In the early spring of March, Britain still has a bit of a cold chill. The continuous cold light rain shrouded the whole of London in a deep, cold and wet fog, and forced people to wear thick sweaters and waterproof jackets when going out. Gusts of wind swept through the grey pavement of Downing Street, making the streetscape of the country's pivotal region as bleak as a real-life version of the Financial Times of London.

Permanent Secretary of the Department for Polar Development, Harry, who has just returned to London from a holiday. Gordon, wrapped in a thick gray coat, walked alone down Downing Street, shivering like a shaved penguin, always holding the tip of his nose tightly with a handkerchief, and sneezing a few times from time to time.

Now, a long time has passed since the government's work time, but Harry unfortunately stopped the engine of the car on the way, and was hit by a truck behind him, coupled with the friction and procrastination of the traffic police, and the various troubles after the car was towed to the repair shop, he was delayed for two hours on the way to work, and only now did he reach the final destination of the commute - Whitehall.

Thankfully, Harry. His Excellency the Minister for Polar Development, whom Gordon is in charge of, should have been attending a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Mansion at 10 Downing Street this morning, and may not have returned yet...... Oh no, Minister Potter has returned, and Mr. Permanent Secretary happened to see his car speeding past him! The splash from the wheels hit Harry's coat! Is today his day of calamity?

After another quarter of an hour, Harry. Gordon finally wore his wet coat. I walked into the office of the Minister of Polar Development Affairs.

-- The room is well-decorated and tasteful, in the style that a Conservative or a member of the House of Lords would like. And not like the office of a Labour politician. The walls are inlaid with walnut wainscoting and adorned with old portraits of people dressed in Victorian robes or dresses, with serious expressions and sparkling eyes. Next to the portrait is the flag of the British Antarctic Territory, a rare white flag, with a reduced British flag in the upper left corner of the flagpole and the shield insignia of the British Antarctic Territory in the lower right. The ship at the top of the coat of arms symbolizes a research ship. The torch on the shield symbolizes exploration, the lion standing on the grass symbolizes the United Kingdom, and the penguin standing in the snow symbolizes Antarctica. The motto at the bottom is "Investigate and Discover".

At this time. To the delight of the cold and tired Harry, the office was not as cold as Antarctica, and the roaring fire in the fireplace was boiling brightly, effectively driving away the damp cold. He couldn't help but immediately lean over to the fireplace. Stretched out trembling hands and made a fire.

“…… Good morning, Harry! It's been a week, how about your paid leave to India this time? Have fun? ”

The Minister of State for Polar Development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Brown. Potter, a balding old man with a radiant face, looked up from behind the newspaper and greeted him, the thick lenses of his glasses reflecting the red glow of the fire, and his cheerful voice and smiling expression showed that he was in a good mood.

“…… How so? Excellency. "Harry. Gordon replied nonchalantly as he took off his coat and dried it by the fire. “…… I really don't know how to describe this trip to India, if I had to share my feelings. It was a wonderful test of courage - first, although the Indians seemed to think that their English was very standard, I found that I could not understand what alien language they were speaking. However, they consider themselves fluent in English, and often speak as fast as a machine gun, and every time they communicate, they always feel a headache of 120,000 points.

Then, the local diet is horrible. Although I eat curry bread a lot in London, Indian curry is not the same thing as what I tasted in London! It's hard to imagine that my sturdy stomach, which has been poisoned by British food for decades, still can't accept the terrorist attack of bacteria in the South Asian subcontinent! During those days in New Delhi, Jaipur and Chennai, my stomach seemed to be charging at the sphincter at every moment, and I suddenly wanted to go to the toilet at any moment, and my stomach was tossed smoother than a lube pipe.

And the toilets in India are another nightmare, there is no toilet paper supply, the locals wipe their butts with their hands, and some of the toilets are still open, and I have to poop while enduring the onlookers of pedestrians and Indian sacred cows, which is really crazy!

To make matters worse, although I chose the most local beachfront hotel in Chennai, I was inevitably greeted by all kinds of animals who were too intimate, first a wild dog or wild cat turned my mattress into a dung pit, then a snake crawling proudly over the heel of my shoes while I was eating, zuihou was a monkey sneaking in through the window while I was bathing, grabbing my silver pocket watch and turning over, and I could only shout for help in Oxford English in vain. Neither Indians nor monkeys could understand what I was saying! Luckily, this little guy hasn't stolen my passport and wedding ring yet.

But when I got back to cold, damp London, I immediately remembered the warm Indian sun with tears in my eyes.

“…… Oh, poor Harry, it looks like you're in need of something to warm you up......"

The Minister of Polar Development put down the newspaper, sighed, and looked at the permanent secretary with a red nose and a runny nose with a look of pity, "...... How about a glass of Scotch whisky? I have Chivas Regal here...... Well, a little more soda......"

“…… That's great! Thank you so much! Harry reached for his glass and sniffed, swallowing half of the soda-laced whiskey in one gulp, the cold liquid sliding down his esophagus, sending the scorching flames all the way to his stomach, and he felt much better.

Then, after a glass of wine, Harry was in good spirits again. Gordon took the opportunity to ask about today's cabinet meeting. David showed him a copy of the latest financial report submitted to the Cabinet, in which the civil servants of the Treasury Department did not use the so-called "civil service language" to whitewash the peace, presumably because the situation was too dire to be concealed any longer - in general, omitting the useless routine nonsense and the financial jargon that no one understood, the content of the report could be condensed into one word: fiscal collapse!

“…… We are facing the worst economic crisis since World War II, with wallets across Britain shrinking dramatically, the financial game has come to an end, vacant houses are not selling, and the unemployed on the streets are homeless. The economic crisis has further triggered a social crisis, with racial tensions between local residents and immigrants intensifying, and extremist ideologies rampant. There is also the Scottish nationalist movement ......"

David expressed his feelings of worrying about the country and the people, but then changed the topic, "...... But what can we do? A system like this, which devotes more than half of its energy to shirking responsibility to each other, is tied to whatever it wants! People have to say useless nonsense to delay time, or make some grandstanding tricks to divert public attention. Hey, if you had the possibility, you should really look at today's cabinet meeting. ”

“…… What happened at today's Cabinet meeting? Excellency? Harry blinked.

“…… Hey, Prime Minister Mason's political adviser, after seeing this real financial report, his glasses fell off the bridge of his nose on the spot! ”

“…… And what about Prime Minister Mason himself? Harry was surprised.

“…… The retina is all detached! I'm in an ambulance right now, and I'm going to the hospital! David sneered.

“…… What about Lord Hampton, Chancellor of the Exchequer? Harry continued to ask.

“…… God, old Hampton had a heart attack and fainted - I fear he's going to have a stroke and hemiplegia. ”

Speaking of this old rival in the Labour Party, who drove himself to the "penal colony" of the Department of Polar Development, David Brown. Chancellor Potter couldn't help but make an exaggerated expression and gloating at the same time.

Harry, on the other hand, crossed his face with a serious expression, "...... God willing, there is no strike for doctors today. Last month I had a terrible toothache and wanted to go to the dentist, but I was told that dentists all over London were on strike and were not accepting patients, so Zuihou had to drive to Birmingham to treat my bad tooth......"

“…… That's right. There is nothing more painful in the world than a doctor's strike. David nodded with deep feeling, "...... Once, when I had a fever, I also caught up with the doctors' collective strike, and I didn't dare to take medicine indiscriminately, so I had to drink hot tea desperately to reduce my fever...... Fortunately, only a handful of unemployed Mounted Police officers are on strike today -- since the privatization of the police, those private companies have been preparing to outsource their operations and hire a bunch of cheap bicycle police from East Asian countries or elsewhere to replace the expensive Mounted Police, which could save a lot of money. ”

“…… Is it outsourcing again? If this continues, what will be left of Britain? Harry shook his head with a wry smile, "...... We have transferred shipbuilding and metallurgy to China; Welsh castles were dismantled and sold to the United States; The service sector and the construction sector were lost to Eastern European immigrants; electricity and tap water were sold to Hong Kongers; Now even the police have to be outsourced...... This always reminds me of the barbarian mercenaries during the collapse of the Roman Empire! ”

“…… At least the army is still British, though not very reliable...... "Davy. Chancellor Potter whistled disapprovingly.

“…… True, it is a pity that there are more admirals than warships, and there are more army officers than tanks, but the soldiers have been reduced to almost fewer than athletes...... In order to save money, there is also a proposal in the House of Commons to imitate the 'rack division' of the former Yugoslavia, and the navy, army and air force will henceforth only retain officers and non-commissioned officers, and recruit soldiers in wartime, anyway, there are many 'active young men' on the streets of London......" Harry blinked meaningfully.

“…… What a crazy idea, to let football hooligans fly fighter jets worth tens of millions of pounds? The minister's eyes widened in surprise.

“…… Where will there be fighter jets for them then? At most, it's fun to play on the simulator, and it's time to play air combat games! (To be continued......)