My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 465 Goodwill
Although the rain shelter was full of rainwater, it connected directly to the corridor on the first floor of the building, so although you had to wade through the water to get there, at least you wouldn't get wet.

An Rusong, holding up his trousers, waded through the puddles to the corridor. As he climbed the steps, he gentlemanly turned to the side and extended his hand to Lin Ya'en, who was following behind him.

Lin Ya'en didn't say thank you, but instead rolled her eyes at him. However, she still took his hand and lent him some strength. Although she wasn't afraid of wading through water while wearing high-heeled sandals, it was still easy for her to slip on the wet steps.

Seeing the glare from the other party, An Rusong didn't mind at all. Instead, he laughed heartily, looking quite pleased.

Nowadays, he has so many women around him that he can't sleep with them all, but only a handful of three or four have truly entered his heart and earned his respect.

People like Sun Manzhu and Li Caicao are people he has been with the longest, so he feels an instinctive closeness to them. When dealing with them, An Rusong feels more of a gentle familial affection than any kind of lust.

Han Meiyan and Wen Caiyuan, on the other hand, were bound to An Rusong by mutual interests. Both women also had distinct personalities, and An Rusong felt a certain degree of admiration for them. He was especially willing to share some of his business philosophies with Han Meiyan.

As for the remaining women, most were driven by lust. Among them, Lin Ya'en, who always liked to act coquettishly and throw tantrums, was much more sophisticated than the women who simply submitted to An Rusong. At least she gave An Rusong the feeling of a living, breathing person with her own personality, rather than a pretty doll.

With his arm around Lin Ya'en, An Rusong led her up the steps. He turned around and looked at Luo Minzhi, who was standing by the car. He gave Luo Minzhi a look and then made a phone call gesture, meaning that Luo Minzhi didn't need to wait for him there and could just listen to his phone call.

“Let’s go this way,” Lin Ya’en said as she walked up the corridor. She first straightened the hem of her military uniform jacket to smooth out the wrinkles, then reached out and grabbed An Rusong’s forearm. She gestured toward the corridor ahead and said, “Let’s take the elevator to the third floor. There’s a small banquet hall there. Colonel Zheng’s reservation should be there.”

"Have you been here before?" An Rusong asked curiously.

“I lived here for half a year,” Lin Ya’en said with a smile. “All the government troops in Seoul have to undergo training here for a period of time.”

An Rusong wanted to ask for more details, but he swallowed the words back. In reality, for the vast majority of South Koreans, military service is a painful and unbearable period; otherwise, so many people wouldn't choose to self-harm in order to escape military service.

Lin Ya'en had also talked to him about some things from the past. Although she spoke of them lightly, An Rusong could imagine that her past could not have been happy or pleasant. Therefore, he tried his best not to mention the past.

The two walked along the corridor to its end and turned through a worn alloy door, leading to a small hall that appeared to be about 60 or 70 square meters. Slogans were written on the walls, and a South Korean flag hung above the left wall.

Inside the small hall, directly opposite the alloy door, was an elevator. When An Rusong and his companion entered the hall, two soldiers in camouflage training uniforms were standing in front of the elevator, seemingly waiting for it to come down.

Hearing footsteps behind them, the two soldiers who had been talking quietly stopped. They turned around and, upon seeing Lin Ya'en, stood up abruptly. As they made way for the elevator doors, they saluted and shouted, "Victory is certain!"

Lin Ya'en released her grip on An Rusong's forearm, returned the salute to the two soldiers, but said nothing.

Just then, the elevator doors opened with a soft ding, and Lin Ya'en grasped An Rusong's forearm again, leading him to quicken his pace and step into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, neither soldier came up until the elevator doors slowly closed. An Rusong wasn't surprised. He looked at the numbers flashing above the elevator and asked, "Isn't this the army's training ground?"

In South Korea's military system, the slogans subordinates shout to their superiors vary depending on the branch of service, with the standard being that whatever is lacking is shouted. For example, the army, due to its history of political upheavals and lack of loyalty, requires subordinates to salute and shout "Loyalty" when they see their superiors. Meanwhile, the navy and air force, lacking opportunities to utilize their capabilities and with questionable combat effectiveness, shout "Victory is certain!"

The two soldiers shouted "Victory is certain" when they saw Lin Ya'en, so they should not belong to the army system.

Sure enough, after hearing An Rusong's question, Lin Ya'en first shook her head and casually said, "All the military personnel from Seoul, including Gyeonggi Province, are trained here, so it's not just the army." An Rusong's lips moved, as if he wanted to ask something more, but at that moment, the elevator stopped. With a soft ding, the old, faded elevator doors slowly opened, revealing a corridor covered with a gray carpet.

Lin Ya'en stepped out of the elevator first. She stopped outside the elevator door, looked down at the carpet under her feet, and then looked at An Rusong who followed her out. She laughed and said, "This damn carpet is the same one from a few years ago. You probably can't imagine that its original color was green."

An Rusong glanced down at his feet subconsciously. He was certain that the carpet was gray, at least that's what it looked like now.

“Let’s go, the small banquet hall is just ahead,” Lin Ya’en said with a smile, taking his arm.

An Rusong took a few steps forward, then looked back at the carpet on the ground. As an active-duty "soldier," he knew that the South Korean military system was in dire financial straits, but he never imagined it would be this bad.

It makes sense, considering that South Korea's total military spending last year was less than $180 billion. While this seems like a lot, ranking among the top ten in international military spending, the problem lies in the fact that South Korean military expenditures are also substantial. Nearly $10 billion is paid to US forces stationed in South Korea, and a portion of the remaining money is used to purchase and maintain US military equipment.

In addition to these, there are various other expenses, such as the maintenance and upgrading of military equipment, the research and development of military technology, and the salaries of officers and soldiers, all of which need to be allocated from this total budget of less than $180 billion. Furthermore, the heads of the military system also embezzle and squander money from time to time. All things considered, this seemingly large allocation is certainly not enough.

So Lin Ya-en's complaint is correct. The South Korean military system really can't afford to renovate places like "military homes." After all, they are public property and not essential. Wouldn't it be better to pocket the money for renovations?

With his mind wandering, An Rusong kept walking and followed Lin Ya'en for more than ten meters along the west side of the corridor, finally stopping at the door of a white double-leaf door.

"Aaaaaah! Damn it!" Just as the two stopped at the door, a man's cursing voice came from inside the slightly ajar door, "Are you deaf? Ha! You damned bastard, are you deaf?!"

Lin Ya'en turned around and glanced at An Rusong, seemingly hesitating whether to knock on the door.

An Rusong was standing directly opposite the crack in the open door. He didn't need to deliberately peek; he could simply adjust his angle to see what was inside the room. Interestingly, when he looked through the crack, he saw a man in a gray suit standing face to face with a female soldier in a uniform.

The man was short and stout, while the female soldier opposite him was tall and slender. When the two stood together, the man looked like he was a head shorter than the female soldier.

At this moment, the man's left arm was crossed in front of his chest, supported by his protruding belly, while his left hand supported his right elbow. His outstretched right hand reached directly to the female soldier's bulging breasts, his thumb and forefinger pinching and twisting a certain part of her breasts.

Just as An Rusong saw the situation inside the room, Lin Ya'en also peeked through the crack in the door. Then, she turned her head, gave An Rusong a strange look, and whispered, "Colonel Zheng?"

Her words carried a questioning tone. She had spoken to Zheng Shizhi on the phone before, and might have even seen his photo, but she had never met him in person. An Rusong, on the other hand, had met him, but the Zheng Shizhi he had met was a kind, portly, smiling Buddha-like figure. As for the man before him…
Well, you really can't judge a book by its cover. When An Rusong met Colonel Zheng, Leonard was there too. Although both Zheng Shizhi and Leonard were colonels, their influence was obviously different. So, Colonel Zheng could only show his amiable side.

In response to Lin Ya'en's question, An Rusong did not speak, but simply nodded.

Lin Ya'en glanced into the room again, then raised her right hand and made a knocking motion on the door. At the same time, she turned her head to look at An Rusong.

An Rusong met her gaze, a smile appearing on his face. This woman had an undisguised ambition, and for that ambition, she seemed capable of using any means necessary. But ultimately, deep down, she still harbored a sense of kindness, something An Rusong could sense.

Without Lin Ya'en needing to knock, An Rusong simply raised his hand, curled his fingers, and knocked twice on the door.

(End of this chapter)