After Wu Yue and Ding Gan boarded the plane, they instructed their team members to store their carry-on luggage before finding their respective seats.
Pan Ying, the captain of FV Club, was taking his first flight. After settling into his seat, he appeared somewhat nervous.
“Airplane seats are actually this spacious? I thought they’d be similar to high-speed trains,” Pan Ying murmured.
Wu Yue chuckled. “You wouldn’t say that if you were sitting in economy class. There’s even more spacious first class, but the plane doesn’t have enough first-class seats. Plus, we shouldn’t be too extravagant, so we booked business class instead.”
First class features cabin-style seating where each first-class cabin occupies space equivalent to six economy seats. With over two meters of front-to-back distance, you could roll around and sleep comfortably.
However, there weren’t thirty first-class seats available. Wu Yue didn’t want to create disparities between team members, and he also felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to be too lavish, so he didn’t choose that option.
Business class is only slightly inferior to first class, but the difference isn’t significant.
While it doesn’t have fully private cabins, business class features semi-private spatial structures that can be thought of as individual compartments with some dividers, not as completely isolated as first class cabins that can seal you off from the outside world entirely.
Nevertheless, business class seats are spacious, with large side tables, large screens in front, and various ports and sockets at your disposal. The seats can recline to a full 180 degrees, making the experience significantly better than economy class.
Everyone found their seats, and the business class compartments separated them all. This arrangement made several first-time flyers feel slightly anxious.
Pan Ying asked, “Manager Lu, could you quickly tell us what precautions we should take? What can and can’t we use here?”
Manager Lu smiled. “Order whatever you want to eat—if you don’t understand something, just ask the flight attendant. Simply tell them it’s your first time flying business class. Flight attendants are professionals; they won’t judge you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, before the plane even took off, flight attendants approached with warm hospitality, offering drinks, hot towels, and various snacks.
A flight attendant knelt beside the seat, first handing over warm, wet towels for wiping hands and faces, then offering a glass of lychee coconut milk, followed by presenting the menu. She specifically mentioned that any special dietary requirements could be accommodated.
Pan Ying flipped through the menu, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
Previously, he’d assumed airplane food would just be standardized box lunches. But seeing this menu made him realize this was no ordinary box lunch—there were so many options!
There were appetizers, including shrimp, mandarin segments, and vegetable salads.
Selected main courses included grilled steak with roasted onions, asparagus, baby red potatoes, and red wine sauce, or oil-confit black cod with cherry tomatoes, roasted potatoes, and black olives.
There were cheeses, fruits, and desserts, plus seafood udon noodles, chicken and cheese sandwiches, and Chinese dim sum.
Additionally, there was a breakfast menu featuring dishes like stir-fried eggs with preserved radish, mushroom, and tofu, soy milk with fried dough sticks, chicken and mushroom stir-fried noodles, bacon, sausages, and pancakes.
Most surprisingly, Pan Ying even spotted instant noodles on the menu—perhaps some passengers just preferred that.
Of course, besides the food, there were various beverages, including wines and champagne.
The menu had Pan Ying feeling completely bewildered, unsure of what to order.
But there was no rush—he had plenty of time to decide before takeoff.
After takeoff, Pan Ying experienced the full benefits of business class even more profoundly.
You could freely choose whether to rest first or eat first. If resting, you could recline immediately and sleep, with flight attendants waiting until you woke to inquire about meal service. If eating first, dishes would be served sequentially: appetizers, aperitifs, first course, main course, cake, ice cream, and so on. If you ate at a leisurely pace, spending two to three hours was perfectly normal.
After eating to your satisfaction, you could recline and sleep comfortably.
Unlike economy class, business class seats could recline a full 180 degrees, with complimentary blankets, pillows, sleepwear, slippers, overnight kits, and other amenities provided, making the resting experience worlds apart.
After going to the bathroom to change into the provided sleepwear and slippers, Pan Ying felt much more comfortable. Despite being 30,000 feet in the air, it felt no different from relaxing on his sofa at home.
The overnight kit contained brand-name toiletries like a toothbrush, toothpaste, and hand cream. Even the kit itself was exquisite and high-quality. Pan Ying didn’t realize that such travel kits could sell for thousands when purchased separately.
Beyond these amenities, other complementary features were entirely different from economy class.
The seats could not only recline fully but also featured adjustable cushion air systems that could automatically adapt within certain ranges based on passenger body type, adjusting to the most comfortable seating position.
The headphones were premium over-ear noise-canceling models that, when worn, immediately shielded you from the droning sound of jet engines.
The safety belts were thickened leather versions with padding, not only more substantial but equipped with airbags for enhanced safety.
The screen facing forward was several sizes larger than economy’s, with a special remote control enabling real-time communication with other business class passengers.
Pan Ying wasn’t tired at all, so after the flight attendant’s enthusiastic inquiry, he began ordering eagerly.
Previously, when Pan Ying and his team won the qualifier championship, Wu Yue had treated them to fine dining at a mall near the venue—a Western restaurant averaging 400 yuan per person.
The business class meals on this flight, in both presentation and taste, made it difficult for Pan Ying to associate them with typical airplane food. Instead, he felt they were comparable to meals at the Western restaurant they’d visited.
Pan Ying ate two bites of food, sipped some red wine, and felt completely relaxed, even wanting to stretch luxuriously.
“Flying can be this comfortable?”
“These thirteen hours—eat when I want, sleep when I want, watch movies when I want. It’s not tiring at all!”
…
Meanwhile, in economy class.
Zhao Xuming had already reclined his seat, but economy seats only recline to about 120 degrees. Even with a neck pillow, he still felt uncomfortable all over.
After takeoff, flight attendants began distributing airplane meals—only two box lunch options available, neither particularly appetizing.
The cramped seating and wobbly tray tables made dining uncomfortable, requiring careful attention to avoid spilling food or soup onto his lap.
As for sleepwear, slippers, or toiletry kits, none of these amenities existed in the economy.
The only bright side was that they were all seated together, not having to worry about being squeezed by a 200-pound seatmate, leaving no personal space.
Even so, the cramped conditions in the economy made Zhao Xuming feel extremely confined and regretful.
He wished he hadn’t tried to share hardships with these two clubs’ members and had booked business class for himself instead!
He could only blame himself for not thinking it through when booking. Figuring the journey would pass quickly, and that seeking special treatment might not look good.
But seeing FV Club’s thirty-plus members all flying in business class while he squeezed into economy completely shattered his composure!
Just as a flight attendant passed by, Zhao Xuming hurried to ask, “Excuse me, can I upgrade my seat now?”
The flight attendant maintained her professional smile. “I’m sorry, sir. Both first and business class are fully booked on this flight. There are no available seats.”
Zhao Xuming was stunned. “No seats available?”
The flight attendant nodded politely. “Yes, I’m sorry.”
Zhao Xuming was surprised. Typically, while first and business class seats were limited, their high prices often left them vacant, allowing for paid upgrades.
But FV Club had booked thirty business class seats all at once, and this was a popular flight to Los Angeles—no upgrade options remained!
This meant Zhao Xuming had no choice but to endure ten-plus hours crammed in economy before reaching Los Angeles and getting proper rest.
The corner of Zhao Xuming’s mouth twitched slightly as he forced a smile. “Alright, thank you.”
His gaze lingered longingly past the aisle toward the business class section ahead. At that exact moment, he saw a flight attendant smiling as she “whooshed” the curtain separating business and economy class.
Zhao Xuming: “…”
He suddenly had an ominous feeling that this Los Angeles trip might not go well…