People are spending much money buying mystery boxes (盲盒) these days. Usually, there are toys in mystery boxes, but now shops are putting food in them. They are "leftover mystery boxes".
They are more and more popular in China's cities, such as Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu. The food inside is near its expiration date (保质期) and will be thrown away if no one buys it.
Each box costs little money but has a lot of food inside. I buy leftover mystery boxes from an app called Too Good To Go. Each box costs about 3 to 5 pounds (27 to 45 yuan), and there are usually three to four things inside. For example, a box I buy from the coffee shop has three kinds of bread and one cake. The box costs 3 pounds but the original price (原价) is around 10 pounds. Every time I buy a mystery box, I feel happier thinking about how much money I can save. Wasting less food is also good for the environment.
But the boxes also bring me problems. Because I can't choose what's in the box, sometimes I get the same kind of food. Also, the food may not be nutritious (有营养的) enough. I have to make other dishes, such as a salad, to make the meal healthier.