My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 431 Mentality

As An Rusong scrolled through his phone screen, he pulled up Jin Zhongtai's phone number while muttering to himself.

In a daze, he felt that he was becoming more and more cold-blooded, or rather, more and more realistic when considering problems.

Just like in the case of Jiang Xiuyuan's request for help, after learning the exact details, his first thought was not to expose the matter on the Internet, nor to seek justice for the victim and punish the perpetrators as much as possible. Instead, he immediately questioned the victim's family's purpose in seeking justice.

Yes, in An Rusong's view, the reason why Jiang Youli's family is so insistent on this matter may not be to seek justice for Jiang Youli, or at least not simply for that purpose. They are more likely to demand more compensation and get more money.

If Jiang Youli's family really has such motives, then he, as an outsider, naturally has even less reason to get involved in this matter. At the very least, exposing this matter through NGN News pop-ups is not a good choice.

Imagine if An Rusong had exposed this matter in the NGN news pop-up immediately, causing a great social reaction, and Jiang Youli's family had used this reaction to reach a settlement with the 171st Infantry Brigade. In the end, the two sides stood together and accused NGN of spreading false information. Wouldn't An Rusong have been in a difficult position?

From an ordinary person's perspective, An Rusong's thoughts might seem suspicious, cold-blooded, and lacking in moral compass. However, from An Rusong's point of view, he has no choice but to be as cautious as possible, since he is not an ordinary person.

For an ordinary person, not many people would scheme against or harm them, because there wouldn't be much benefit to gain from doing so. But for An Rusong, there were far too many people who wanted to scheme against or harm him. Among them were people who were hostile to him and had grudges against him, people who had conflicts of interest with him, and even people who were simply jealous of him. Therefore, his suspicion and cold-bloodedness were inevitable.

Moreover, having come this far, An Rusong has encountered far too many injustices and horrific acts of cruelty and disregard for human life. He himself is hardly a virtuous person. Therefore, his mindset has long since abandoned the concepts of right and wrong, good and evil. The fact that he can maintain his bottom line and not become an unprincipled evildoer is already a testament to his integrity.

They found Kim Jung-tae's phone number and called the general in front of Lin Ya-en.

The call was quickly connected. When Jin Zhongtai answered, he thought that An Rusong and his three younger brothers had encountered some problems with their military service procedures. However, after a brief chat, Jin Zhongtai learned of An Rusong's purpose and asked him to wait a moment while he made a call to find out what was going on.

After hearing that Kim Jung-tae was going to inquire about it, An Rusong knew that the matter must have been suppressed by the 171st Infantry Brigade or the 55th Division; otherwise, Kim Jung-tae would have known about it.

What is Kim Jung-tae's identity? He is the head of the Military Security Command of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Among the many powers of the agency he leads is the inspection, supervision, and investigation of military personnel's crimes, making him essentially the "Chief Military Police" within the South Korean military system.

The 171st Infantry Brigade has suffered casualties, and not just one or two deaths. This is no small matter by any measure, yet Kim Jung-tae was completely unaware of it. Doesn't that say something?

Jin Zhongtai needed time to understand the situation, so An Rusong temporarily hung up the phone. He deleted the downloaded videos from his computer, then took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit one, and put it in his mouth—he knew that simply deleting the videos wouldn't completely erase their traces on the computer. But it didn't matter; he wasn't worried about the videos getting leaked. After all, these videos had passed through countless hands before reaching him, and anyone wanting to get their hands on them would have succeeded long ago.

“The general and Lin Jizhi have a very good relationship,” Lin Ya’en said, lighting his cigarette for him. “Since the general knows you’re inquiring about this matter, then Lin Jizhi should know as well.”

“That’s why I didn’t let you inquire,” An Rusong said with a smile. “As for me, how do you know I didn’t deliberately let General Lin get the information?”

Lin Ya'en seemed to have thought of something. She nodded, stood up from the armrest of her chair, and said, "Alright then, since you don't want me to get involved, I won't."

She reached out and pressed and rubbed An Rusong's shoulder, then said, "I'm going to check on how Ruze and the others are doing with their paperwork. I'll be right back."

An Rusong nodded, put the cigarette between his fingers in his mouth, and casually reached out to knead Lin Ya'en's waist.

With a charming smile, Lin Ya'en gracefully walked towards the door. After Lin Ya'en left, An Rusong smoked a cigarette, and then waited for about five or six minutes before Jin Zhongtai called. Jin Zhongtai then told An Rusong what he knew on the phone.

According to Kim Jung-tae, more than a month ago, the 171st Infantry Brigade did report a soldier's sudden death due to illness to the 55th Division. At that time, the 55th Division also arranged for people to conduct a detailed investigation and confirmed that the deceased soldier had congenital heart disease, and his sudden death was directly related to this disease.

At the time, the 171st Infantry Brigade contacted the family of the deceased soldier immediately. The relevant autopsy report and pathology materials were shown to the family. The family not only signed the relevant documents, but also reached a settlement with the 171st Infantry Brigade. The 171st Infantry Brigade has complete documentation to prove this.

As for the current situation, the 55th Division has not yet learned about it, and it seems that the 171st Infantry Brigade has not yet officially reported it to its superiors.

"Ru Song, how did you come to know about this?" After explaining what he knew, Jin Zhongtai changed the subject and asked, "Do you have any special relationship with that guy named Jiang Youli?"

“No, Zhongtai,” An Rusong said with a smile, playing with the ashtray in front of him. “It’s just that I have a friend with a rather special relationship with Jiang Youli’s family. Now, Jiang Youli’s family has asked my friend for help, hoping to publish this matter on the internet through me.”

"Oh?" Kim Jung-tae gave an ambiguous "oh" over the phone.

“Jiang Youli’s family has obtained several videos, the contents of which seem to be completely different from the explanation given by the 171st Infantry Brigade,” An Rusong continued. “In addition, Jiang Youli also left behind a diary in which he recorded his experiences of being bullied and abused during his service in the 171st Infantry Brigade.”

He paused slightly at this point, then said, "Brother Zhongtai, we're all family here, so I'll just say what I really want to say."

“Of course, Ru Song, your brother has never treated you like an outsider,” Jin Zhongtai quickly interjected.

“I know, Brother Zhongtai,” An Rusong said with a smile. “What I mean is, this friend of mine… well, our relationship is very special, and I can’t refuse her request. But I don’t want to get involved in Jiang Youli’s matter. So, my question is, has something gone wrong with the 171st Infantry Brigade’s negotiations with Jiang Youli’s family?”

"You mean," Kim Jung-tae was clearly very experienced in this area, and An Rusong's words made him understand, "that the 171st Infantry Brigade has failed to meet the demands of Jiang's family in terms of compensation or other aspects?"

“I think that’s possible,” An Rusong said. “After all, Jiang Youli’s family remained silent during the first negotiation with the 171st Infantry Brigade. The reason they’ve started making trouble again this time is probably one of two things: first, someone is instigating them behind the scenes; second, they think the previous compensation wasn’t enough. Regardless of the reason, as long as the 171st Infantry Brigade can provide sufficient compensation, I think this matter can be put down. What do you think, Zhongtai?”

Of course, there is another reason that An Rusong did not mention: after learning the truth, Jiang Youli's family was determined to seek justice for Jiang Youli and would no longer accept monetary compensation.

However, this possibility is not currently under consideration by An Rusong. He now hopes that the 171st Infantry Brigade can use money to settle the matter, so that he can fulfill Jiang Xiuyuan's request without causing trouble for himself.

Indeed, in An Rusong's eyes, the 171st Infantry Brigade, Jiang Youli, military bullying, and social injustice were all completely irrelevant to him. The only reason he got involved was because Jiang Xiuyuan had asked him for help.

Jiang Xiuyuan had been with him for quite some time. This little woman didn't have a strong presence in his life, yet she was always hardworking and never complained, and she had never asked him for anything before. Most importantly, she clearly knew that An Rusong had other women, such as Han Meiyan, Jenny, and Sun Manzhu. She knew all of this, and she certainly knew that An Rusong would not marry her in the future, but even so, she never thought of leaving him.

Despite his seemingly lecherous and cold-blooded nature, lacking any sense of right and wrong, An Rusong actually keeps a clear head. He knows exactly which of the many women around him are worth a long-term relationship, which are trustworthy, and which are just for fun.

As for Jiang Xiuyuan, although he never said it or made any explicit statement, he felt a sense of guilt towards this young woman, even if it was a very shallow and faint guilt.

(End of this chapter)