Ticket Snatching Adventures
Old Wang still failed to grab a ticket home this year. He stared at the computer screen, the distortion of the 12306 verification code was comparable to a Picasso painting. His fingers mechanically clicked the mouse, refreshing, refreshing, and refreshing again. The words "0 remaining tickets" on the screen were like a cold tombstone, declaring his defeat.
He sighed and clicked the "waitlist" button. This thing was like a lottery, with a lower chance of winning than the lottery. He thought, maybe he could try a scalper? But the thought of those ridiculously high ticket prices cooled his heart halfway.
Suddenly, the computer screen flickered, and a dialog box popped up: "Congratulations, you have become one of the first 'Exclusive Experience Users' of 12306, and will be provided with 'Quantum Accelerated Ticket Purchase' service." Old Wang was stunned, thinking it was just some advertising pop-up, but upon closer inspection, the interface was indeed from the official 12306 website.
"Quantum acceleration?" he muttered, "What's that?"
With the attitude of trying anything at this point, he clicked the "Agree" button. Then, a progress bar appeared on the screen, jumping from 0% to 100% at an astonishing speed. Before he could react, the interface already showed that he had successfully purchased a ticket home.
Old Wang rubbed his eyes, he could hardly believe it was real. He quickly checked the train number, time, and seat number, and after confirming that everything was correct, he jumped up excitedly. He could finally go home for the New Year!
He excitedly packed his luggage, his mind filled with thoughts of the warm kang (heated bed) at home and the dumplings his mother made. When he arrived at the station, Old Wang swiped his ID card on the gate, and with a "beep" sound, the gate opened. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the platform.
But when he reached the train car door, he was stopped by the conductor. "Sir, please show me your ticket," the conductor said politely.
Old Wang took out his phone and showed the conductor the electronic ticket. The conductor frowned, looked at Old Wang with a strange expression, and then pointed to the badge on his chest. Old Wang then noticed that the badge on the conductor's chest said "2024".
"Sir, are you mistaken?" the conductor said, "Today is January 13, 2024, it's not yet the Spring Festival travel season, where did you get the train ticket?"
Old Wang was stunned, he looked at the time on his phone, it was indeed January 13, 2025. He glanced at his ticket again, the date was indeed 2025.
Just as he was racking his brain, he heard a voice behind him: "Oh, it's you again, the traveler from 2025? It seems the quantum acceleration bug hasn't been fixed yet."
Old Wang turned his head abruptly and saw a young man in a white coat, wearing thick glasses, smiling wryly at himself. The young man scratched his head and added, "Don't worry, we'll send you back to your 'correct time' right away, but this time, you might have to wait another year to grab your ticket."