Chapter 71: 71, Republic Of China Air Logistics Officer, Training, Funding Gap
Fang Wen drove back to Beiping but did not go directly to Qinghe Airport.
Instead, he stopped at a town outside Beiping City.
“Uncle Fang, right here. You all take the train from Beiping Train Station to Bengbu, then take a boat up the Huai River to Fuyang City. I’ve written down all the things to watch out for on the paper. By the way, when you get to Tianjin, bring me some Shanhai Pass Soda. I tried it last time, and the taste was pretty good.”
“Not going directly to Shanghai?” Fang Shouxin asked in surprise.
“Going to Fuyang City, one is to let them take the airplane back, broaden their horizons and understand how an airline company works. Secondly, the company’s airmail business has already started operations. Among this batch of security team members, one will be rotated as a mail delivery clerk. This is a good chance for them to get familiar with the process.”
Fang Shouxin nodded, pocketed the paper with travel precautions, got off the car onto a horse, and headed with his nephews to the mules and horses market in the town. He needed to sell these ten horses first before entering Beiping City.
Meanwhile, Fang Wen took Shunzi back to Qinghe Airport and flew the Qingyun Hao back to Shanghai first.
Fang Shouxin taking ten greenhorns on the train naturally encountered quite a few situations.
This journey was not easy, but it also gave Fang Shouxin and his nephews more opportunities to get to know each other.
Three days later, the dusty Fang Shouxin arrived with the group at Bada Airport outside Fuyang City.
After waiting a bit, the Boeing 80 landed from the sky on time.
Once the airplane stopped, passengers got off one after another, boarded the airport shuttle bus into Fuyang City. Locals went straight home, while those from the Central Plains took local shuttle buses from Fuyang City to different destinations. It was precisely because of the airport, plus the bandits having gone quiet, that Fuyang City’s economy quickly recovered. Traveling merchants, even if not flying, would pass through here—a prosperous scene indeed.
After the passengers left, Fang Wen, Sun Debiao, and Xie Yuwen got off the airplane.
He saw Fang Shouxin and his group standing not far away, so he walked over.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived.” Fang Shouxin said, his face full of exhaustion.
“You’ve had a hard time. The journey wasn’t easy for you, was it?” Fang Wen asked with concern.
Fang Shouxin said helplessly: “Sigh, these little rascals are like they’ve eaten gunpowder—one spark and they explode. After you left, we went to the mules and horses market to sell the horses, and they got into a fight with the horse traders. From then on, I haven’t had a moment’s peace: catching thieves, beating swindlers, and even in Tianjin, they challenged someone to a martial arts match and got a good beating.”
“Really? Same temperament as your Shunzi.” Fang Wen pretended to be surprised.
“Yeah, this time back, Shunzi will train with them. Need to discipline them properly, teach them what rules are.” Fang Shouxin agreed.
As the two chatted, the shuttle bus from Fuyang City came back.
The driver and another man unloaded a pile of things from the bus.
Fang Wen walked over and listened to their report.
“General Manager, these are all delivered to Fuyang Ticketing Company from various places in the Central Plains over the past two days: 73 pieces of airmail, 26 items for air delivery, total weight 327 kilograms.”
Fang Wen turned and shouted to Sun Debiao: “Old Sun, come over, check the items, and once confirmed, load them onto the airplane.”
Then he had Fang Shouxin call over the ten new employees.
“You all take a look too. After training, this kind of air mail transport work will be your responsibility.”
Immediately, Sun Debiao jogged over and demonstrated how to handle air logistics without internet or electronic accounting.
It was a completely manual process.
Ticketing company receives and sends（shows original documents）——air logistics officer（receives cargo, checks against document copy, loads onto airplane）——upon arrival at destination ticketing company reconfirms——pickup stage（consignee comes to ticketing company with agreed code to collect cargo, or delivered directly like registered mail）.
What Sun Debiao did was the middle air logistics officer part: he had to count the items, verify against the list, and only after confirmation transport them to the airplane.
Because if cargo is lost midway, even Fang Wen bears some responsibility, so he preferred to use trustworthy new employees rather than hand this business to Bada Company people.
Additionally, there was another layer of meaning no one knew: this channel had to be fully under his control, perhaps for special uses later.
But this requirement made the ten new employees look troubled.
They all complained: “Martial Uncle）, we train our bodies every day, and the rest of the time we’re busy with farm work and gathering herbs—where do we have time to read and write?”
Fang Shouxin glared at them: “Aren’t the characters in medical books characters? Don’t give me that. Once in Shanghai, you have to learn everything.”
Fang Wen smiled: “It’s not that hard, just learn to count with Arabic numerals and verify against the documents.”
One playing good cop, one bad cop, silenced the young ones.
Afterward, they helped Sun Debiao load the 300 kilograms of cargo into the rear compartment of the airplane, then waited to board.
Because there were 11 internal company passengers this time, only 7 tickets were sold externally. Once the guests passed security and boarded, Fang Wen started the airplane and took off.
At the moment the airplane ascended, the high pressure reaction did not appear in these new employees. Their years of physical training made their nerves thick, effectively resisting various air travel discomforts.
Then, they excitedly pressed against the windows to watch the scenery outside.
Below were patches of white clouds, with mountains and rivers flashing by. This scene was just like the descriptions of sword-wielding guests flying through the air that they’d heard from passing storytellers in the village.
So this is what it’s like in the sky!
Carrying the ten new employees back to Shanghai, their training began immediately.
Mainly discipline training, plus culture classes.
For this, Taishan Airlines specially hired a military officer who graduated from Huangpu School and was resting at home due to illness to train in military drills.
As for culture classes, no need to worry. Bada Company has plenty of accountants. The ferry company isn’t operating yet, so these people are idle anyway—having them teach arithmetic and literacy is no trouble.
With these arrangements made, Fang Wen’s main job was flying.
Outside of work, he had one important matter to consider.
That was making money, making more money.
That day, the agreement reached with Neil Toledo over drinks: Boeing P-26B sale price of 20,000 silver dollars.
This was already the lowest price he could offer. After all, this model couldn’t be sold externally unless scrapped; it could only be done secretly under the name of export machine.
Though this price was only a seventh of the Boeing 80, it was still a huge financial burden for Fang Wen.
Nowadays, Fang Wen’s monthly salary was 600 silver dollars, plus 300 in allowances, nearly a thousand in work income.
Outside work, 10% Taishan Airlines dividend, probably another three thousand silver dollars a month.
But in the short term, even adding the silver dollars in the Citibank safe deposit box, the available capital wasn’t much.
And the tung oil from Fourth Sister’s husband—couldn’t owe the money forever.
He calculated: with all the back-and-forth turnover, he’d still need about 5,000 silver dollars to plug this hole.
How to operate to make a quick buck in this era?
