A few days ago, I had coffee with an older brother who runs a traffic business.

The coffee shop was running a promotion, scanning a QR code to receive free gifts, and there was a long line at the entrance. I said: "How do these people who are just trying to get something for free think?" He replied: "They think they've freeloaded the business, but actually, it's the business that’s freeloading on their lives."

I asked again: "It's just scanning a code, how does it relate to life and death?" He smiled and said: "Look, for a few bucks' worth of stuff, they spend half an hour queuing, sacrificing their precise personal privacy (phone number, location, consumption habits). Most importantly, they inadvertently accept the business’s psychological implantation, becoming traffic data waiting to be harvested."

I said: "Isn't it still free?" He responded: "The most expensive thing in this world is 'attention.' You think you haven't paid, but in fact, you've given away resources more scarce than money. Businesses take your data to finance and monetize, making huge profits."

That’s when I suddenly understood.

Anything that claims to be free is essentially conducting a covert "pricing transfer." When you don’t have to pay for a product, you are, in essence, the "product" being packaged and sold.