My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 485 New Partner

Yingyan Cave in Enping District, a Japanese-style hot spring bath run by Xiaoxi Yihua.

“Of course that old man is after something,” Liu Shanyong said angrily, half-submerged in the steaming hot spring. “Everyone knows how greedy that old man is. How could he do something that isn’t profitable?”

Behind him, Xiao Xi Yi Hua, wrapped in a bath blanket, knelt on the edge of the bathtub, gently massaging his shoulders. Opposite him, An Ru Song half-reclined in the hot spring, his eyes half-closed, enjoying the massage from a mature and voluptuous woman behind him.

“The old man seems to be thinking of everyone, going to great lengths to organize such a banquet, but behind the scenes, he’s taken all the benefits from everyone,” Liu Shanyong continued to ramble on despite not getting a response from An Rusong.

The person he was cursing was none other than Li Haixian, who had just organized a large banquet yesterday. This banquet, ostensibly to promote economic development in Enping District and improve investment attraction efforts, not only invited officials from the Enping District government but also three members of parliament from the Grand National Party. An Rusong, representing the business side, was also invited.

Of course, An Rusong wasn't the only company to receive an invitation. Besides NGN, other companies that sent representatives included Samsung Group, LG Group, and Lotte. However, unlike NGN, these conglomerates naturally wouldn't send their chairmen or presidents to the meeting. In fact, it was already a great honor for them to send a family member of sufficient importance.

At the dinner, none of the participants discussed the demonstrations organized by the land expropriation protesters in Enping District. However, after the dinner was reported by the media, those with a certain degree of political sensitivity knew what its underlying intentions were.

The Enping District government has an ambitious economic development plan, but its realization requires substantial investment from various corporate groups. Meanwhile, these groups are optimistic about Enping District's development in the coming years, and thus, responding to the call, they have allocated significant funds to Enping District amidst the global subprime crisis.

According to the Enping District Government, its investment promotion plan not only echoes President Lee Min-bo's vision for boosting the economy after taking office, but also, fundamentally, aligns with the wishes of the people for the overall economic development of the district.

In reality, the true purpose of this banquet was nothing more than three things: first, to unite various stakeholders and gather the strength of all parties; second, to occupy the high ground of public opinion and use macro-level issues to suppress those who only seek personal gain, that is, those who oppose land expropriation; and third, to make a show of force and deter potential troublemakers.

Whether the purpose of this dinner will be achieved is still unclear, but An Rusong remains optimistic. Besides, as Liu Shanyong complained, regardless of whether the dinner's objective is achieved, Representative Li Haixian has already made a fortune.

Leaving aside others, An Rusong himself has already paid Lee Hae-heon 400 million won as a service fee.

He paid the money in two parts. 490 million won was paid directly to Lee Hae-heon's fundraising association as a donation. The remaining part was given to Lee Geum-seok in cash.

Four hundred million Korean won is roughly two million yuan, which may not sound like much. However, it's important to understand that Lee Hae-heon is merely a candidate for National Assembly, and the matter Ahn Yeo-song entrusted to him isn't particularly significant. Most importantly, while providing assistance to Ahn Yeo-song, this matter also greatly benefits Lee Hae-heon's own election campaign. In essence, it's a mutually beneficial relationship between the two parties in handling this matter.

Even so, Representative Lee Hae-heon directly demanded a bribe of 400 million won from Ahn Yeo-song. It should be noted that, according to South Korean election law, the annual fundraising limit for his support group is only 360 million won.

As for now, judging from Liu Shanyong's complaints, this guy has obviously paid Li Haixian a certain amount of money. After all, he was also involved in the construction site conflict. At the same time, as the district director of Enping District, he was also a participant in the banquet that night.

"Brother Shanyong, stop complaining," An Rusong said, somewhat annoyed by the other person's nagging. He opened his eyes, sat up from his reclining position, pointed to the small tea table not far from the hot spring pool, and said, "It's Li Haixian's ability to earn that money, and besides..."

He seemed to want to say something, but he swallowed the words back and instead said, "At least for me, I paid this money willingly, since they have already done everything they promised to help with."

What he really wanted to say was that Lee Hae-hyun was truly capable. His acceptance of bribes was almost an open secret, not only within the Grand National Party, but even among the progressive wing, everyone knew he was greedy and loved money. Yet, he had been in politics for over thirty years, from the Five Revolutionary Era to the present, and had never made a single mistake. Even his political opponents hadn't dared to cause him trouble—that fact itself was a skill. Of course, over the past few days, with increased contact with Lee Hae-hyun, he had gained some understanding of this seasoned politician.

Lee Hae-heon is a well-known figure in both Seoul's political and business circles. However, his fame doesn't stem from his domineering nature, but rather from his "lack of principles" and his "nice guy" image. His most frequent saying is: "Hey! Everyone's already having a hard time, why make things harder for each other?"

However, anyone who simply sees this person as a pushover or a coward is not far from being in trouble. After all, a true pushover or coward could not possibly survive in South Korean politics, let alone for decades.

In short, in An Rusong's view, this old guy was quite something. At the very least, he had a kind of political wisdom and survival logic for surviving in chaos, which was something that ordinary people couldn't learn.

Faced with An Rusong's words, Liu Shanyong finally stopped nagging. He smacked his lips, kneading Xiao Xi Yihua's fair thighs as he said, "Then I'll do as you said."

The beautiful woman behind him handed him a cigarette. An Rusong leaned forward, put it in his mouth, and lit it with the lighter she offered. He then glanced at the two people opposite him, nodded, and said, "I'll have to keep an eye on this for the next few days. I have some things to take care of at my company, so I probably won't be able to attend to it."

Opposite him, Xiaoxi Yihua sat in a very seductive posture. The bath blanket on her body only covered her upper thighs. When she knelt there, the hem of the bath blanket tucked up to her lower abdomen, leaving her lower body completely exposed for anyone to admire.

At first, An Rusong thought that Xiao Xi Yihua was Liu Shanyong's lover, but now he realized that in Liu Shanyong's eyes, this Japanese girl was just a plaything.

"For the sake of those Americans?" Liu Shanyong raised an eyebrow and asked.

The cigarette in his hand was wet. An Rusong held it up to his eyes, turned it over and over, took a few puffs, then tossed it out of the hot spring pool. He sighed and said, "Yeah."

The "American" that Liu Shanyong mentioned refers to a negotiation team from BlackRock, led by Susan Wagner, a founding partner of BlackRock and currently serving as the group's vice chairman and chief operating officer.

In the past period, without notifying An Rusong, the largest shareholder of the company, DFJ and BlackRock Group held four rounds of negotiations regarding the NGN company share transaction and reached an initial transaction intention.

In fact, when An Rusong introduced DFJ for investment, the agreement signed by both parties included a clause on the priority redemption of shares. Therefore, DFJ's sale of NGN shares to a third party without notifying An Rusong is actually a breach of contract.

However, considering the resource gap between An Rusong and BlackRock, and BlackRock's determination to acquire NGN shares, it doesn't really matter whether DFJ notifies An Rusong in advance. After all, for the redemption priority clause to be triggered, An Rusong's offer must be consistent with BlackRock's, and he doesn't have the financial resources to compete with BlackRock.
In addition, BlackRock's intention to acquire DFJ's NGN shares had already been communicated to An Rusong. At the time, An Rusong did not raise any objections. He meant that as long as DFJ was willing to sell the shares, he had no objections.

Since Susan Wagner is now preparing to bring her team to Seoul to meet with An Rusong, it means BlackRock has already secured DFJ. The team's purpose in coming to Seoul is likely twofold: first, to formally inform An Rusong and then complete the acquisition of NGN shares procedurally; second, to learn about NGN's future development direction from An Rusong, the largest shareholder and company leader.

Of course, in An Rusong's view, Susan Wagner's most direct goal should be to determine NGN's second round of financing roadmap.

From An Rusong's perspective, he was not opposed to cooperating with BlackRock. As for whether BlackRock was some kind of Jewish capital group, he didn't care at all. As a capitalist, how could he discriminate against a certain amount of money just because of its origin? That would be too unprofessional.

(End of this chapter)