My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 474 Attacked?

There are many projects under construction in Enpyeong District. The construction of the new headquarters building for NGN is just one of them. In addition, giant companies such as Samsung and LG, which rank among the top ten in South Korea, have also allocated land here to carry out some new construction projects.

Of course, the reason why a giant company like Samsung would invest in Enping District is not simply to give Liu Shanyong face. He doesn't have that much face. Not to mention him, even his father, who is a member of parliament, doesn't have that much face.

The reason these companies come here to invest, acquire land, and establish new headquarters or branches is entirely because it is profitable.

To attract foreign investment, Enping District has indeed offered many preferential policies, including cheaper land and subsidies for companies that settle there. While business leaders like An Rusong value the subsidies and cheap land, Enping District focuses on the tax revenue these companies will generate and the economic benefits they will bring to the district.

Well, what is being discussed here is only the goal that Enping District as a whole aims to achieve. As for officials like Liu Shanyong in Enping District, the benefits they can gain from it are even more realistic and concrete.

Take Liu Shanyong as an example. Attracting companies like NGN to settle in Enping District is itself an achievement of his, and the kind of achievement that he can openly and proudly show off.

Besides his political achievements, he could also get more tangible benefits, such as money, real money.

Most of the projects currently under construction in Enping District were contracted and organized by Samsung Construction. However, the reality is that although Samsung Construction is large in scale and very strong, it still does not have the capacity to start so many projects at the same time. Moreover, even if it had the capacity, it would not be so determined to do them on its own.

After winning bids for various engineering projects, Samsung Construction subcontracted most of them to people like Shin Sang-gil. Therefore, although NGN Company did sign project contracts with Samsung Construction, the actual construction work was done by Shin Sang-gil's company.

So the question arises: how did Shin Sang-gil, a gangster, manage to secure such a large project from Samsung Construction? The answer lies in the help he received from Yoo Seon-yong. Consider this: if Shin Sang-gil hadn't satisfied Yoo Seon-yong's demands and kept him comfortable, why would the latter have offered him assistance?

Although An Rusong did not have a deep understanding of the relationship between Liu Shanyong and Shen Xiangji, he was not stupid. He could figure out the things that, although not out in the open, could be guessed by an ordinary person with a little thought.

However, these things had nothing to do with him, so he didn't bother with them. As long as the quality of the project was good and there were no major problems during construction, everything else was irrelevant to him.

In reality, even if there are problems with the quality of the project or troubles during construction, it has little to do with An Rusong. After all, NGN has already signed a construction contract with Samsung Construction. He is only responsible for providing the funds, while Samsung Construction is responsible for all problems that arise during the construction process.

Even so, An Rusong was still very disgusted by the banners that appeared on the periphery of the construction site. The protesters were not upset for any other reason than that the presence of these people was a real damage to NGN's external image.

Ordinary citizens have no idea how complex the NGN company's projects are; they only extract information they want to believe from media reports. Therefore, once these banners are posted, and the elderly people crowding the roadsides are spotted by reporters with ulterior motives, and then linked to NGN company, then…
Therefore, An Rusong, who didn't want to cause trouble, naturally raised the issue and let Liu Shanyong handle it.

“Tell that guy to be careful about his methods and approaches,” An Rusong said, without objecting to Liu Shanyong’s suggestion. “For any problem that can be solved with money, as long as the counterfeit goods aren’t too outrageous, try to appease him as much as possible. As for those who are excessively greedy, we might as well arrange for a lawyer to handle it. In short, don’t give anyone any leverage. Information spreads too fast on the internet these days, especially those serious incidents. It’s very difficult to control the impact, so let’s not create trouble for ourselves.”

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Liu Shanyong readily agreed, but judging from his expression, he clearly didn't take the matter to heart.

His mentality is not hard to understand. After all, in South Korea, demonstrations caused by land acquisition for construction are all too common.

Over the past three decades, South Korea's economy has gone through a process of rapid prosperity from extreme backwardness. In this process, public infrastructure and commercial real estate have inevitably expanded rapidly, and with this expansion, the issue of land acquisition has naturally become prominent.

Don't assume that South Korea is a democratic society or a country ruled by law, nor that it has a bright and open world or a free atmosphere. On the contrary, the darkness and bloodshed here are far more intense than people in China can imagine.

Why are people like Shin Sang-gil able to enter the real estate industry? Is it because he has the capital? Of course not. The reason why someone like him can openly enter the real estate industry in a place like Seoul is simply because this industry needs the presence of violence.

It was precisely because of this atmosphere that Liu Shanyong didn't take An Rusong's reminder seriously. After all, in his view, it wasn't unusual for Shen Xiangji to have some blood on his hands and for someone to die. He had experienced many such incidents and naturally knew how to mitigate the impact. Therefore, Liu Shanyong was quite at ease entrusting the matter to Shen Xiangji. However, although he felt that An Rusong was making a fuss, he didn't dare to say it out loud. Not only did he not say it, he didn't even dare to show it on his expression.

Yes, a few months ago, when he first met An Rusong, he saw him as just a promising, capable, and shrewd "younger brother." At that time, he could frankly make demands of him; the establishment of the new NGN headquarters was something he obtained by asking for it in this way.

Looking back now, the world has changed too fast. In just a few months, An Rusong has become a completely different person.

For Liu Shanyong, although the other party would still humbly and reservedly call him "Brother Shanyong" every time they met, he knew very well in his heart that the other party was giving him face by calling him "Brother". If the other party did not want to give him face, he probably would not even have the right to call the other party "Brother".

The most critical issue is that his father, whom he can rely on, is about to face a new round of parliamentary elections, and his term is expiring this year, thus requiring him to run again. However, judging from the current situation, his father's election prospects in this constituency seem rather poor, and he faces a significant threat from the opposing camp.

Entering politics is like rowing against the current; no one can simply quit politics midway, take a break at home, and then come back to continue. This is especially true for veteran politicians like Representative Liu, who belong to the group of politicians who rose to prominence rapidly after the "Five-Party Era." Now, they are somewhat "outdated," and their appeal to the younger generation is limited.

To put it bluntly, he has reached the age where he should retire, and continuing to stubbornly persist is not a good thing for him.

But if the old man chooses to retire at this time, then Liu Shanyong, who is not yet ready to be his political successor, will be greatly affected.

For this reason, Liu Shanyong has been much more obedient in the past period of time. He is also worried that someone will use him as a scapegoat to deal with his father.

An Rusong sensed the nonchalance in the other person's tone, but he didn't take it to heart, mainly because he hadn't expected anything to actually happen.

Back at the Chevrolet, Luo Minzhi had already opened the car door for him. An Rusong walked to the door and felt the cold wind coming from inside the car. He shivered and felt more energetic.

“Let’s leave it at that for now,” An Rusong said to Liu Shanyong, one hand on the car door. “Like I said before, tell Shen Xiangji to hurry up and catch up on the construction schedule.”

Liu Shanyong nodded and said, "I'll remind him later."

Without saying anything more, An Rusong lowered his head and got into the car, then waved to Liu Shanyong outside through the car window.

The car quickly started moving, drove out of the temporary parking lot at the construction site, passed the temporary entrance guarded by workers, and turned onto the highway at the intersection where more than twenty elderly men and women had gathered.

In the car, An Rusong stuffed his already damp handkerchief into his pocket, then took out a tissue from the back of the seat in front of him. While wiping the sweat from his face, he took out his phone, just about to check NGN for any messages, when he heard a "thump" from the front.

At the same time, the Chevrolet's body suddenly lurched, and it came to a stop again with a sudden brake.

The sudden braking caught An Rusong off guard. He was looking at his phone and was jolted forward, nearly crashing into the barrier in front of him.

"What's going on?" Quickly regaining his balance, An Rusong glanced into the driver's seat through the window and saw Luo Minzhi pull a pistol out from under the seat.

(End of this chapter)