Chen Hao pays Auntie Wang with his phone. She accepts, but still has a soft spot for banknotes.
Chen Hao
王阿姨，可以用手机付钱吗？
Wáng āyí, kěyǐ yòng shǒujī fù qián ma ?
Auntie Wang, can I pay with my phone?
Auntie Wang
可以。你扫我，还是我扫你？
Kěyǐ. Nǐ sǎo wǒ, háishi wǒ sǎo nǐ ?
Of course. Shall I scan you, or will you scan me?
Chen Hao
我扫您的二维码吧。在哪儿？
Wǒ sǎo nín de èrwéimǎ ba. Zài nǎr ?
I will scan your QR code. Where is it?
Auntie Wang
就在这儿，上面。
Jiù zài zhèr, shàngmian.
Right here, at the top.
Chen Hao
找到了。一共多少钱？
Zhǎodào le. Yīgòng duōshao qián ?
Found it. How much is it altogether?
Auntie Wang
十八块五。
Shíbā kuài wǔ.
Eighteen fifty.
Chen Hao
十八块五毛，您看一下。
Shíbā kuài wǔ máo, nín kàn yīxià.
Eighteen yuan fifty, have a look.
Auntie Wang
到了，手机响了。
Dào le, shǒujī xiǎng le.
It has come through, my phone has pinged.
Chen Hao
现在出门不用带钱了。
Xiànzài chū mén bù yòng dài qián le.
These days you can go out with no money on you at all.
Auntie Wang
是啊，可是我还喜欢现金。
Shì a, kěshì wǒ hái xǐhuan xiànjīn.
True enough, though I still prefer cash.
扫 means to sweep, and the phone screen sweeps its eye over the code. 你扫我还是我扫你 is a question heard a hundred times a day in China: depending on which way round it goes, either the payer reads the seller's code or the other way about. The word for the code is 二维码, "two-dimensional code", which everyone shortens to 码.
One yuan is worth ten 毛, and one 毛 is worth ten 分. Spoken aloud you say 十八块五, and the 五 implies 五毛: fifty hundredths of a yuan. In writing and at the bank the same units are called 元, 角 and 分. The 分 has all but vanished from circulation, but it survives in marked prices.
用手机付钱, to pay with the phone. The instrument goes before the verb, introduced by 用, and never after it as in English. In the same way you say 用筷子吃饭, to eat with chopsticks, and 用中文说, to say in Chinese.
