New Trend ???

"Ah Ha! Bingo!" Ying Yue exclaimed excitedly as she pulled out her purse from the bottom of her bag.

"And here she says that she isn't paying," Feng Mian said sarcastically.

"I'm really not, I swear," Ying Yue said earnestly as she rummaged through the numerous cards within her purse, before pulling out a blue card and swiping it on the machine.

-card denied-

"hmm? not working?"

Ying Yue pulled out another card and swiped once more.

-card denied-

"Ah? what's going on?" Ying Yue was surprised that her cards weren't working. "Excuse me miss, is this machine broken?" she asked the cashier.

'"haha miss, you must be joking. This machine works perfectly fine." The machine was working normally for the last customer. The cashier could feel the corner of her mouth twitching violently as she continued to watch the lady rummage through her bag for cards to scan.

"Excuse me, but this restaurant only accepts cash...." she voiced out hesitantly.

"Ah? then what's this machine for?" Ying Yue asked bewildered.

Feng Mian spoke before the cashier could open her mouth, "haha Ying Yue, you've spent too much time abroad. You don't even know what this machine is used for?" She asked as she stroked the sides of the machine as if it was a pet.

"This machines is the new trend in businesses that sell goods and products. It's the i'm-here-to-scan-your-card-but-don't-work-machine-2000. To cut it short, it's just for decoration. It's been in the market for months yet it's still so expensive. Don't look down on this small restaurant just because of its size but just the fact that it owns this machine makes it the top ten within this area."

The cashier watched on the side not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Throughout her many years of working here, when has she ever encountered such stranger customers?

"Really?" Ying Yue eyes brightened up when she heard the description of the machine before her, gazing at it as if she was looking at it for the first time.

"N-no no that's wrong" the cashier choked out, "this is just a $20 dollar machine our boss bought from the store 3 shops down. It o-only .... only". The cashier's voice got quieter as she spoke as if he was terrified to voice her thoughts.

"Only? Only what? Come on spit it out. Don't speak half way then not finish" Ying Yue urged the girl the girl to continue.

"I got it! the machine is actually broken but the restaurant doesn't want people to know so they make the machine sound super expensive as to keep customers coming"

"N- no that's not it," the cashier really felt like crying at this moment.

Since when did she make the machine sound super expensive?

It was all her ok?

She clearly said it was only worth $20, that amount is comparable to a meal at McDonald's.

"Or it could be that the machine isn't broken but you need to press a special button"

"Or it is just the restaurant on the brink of bankruptcy so they're cutting short on their energy bill by switching off the machine entirely"

"The machine isn't for cards ok?" the cashier yelled out in a rush before the two women standing before her could continue spouting nonsense.