Afternoon sunlight streamed into the office as Haifeng flipped through end-of-year project reports. The New Year holidays were approaching, and most employees were prepping for a break.
Just then, his phone rang.
"Old Huang, what's up?"
Huang Zhonghua's voice came through the receiver:
"President Lu, I've just emailed the railway ticketing system deployment documents."
Haifeng opened his inbox, quickly scanning through.
"Xiao Ai," he called out, "forward these to Bureau Chief Cui's office and arrange for delivery. They're good to go."
📡 Cloud Infrastructure Rollout
The team dove into work after China Star's system plan was approved.
Director Cui Sheng adopted Haifeng's suggestion for a two-site, dual-center private cloud architecture, ensuring national-level data redundancy and security.
Haifeng coordinated logistics:
Transferred 10,000 servers each from the Shanghai and Yanjing data centers
Fully integrated them into the railway department's private network
Meanwhile, Huang Zhonghua led technical training for railway staff. Engineers worked round the clock.
Haifeng looked at his calendar.
I guess I'm not going home this New Year.
Better call Dad.
📞 Family Call
"Xiaofeng? Something wrong?" his father asked immediately.
"No, just letting you know I won't make it home this year.
We've taken on a big project; some must work through the holidays."
"That big, huh? What project?"
Haifeng explained the 12307 national ticketing overhaul.
There was a long silence on the other end.
Then:
"That's… incredible," his father said at last.
"This helps the whole country. I support you—and I'm sure your grandfather would too."
"Thanks, Dad."
📍 One Month Later – Ministry of Railways, Yanjing
Haifeng arrived with Li Jun. A secretary met them at the door.
"President Lu, Chief Cui is waiting upstairs. Please follow me."
They entered a large conference room where several department heads had already gathered.
After greetings and introductions, Cui turned to him.
"Shall we begin?"
Haifeng nodded. Li Jun connected the laptop to the projector.
💻 Presentation: Ticketing System v2.0
"Respected leaders," Haifeng began,
"This is our redesigned platform. All users will register with their real names to access bookings."
"Our system integrates real-time scheduling from the railway network—departure points, seat availability, next-station data—it's all here."
"Powered by our proprietary China Star Cloud database, we ensure seamless, ultra-fast data access for every user transaction."
Haifeng clicked to the next slide.
"For payments, we support multiple methods—standard online banking and a new solution:
China Star Wallet."
One deputy raised a hand.
"Why build your payment system?"
Haifeng replied:
"Many rural users don't have online banking access.
China Star Wallet lets users bind a savings card and pay securely—without opening online banking."
"It's designed for convenience."
"And yes—it's secure."
"Our wallet platform is protected by China Star Cloud's top-tier encryption, trusted by millions of users.
To date—zero security breaches."
"We also provide instant fraud compensation—no matter the amount."
"And realistically, most users don't keep large balances in third-party wallets. Anything above ¥5,000 triggers a mobile verification code—so we're confident in its safety."
Several officials nodded in approval.
"What about fund settlement?" one asked.
"One-day cycle," Haifeng answered.
"Invalidated tickets by midnight today will be credited to the Railway Department's account by midnight tomorrow."
"That's faster than our banks," someone muttered in disbelief.
"Bank settlements take a week!"
"Our wallet is optional," Haifeng added.
"But it gives underserved users in remote areas a reliable alternative."
"Of course, those with online banking can continue using it as before."
🧾 Ticket Pickup Experience
"Let's talk user flow," Haifeng continued.
"Once a ticket is purchased, users simply bring their ID to a station's self-service kiosk."
"Tap the screen, select 'Internet Ticket Pickup,' and place the ID card on the scanner."
"The system automatically retrieves the passenger's booking. Tap 'Print,' and the ticket is dispensed."
"Even at the window, the process is nearly identical—just scan the ID. Manual entry is only needed for older non-magnetic cards."
There was a long pause.
The room was silent—then filled with murmurs of awe.
"Simple."
"Efficient."
"We couldn't have done this in five years."
"You've saved us thousands of staff hours—and more in customer complaints."