Chapter 77 A bad start
Chapter 77 A bad start
"Damu Mountain?" Mike's tone was a little puzzled on the phone, "Isn't that a forest park? I remember that place, the scenery is nice."
"No, Mike, it's the Damushan Group, not Damushan," said An Rushong.
He briefly introduced the situation of the Damushan Group, and then said, "It's like this, Mike. I recently bought two houses in the Ruidao residential project developed by the Damushan Group. But today I heard that their financial situation seemed to be in trouble, and they had some disputes with Shinhan Finance."
After a pause, he said, "I'm a little worried about my investment, so I want to ask someone about it."
"So that's how it is," Mike said on the phone without any doubt, "I don't know anything about this Damushan Group, but I can help you find out."
"Oh, thank you so much, Mike, you really helped me so much," An Rushong hurriedly thanked him.
"You're welcome, Ann, we are friends," Mike said cheerfully, and then said goodbye.
In fact, An Rushong didn't hold out much hope of getting any news from Mike. He just needed to contact him from time to time and ask him for a small favor or something.
If someone always asks for help from others, it is likely to cause resentment from the other party. But this also depends on the situation. The most important point is whether the favor you ask the other party to do is beyond their ability.
If it was a very troublesome matter, like what An Rushong did to Park Jin-hee before, he would never ask Mike for help, because that would likely make the other party feel embarrassed, and frequently making others embarrassed would not bring the two closer.
However, if you ask for help from others for some insignificant things, it will actually bring the two parties closer to each other to a certain extent. This is because when the other party helps you, they will also have a psychological advantage. To put it bluntly, they will feel that they have owed a favor.
Human beings are very strange. If one of the two friends owes him a favor and he owes another friend a favor, if he is allowed to choose, he will definitely prefer to get along with the friend who owes him a favor.
An Rushong is using little tricks like this to gradually bring himself closer to Mike.
After hanging up the phone with Mike, An Rushong turned over and sat up from the sofa, pushed Yuan He, who was still leaning on him, directly onto the sofa, and then stood up barefoot.
"Brother, don't you want to eat a piece of watermelon?" Yuan Ya asked loudly when she saw him walk to the door of the living room and take a shirt from the hanger.
"No, I'm not going to eat anymore," An Rusong said, waving his hand without even turning his head. "I have something else to do. I'll come back in two days."
After leaving the old house in Dogu-dong, An Rushong drove straight to Zhao Jingsheng's private residence in Namtailing. Since leaving Samsung Treatment Center, the latter has been living there, like a reclusive behind-the-scenes boss.
However, before An Rushong arrived at Nantailing, Mike called.
Americans with certain backgrounds have huge power in South Korea. In just twenty minutes, Mike found out some information.
On the phone, Mike told An Rusong that from what he had heard, the Damushan Group seemed to be involved in a political struggle. He didn't know the details, but the friend who provided him with the information said that the troubles encountered by the Damushan Group seemed to be related to the recent investigation of Congressman Kong Xingzhen by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office.
Is Kong Xingzhen being investigated by the Supreme Procuratorate?
An Rushong had no idea about this news because there was no related report in any media.
Kong Xingzhen is a big shot in the conservative wing of South Korean politics and also a big shot in the Grand National Party. A figure like this is beyond the reach of An Rusong now, but don't forget that Shen Taian is working for Kong Xingzhen.
Nowadays, the relationship between the Zhao Jingsheng brothers and Shen Taian has become much more distant, but in the final analysis, the two sides still have interests connected. To some extent, the existence of Shen Taian is still a protective umbrella for the Zhao Jingsheng brothers.
Considering from this perspective, if Kong Xingzhen is taken down by the Inspection Office, Shen Taian will definitely not have a good ending. Incidentally, the two Zhao brothers will probably also be in trouble.
Fortunately, when Zhao Jingsheng called just now, he was gloating over the misfortune of Damushan Real Estate. He didn't expect that if the Liu family was unlucky in this matter, the lives of the two brothers would not be easy.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, the relationship between the Zhao brothers and Liu Taihe is really complicated.
If the power of Kong Xingzhen, the political leader, is regarded as a party, then the Zhao brothers and Liu Taihe should be the two opposing parties within the party. However, among the two parties, the Damushan Group, where Liu Taihe belongs, is closer to the core of the party, while the Zhao brothers are completely "sacrificial" figures on the edge of the party, and they are the kind of existence that can be abandoned at any time.
After thinking about this, An Rushong couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
By the way, what on earth was he thinking at the beginning, he actually chose to be in the same camp with people like Zhao Chenghao and Zhao Jingsheng. Wouldn't it be better to choose Liu Taihe? Even Shen Taian would be fine. If that were the case, why would he have such a hard time? However, no matter how he thought about it, An Rusong himself was actually very clear that even if he wanted to choose to stand on the side of Liu Taihe or Shen Taian, they would have to look up to him.
As mentioned before, Liu Taihe is the son of a wealthy family, while Shen Taian is a lawyer. Who is An Rusong? A country bumpkin from Gangwon Province, with no diploma and no status, what qualifications does he have to mix in the upper-class circle?
Therefore, his identity was tied to the two Zhao brothers from the very beginning, because they were all at the bottom of the society, the so-called ordinary people.
As a commoner, it is always difficult to move up. However, An Rusong can see things in a positive way. How does the saying go? Only when you feel the difficulty can you prove that you are walking on an uphill road.
The car drove to Nantailing and stopped outside of a seemingly ordinary-looking house. When An Rushong pushed the door and got out of the car, he happened to see Zhao Chenghao, with one arm hanging, walking hurriedly out of the yard.
"Brother Cheng Hao," An Rushong waved at the other party and greeted him.
"Rusong," Zhao Chenghao stopped and said with a smile, "You've come at the right time. Come on, follow me and watch the fun."
Before, because of the killing of Park Jin-hee, Zhao Chenghao had a lot of opinions about An Rushong, but this guy was simple-minded. After just a few days, he had completely forgotten about the time when An Rushong betrayed him.
"What are you looking at?" An Rushong asked curiously.
"What else can we watch? Of course, we should watch the Liu family's excitement." Zhao Chenghao came up and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him away while saying, "Over there in Xincundong, that is where Ruidao Residence is, it is now surrounded by people who bought houses. Many people are asking for their money back."
An Rushong was stunned for a moment, then realized that someone was deliberately targeting the Damushan Group.
Actually, the loan extension application for Damushan Group was rejected just a few hours ago, and the media such as newspapers did not report it extensively. How did those home buyers know about it?
While he was in a daze, Zhao Chenghao had already dragged him a few steps. An Rusong quickly broke free and said, "You go by yourself. I have something to talk to Brother Jingsheng about."
Hearing him say this, Zhao Chenghao stopped and asked, "What do you want from him?"
"I heard some information and I need to communicate with Brother Jingsheng," An Rushong took the opportunity to shake off his hand, said casually, then turned and walked towards the yard.
"Oh?" Zhao Chenghao turned his head and looked at his back. After two seconds of staring blankly, he seemed to suddenly think of something and said loudly, "Hey, wait a minute!"
But unexpectedly, An Rushong was worried that this guy would harass him, so he quickened his pace, rushed into the yard, and went straight to the front door of the house.
As a result, when he changed his shoes in front of the corridor of the house and walked into the main reception hall, he was shocked to find that in addition to Zhao Jingsheng sitting in a wheelchair, there was also a middle-aged man in the living room. Who else could it be but Shen Taian?
"Rushong is here," Shen Taian put down the teacup in his hand and said calmly when he saw An Rushong coming in from outside the door.
"Uncle Taian," An Rusong was very annoyed. If he had known that this guy was here, he would have followed Zhao Chenghao to watch the fun. But no matter what he thought, he still had to salute the old guy respectfully.
"Well," Shen Taian nodded and said, "Sit down."
An Rushong bowed slightly again, then walked to the tea table and sat down carefully.
Perhaps because there were outsiders present, Shen Taian was silent for a long time before he spoke: "In five days, it will be your father's death anniversary. Don't forget to pay your respects to him then."
He paused and continued, "Think carefully about what I just said to you. You are different from Cheng Hao. He is young and hot-tempered and cannot stand being wronged. So, there are some things I cannot say to him. But as his brother, you should be sensible and know how to choose on some issues."
"I understand, Uncle Taian," Zhao Jingsheng seemed very calm. He nodded slightly and said.
"Well, now that you understand, I feel relieved," Shen Taian said, then he put his hands on the coffee table in front of him and stood up with some difficulty.
"I have another commission to appear in court this afternoon, so I won't stay here long," the old man said, glancing at An Rusong who also stood up, "you young people can chat."
After he finished speaking, he smiled, acting like a rather amiable elder.
(End of this chapter)