In front of the bank counter #交易手续费揭秘 , Old Zhang clutched the crumpled remittance slip, his fingers trembling slightly. The fee section showed '2%', and he calculated three times, still finding it thirty yuan more than last year. The wealth manager at the neighboring window was animatedly introducing a 'Supreme VIP Fee Waiver Package' to a suited customer, the reflection on the glass made Old Zhang squint.

Back home, he dug out the remittance records sent by his son from abroad and found that each transaction had been gouged twice—once on this side and once on the other. During a video call that night, his son laughed and said, 'Dad, now we use blockchain for transfers, the fees are only a few dimes.' But Old Zhang stared at the complex QR code on his phone and ultimately just sighed. The next day, he took cash and spent two hours on the bus to his relative's house in the suburbs, personally stuffing the tuition fee into his nephew's backpack. On the way back, the bus scanner beeped, and again, it deducted fifty cents for the transaction fee.