Chapter 393 Solving the Trouble
Chapter 393 Solving the Trouble
Gatherings like tonight's are really unremarkable. When Colonel Alvin initially organized this gathering, the banner he raised was to eliminate the "misunderstandings" between An Rusong and a series of American military officers including Wilder. Of course, his main purpose was to win over An Rusong.
In Colonel Alvin's mind, people like An Rusong are of great value. First of all, he is a businessman, and a businessman with a very good foundation. He controls a company with a market value of more than one billion US dollars. Such a person is a resource with diamond attributes to anyone.
Secondly, the NGN company controlled by An Rusong is an Internet-based technology company, a so-called IT company. Don't think that Colonel Alvin is just a simple-minded soldier with strong limbs. On the contrary, he has a good brain, otherwise he would not have become the umbrella for those drug-trafficking American soldiers.
Over the years, Alvin did not rely on his military rank to win over those drug dealers in the military camps. He relied on his skills and personal abilities. The most direct point is that he can help these drug dealers in the military camps launder the money they get from drug trafficking and then transfer it to the United States in a legal form.
For someone who is good at money laundering or has close ties with the money laundering business, it is certainly impossible for him not to know the excellent conditions that IT companies have in the field of money laundering. If he can get closer to An Rushong and get his cooperation to a certain extent, many troublesome things will become simple.
Of course, the most important point is that Alvin accidentally heard some things that Senator Elijah said when he was on the phone with someone. He knew that Senator Elijah came to Seoul this time and accepted the commission of David Filco, co-founder of General Catalyst, to make preliminary contact with An Rusong, chairman of NGN.
General Catalyst is a venture capital company in the United States. In the past two years, its main investment directions have been concentrated in the software and Internet fields. The reason why Alvin knew all this was not because he was interested in venture capital, but because he was from Massachusetts, and the headquarters of this venture capital company was also in Massachusetts.
It was also from Senator Elijah that Alvin heard that the famous "Bertelsmann Venture Capital" company also took a fancy to the prospects of NGN. The company seemed to be preparing to make direct contact with An Rusong to prepare for NGN's subsequent second round of financing.
Therefore, in Alvin's view, An Rushong and he are actually the same kind of people, they are both "money bags" in the eyes of others.
Why was Alvin able to get along well in the US military system in South Korea? Why did someone still want to keep him after such a big incident and scandal? The answer to these questions is simple: it's because he can give money to certain people, a lot of money.
An Rushong, who controls NGN Company, is obviously such a person, but the path chosen by this guy is more brilliant. He can use his own abilities to provide others with opportunities to make money, and the money he provides is clean - although people will like it as long as it is money, people will always like money that comes from a clean source more.
Therefore, Alvin really wanted to be friends with An Rushong. He did look down on Jin Zhongtai, but he had no bad intentions towards An Rushong, at least not at the moment. Oh, at least he thought not at the moment.
However, An Rushong did not understand how Alvin prepared himself psychologically. He simply felt that this American was very dangerous. Moreover, if he got too close to the other party, Colonel Leonard might be unhappy. After putting himself in the right position, An Rushong thought he needed to avoid such a thing from happening.
Nine people sat around a sofa booth. Since Jin Zhongtai's translator and Jenny separated An Rusong and Alvin, the nine people at the party seemed to be divided into two groups. An Rusong spent most of his time talking to Leonard and Jin Zhongtai, and had fewer opportunities to communicate with Alvin and others sitting opposite him.
As for An Rushong, tonight's party was not in vain. At least he got to know General Jin Zhongtai and became familiar with him. However, he did not mention the issue of military service to him during the party, as that would make him seem too impatient and utilitarian.
The party lasted for nearly an hour and a half. Wilder, who had hardly spoken all night, and the lieutenant colonel named Hobbs Mack who sat with him, were the first to stand up and leave. As an old acquaintance, Wilder walked over to An Rushong and shook hands with him before leaving.
This guy spoke very politely, but the sense of alienation was extremely obvious. Not only An Rushong, but everyone present could hear it.
After watching Wilder and Mike walk further and further away and finally disappear at the entrance of the hall, An Rusong happened to meet Alvin's eyes when he looked away. He shrugged and said with a wry smile, "It seems that Lieutenant Colonel Wilder is still a little unfriendly to me."
He said this to Alvin, meaning to tell him that Wilder's hostility towards him was still strong, and when the current turmoil was over, the other party might find a way to retaliate against him.
Alvin obviously understood what he meant. The colonel smiled and said casually, "Maybe they are not in a good mood tonight. You may not know that Wilder and Mike have submitted their resignation reports to the headquarters and have received approval from the headquarters. At the end of this month, they will leave South Korea and return to their hometowns in the United States." He paused for a few seconds and added, "The most likely possibility is that after they return to the United States, they will take off their military uniforms and return to their hometowns."
Having said that, he pointed at the last remaining middle-aged lieutenant colonel and said with a smile, "From now on, Wilder's work will be taken over by Hayden."
The remaining middle-aged man, named Hayden Griffith, had been relatively quiet all night. After hearing what Alvin said, he put down his glass, smiled and nodded at An Rusong, but still did not speak.
An Rushong thought that what Alvin said, "Wild's job will be taken over by Hayden," might have two implications: one was that Wilder's position in the barracks would be replaced by Hayden, and the other was probably that Wilder's work in the drug trafficking process would also be taken over by Hayden.
Come to think of it, drug trafficking is a very profitable business. If both South Korea and the United States had severely punished the American soldiers involved in drug trafficking in this scandal, perhaps people like Alvin would have become more restrained.
But what about now? Senator Elijah made it clear that he wanted to make light of the incident and not give it a serious punishment. He even had no intention of severely punishing the drug dealers who had been exposed.
Just like the news that Alvin revealed at the party tonight: among the American soldiers who are about to be "severely punished", there is a sergeant named Logan Alex. Before this, this person's information was included in the American soldiers involved in drug trafficking exposed by NGN.
According to the clear evidence released, Sergeant Logan used U.S. military mail parcels to smuggle more than 3400 grams of methamphetamine at one time. According to the punishment plan made by Senator Elijah, this guy will be sentenced to three years in prison but with a suspended sentence.
Even so, Senator Elijah has no intention of letting Sergeant Logan serve his sentence in South Korea. He will be sent back to the United States, and after undergoing relevant mental health examinations, the military will decide whether to require him to serve his sentence in prison.
Hey, with punishments like this, one can imagine how rampant the “Alvins” will become after this storm is over.
In his previous life, An Rusong seemed to have read a report on this. According to the report, by 2017, South Korea had become a country flooded with drugs. The so-called strict anti-drug measures introduced by the South Korean government were actually just a slogan. Among the various new drugs that are popular in South Korea, more than % enter South Korea through the supply chain of the US military stationed in South Korea.
Of course, An Rusong didn't care about the future of drug abuse in South Korea. He had no sympathy for "drug addicts", let alone Korean "drug addicts". His focus now was on Wilder's departure from South Korea. It had to be admitted that when An Rusong heard that Wilder was about to leave South Korea and, after returning to the United States, would also leave the military, he was greatly relieved.
One thing that must be recognized is that Wilder's attack on An Rushong as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army stationed in South Korea and the other party's attack on him as an ordinary American without this military identity are two completely different things.
If Wilder was still a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army stationed in South Korea, it would be easy for him to obtain high-powered weapons and find someone to attack him. In addition, given his identity, it would be difficult for An Rushong to take the initiative to attack him because the consequences would be serious.
On the contrary, if Wilder no longer had his current identity and was just an ordinary American, then on the one hand, it would be difficult for him to obtain high-powered weapons in South Korea, and on the other hand, An Rusong could deal with him without any restraint.
To put it bluntly, if Wilder left the army, then the next time he came to South Korea as an ordinary tourist, An Rushong could even take the initiative and hire someone to kill him. The worst that could happen would be that he would have to spend more money afterwards.
"Is this good news for me?" An Rushong smiled, then spread his hands, glanced at the faces of the people sitting around the booth, and said with some self-mockery.
(End of this chapter)