WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 390: Change (7)

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Several kinds of alcohol had been set out on the table between the sofas. Most were sharp-scented bourbons and brandies, all of them high proof. The lieutenant general pushed a glass in front of Gyeoul as if it were only natural. A deep conversation required alcohol. This, too, was the Chinese way.

The lieutenant general gestured.

“Choose.”

There was no need to think it over. Everything here would be expensive anyway. He grabbed the bottle nearest his hand, and it turned out to be brandy. After opening the stopper, Gyeoul filled Xieru’s glass first. Up to the very edge, just shy of overflowing. The lieutenant general took the bottle from him. Strong liquor rose in Gyeoul’s glass as well.

After they exchanged a toast and refilled their empty glasses, Gyeoul took out that pocket watch.

“I’m returning this to you.”

The lieutenant general stared at it, then gave a short laugh.

“What use would this be to someone about to leave this world?”

“It will be useful to your son. As property, or as a keepsake.”

It was a watch worth ten million U.S. dollars, ten billion won in Korean currency. It would help Lieutenant Colonel Tan Guosheng a great deal.

But the lieutenant general only laughed again.

“Put it away. Unless you mean to mock me.”

“....”

“I lost that watch through my own failure and foolishness. You want me to pass such a thing down to my only child? Nonsense. It’s only ten million U.S. dollars. My face isn’t that cheap. Nor is the price of my son’s life. Put it away.”

“I see... Forgive my rudeness.”

Gyeoul put the watch away. The lieutenant general hooked an arm over the back of the sofa, crossed her legs, and asked,

“If you meant to return what you received from me, wasn’t there someone else you should have brought? By now, that foolish girl must be worth far more than that paltry watch.”

It was a mischievous question. Gyeoul understood her intent, but answered seriously anyway.

“A person cannot be someone else’s possession.”

“Yes. From what I saw, you don’t seem to have claimed her either. Do you stay in touch?”

“She sends letters sometimes.”

“When did you last meet?”

“A few months ago.”

“A few months ago....”

The lieutenant general tapped ash from her cigar into the ashtray, thought for a moment, then asked something new.

“What did that girl say about me? Her nature is frivolous, so I doubt she said nothing at all... She must have tried to slander me somehow, if only for her own sake. Am I wrong?”

She sounded nearly certain, so after a brief hesitation, Gyeoul answered plainly.

“She asked how the People’s Liberation Army could stand proud after abandoning the people. She said that on the day you escaped mainland China, you and your soldiers naturally should have fought for the people. That you should have struggled until the last moment to save even one more person.”

“Naturally should have fought?”

The lieutenant general sneered.

“Why is that natural? Do you agree with her, Lieutenant Colonel?”

“It is at least a soldier’s duty.”

“Interesting.”

Despite her words, she showed open contempt.

“A duty that demands self-sacrifice is never natural.”

“....”

“If a firefighter burns to death while putting out a fire, is that natural too? If a public security officer, a police officer, is murdered while chasing a criminal, is that natural too? Is a soldier giving up their life for the people under any circumstances truly so obvious that there’s no room for question?”

“No... it is not.”

“Then take my advice. The ordinary and selfish stand on the corpses of things they call natural. Noble sacrifices they take for granted because someone is a soldier, because someone is public security, because someone is a parent, because someone is a child. Do not listen to the barking nonsense of people who could never be what they call natural.”

She exhaled with a sigh, carrying cigar smoke with it, and spoke for her soldiers.

“Risking one’s life in battle and giving up one’s life are completely different things. A fight is fought to win, to survive by winning, no matter how low the odds of victory may be. At least, that is how it is for ordinary soldiers. What has the state done for them that they should obey even an order to die?”

The liquor disappeared like water. Her tolerance was the same as ever. Gyeoul filled her glass.

“Lieutenant Colonel. Among my subordinates, how many do you think became soldiers resolved to risk death for their homeland and people?”

“Not many.”

“Correct. Absolutely not many. Most of them chose the path of a soldier to survive somehow in a society that pushed them away from the ladder of success ‘as a matter of course,’ to feed their families, to become carp that leapt over the Dragon Gate. That was why they gave their loyalty to the party and the state. You could say half of it was coercion, not choice. Do you understand? The reason they chose to accept the danger of death was, fundamentally, for themselves. People who purely want to die for others are hardly common.”

In China, the military was a gateway to success. A carp that leapt over the Dragon Gate meant something like a dragon rising from a stream. It also had something in common with fish swimming endlessly through muddy water while dreaming of a clear pond after death. Gyeoul remembered how the lieutenant general had once mentioned a ladder inside someone else’s fence.

“But the state that promised them all that compensation collapsed.”

The lieutenant general chuckled as she continued.

“The premise of the contract disappeared. Isn’t it strange for the state to collapse while the duties granted by that state remain? A soldier’s status exists under the national body of the republic. So the moment their homeland disappeared, the people in uniform and the people out of uniform became the same: people who simply wanted to live. At least, that is what I believe. That is why I tried to save my people first. The paltry salaries my soldiers received in exchange for their service were never enough to justify their deaths. I experienced that myself. I may not be clean, but I crawled up from the bottom. I cannot force the officers and soldiers who look only to me into a duty that can only be fulfilled by dying.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“That woman.”

The lieutenant general took a harsh pull from her cigar and frowned.

“Major Ju Wei was a beneficiary of an unfair system. No matter how impressive her career was, the rank of Major at her age, as an actress, was never normal. She climbed the ladder of success under the party’s protection simply because she was born into a good family with a pretty face. Of course, there must have been competition and suffering there too, in its own way, but compared to the effort she put in, she lived enjoying rewards far beyond what she deserved. So who exactly is telling whom that they should have died as a matter of course?”

Hoo. Thick smoke rolled out in clouds.

“Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul.”

“Yes.”

“Do not become something people take for granted.”

Gyeoul had heard something similar recently. It was probably during his call with Min Wan-ki.

‘Did he say no one is grateful for what they take for granted?’

The advice came to him as one possible future.

“That is a strange reaction.”

The general’s words pulled Gyeoul from his recollection.

“I remembered someone who gave me similar advice.”

“I don’t know who that was, but they sound wise.”

Another round of glasses emptied. The bottle passed back and forth. Since an underfilled glass was considered contempt for the other person, glasses could never be left empty. After receiving the drink the lieutenant general poured for him with both hands and tapping the table to express thanks, Gyeoul thought it was about time to move to the main subject.

“Lieutenant General. Is there a reason you are telling me this?”

“Are you curious why I asked to see you?”

At the lieutenant general’s question, Gyeoul nodded honestly.

“I don’t believe you called me here just to see my face.”

“Well, that’s true.”

After agreeing, the general added as if it were no great matter.

“But it is also true that what I wanted most was simply to meet you once. After all, you deceived me quite thoroughly.”

“I apologize for that.”

“Don’t apologize.”

The lieutenant general’s eyebrows twisted.

“I was defeated as a soldier. An apology from the side that won would only make me miserable. You don’t intend to turn me into someone like Ah Q, do you?”

“....”

“Most of all, the fact that you saved my son’s life does not disappear. If his life remains because of something that requires an apology, that too would be extremely unpleasant.”

Gyeoul almost apologized again without thinking, but managed to stop himself in time.

“Anyway.”

The lieutenant general changed her tone.

“As you guessed, I do have business with you.”

“Please tell me.”

“It’s simple. I have picked out the useful ones among my subordinates, so if you ever find yourself short of military manpower, why not take them and use them?”

Troubled, Gyeoul looked back. Anne was in the room, along with an FBI agent there in case of an accident, but the agent did not seem able to understand Chinese. They only reacted to Gyeoul’s glance with a puzzled gesture, as if asking whether something was wrong.

Gyeoul asked the lieutenant general,

“Was this agreed on in advance? I mean, has any agency approved it, whether the Bureau, the Department of Homeland Security... anywhere at all?”

“No.”

“Then how...?”

“I thought that if I obtained the Lieutenant Colonel’s consent first, the rest of the process would become fairly easy. You are a promising officer favored by the next president. Regardless of department, there will be plenty of people willing to offer quiet goodwill. If only because they are mindful of the president.”

“....”

“What, do you dislike it? It would be a far better choice than turning rootless gangster bastards and two-faced Japanese dwarfs into proper soldiers.”

“It’s just an abrupt proposal. Wouldn’t they resent me?”

“They could not help feeling something. Regardless of intent or purpose, being deceived is still being deceived. But I chose only desperate ones whose desire to live is far stronger. I also gave them the excuse that it was my final order. Since I gave them face, they will compromise with reality as much as necessary.”

For Chinese people, face was sometimes more important than life. There were probably not many who would truly throw away their lives to protect face, but at least on the surface, that was how it worked. Bad grudges lived long.

As Gyeoul thought it over, the general said,

“Become their fence and their ladder. Then they will be loyal to you.”

“Are you asking this out of a sense of duty?”

“It would be more accurate to call it a sense of debt than duty. I failed to become either their fence or their ladder.”

For a moment, the lieutenant general’s wrinkles looked deeper. Yet she was someone trying to become a fence for all surviving Chinese people. After a pause, Gyeoul answered slowly.

“It is difficult to give you a definite answer here, but I will consider it favorably.”

“Not bad.”

At the very least, he would need to consult Anne.

“But Lieutenant General, is Lieutenant Colonel Tan Guosheng included among the candidates?”

“He is.”

“That is a little... burdensome.”

“He seems to have complicated feelings too. But relax. He isn’t bold enough to ignore his mother’s final will. Nor did I raise him so poorly that he would resent the wrong person. If not for that senseless man Yang Yongbin, wouldn’t we have maintained a fairly constructive relationship?”

To Lieutenant General Xieru, the Beidou satellites had been a means to prevent nuclear attacks. So she did not seem to resent having their control taken from her.

The lieutenant general now sounded a little tired as she spoke.

“One thing Yang Yongbin said was right.”

“What do you mean?”

“A life lived only to keep living is miserable.”

“...It seems you’re not satisfied with what the U.S. government guaranteed you in exchange for the trial.”

“The conditions themselves are good. As long as America does not collapse, and as long as the promises are kept, they will have no trouble feeding themselves until they die. But if that is all, how are they different from livestock being raised? Eating when it’s time, shitting when it’s time, over and over again. For a person to live, there must be hope beyond that. A dream of a better tomorrow. That is why ladders are important. I don’t want my people and their descendants to end up like North American natives. No, in some ways, their situation would be worse than that of the natives.”

Gyeoul understood Xieru’s words. Indians on reservations still did not have voting rights. Only by giving up certain privileges over the reservations, tribal operating subsidies, casino operating rights, and the like could they have their rights as U.S. citizens recognized. Since there was at least a path open for them to become citizens, the lieutenant general saw the natives as better off than her subordinates.

Footnotes:

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