Manhattan Reborn 1978

a new day.

Tokyo, Asia.

Near noon

Tokyo Haneda Airport, next to the special boarding gate.

Sam Rogers, David's top lieutenant, walked silently to the window and looked into the distance. The private plane carrying Carnes Rothschild and others was slowly approaching the runway.

Behind him, Bill Gutheran and Nobuyuki Kihara, who came to see Carnes off, also quietly walked to the window and silently watched the plane in the distance flying into the blue sky.

. . .

Ten minutes later, in the parking lot outside Haneda Airport.

"What else was written in the letter David wrote to you?" Bill asked, looking at Sam Rogers curiously after getting into the car.

Sam smiled and shrugged, adjusted his sitting position, glanced at Kihara Nobunari who was sitting in the front passenger seat, and replied.

"Before I left Houston, my boss wrote me a letter that was more than twenty pages long."

"Tell me about it in detail!" Bill asked with great interest.

Sam pulled out a few handwritten notes from his pocket, held them up and smiled, "He talked about his predictions for the economic development of the island nation in the next ten years, and the theoretical basis for his predictions..."

"For example, there is a huge contradiction between the island nation's economic development demand for highly educated professionals and its backward education system."

"Education?" Bill murmured in surprise.

“Yeah, have you heard of the term Involution?”

"No.."

"According to the boss's explanation, involution refers to the phenomenon that when people continue to make more efforts to compete for limited resources on the same platform, their individual benefits will inevitably continue to decline."

"He called this phenomenon effort inflation."

"..Haha!" When Bill heard this explanation, he seemed to see that smiling face suddenly appear in front of him, and he couldn't help but laugh along.

Sam turned to look at Bill, his eyes sparkling, and continued: "Before I came to Tokyo, I couldn't imagine that the education system of this country had become so inward-looking."

"In the island country's college entrance examination season that began in January this year, the island country's government began to implement a new college entrance examination system with two examinations: the first common academic ability examination (i.e. the first national unified examination) and the second examination (the independent enrollment examination of major universities)."

"Now that the college entrance examination season is over, the hot topics that the major media in the island country are paying attention to, in addition to the annual spring competition, are the latest college entrance examination reforms."

"Because the number of people taking the college entrance examination in the island country this year has hit a record high, and the fixed five subjects of the first national unified examination have made countless candidates lose the qualification to participate in the second independent enrollment examination of major colleges and universities."

"The uneven distribution of educational resources, the widening gap between public and private schools, the obvious advantages of students from private schools in the competition for admission, and the greater pressure faced by students from public schools, and other issues were exposed in this college entrance examination."

Sam said, slowly putting away his smile, looking at Bill who frowned: "Before, Mr. Edward Dyke told me~"

"In order to increase their efforts to recruit highly educated professionals, companies in the island country have begun to provide interview gifts and transportation subsidies to college students who come to apply for jobs."

"What's worse, some companies, in order to recruit more urgently needed college graduates in the war for talent, not only promised to help these young people who have just graduated to repay their student loans or borrowed money, but also took them to Kabukicho for in-depth exchanges."

"Bill, does this phenomenon that I find so puzzling remind you of anything?"

"..what?" Bill frowned even deeper and asked back.

"Haha~ Of course it's the Roaring 20s!"

Sam smiled and jokingly drew a circle with his finger: "There are hundreds of families of all sizes on the island. They form the six well-known financial groups, as well as countless small and medium-sized groups that develop together."

"During the more than 30 years of rapid development since World War II, the island nation has only been able to train a limited number of highly skilled professionals each year."

“How to recruit, assign, retain and train them is a difficult problem that every family and company has to face!”

"And these are just some of the problems they have to face."

"Because many of these talented students who graduated from the island nation's top universities chose to study abroad after obtaining their academic qualifications."

"Brain drain! Is it serious?" Bill followed Sam's line of thought and felt that he seemed to have grasped the key point.

"Yes, it's very serious." Sam nodded directly without saying any more nonsense.

"If you've never paid attention to this, it might be hard to imagine~"

"The drawbacks of the outflow of high-level talent from island countries have gradually emerged since a few years ago."

"For example, at the University of Tokyo, which ranks first in the comprehensive strength of educational resources among universities in the island nation, more than 40% of its students chose to study abroad for graduate studies last year alone."

"More than half of their target countries are universities in the United States, and the other half are universities in European countries."

"And Stanford University and the University of California in California have also accepted many applications from students from the island countries in order to solve the problems of increasing tuition income and the sharp decline in the number of international students from other countries."

"So, when I heard from a friend a few days ago that in an open class at UCLA, a quarter of the students were from Japan with black hair and black eyes, I felt that way..."

"I'm sorry, I can't describe it!"

Sam turned to look at Kihara Nobunari who was sitting in the front passenger seat, met his gaze and said: "Everyone will have different feelings when seeing cherry blossoms~"

"When I see them in bloom, I can't help but marvel at their beauty and revel in their fresh, sweet fragrance."

"But when some people see it blooming in the spring breeze, they will unconsciously imagine the petals gently falling in the wind."

"Before you went to study in New York, you should have been very familiar with the degree of involution in the island country's education system, right?"

"..Yes." Kihara Nobunari seemed to recall the profound memories of his high school days, and said with a helpless smile.

"Involution involves others as well as yourself." Sam seemed to see his former self in Kihara Nobunari's bitter smile and sighed.

"A few months ago, the boss proposed to Princeton University President Guy Luther to set up a preparatory class for Princeton University international students in the island country."

"After Christmas, Principal Luther finally convinced the school directors to send a research team to Tokyo to see if this plan is suitable."

"A few days ago, when I was reporting the monthly investment income report to President Luther, he told me that Princeton University has decided to cooperate with several schools in Tokyo to establish a preparatory class for international students to provide adaptive teaching and guidance for students who are about to go to the United States to study."

"Principal Luther also told me that their school attaches great importance to the quality of students in this preparatory class. They will treat them equally, conduct strict assessments, and select the best candidates for admission during the screening exam."

When Sam said this, his eyes looking at Kihara Nobunari spoke for themselves.

Kihara Nobunari understood what he meant and nodded vigorously, saying, "I will pay close attention to this matter and help the boss recruit some more good helpers."

"Yeah!" Sam nodded with great satisfaction and looked at Bill who was thinking silently.

Bill, of course, fully understood the hidden meaning in Sam's words.

Carnes Rothschild, as a direct descendant of his family, has been showing a lazy attitude in the past few years, as if he doesn't care about anything or anyone, and only cares about whether he is happy and relaxed.

But now, Carnes has changed, and it has become impossible for Bill to continue to live an easy life with him.

The "inducement" that led to the change in Carnes's regularization was the "Seven Days Survival Challenge" in Hong Kong that was like a joke some time ago.

The Sham Shui Po district in Hong Kong where Cui Yingying lives was once a gathering place for dock workers and gangs. It had a huge flow of people, a very complex social composition, and the worst security environment in Hong Kong.

But even so, Carnes knew all of this, and he still accepted the "challenge game" without flinching, and even found a loophole in the "game rules" set by David, which allowed him to easily earn the "survival money".

Since then, Kanes has found his "goal" in life again, and the ambition that he had deliberately hidden deep in his heart has also "rekindled."

Bill saw the change in him, and so did his uncle, Schlote Rothschild.

That's why his uncle sent Dwight Ryan over, under the pretext of helping others, but in fact he was just encouraging Carnes!

Encourage him to step forward, encourage him to do it, encourage him to grow quickly, and encourage him to have the courage to take on his due responsibilities and obligations.

Yes, obligation!

Schrott, not Carnes' father, but his uncle.

Kanes, who always avoided his responsibilities in the past, now has decided to accept the resources and help provided by the family, so of course he has to assume his obligations!

Because no matter from which angle you look at it, personal interests are small interests, and family interests are big interests!

His surname meant that he had been ahead of countless people since he was born.

But this advantage is not without cost.

Young Kanes once thought about breaking free from the shackles of his family, breaking the rules that had been passed down for hundreds of years, and living a carefree and free life.

But now his thoughts have completely changed!

However, his transformation was not entirely his own doing, but also partly due to the efforts of David, Bill and others.

Just like a few days ago, he didn't want to attend the Easter family reunion, but David "scolded" him out of the blue by explaining the pros and cons, so he followed Dwight Ryan back home from Houston.

After the festival, Carnes came to Tokyo and further realized the importance of intelligence acquisition. Before leaving, he asked Bill to form his own intelligence team as soon as possible.

Bill gritted his teeth and reluctantly accepted the job.

But the leader of this team, Van Batine, was taken away by Kanes.

But Bill knew very well that when Kanes left, he took Mr. Ryan and Batine away deliberately to remind them that they could not shake Bill's position in this small team for the time being.

But it's just temporary, it's really just temporary.

If Bill’s abilities are not up to the task, Mr. Ryan and the newcomer Batinet will be more than willing to “roll him to death”!

. . .

after an hour.

In a high-end hotel in the port area.

Bill sat in the living room, frowned and thought for a long time, finally made up his mind, picked up the phone and dialed.

"dududu~"

"Hello, this is Bill Gutheran, looking for George Sassoon."

"Um.."

"Hello, George? It's me."

"Hahaha~ I heard that your trip to the United States a few days ago was a bit unsuccessful?"

"Yeah, I'm still in Tokyo..."

"No, Carnes only stayed here for one night and then went back to Houston."

"Yes, he went to find David."