, he opened the resume again.

Just as the mouse scrolled to that photo, the ringtone sounded again.

It was Bai Yang calling.

Fu Mingyu paused briefly and answered the phone, but it was Bai Yang speaking.

“Anything else?”

Bai Yang had now gone outside to the corridor, lowering his voice: “President Fu, have you thought it through? Double the annual salary? Although salaries are confidential, it wouldn’t be good if other pilots found out.”

“I know.”

“Then…”

“Keep an eye on the contract,” Fu Mingyu said. “The other portion of the salary will come from my account.”

“But…”

“Don’t be verbose.” Fu Mingyu didn’t want to talk much with him. “It’s just one salary. Buying bags for a girlfriend for a year would cost more than that. When the time comes, draft two contracts. The other one will be a reward contract from me personally, not going through the finance department. The taxes will also be handled through my account.”

“But she said she still needs to consider.”

“It’s fine, let her consider.”

Fu Mingyu unbuttoned one button of his suit and rubbed his brow.

By four in the afternoon, seven hours had passed since the end of that phone call.

Fu Mingyu had never felt seven hours to be so long.

He sat in the conference room, with a group of people talking non-stop about the planning for the ACJ31’s maiden flight, giving him a headache.

During this time, he looked at Bai Yang twice, pointing to his phone, asking if there had been a call from the flight academy, but Bai Yang shook his head both times.

By now, the meeting was drawing to a close, and the planning department staff below were all looking at Fu Mingyu, waiting for his directive.

Fu Mingyu had three planning proposals in front of him, all laid out, but his eyes weren’t actually on them.

The entire conference room was silent for three seconds, with everyone nervously looking at Fu Mingyu.

His expression seemed to say, “You don’t deserve the ACJ31 aircraft I bought at a high price.”

Just when everyone thought he hadn’t been listening, he finally spoke: “P1 group, a 40-minute media report with no focus, wasting so much time—how much flow control at the airport would that delay? P2 group, the promotion is dull, the expression is blunt, the focus is unclear, and the choice of media channels lacks rationality. P3 group, not a single effective promotional concept. Multiply resources, cross-border creativity, powerful execution—if you can’t achieve these three points, don’t submit a planning proposal.”

The conference room was suddenly so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“Meeting adjourned.”

Fu Mingyu pushed away the planning proposals in front of him and stood up. “Submit new planning proposals next week.”

Everyone held their breath as they watched Fu Mingyu leave. The three group leaders returned with dark faces to gather their things.

Someone quietly asked Bai Yang, “Is President Fu in a bad mood today?”

Bai Yang smiled helplessly without saying anything and hurried out after him in two steps.

At that moment, his phone rang. Bai Yang stopped to answer, and his expression gradually relaxed.

The person in front turned around, and Bai Yang gave him an “OK” gesture.

Fu Mingyu turned his head to look at the blue sky outside the glass window and unbuttoned a button on his suit.

The contract was drafted quickly, coming down in just a few days. Bai Yang specifically brought it to Fu Mingyu for review.

He looked it over and had no objections, so Bai Yang sent it to the flight academy.

This tough nut had finally been cracked. Bai Yang rubbed his shoulders and said, “Women and petty men are hard to deal with—the ancients did not deceive me.”

At this time, Yan, the president of North Airlines, called.

“Fu Mingyu, what dirty tricks did you use to steal my person?”

“Your person?” Fu Mingyu stood up and smiled lightly. “Was the contract signed for them to be your person?”

The two companies were leaders in the industry, competing yet complementing each other, with mutual understanding.

Yan An had put considerable effort into this matter, sending people to discuss career planning and using the pilot’s most coveted condition of becoming a captain as bait.

Precisely because he thought too honorably, he never expected Fu Mingyu to simply use money to win.

Yan An laughed coldly in anger. “Fine, I won’t fight you for this. Since the person is yours now, just tell me, how did you get them?”

Fu Mingyu: “With personal charm.”

“…”

Yan An didn’t even bother to roll his eyes and hung up directly.

Fu Mingyu put down the phone and walked to the window, his brows relaxed. Even the endless drizzle outside seemed pleasant to him.

Remembering something, he turned back and asked, “When will the ACJ31 arrive?”

Bai Yang replied, “Air traffic control has arranged everything. The first aircraft will take off at four o’clock on Saturday morning. If nothing goes wrong, it will land at Jiang City International Airport precisely at 6:14 a.m.”

Fu Mingyu nodded and asked, “What about her?”

Bai Yang was momentarily confused before realizing who “she” was.

“The flight academy said they don’t want to waste any opportunity for rear-seat flight training, so she’ll fly over with it. However, since the personnel and logistics departments don’t work on Saturday, she’ll formally report for duty on Monday.”

Fu Mingyu turned and sat down, opening a document in front of him, then suddenly asked, “What time is the flight to Huai City this Saturday?”

Bai Yang couldn’t remember this clearly. He took out his phone, looked at it, and said, “Seven in the morning.”

Fu Mingyu said casually, “Hmm.”

Saturday, just as dawn was breaking, the eastern sky turned a pale white.

The weather wasn’t particularly good today. Clouds rolled at low altitudes, obscuring the light of the morning star.

Few flights took off or landed at this hour; it was the quietest time of day at the airport.

Yet the waiting hall wasn’t empty, though unusually quiet. Occasionally there was the soft sound of turning pages. Adults were either looking at their phones or dozing, while several children lay in their parents’ arms, playing or sleeping.

Fu Mingyu, Bai Yang, and two assistants walked briskly through the long corridor, heading straight for the boarding gate.

A long queue had already formed ahead, but the first-class passage was still empty, waiting for the last first-class passenger to board.

At this moment, Fu Mingyu raised his hand to look at his watch, paused his steps, and turned to look outside.

The airport terminal’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows provided an unobstructed view of the tarmac, with even the ground guidance lights visible.

Just then, an aircraft emerged from the clouds on the horizon, its wings cutting through the air, descending magnificently, landing steadily at an 8-degree angle in the center of the runway, speeding along like lightning.

Even though the terminal building blocked the rumbling sound, aviation people seemed to have a sixth sense. A group of flight attendants pulling their flight cases stopped their hurried pace in unison to watch, and several passengers sitting by the windows also curiously turned to look in the direction of their gaze.

On the runway, the aircraft was predominantly snow-white, with a golden phoenix painted on the fuselage. The wings extended along with the aircraft’s wings, and the phoenix’s tail rose high at the aircraft’s tail, displaying a majestic aura.

Fu Mingyu checked his watch again.

6:14, not a minute off.

A faint smile appeared in his eyes, and he stood there until the aircraft came to a complete stop on the tarmac.

Bai Yang looked at the time and said, “President Fu?”

Fu Mingyu turned his head to look at him, raising his eyebrows.

Bai Yang cleared his throat, “Um, there’s still time.”

As they spoke, a child in the waiting hall shouted, “Dad! What kind of aircraft is that? It’s so beautiful!”

The child’s father was an expert. He carried his son to the window and said, “This is our country’s aircraft. See that golden phoenix? In the future, any aircraft with this marking is an ACJ31 model. It’s amazing—it can land automatically even in such low clouds, and…”

The father’s long explanation was interrupted by the child’s shout, “Wow! The pilots are coming out!”

Indeed, as Fu Mingyu could see, the crew vehicle had already set up the boarding stairs, and the World Airlines captain who had been sent was the first to walk out.

The view from the window was broader, and Fu Mingyu slowly walked over.

Bai Yang and the two assistants behind looked at each other, not daring to say much, and followed.

After all, who wouldn’t want to take a closer look at the expensive aircraft their company had purchased?

Fu Mingyu watched the cabin door. The captain had already descended several steps, with the co-pilot following closely behind. These two were familiar to Fu Mingyu; they were the crew members he had personally selected to be sent for conversion training.

When the third person walked out, Fu Mingyu narrowed his eyes.

The wind on the tarmac was strong, whistling past, blowing the hair at her cheeks and making it flutter in front of her eyes. It also made her white uniform shirt billow.

She didn’t rush down the stairs but removed her pilot’s cap, tucked it under her arm, and stood there, looking up to survey her surroundings. Her gaze finally fixed on the six large characters that read “Jiang City International Airport.”

“Wow! Is that a big sister?” the child shouted again. “Is she a flight attendant? Why is she wearing different clothes?”

The child’s father chuckled and placed him on his shoulders to give him a better view. “Haha, she’s also a pilot, a female pilot. This is Dad’s first time seeing a female pilot too.”

The child’s voice caught the attention of several nearby passengers, and gradually more people stood by the window to look at the distinctively shaped aircraft.

Fu Mingyu unconsciously took another step forward, leaving less than thirty centimeters between him and the glass.

He watched intently as she walked toward the terminal building, her figure becoming clearer.

Her black pants clung to her legs in the wind, and each step she took was clean and crisp.

The captain walking beside her seemed to be saying something to her. She tilted her head up, and every bit of her smile was full of vibrant spirit that spread around her, overshadowing the co-pilot’s presence beside her.

Suddenly, she looked up at the terminal building, gazing straight in his direction.

Even though he knew she was just looking at the terminal building as a whole, the illusion of their gazes meeting across that space still made Fu Mingyu’s breath tighten for a moment.

“President Fu? The announcement is already urging passengers to board.”

Bai Yang suddenly spoke beside him.

Fu Mingyu nodded and turned to walk toward the boarding gate.

After a few steps, he paused again and turned back to look at the tarmac, only to see a crew vehicle slowly driving away into the distance.