Back to Twenty Years Ago with a Billion in Savings

When your fingers touch that yellowed bank card printed in a turn-of-the-millennium style, the smooth warmth of the plastic feels so real. You draw a deep breath. The air is thick with the smell of an old computer tower’s cooling fan and the scent of soy milk from the breakfast shop downstairs. For a moment, you think it must be a TV show you forgot to turn off last night. You walk into the state-owned bank that you remember closing down years ago. The employee behind the counter wears a navy uniform, her hair pinned up without a strand out of place. You hand her the card, your voice a little hoarse. “Hello, could you check my balance?” She takes the card and types at a bulky CRT monitor. Systems were slow back then. She frowns and tries again. Then her expression freezes. She looks up at you, then down at the screen, as though confirming an absurd hallucination. “Sir... please wait a moment.” Her voice trembles. She gets up to call the manager. He’s a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looks at the This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.