The ticket seller said indifferently, "There are none left!"
Su Xiaotian heard this and confirmed it was true.
Did this mean she would have to stand for the entire journey?
This was truly awful!
"Comrade, please check again. I want to buy a soft sleeper ticket. If there are none, a hard sleeper will do. If that's not possible, then a hard seat ticket!"
Although sitting in a hard seat for three days would be painful, Xiaotian was pressed for time and couldn't afford any further delays.
Unexpectedly, after Shen Zizhen said this, the female ticket seller asked, "How many do you need?"
Her tone was neither warm nor cold, but Su Xiaotian suddenly felt the world had become much brighter. There were indeed tickets!
At this moment, Su Xiaotian was no longer picky. If there were no sleepers, even a seat ticket would be better than nothing.
"Comrade, this is my identification. It clearly states that I can purchase up to four soft sleeper tickets."
Shen Zizhen handed over the identification he kept close to him.
That's right, it was four tickets. Three people could buy four tickets, all to ensure they could rest as comfortably as possible.
The sister at the ticket window took Shen Zizhen's identification and carefully verified it before giving him a meaningful glance.
Immediately after, Su Xiaotian saw a hint of a smile appear on the ticket seller's usually stern face.
She very politely inquired, "Comrade, do you want four lower berths, or four tickets in a compartment?"
Hearing the ticket seller's polite tone and seeing her smile, Su Xiaotian couldn't help but sigh that it seemed capable people were always respected, no matter the time.
"Please give me four tickets in a compartment," Shen Zizhen said with a gentle, jade-like smile and a kind demeanor.
Such Shen Zizhen naturally made the ticket seller feel even more favorably towards him.
This person's status was not ordinary, yet he could speak so approachable; it was truly rare.
The ticket seller politely accepted the money and handed the four tickets to Shen Zizhen.
Just then, someone nearby voiced their objection.
It was a young man who had been pacing back and forth several times. This time, as he approached, he saw Shen Zizhen buy four sleeper tickets in one go, and he immediately felt unwell.
"What's wrong with you? You told me there were no sleeper tickets just now, but now that this old man is here, there are sleeper tickets?"
The ticket seller ignored him and directly called out, "Next!"
However, the young man was unwilling to be ignored. He rushed straight to the ticket window and started shouting at the ticket seller.
"What do you mean by this? Could it be that this old man is your lover? Otherwise, why would I have none, and people who come later have them?"
Hearing the man spewing vulgarities, Su San Gong couldn't stand it any longer. He clenched his fist and stepped forward, ready to fight.
At this moment, the ticket seller spoke calmly.
"Young man, it's not that there are none, but that you are not worthy!"
Su Xiaotian was shocked.
Although this sister spoke in an unhurried tone, her words were so sharp!
The onlookers immediately burst into laughter upon hearing the sister's remark.
The loud laughter made the young man extremely embarrassed.
As expected, Su Xiaotian saw the young man speak in a flustered manner.
If the ticket window wasn't separated from the outside, the young man would have likely charged in to hit someone.
"On what grounds do you say that? If I'm not worthy, who is? This old man?"
As the young man spoke, he cast a disdainful glance at Shen Zizhen, clearly not taking the man in the slightly worn clothes seriously.
Although the onlookers found the young man's words unpleasant, many agreed with him.
They had already resigned themselves to buying standing tickets.
But then they saw the ticket seller selling tickets to others while claiming there were none left, which was wrong.
"Based on the identification you presented, you can only purchase hard sleeper tickets. Moreover, this identification is not yours, so I cannot sell you this ticket!" the sister continued.
"What is written on that work permit, I don't need to say it; you know it better than I do. I think you intend to flaunt your family's legacy, but you still lack the qualifications."
The sister's words were reasoned and well-founded. Even if the young man was unreasonable, he blushed and stammered at this point.
Indeed, he could only buy a hard sleeper ticket with his grandfather's permit.
"Even if I'm not worthy, is he worthy? He just looks like a country bumpkin, probably relying on someone's favor to get an identification, and giving him a soft sleeper is a waste!"
Clearly, since he wasn't a good person, he believed no one else was either.
However, the young man's words caused the smile on the ticket seller's face to instantly turn cold.
Even the ticket seller sitting at her post stood up.
Su Xiaotian was startled.
Was this sister going to hit someone?
Although this young man was indeed asking for a beating, the ticket seller absolutely could not get into a fight with him.
"Young man, do you know who this elderly comrade is?"
"Who he is, what does that have to do with me?"
"I will tell you now, he is Shen Zizhen, a renowned agricultural seed scientist in our country." The ticket seller's face turned red as she spoke.
"Someone like you probably wouldn't know who Teacher Shen is. Let me explain it to you in detail."
"For decades, Teacher Shen has been dedicated to seed research. To date, he has developed three generations of new rice seed varieties, three generations of new wheat seed varieties, and four generations of corn seed varieties."
"The continuous increase in our grain production in recent years is due to the promotion of the new grain seed varieties researched by Teacher Shen. It is precisely because these new high-yield grain crops have been promoted that we can eat our fill and not go hungry!"
"For such an elder who has dedicated his entire life to seed research, what right do you have to insult him? Just because your family has some power?"
"Tell me, why isn't such a person worthy of the treatment of a soft sleeper? If such a person is not worthy, then who else in this country is worthy of such treatment?"
The ticket seller's rapid-fire speech almost moved herself.
Shen Zizhen wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
At this moment, anything he said seemed wrong!
Train stations are always crowded, and at this time, there were quite a few people.
Upon hearing the ticket seller's words, they instantly felt a sense of reverence for Shen Zizhen.
They hadn't expected that this seemingly approachable old man was actually the great scientist they had read about in the newspapers!
These people had not had enough to eat in the previous years. Even if their families had working members and money, they still lacked grain.
But in recent years, they had achieved food security.
And why?
It was all because of this ordinary old man standing before them.
It's unclear who started it, but someone began to clap.
Following that, everyone started to applaud.