The Secret of ATMs

Wang Defa stomped his feet in front of the bank, puffing out white breath. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, while others were busy visiting relatives and friends, he was thinking about depositing his son Maodou's few thousand yuan of Lunar New Year money into the bank. It wasn't that he loved money so much, but Maodou kept clamoring to buy game skins. He thought about locking it up in the bank first to prevent the kid from squandering it.

But there was a long queue in front of the bank's ATMs. When it was finally his turn, he inserted the card, and the screen glaringly displayed: "Storage amount has reached the limit, service suspended."

"What the hell?" Wang Defa rubbed his eyes and tried again, but the result was the same.

He was puzzled, this hadn't happened in previous years. Were people all rushing to deposit money after the New Year? He looked up at the queue, mostly elderly men and women, each holding thick red envelopes in their hands.

Wang Defa was unwilling and switched to another ATM, but the result was the same. He ran to the bank's self-service area next door, hoping to ask someone.

"Comrade, what's going on with this ATM? Can't deposit money?" Wang Defa grabbed a young girl who was printing a statement.

The young girl said without looking up, "It's full. It's always like this during the New Year, lots of Lunar New Year money."

"Full? How full can it be? Doesn't the bank have any countermeasures?"

The young girl curled her lips, "Countermeasures? The countermeasure is to make us work overtime. Anyway, the money isn't ours."

Wang Defa thought she had a point, but still felt something was wrong. He walked out of the bank, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag. Looking at the several golden ATMs in front of the bank, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He remembered the news he had seen a few days ago, saying that gold sales had soared this Spring Festival, and the bank's vaults were almost overflowing.

"Could it be..." Wang Defa stubbed out the cigarette and ran back into the bank, grabbing the young girl again.

"Hey, ask you something, besides depositing money, can these ATMs also... withdraw gold bars?"

The young girl was stunned for a moment, looking at him warily: "Withdraw gold bars? What do you want to do?"

Wang Defa smiled, "I'm just asking. I'm thinking, since these ATMs are full, are they all filled with gold bars?"

The young girl burst out laughing, "You're overthinking it. Gold bars are all in the vault, who would put them in the ATM?"

"Then why is this ATM full?" Wang Defa pressed.

The young girl looked around, leaned closer to Wang Defa's ear, and whispered, "Actually... it's game coins."

"Game coins?" Wang Defa was at a loss.

"Yeah. Now the bank is also cooperating with game companies, doing some 'virtual wealth appreciation' project. During the Lunar New Year, many people deposit their Lunar New Year money and exchange it for game coins, saying it can appreciate in value. The bank allows it to happen for the sake of performance."

Wang Defa was completely dumbfounded. He thought of the game skins his son Maodou kept talking about, and of the old men and women lining up to deposit money, and seemed to understand something.

He sighed and turned to leave the bank.

That night, Wang Defa bought his son Maodou several game skins for the first time ever. Maodou was overjoyed and danced with joy.

"Dad, you're so good! I will study hard in the future to repay you!"

Wang Defa stroked Maodou's head, feeling a mix of emotions in his heart. He knew that Maodou would never understand that the game skins he bought today were actually exchanged for the Lunar New Year money that his grandparents and maternal grandparents had worked so hard to save. And this money eventually became a cold number on the bank's books, and an even more absurd reality.

The next day, Wang Defa received a call from the bank, informing him that he could deposit money now. The reason given was "system upgrade", and the game coin exchange service had been temporarily suspended. Wang Defa sneered and hung up the phone. He decided to keep Maodou's Lunar New Year money and tell him the secret of the ATM when he grew up. To tell him that money is not just money, but also a belief, a helplessness and resistance to reality.