New Year's Fortune
Old Wang's finger hovered stiffly above the phone screen. Thirty seconds. There were thirty seconds left until the company's New Year red envelope grab time. He glanced around, his colleagues were all holding their breath, their eyes almost glued to their screens. This kind of scene happens every year. It's said to be a New Year's benefit, but it's more like a survival competition.
Old Wang, a veteran programmer who has been in the IT industry for more than ten years, was long past the age of getting excited about a few yuan red envelopes. But the rules are the rules. If you don't participate, you'll seem out of place. He sighed, feeling like a caged chicken waiting for its master to give the order to scramble for that pathetic bit of feed.
"Ten, nine, eight..." Sister Wang from HR started the countdown, her voice like a death knell. Old Wang felt like the scene was more like the opening of a betting game, with everyone wagering their only bit of hope, betting on whether they could continue to be a caged chicken next year.
"Three, two, one! Grab!"
As Sister Wang's last syllable fell, the office was filled with the sound of phones vibrating and clicking, like a grand electronic locust plague. Old Wang clicked mechanically as well, thinking about what to have for lunch today. He loved the old-fashioned noodle shop downstairs with the best zhajiangmian.
"I got one! I got twenty yuan!" Little Li shouted excitedly, breaking the silence in the office.
"Tsk, only twenty, look at mine! Fifty!"
Old Wang looked at the flickering "0.18 yuan" on his screen, his mouth twitching slightly. He thought, it’s not even enough for a bowl of zhajiangmian. He silently closed the page, put his phone in his pocket, trying to blend into this fervent atmosphere.
"Old Wang, how much did you get? You're having good luck today, right?" The team leader walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, a subtle hint of probing in his tone.
Old Wang chuckled, held up his phone, and the number on the screen was clearly visible.
The team leader was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, a hint of mockery in his laughter: "Oh, Old Wang, your luck is really 'unique'! Haha, look, the system is giving you special 'treatment'!"
The surrounding colleagues also began to snicker, as if they had discovered a huge joke.
Old Wang was not angry. He calmly retracted his phone, looked at the team leader and other colleagues, and said slowly: "Yes, the system is really giving me too much ‘care’. I've decided, I’m buying everyone zhajiangmian for lunch today.”
Everyone was stunned again, and then they laughed even harder, thinking that Old Wang must have gone crazy.
However, while everyone was laughing so hard they were doubled over, Old Wang quietly picked up his phone and opened the Alipay page, which clearly displayed one million "New Year's Fortune" in his account. Last night, he discovered a hidden easter egg in Alipay that allowed you to unlock the hidden "Fortune" grand prize if you grab the smallest red envelope. He used a script he had developed to successfully grab the smallest red envelope.
And he had long given up competing for that pathetic feed. What he wanted to do was to completely change the destiny of this caged chicken. He glanced at the colleagues in the office still arguing over a few yuan, a slight smile curling his lips. He thought, this might be the best gift for the New Year.