Chapter 597: One Year of English Water Master, A Lifetime of English Charm

"Not surprising for the section chief, even the omiyage are so refined." Kai Toru laughed as he teased.

Nango Yui looked at Okada and handed over a box of Hagi no Tsuki: "Section chief, how was the London trip?"

"I saw a few days of rain, walked around the British Museum, and zoned out by the Thames River for a while." Okada took it, his tone calm: "They say London is so wonderful, but after going there, I felt nothing special, but———

very quiet."

"No way, the section chief didn't encounter an English rose?" Kai Toru teased: "How about a romantic international love affair?"

"———No, the only impression left on me was that things are very expensive." Okada Masayoshi had black lines on his forehead, shaking his head desperately. What he didn't say was that he chose to go abroad because he feared his family would set him up on a blind date.

"Eh? Come to think of it, I almost went to study at LBS in the UK. If I really had gone, I'd probably still be working in London now." Nango Yui said this with a hint of regret, half-joking: "Otherwise, I wouldn't be hanging around somewhere like the Metropolitan Police Department, but to be honest, many finance professionals I know have studied finance, economics, or business administration in the UK, and after returning to Japan, they never stop missing my UK."

"Can't help it, Japanese people are just like that." Kai Toru crossed his arms and complained: "New York syndrome, Paris syndrome, London syndrome———"

As mentioned earlier, many Japanese suffer from New York-Paris syndrome, always regretting they weren't born in New York or Paris but instead in some rural place like Akita.

If we say that, then London, Milan, and Los Angeles also count.

"Oh, is that so? I don't think these people have actually been to Paris, New York, or London."

At that moment, Uesugi Muneyuki walked in from the main gate with a casual smile. Behind him, Eirina, now in a suit, trousers, and leather shoes, carried a few bags of Karuizawa specialties, trailing half a step behind him. Meanwhile, Watanabe Minami, dressed in a full Police Management Officer uniform, chuckled: "What English charm? It's just a luxurious classical dream under the condition of not needing to earn money, hehe~"

"Management Officer, Chief, you're back too? ———Indeed." Okada Masayoshi couldn't help but complain: "No matter what, everything in London is terribly expensive———"

Okada Masayoshi shared his London experiences with everyone.

Living in London is really expensive! For example, a decent shared room in London's Zone 3 costs £1000 per month, then utilities, phone, and transport add at least £200 per month, daily necessities and laundry another £200, plus my own cooking expenses of about £300 per month, so the essential monthly expenses come to £1700.

And consumption in London is also high: a beer costs £6–£8, an average meal at a regular restaurant is £20–£30 per person, a movie ticket is £15. Even just two basic social outings a month would cost £200, not to mention various miscellaneous expenses!

So, if in London, the monthly salary is £3000 (after tax, about £2400), then it's really just about surviving!

All expenses can only be kept at the minimum level!

Then, how much is a monthly salary of £3000 in yen?

It's 600,000 yen per month!

In Japan, a monthly salary of 600,000 yen is considered middle-class in any statistics!

Even in Tokyo, where consumption is highest, a 600,000 yen monthly salary allows a quite comfortable life, but in London, £1000 only gets you a regular shared room in Zone 3, whereas 200,000 yen in yen equivalent can get you a very nice independent 1LDK single tower in the 23 wards of Tokyo outside the central six wards!

Conversely, a good single apartment in London's Zone 2 rents for about £2000 per month, which in yen equivalent is 400,000 yen—enough to rent the 3LDK Sakata Bridge Tower in Bunkyo Ward where Uesugi Muneyuki currently lives!

And in London, even the cheapest fast food takeout costs at least £10 (unless you eat leftover food blind boxes or McDonald's/KFC), and it's just a sandwich plus a coffee, whereas in Tokyo, 1000 yen can get you a decent fast food meal, and 2000 yen can get you a very luxurious one.

If it's still unclear, here's an example: £3000 converted to the soft sister currency of the country across the sea equals about 27,000 yuan per month!

According to official data, in the country across the sea, those earning over 20,000 yuan per month account for only 2% of the total population! Taking the middle class as the top 15%–3% of the population, earning over 20,000 yuan per month undoubtedly belongs to the rich class, and this 27,000 yuan in London can only be considered———surviving!

Even Japanese people can't stomach London's prices, let alone the people across the sea.

"Besides, London's public safety isn't good." Okada Masayoshi smiled wryly and shook his head: "I just went to play for a few days, and I encountered a burglary case and a robbery case."

"Normal, not everywhere is Japan." Minami Young Lady laughed as she placed the Karuizawa specialty jam, Mountain Coffee Beans, and Karuizawa Tower on the table.

"Overseas safety is far worse than domestic, everyone must be careful." Uesugi Muneyuki also suppressed a laugh and shook his head: "London is, Paris is, Madrid, Berlin, Milan are all like that."

Everyone nodded.

The safety issues in Europe and America are actually not great either; otherwise, just talking about London, for example, if you often follow Premier League news, you'll find that almost every Premier League player's home has been burgled, and some even have burglars break in directly and rob them openly.

These are Premier League players earning tens of thousands of pounds a week! They live in rich neighborhoods!

"No way, I and Yūko went to HK this time, and safety was great, the only problem being too many people, very crowded." Kai Toru casually complained.

"Mm, safety overseas is indeed not bad." Uesugi Muneyuki fully affirmed this point.

The countries with the best safety in the world are the three East Asian nations of Germany, Japan, and Korea (can add Singapore too), someone has complained, saying only these three countries, you're in a decent restaurant eating halfway, your stomach feels uncomfortable, you go to the toilet and put your phone on the table, after using the toilet you come back and your phone is almost certainly still in its original place.

Don't even try this in other countries.

So for traveling in Europe, it's suggested to join a tour group.

However, Germany's safety only began to be improved after Berlin successfully bid for the Olympics in 2001, and continuous efforts were made until the eve of the Berlin Olympics in 2008, when safety truly improved. Correspondingly, safety in Japan only began to improve after the mid-1980s when heavy blows were dealt to the yakuza.

London's high prices mean you need an annual income of at least £50,000 to barely maintain a middle-class life, which converts to an annual salary of 10 million yen. Only about 4.6%–5% of Japanese people can reach this annual income level, and converting to the country across the sea, an annual income over 500,000 yuan is only 0.8%, and even if we include similar landlords and individual business owners not officially counted, it doesn't exceed 1.2%.

"So, I discovered, London's city center is all white headscarves, especially London Zone 1—all real estate, service industry, property, Britain's own rich have basically sold to Middle Eastern capital." Okada Masayoshi complained: "London has already become London of the white headscarves."

"Right, British rich people basically don't live in Paris, New York, Australia, or New Zealand, but in Canada." Nango Yui also complained: "The whole family is abroad, domestically they only collect rent."

"Hahahahaha~" For a moment, cheerful laughter came from within the Special Mission Unit.

"London water master's one-year tuition starts at £25,000, no upper limit—what English charm, London gentleman blue bridge dream legacy? It's just a London fantasy of a bunch of people who've never earned money or eaten shit." Uesugi Muneyuki concluded: "Not needing to earn money, just spending family money, of course the lovely English charm, my British dream hehe~ Now is, afternoon tea time!"

"Hahahaha~"

After a few people laughed, Uesugi Muneyuki looked around and noticed someone missing: "Where's Date?"

As the words fell, Date Nagamune appeared with hair as if grabbed by frenzied fans, holding two huge paper bags, rushing in like a gust of wind: "Sorry sorry! Too many people in Akihabara this morning!"

He put down the paper bags with a "bang," and out poured a large pile of merchandise—one photobook of Red Slope 46, YKC48 support towels, Moriya Akane's handwritten photo, Miyawaki Sakura's file folder———dazzling to the eyes.

"You———you emptied the concert merchandise store?" Igarashi gaped.

"This is spiritual nourishment! More important than beef tongue and black tea!" Date panted, his face flushed with satisfaction, he picked up a towel printed with Miyawaki Sakura's radiant smile: "Here, one each! Feel the purification of Little Cherry Blossom's smile! Also, Miss Moriya's exquisite badge———"

Okada looked at the towel stuffed into his hand, his expression somewhat subtle, but he still silently accepted it.

Nango Yui then helplessly laughed and shook his head.

Kai Toru and Igarashi were very interested in flipping through them: "Really a lot! You wouldn't have spent all your bonus, would you?"

"I sold all my stock! Isn't bonus meant to be spent?"

The office instantly became lively.

Nango Yui opened the beef tongue pancake, its salty fragrance spreading; Kai Toru brewed Hong Kong-style milk tea, the rich tea and milk aroma intertwining; Igarashi distributed sweet and soft Hakone Onsen Manju, while Okada used his exquisite porcelain cup to slowly steep red tea, the elegant aroma quietly blending in; and Date was dancing with hands and feet, showing Igarashi and Kai Toru the beautiful moments he captured at the concert.

Different regional flavors, different sounds, different experiences, in this office that had finally caught its breath after great pressure, they harmoniously blended. No urgent calls, no bloody crime scene photos, no suffocating case-solving pressure, only the joy of sharing and long-lost relaxation.

This is the atmosphere of the Special Mission Unit.

Eirina took a bite of the beef tongue pancake, looked at the lively scene before her, and softly laughed to Uesugi Muneyuki, who was sipping tea in small mouthfuls: "Muneyuki, it seems everyone's energy is well charged for this ten-day holiday.

Uesugi Muneyuki lifted his teacup, the steaming mist blurring his gentle and elegant outline.

He glanced at Date Wa and Igarashi, who were still arguing over whether the Second Young Lady or Sakura was cuter, then at Kai Toru showing off the new wristwatch he'd bought in HK to everyone, and took a light sip of the rich red tea.

"Hmm." He uttered a short syllable, but his eyes held a barely perceptible gentleness: "Let them keep at it for a while. Starting tomorrow, I doubt we'll have this much leisure."

He noticed that, at the end of the hallway, two Public Security Police had been watching this place; upon seeing Uesugi Minami and Eirina arrive, they gave a quick confirmation and immediately left.

It seems something big is about to happen again.

Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes narrowed slightly, and he remained silent.

At the same time, in the descending elevator inside Sakuradamon, the two Public Security Police were reporting to Onoda.

"Confirmed: Uesugi has returned to the Special Mission Unit!"

"Excellent. Eclipse Moon Plan, officially implemented!"