My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 483 Li Jinshi

Indeed, at this point in time, An Rusong can clearly refuse unreasonable demands from Li Minbo's side without worrying too much about retaliation. Of course, if the other party is determined to retaliate relentlessly just because he refused one unreasonable demand, then staying away from such a person as soon as possible is the wisest choice.

In fact, An Rusong, or more accurately, NGN, is no longer afraid of retaliation from Li Minbo. It has gained its own confidence, which comes from three aspects.

First, there was the secret cooperation between NGN and the U.S. National Security Agency. While this cooperation posed a threat to NGN, it also provided it with a guarantee.

The threat lies in the fact that if news of NGN opening its servers to the U.S. National Security Agency leaks out, it will certainly lead to distrust of NGN by software users. This distrust stems from the leakage of users' private information and NGN's lack of respect for user privacy.

The guarantee came from the political asylum provided to NGN by the National Security Agency (NSA). It must be made clear that the cooperation between NGN and the NSA was a scandal not only for NGN but also for the NSA.

Therefore, during the duration of this cooperation, not only must NGN do its utmost to ensure that this secret is not leaked, but the U.S. National Security Agency must also do its job of keeping it confidential.

Furthermore, considering the rapidly expanding number of international users of NGN software, the intelligence information its servers can provide to the U.S. National Security Agency is considerable; the arrest of a Russian arms dealer in Thailand is a prime example. Therefore, to ensure the stability of this powerful information source, the U.S. National Security Agency will do everything possible to guarantee the stability of NGN's operations.

As the founder and chairman of NGN and a leader in related development technologies, Leonard would do his best to ensure An Rusong's personal safety as long as An Rusong did not act recklessly or cause any excessive or taboo trouble.

With the backing of the Americans, Li Minbo would not rashly turn against An Rusong for some trivial reason.

Secondly, since the launch of NGN software, the number of registered users has grown extremely rapidly. At the same time, the software has been continuously updated, and various attractive functions have been launched one after another. This has not only given NGN software an extremely large user base, but also brought a large number of fans to the software and its developer, An Rusong.

Meanwhile, in the past six months, Ahn Yeo-song has gained a certain degree of fame among the South Korean public, and this fame is positive. The so-called "conscience of the Republic of Korea" is not just a joke; some people on the internet really do see him that way.

For a public figure like An Rusong, even if Li Minbo had no connection with him at all, let alone if he had a close relationship with him, Li Minbo's rash move to target An Rusong could easily provoke a backlash from public opinion.

Most importantly, his actions could easily provide the progressive faction with a pretext, and at the same time, could provide the pro-Park faction within the Grand National Party with an opportunity to win over Ahn Yee-song. In the end, he could very well end up with a result that is more harmful than beneficial.

Finally, NGN's overseas localization, or rather, its internationalization, is accelerating. Considering the small size of the South Korean domestic market and the nature of NGN as an information technology company, once An Rusong senses something is wrong, he can quickly leave South Korea and hollow out the Seoul headquarters through some simple means. In other words, NGN can move the entire company out of South Korea.

If NGN goes to that point, the company's own development will certainly be affected to some extent, but Lee Min-bok, who forced NGN to leave South Korea, will face even greater trouble.

Based on all of the above, Lee Min-bo will not completely break with Ahn Yeo-song unless the situation deteriorates to the point of no return. No, to be precise, not only with Ahn Yeo-song, but as the current head of the Blue House, Lee Min-bo's current stance is to maintain as many of his existing allies as possible.

Therefore, it is not to say that after becoming president, Lee Min-bo can do whatever he wants. He is even less likely to have the kind of aura that commands respect and obedience. In fact, the opposite is true. In many matters, he has to be more cautious.

As for An Rusong, he certainly wouldn't easily fall out with the current president, since that would be neither rational nor economical for him.

Ultimately, the reason he aligned himself with Li Minbo and supported him in various ways was to make a political investment. Now that Li Minbo has officially taken office as president, it is as if his investment has succeeded, but the substantial returns that should have been received have not yet arrived. Is he going to choose this time to withdraw from the investment?
Therefore, what An Rusong is currently hesitating about is how best to deal with the current situation.

In his view, Li Minbo's request this time might be twofold: on the one hand, he might genuinely need to establish a polling agency that he could completely control; on the other hand, it might be that the old man was taking the opportunity to test him, perhaps wanting to see if he would still stand firmly on his side in the current complex situation.

Don't forget that An Rusong has been in frequent contact with pro-Park factions recently, and Lee Min-bo's lack of reaction doesn't mean he's unaware of it. And now, the pro-Park and pro-Lee factions are locked in a fierce battle within the Grand National Party, leaving Baek Jin-jun mentally exhausted. It's quite possible that Lee Min-bo wants to purge his own ranks.

Sitting on the sofa in the lounge, An Rusong sullenly smoked a cigarette and drank a glass of red wine. Just as he was about to light a second cigarette, the lounge door was pushed open from the outside, and a short, stout middle-aged man with a broad forehead, small eyes, and a slightly cleft lip strode in.

The middle-aged man had clearly just taken a shower; his few remaining hairs were wet and plastered to his forehead. He was short and stocky, and instead of wearing clothes, he was wrapped in a white bath blanket.

"Mr. An," the middle-aged man walked in from outside and immediately saw An Rusong sitting on the sofa. He bowed and said with a smile, "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

The middle-aged man was Li Haixian's nephew, Li Jinshi. He was older than An Rusong by more than a year or two, but when he spoke to An Rusong, he always used honorifics, completely placing himself in the position of a junior. Even though An Rusong had corrected him, he showed no intention of changing.

Despite the guy's disheveled appearance, An Rusong still stood up politely and said with a smile, "I just came up from swimming too."

He waited until the other person got closer before pointing to the sofa next to him and saying, "So, Brother Jinshi, are you satisfied with Chairman Jin's arrangements?"

"Satisfied, satisfied." Judging from appearance alone, Li Jinshi is definitely an ugly man, and the kind of ugly and greasy one at that. For some reason, his big nose and small eyes, when put together, make people feel very sleazy.

When this guy laughs, his eyes disappear. His puffy eyelids are squeezed together, making it look like two abalones are embedded in his eye sockets. To make matters worse, his lips are very thick, and when he laughs, his upper and lower lips will spread wide, revealing two rows of uneven teeth.

“President Jin is a very understanding person,” Li Jinshi said, rubbing his hands together as he sat down on the sofa next to An Rusong. “Even though we’ve only known each other for less than half a day, I feel like we’re already friends, hahaha.”

An Rusong smiled, took an empty wine glass from the coffee table, poured a glass of wine for the other party, and then said, "I'm glad that Brother Jinshi is satisfied. It just so happens that Chairman Jin is also a person who likes to make friends. In the future, Brother Jinshi can come here more often to relax."

"Definitely, definitely," Li Jinshi said repeatedly as he accepted the wine glass from An Rusong.

Picking up a cigarette from the table, An Rusong changed the subject and asked, "Brother Jinshi, did Councilor Li give you any special instructions when you came here this time?"

Upon hearing his question, Li Jinshi's smile slowly froze. He put his wine glass back on the coffee table, glanced towards the door to make sure it was closed properly, and then whispered, "President An, are you referring to Bai Jinyong's matter?"

Bai Jinyong was the name of the old man who died in the conflict at the NGN headquarters construction site, so An Rusong nodded, tacitly agreeing with the other party's statement.

“Uncle has also been paying attention to this matter these past two days,” Li Jinshi continued. “His point is that this matter is very thorny. Regardless of the right or wrong of the matter itself, someone has died. Therefore, as a party involved, Chairman An’s side must take a stance, for example, based on humanitarian principles, to provide certain compensation to the deceased’s family.”

An Rusong didn't speak. He lit a cigarette, then turned to look at the other person, waiting for him to continue.

"Of course, on the other hand, the compensation made by Chairman An is one thing, but the right and wrong of the whole matter is another," Li Jinshi continued. "Chairman An's compensation was based on humanitarian principles, but the crimes of the wrongdoer should still be publicly investigated. Moreover, it is not only Chairman An who should investigate, but also all enterprises that have invested in Enping District, and even the Enping District Government, should conduct a public investigation."

“What Uncle means is that there must be a manipulator behind those who are obstructing the construction, based on some kind of interest,” Li Jinshi blinked and said. “Find this person, or create this person, in short, this person must exist, and he must be exposed.”

(End of this chapter)