Chapter 183 Five Years
Xu Songning drove herself to the school to find her mentor. Her colleagues needed time to gather, so she arrived first.
Outside the familiar lecture hall, she stood with her arms crossed against the wall, out of the students' sight. Cheng Jianming, standing on the podium, could see Xu Songning standing at the back door.
He glanced at it casually, picked up his phone and sent her a message, "Songning, go to the office and wait."
When the students saw the teacher using her phone, they exchanged knowing glances with the people next to them. Teacher Cheng never made or received calls or sent messages during class; her phone was always on silent from the start of class. They would even discuss privately whether Teacher Cheng used a smartphone or not. Why was she using her phone during class today?
Who exactly is this person? How could they get Teacher Cheng to use his phone during class?
A "quack" came from outside the door.
The students looked outside, and some sharp-eyed ones spotted Xu Songning standing in the corner in an instant.
"It's that air traffic controller from last time!"
Someone shouted out, and the surroundings fell silent. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. This was Professor Cheng's class! How dare someone speak like that? They were simply courting death.
Cheng Jianming put down his book with a serious expression, and the man shut his mouth, not daring to raise his head.
The expected blame did not come; instead, they saw Teacher Cheng waving outside.
Xu Songning had been keeping an eye on the classroom and knew she had caused a sensation. Just as she was about to leave, she saw her master beckoning to her.
She pointed to herself, "Me?"
Cheng Jianming nodded and opened the classroom door.
Xu Songning walked confidently into the classroom and greeted, "Hello, Master!"
"Hello, students!" she waved and smiled.
"Okay." Cheng Jianming replied, closing the book in his hand.
This meant the class was over, and the remaining time could be used for other things. The students became bolder and greeted Xu Songning.
"Hello, senior sister!"
Hello, sister!
"Didn't you go to work today?"
"Is work tiring?"
"I'm off today, so I came to visit my master," Xu Songning said with a smile, waving his hand.
She was carrying a bag of fruit, which Xiang Yun had picked out. She had moved a box of fruit to Cheng Jianming's office to distribute to the other teachers, and then packed an extra bag to bring just for him.
"Why did you bring anything?" Cheng Jianming frowned slightly.
"I brought this especially for myself because I was afraid I'd get thirsty," Xu Songning blinked.
Cheng Jianming coughed, tidied up the things on the table, and said that there were still five minutes left, so they could study on their own.
"Class monitor, come up here and play the listening exercise. You all need to do today's homework."
The students wanted to chat with Xu Songning a little longer, but they didn't expect that the teacher was about to leave. They didn't dare to say anything in front of Teacher Cheng and could only watch the two of them leave.
Once outside, Xu Songning shoved the fruit into his master's hands, saying, "These are the fruits I brought for you; they're very sweet."
"Aren't you afraid of getting thirsty?" Cheng Jianming asked her.
Xu Songning laughed, "If I'm afraid of being thirsty, I can buy water myself, right? It wouldn't be appropriate to bribe you in front of your students."
Xu Songning knew that Cheng Jianming was a very old-fashioned person, and if she gave him fruit in front of the students, he would definitely be angry and refuse.
He clearly distinguishes between public and private matters.
"Alright, why didn't you come with them?" Cheng Jianming took the fruit; it was his apprentice's thoughtful gift, and he couldn't just refuse it.
“They came from the airport with me, but I was too lazy to wait, so I came over first.” Xu Songning followed Cheng Jianming into the office.
As soon as the two entered, the other teachers praised them, saying, "Old Cheng, your apprentice has come to see you! The young lady is so thoughtful."
"You've taught a good apprentice, Lao Cheng."
"Hey, young lady, where did you buy this fruit? It tastes so good! It's much better than the fruit my husband buys."
Cheng Jianming looked closely and saw that each teacher had a bag of fruit on their desk, a little less than his, but the amount was just right and looked presentable.
He glanced back at the mischievous Xu Songning, but said nothing.
"Teacher, these were planted by a friend himself. They don't produce in large quantities, and the fruit trees he chose are all very good ones," Xu Songning explained to the teacher.
The teacher sighed. It was such a pity that such delicious fruit wasn't produced in large quantities; otherwise, she would have definitely asked for his contact information.
"If you're not going to mass-produce this, why did you bring so many?" Cheng Jianming sat down and pointed to a chair not far away.
Xu Songning understood, moved a stool over, and sat down next to Cheng Jianming.
"I have a lot of fruit trees, but I only give them to friends, I don't sell them. I'm not a professional fruit farmer, it's just a hobby."
The two didn't have much interaction in their daily lives, and their conversations mainly revolved around their work in the regulatory field.
Although Cheng Jianming had been away from his job for many years, he still cared about it. He asked Xu Songning about some work-related matters and gave her some advice.
As expected of an experienced supervisor, he could easily solve any problem that Xu Songning faced.
The two chatted for an hour and a half. Cheng Jianming remembered that she had been in the industry for five years and was about to be promoted to Level 4 controller.
It'll be five years soon.
Xu Songning had just written down the key points his master had mentioned on his phone when he heard him say this, and he was a little dazed. "Yes."
Their mentor-student relationship lasted for nearly five years, with a break in between for a few years.
“You have no problem directing international flights, and you handle special situations such as high traffic volume and detours during thunderstorms very well. You haven’t made any mistakes in the past five years, so you should be in a stable position.”
Xu Songning didn't dare to speak as confidently as Cheng Jianming. Shanghai Airport is a busy hub with extremely fierce competition, and the promotion channels are all proportional, so there may be a waiting list.
"I'll submit the application this year. I'm confident about passing the ICAO English test and the simulator, but I'm not sure whether I should wait."
"Songning, believe in yourself," Cheng Jianming said in a deep voice.
Xu Songning smiled and said, "Of course I believe in myself. After my promotion, I'll have to take on apprentices too."
"Don't you want to bring it?" Cheng Jianming asked.
Whether she wanted to or not, she had to take on apprentices. Taking on apprentices was actually very stressful. Originally, she only needed to manage her own sector to prevent any problems, but with an apprentice, she also had to keep an eye on his sector, which doubled the pressure.
"Now I can understand Sister Wang." Xu Songning smiled bitterly.
The alarm clock on the table rang at just the right time; it was time for our agreed-upon meal.
Xu Songning drove over; she was responsible for taking her master there.
This time, the atmosphere in the car was no longer heavy, and light music played.
The gathering was rather dull. Air traffic controllers don't drink alcohol, so everyone drank soft drinks and talked about work-related matters.
Zhao Yi and a few others surrounded Cheng Jianming, chatting about some things from back then and reminiscing about the days when Cheng Jianming was still working at the airport.
Compared to being a university teacher, Cheng Jianming certainly prefers working on the front lines, and when he talks about the past, he can only sigh.
Xu Songning had heard this kind of topic far too many times; it always came up in this way. She was bored and secretly sent a message to Xiang Yun under the table.
Xu Songning: Yun-ge, are you awake yet? If not, I'm punishing you by making you send me a picture of your abs.
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