My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 466 She's the Boss
"Who?!"

As the knocking sounded, a man's rough and impatient shout came from inside the half-open door.

With a smile on his face, An Rusong pushed open the door, then took Lin Ya'en's forearm and walked in with her.

"Brother Shizhi, why did you choose such a lousy place?" The moment he stepped into the room, An Rusong looked at the short, stout man, pointed to his feet with disdain, and laughed, "Look, if you want to get into this building, you have to wade across a river first."

Zheng Shizhi is actually not that old, only in his early thirties, but he is still a few years older than An Rusong. Being young is a problem; in social situations, he has to call everyone "brother" or respectfully address them as "senior."

The moment Zheng Shizhi saw An Rusong, his originally fierce and menacing face instantly changed. In less than a second, he transformed from the King of Hell to Maitreya Buddha.

"Haha, Ru Song, this place is indeed a bit shabby," Zheng Shizhi said with a smile, leaving the female soldier in front of him behind. He walked towards An Ru Song and said, "But there's nothing we can do. Things are tense right now. Those people from the Military Procuratorate are all red-eyed and thinking about who they can cause trouble for every day."

As he spoke, he walked up to An Rusong, shook hands with him, and then continued, "Unfortunately, I offended a military prosecutor before. This guy has been keeping an eye on me lately, so I can't afford to be careless."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Lin Ya'en and said with a smile, "This must be Lieutenant Lin, right? Haha, she really is a great beauty. No wonder Ru Song is so interested in her."

"Colonel," Lin Ya'en said, extending her hand to the other person.

"Hey, don't bother with colonel or colonel," Zheng Shizhi shook her hand and said, feigning annoyance, "We're all family, just call me Brother Shizhi."

"Brother Shizhi," Lin Ya'en readily agreed and immediately changed her form of address. To her, getting to know someone like Zheng Shizhi could only be beneficial.

Despite the South Korean military system's many shortcomings, the atmosphere and operating rules within the military are fundamentally different from those in the political arena. While sayings like "out of sight, out of mind" and "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter" apply in the military as well, soldiers still value their reputation compared to politicians who are willing to sell anything and have no moral compass. Therefore, the influence of former superiors and officers remains highly valuable in many situations.

Therefore, although Zheng Shizhi's father had long since retired from the military, he still had some very strong connections within the military; otherwise, Zheng Shizhi would not have been able to thrive so successfully.

After Zheng Shizhi and Lin Ya'en finished their brief greetings, An Rusong steered the conversation back to the previous topic, asking, "Brother Shizhi, do you also have enemies in the Military Prosecutor's Office?"

“Hey, we can’t really call them enemies,” Zheng Shi said directly, gesturing for An Rusong and the other to sit down on a sofa. “It’s just one.”

He seemed unsure what words to use to describe his opponent, gesturing a few times with one hand before saying, "A guy I've been fighting with since we were kids."

He paused, waved his hand as if swatting away a fly, and said, "Alright, ignore him, he's just a lunatic."

Hearing him say that, An Rusong understood a little. Obviously, the one who could cause trouble for a spoiled brat like Zheng Shizhi was probably another spoiled brat. Behind their feud, who knows how many scenes of showing off and slapping each other in the face were hidden.

The three of them took their seats. Zheng Shizhi had the female soldiers serving him bring tea and snacks. After everything was served, he asked the female soldiers to leave the small banquet hall. Then he said to An Rusong, "Rusong, I'm very sorry. Tonight, I had planned to invite Chairman Shen over so we could all sit together and talk about matters concerning the military family."

An Rusong and Lin Ya'en exchanged a glance. He could tell from what the other person had said that things were not going well. It was clear that something had changed.

Sure enough, Zheng Shizhi immediately followed up with, "But unfortunately, Chairman Shen had something come up, so..."

The guy kept saying sorry, but neither his facial expression nor his tone of voice conveyed any real apology.

An Rusong's smile remained unchanged. He could sense that although Shen Dongfu wouldn't be coming, the matter of the "military family" should still be resolved. Otherwise, Zheng Shizhi wouldn't have acted this way; after all, offending him for no reason wouldn't benefit him at all. Zheng Shizhi finished speaking and stared at An Rusong's expression. Seeing that his smile showed no sign of faltering, he laughed heartily, reached out, and patted An Rusong's knee, saying, "Rusong is indeed a man destined for great things; your composure is truly remarkable."

After saying that, he reached for the briefcase next to him and said, "I made a promise to you in front of Colonel Leonard, so if Chairman Shen comes tonight, we need to get things settled at the Military House. Even if he doesn't come, we'll still get things settled."

He picked up the briefcase, placed it on his lap, and with a hiss, ripped open the gleaming silver zipper, taking out a bound paper document.

“You may not know, but recently there has been some trouble with the Army Association,” Zheng Shizhi said, taking out the document but not handing it directly to An Rusong. Instead, he put the briefcase aside and said, “Don’t ask about the specifics, Rusong. In short, it’s very troublesome. Therefore, Chairman Shen has to be more cautious in his actions.”

Turning his gaze to Lin Ya'en, he continued, "Since Lieutenant Lin wants to acquire the operating rights of 'Military House,' you must have already inquired about the specifics. For some time now, the Army Association has been inclined to hand over 'Military House' to an experienced hotel group for operation. To this end, they have contacted Lotte, Hilton, and many other operating groups, but the results of the negotiations have not been very optimistic."

The documents were finally handed to An Rusong, and Zheng Shizhi smiled and said, "However, they have recently contacted the Parnas Hotel and I heard that the talks have yielded some results. So, if Lieutenant Lin wants to win the operating rights, he must go through the formal bidding process."

“I’m afraid Ya’en doesn’t have the qualifications for this, does he?” An Rusong took the document, glanced at the cover, and found that there was nothing on the cover, just a blank sheet of paper.

“Hehe, Ru Song, the formal bidding process I mentioned is just a formality,” Zheng Shizhi patted his forearm and said, “The Army Association didn’t specify what qualifications are required to participate in the bidding. Besides, with your connections, Ru Song, getting a so-called qualification would be a piece of cake.”

“Of course, these are all secondary. The key is…” He pointed to the document in An Rusong’s hand and said, “The key is this: if you don’t mind these agreements in the document, Rusong, then even if Lieutenant Lin has no qualifications whatsoever, this project will definitely be hers.”

An Rusong knew exactly what was going on. He smiled, turned the document over, and looked at its contents.

"What Chairman Shen means is that the Army Association is a large and complex organization, and coordinating the various stakeholders within it is a very complicated matter. Therefore, these conditions must be put forward in advance," Zheng Shizhi continued to explain as he watched him browse the documents.

It must be admitted that the Army Association, or rather these people in the military system, are indeed very audacious. Zheng Shizhi had previously said that the Military Procuratorate was keeping a close eye on them recently, and they wouldn't dare to do anything out of line. But judging from this document, the Military Procuratorate's surveillance is clearly not close enough.

This document is not a tender document or a plan for the operation of the "Military Personnel's Home," but a complete list of kickbacks.

The first half of the document was a list of assets related to the "Military Personnel's Home," including the size of the property, its internal facilities, and the general condition of the asset valuation. It was only after reading this part that An Rusong realized that the "Military Personnel's Home" was not just the 37-story building; a five-story exhibition hall on its side was also part of its supporting buildings.

Currently, the Army Association has put forward two cooperative renovation plans: one is to lease the entire property for a term of twenty years, with the lessee having the right of first refusal to renew upon expiration; the other is to cooperate in operation, with the Army Association contributing the fixed assets of "Military Home" as shares, but only seeking the right to receive dividends, without seeking management rights.

Of course, all of this is out in the open, and it's likely that any potential partner the Army Association finds will be able to see this information. The real substance is the latter part, which An Rusong isn't interested in the details of; in short, it's about how much kickback Lin Ya'en will have to offer to secure the operating rights.

The amount of the kickback not only determines whether she can secure the operating rights, but also the final cooperation method adopted by both parties. Furthermore, it determines the final valuation of "Military Personnel's Home" after the formal asset appraisal.

An Rusong only glanced at the document, and seeing Lin Ya'en craning her neck to look at it, she simply handed the document to her—after all, she was the one who really wanted to take over the management rights of "Military Home", so she was also the one who would make the final decision.

“You’re the boss, you make the decision,” An Rusong said with a smile as he handed the documents to Lin Ya’en. Then he looked at Zheng Shizhi on the other side and said, “The decision is in Ya’en’s hands. Whatever she chooses, I will support her.”

Zheng Shizhi's eyes flickered, and his gaze toward Lin Ya'en became even more serious.

(End of this chapter)