A story about a foreigner who was refused card payment at a tteokbokki shop and had to ”barter” becomes a hot topic in Korea

A story about a foreigner visiting South Korea being refused card payment at a tteokbokki shop in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, has become a hot topic online.
Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis, a US semiconductor research and consulting company, said on the 1st that he was working at a company called X, which is run by his grandmother.
Patel shared an episode of an unexpected exchange he experienced when he visited a tteokbokki restaurant in Korea.
"When I asked if I could pay by card, he shook his head, said something in Korean and beckoned me to come outside and follow him," he wrote.
"We went to 7-Eleven and the old lady pointed to the cigarettes.
The cigarettes I bought him were 3,500 won, or 2.46 dollars (about 350 yen). When we got back to the store, the tteokbokki was served."
This episode has attracted attention, receiving over 20,000 likes and about 380,000 views on X.
Users on the social networking website responded with comments such as, "The barter system is great," "The tteokbokki looks delicious," and "Korea is full of little restaurants and aunties like this. I love it."
"And how did it taste? Amazing that two needs can be met at the same time with carbs and cigarettes," one internet user wrote, to which Patel replied, "It was very spicy."
This content has also spread in Korean communities, with Korean netizens commenting, "The old lady is good at business," "She's a hipster," and "It's a clever solution."
Meanwhile, Dylan Patel is founder and principal analyst at Semianalysis and has recently been named one of the most trusted semiconductor analysts.