Chapter 392 Duty
Chapter 392 Duty
One party can make friends, the other party flatters, and such interaction can easily bring the two parties closer. From the parking lot to the front door of Longshan Hotel, it is only a hundred steps away, but An Rusong and Jin Zhongtai have become very familiar with each other.
As the main leisure and entertainment venue in the South Camp of Yongsan Base, Yongsan Hotel is not as lively as imagined. Come to think of it, compared with the closed environment in the camp, those energetic American soldiers would of course prefer to go to the nearby Itaewon for entertainment.
Even though according to military camp regulations, soldiers are not allowed to leave the barracks at will, this does not stop them from going out to hunt for beauties.
There were special service staff working in the lobby of the hotel. When they saw a few unfamiliar faces walking in, and they were Asians with black hair and yellow skin, someone immediately came up to them and asked them questions.
These service personnel had obviously been notified in advance, so when facing An Rusong and others, there was no problem with their attitude. Moreover, after confirming their identities, the service personnel even led them upstairs.
Considering that the booked room was on the second floor, the service staff did not take them to the elevator, but directly took the escalator upstairs. Just a few minutes later, An Rusong and Jin Zhongtai appeared at the door of Room 2203 under the guidance of the service staff.
The door of the room was closed. After knocking on the door, the service staff did not wait for the person in the room to respond, and directly pushed the double door open. An Rusong, who was standing behind the service staff, saw a small stage facing the door at first sight. At this moment, on this small stage, there were four girls in tight short skirts, swaying their bodies to the music.
This so-called 2203 is obviously not a simple room. It is more like an independent small bar. The room is very large. There are some booths directly in front of the stage, and on both sides of the booth area are fully open sofa areas.
When An Rushong and his companions walked into the room, they saw four or five people sitting together on the sofa on the right. All of them were wearing American military uniforms. In addition to Leonard and Alvin, there were also Wilder and two middle-aged officers who were completely unfamiliar to An Rushong.
Leonard was facing the door, so he was the first to see An Rusong and his party walk in. For some reason, the colonel put down the wine glass in his hand and stood up with a smile on his face.
Seeing him stand up, Alvin followed his gaze towards the door. After spotting An Rushong and the others, he also stood up with a smile on his face and quickly walked over here.
However, the remaining three people, including Wilder, had hesitant expressions on their faces, but after hesitating for a few seconds, the three of them stood up one after another.
"Hey, An!" Alvin's strides were big and his pace was fast. He covered the distance of more than ten meters in the blink of an eye. He greeted An Rusong with a smile on his face and stretched out his arms towards him, as if he wanted to hug An Rusong.
When the other party came towards him, An Rushong was still a little hesitant, because his relationship with Colonel Alvin was definitely not as close as the other party showed. But this hesitation was only a moment, and the thought flashed through his mind. The next second, he was already hugging the other party with a smile.
"You're late," Alvin pretended to scold An Rushong after patting him twice on the back with his right hand and letting him go.
"Sorry, I happened to meet General Jin downstairs and was delayed for a while." An Rushong took the opportunity to introduce Jin Zhongtai's identity.
"General Jin Zhongtai?" Alvin turned his gaze to Jin Zhongtai and said with a smile, "General Jin is my superior. Should I choose to salute or shake hands?"
The guy was speaking English, and Jin Zhongtai's English level was really not good enough. He only saw that the other party's eyes were focused on him, and he was obviously talking to him, but he didn't understand what the other party said. The female soldier who came with him was indeed a translator. She stepped forward and came to Jin Zhongtai's side and whispered an explanation.
"Haha, this is a private occasion," Jin Zhongtai said with a smile, "We don't care about military rank, we just make friends, just make friends."
The two laughs before he spoke were to cover up the embarrassment, and the reason why he said "just make friends" twice was also to cover up the embarrassment. In fact, in today's occasion, facing several US military officers, Jin Zhongtai, a participant who does not understand English, is indeed very embarrassed.
"General Jin meant that today's gathering is private, and everyone is just making friends, regardless of military rank," An Rusong translated for Jin Zhongtai without waiting for the female soldier to speak. Without the female soldier's translation as an intermediary, Jin Zhongtai's embarrassment could at least be alleviated.
"General Jin said it well. We are only making friends tonight, and those present are all friends," Alvin said with a smile. Then, he made a gesture of invitation and said, "Come on, let's take a seat first. I will also introduce you to some friends who are present tonight."
An Rusong nodded, and then made a gesture to Jin Zhongtai to go first, and then followed Alvin to the sofa seat. When he got close to the sofa seat, Alvin held An Rusong's right forearm, and let him sit next to Wilder, and he sat on the other side of An Rusong.
As a result, the seating order became that he and An Rusong sat together, with Wilder and the two middle-aged officers to An Rusong's left, and Leonard to the left of the last middle-aged officer. Between Leonard and Alvin, there was an empty single sofa and a long couch, and then to the left was Alvin's seat.
Such a seating arrangement made Jin Zhongtai embarrassed on the spot. He didn't understand English. If he sat on the single sofa, he would be like listening to a foreign language at the party tonight. But if he chose to sit on the long sofa with the translator, the woman who came with An Rushong would have to sit on the single sofa, which was very impolite because that seat was the farthest from An Rushong.
Of course, that long sofa can seat three people, but how can he, a middle-aged man over fifty, have the nerve to squeeze on a sofa with two ladies in their twenties and early thirties?
Seeing Jin Zhongtai standing there with an awkward expression, An Rushong immediately understood what he meant. Of course, he also understood why Alvin made this mistake.
First of all, one possibility is that Alvin does not understand the etiquette of East Asians. In his opinion, as long as everyone gets together to drink and has fun, it doesn’t matter where anyone sits.
Secondly, another greater possibility is that in Alvin's eyes, there is no such person as Kim Jong-tae at all. Even though the other party is a lieutenant general and he is only a colonel, the weight of a lieutenant general of the South Korean army is not worth mentioning in his eyes.
Perhaps, in Alvin's opinion, Jin Zhongtai, Jenny and the translator who didn't even have a name were existences on the same level, and it didn't matter where they sat.
When these two possibilities are combined, what they reflect is a racial discrimination sentiment that is deeply rooted in the bones.
That's right, although Alvin had always been kind and gentle, deep down, he actually looked down on others. He didn't look down on those who were not as good as him, after all, Jin Zhongtai's military rank was higher than his, and it was much higher, so what he really looked down on was the other party's nationality, or even race.
If his contempt for Jin Zhongtai is translated, it means: Lieutenant General, so what? Pfft! A Korean.
Of course, An Rusong never considered himself a Korean, so he would not feel humiliated by Alvin's emotion. But then again, he could understand a truth from this incident: the reason why Alvin was so polite and friendly to him, a "Korean", was not because the other party liked him, but because the situation was stronger than the person, and the pressure from the US military drug trafficking scandal forced the colonel to be friendly enough in front of him.
But if one day in the future, An Rushong were to have any evidence against him that fell into the hands of the other party, he would probably end up in a miserable state.
After thinking this through, An Rusong's vigilance instantly increased. He glanced at Leonard, who was sitting opposite him with a smile on his face, and said, "Ian, it seems that you don't know much about our Korean etiquette."
As he said this, he took a step to the right, walked around Alvin, and stood with Jenny. Then, he put his hands on Jenny's shoulders and said with a smile, "Jenny is my female companion, and General Jin is my friend. According to etiquette, we have to sit together."
Turning his head to look at Jin Zhongtai who had an embarrassed expression, he added: "Besides, General Jin's English is a little poor, I can still be his translator."
As he spoke, without waiting for Alvin to react, he pushed Jin Zhongtai directly to the single sofa next to Leonard, and he himself sat on the far right side of the sofa. As for the remaining two seats on the sofa, they belonged to Jenny and the translator.
After this adjustment was completed, Leonard, who had been sitting in his seat, did not say anything, but the smile on his face became noticeably more intense.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the simple action of adjusting the seat actually shows An Rushong's attitude: he has always stood on Leonard's side, whether in the past or in the future, so he can choose to be friends with Alvin, but this basic position will not change.
"Oh, yes, yes, it was I who overlooked this point." It was not known whether Alvin concealed it well or he had no other intention at all. After An Rushong finished speaking, the smile on his face did not change at all. He just apologized self-reproachfully and then changed the subject.
(End of this chapter)