Chapter 83

As the plane flew steadily, the passengers began to relax.

There were still five or six hours until they reached the capital airport, and before long, a flight attendant pushed a small cart with cigarettes and matches, distributing them to the passengers.

While distributing, the female flight attendant said, "Dear passengers, there are ashtrays on the armrests. Please dispose of your cigarette ash in the ashtrays!"

Lin Qiangsheng looked ahead and said in surprise, "You can smoke on the plane?!"

A middle-aged man who looked like a unit leader on the other side of the aisle smiled and said, "Not only can you smoke, but they're good cigarettes too!"

As the flight attendant approached, Lin Qiangsheng saw that it was indeed a pack of ten Zhonghua cigarettes. Most smokers nowadays smoked cigarettes that cost a few cents per pack. Even officials didn't often have good cigarettes to smoke.

Lin Qiangsheng asked the flight attendant, "Excuse me, can I take two packs?"

The female flight attendant smiled and said, "Comrade, the rule is one pack per person."

Xu Hongmei, sitting by the window, scolded Lin Qiangsheng, "You're so young, why do you need to smoke!"

She turned to the flight attendant and said, "Comrade, you don't need to give him any!"

Lin Xiangrong, who didn't usually smoke, heard his wife and hesitated to extend his hand.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Mom, I'm just collecting them! I won't smoke them!"

He turned to the flight attendant and said with a smile, "I'll take three packs, one for each of us." Without waiting for his mother to stop him, Lin Qiangsheng quickly took three packs of ten Zhonghua cigarettes from the cart.

Xu Hongmei was about to stop him, but her son had already taken the cigarettes. She said, "Oh, you kid!"

Lin Xiangrong then said, "He's just collecting them and won't smoke them. Let him have them!" He smiled, thinking that when dealing with units in the city, it was awkward for him not to smoke when others did. He planned to take the cigarettes from his son when his wife wasn't paying attention.

Before long, the passengers lit their cigarettes and started chatting. They talked about what electrical appliances they needed to buy abroad, such as color TVs and refrigerators. The passengers excitedly discussed their limited impressions of the outside world, and even these bits of hearsay made the listeners feel greatly benefited. The cabin became noisy.

Lin Qiangsheng frowned, not used to this situation. Was this really the state of domestic civil aviation in the late 1970s?!

Lin Xiangrong and Xu Hongmei were both first-time flyers and found it similar to taking a train. They had no complaints and listened to the conversations around them calmly.

Lin Qiangsheng waved away the drifting smoke and leaned back in his seat to rest.

After flying for more than two hours, the plane gradually quieted down, and the passengers began to rest. It wasn't until three hours later, around 2:00 PM, that the plane landed at the capital airport.

The passengers wobbled off the plane, perhaps due to the excitement of their first trip abroad, the lively conversations on the plane, and the poor cabin environment, they all felt somewhat tired and fatigued.

Lin Qiangsheng dragged his suitcase and waited with his parents in the airport terminal. They had to catch a 5:30 PM flight to Hong Kong, a journey of about five hours.

"Around midnight when we arrive in Hong Kong, we still have to wait 12 hours for the connecting flight! How are we supposed to spend the night?" a female relative traveling with them complained.

Xu Hongmei asked, "Sister, is there a place to rest at the airport?"

The relative, a middle-aged woman, looked at Xu Hongmei, moved closer, and shook her head. "Sister, you're part of our delegation too, right? There might not be a place to stay. I heard the Hong Kong airport is quite small!"

Xu Hongmei smiled and nodded, saying, "That's tough. Changing flights is exhausting too!"

The woman also complained, "Yes, who would have thought! We have to change flights from our province to the capital, and then again in Hong Kong. It's really tiring!..."

Xu Hongmei smiled and nodded. She was already tired from the flight and didn't expect the woman to be so talkative. Xu Hongmei tried to engage in conversation, but this made the woman talk even more.

Lin Qiangsheng rolled his eyes and looked at his father. His father gave him a helpless look and shook his head.

Lin Qiangsheng took out a new notebook from his canvas bag and started writing with a pen.

This military canvas bag was much better than the fake leather bags many in the delegation carried. The provincial government had issued them a set of earth-colored suits and black fake leather bags, making the group look like a team collecting electricity fees.

Lin Xiangrong saw his son writing and asked, "Qiangsheng, what are you writing?"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "I'm writing some flight safety suggestions. The trip from our province to the capital was terrible! The smoke made me feel awful. I need to give some feedback to the Civil Aviation Administration!"

Lin Xiangrong smiled and said, "Okay, go ahead."

He then added, "Uh, by the way, keep those few packs of cigarettes for me. I might need them later!"

Lin Qiangsheng chuckled and said, "Sure, ask Mom. If she agrees, you can have them!"

Lin Xiangrong glared at his son and said, "I really need them!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Alright! You can have two packs. I'll keep one for my collection."

Lin Xiangrong nodded in agreement.

Lin Qiangsheng's suggestion to the Civil Aviation Administration was quite common in this era. At the time, many people in China would complain about unsatisfactory train or bus rides, and the management would take these complaints seriously. Unlike in later times, when everyone was busy and such letters were often thrown in the trash.

Before the late 1980s, when the Civil Aviation Administration banned smoking on planes, most domestic flights allowed smoking and even provided cigarettes and matches.

In the mid-1980s, the Civil Aviation Administration found through investigations that most fires on planes were caused by passengers smoking. This led to the ban on smoking on civil aviation flights.

Lin Qiangsheng used the risk of fires to warn the Civil Aviation Administration of their significant oversight.

The act of providing cigarettes to passengers was extremely irresponsible and should be strictly prohibited. It put passengers, the plane, and the crew in danger. To satisfy a few, the lives of the majority were put at risk!

Lin Qiangsheng wrote three pages, densely packed with text. Fortunately, his handwriting was legible, otherwise, it might have been discarded as waste paper.

"Lin Qiangsheng, what are you writing?" a girl's voice asked.

Lin Qiangsheng looked up and saw Gong Ya standing in front of him, hands behind her back, looking at his notebook with wide eyes.

He smiled and said, "I'm writing a suggestion letter. I think the environment on the plane is terrible! It's indescribable!"

Gong Ya widened her eyes and said, "Yes, I agree! On the plane, I almost suffocated! It was really bad!"

Lin Qiangsheng patted the seat next to him, and Gong Ya sat down confidently, looking at his notebook and asking, "Can I see it?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and handed the notebook to her.

Gong Ya took the notebook seriously, frowned at the dense text, and then focused on reading it.

After reading it two or three times, she said in surprise, "I didn't realize smoking on the plane could be so dangerous!"

She then said angrily, "It's really dangerous! They even provide cigarettes to passengers on the plane!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Yes, many people like to smoke in the bathroom. If a fire breaks out there, it's hard to detect because it's hidden. By the time it's noticed, it's often a big fire, which is very dangerous for both the plane and the passengers!"

Gong Ya nodded seriously and asked Lin Qiangsheng, "Can I show this suggestion letter to my grandfather? I think it's great, and he will definitely support you!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure! Since your grandfather is an old cadre, it would be best if he signed it. The Civil Aviation Administration will take the suggestions of old cadres seriously."

Gong Ya smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll show it to my grandfather."

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