I Make Cashback By Spending Money On The Female Supporting Character - Chapter 1

Qin Ran had transmigrated into this world almost twenty years ago.

Her luck was pretty good. Whether in her previous life or this one, the heavens had treated her fairly well. In her last life, she had been the eldest daughter of the Qin family. Although her father didn’t dote on her and her mother didn’t love her, at least she had never been short of money. In this life, although she had been born into an orphanage without even parents to her name, she had also bound herself to a system.

The system’s name was extremely simple and straightforward: the Spending Cashback Tycoon System. The only problem was this: she had to bind herself to a person first. Only after the binding was complete could she spend money on that person and receive cashback for herself. The ratio was 100:1. If she spent 100 yuan on someone else, she would receive 1 yuan back. As the amount she spent increased, the cashback ratio could also rise.

When she found out about this, she hadn’t even learned how to walk yet. She was sitting on the floor of the orphanage, pushing a little ball around in her hands. She watched as the staff member from the welfare agency spoke with the orphanage director. After they finished talking, the staff member gave Qin Ran a pitying look, then left.

From that day on, Qin Ran settled down in the orphanage.

At first, the system kept trying to make Qin Ran hurry up and bind herself to someone. The orphanage director would do. Even one of the children who treated her fairly well would do. Five years later, when Qin Ran would hug a doll and stand in the corner watching other people, the system thought: even if she didn’t bind herself to a person, a dog would do.

But Qin Ran still didn’t want to bind herself to anyone.

Perhaps her previous life had been too smooth. She didn’t have a strong obsession with money, nor did she feel that having too much money was particularly useful. She wasn’t someone with many desires. After all, in her previous life, even while holding a fortune in her hands, she had still been able to stay at home as a shut-in. Even if she was an orphan in this life, with the knowledge in her head, she could still live on without much trouble.

Her way of thinking nearly drove the system half to death.

As Qin Ran slowly grew up, by the time she was fifteen and still hadn’t bound herself to anyone, the system had already become completely resigned. Qin Ran was the kind of person who would rather work part-time while studying, taking night shifts at the convenience store outside the school gates, than bind herself to a target.

However, everything finally reached a turning point when Qin Ran was sixteen and entered high school.

She fell in love with someone.

It was a senior two years older than her—Yu Shuman.

To put it in an extremely melodramatic way, Qin Ran would never forget the day she first met Yu Shuman for the rest of her life. Yu Shuman was eighteen that year, in her third year of high school. In another year, she would graduate and head off to university.

But misfortune had also descended upon Yu Shuman. Her mother had developed leukemia. Not only did her treatment require an enormous amount of medical expenses, they also had to search for a bone marrow donor who was a match.

Qin Ran knew about this senior because, not long after she first entered the school, someone had pulled her aside to join the fundraising effort. Although she didn’t want to bind the system for the sake of money, she truly was poor. Even if she dug through her pockets, she couldn’t take out five yuan.

Before Qin Ran could even speak after being stopped, a classmate who had come up from the middle school division helped explain for her. “Hey, don’t ask Qin Ran. Between her and that senior, who knows which one’s more pitiful? Qin Ran grew up in an orphanage without a father or mother. She doesn’t have a single coin in her pocket.”

After hearing that, the person collecting donations felt too embarrassed to keep holding Qin Ran back.

But Qin Ran remembered the name of the person the donations were for.

Yu Shuman.

It sounded rather nice.

That was Qin Ran’s first impression of Yu Shuman. But what truly made her remember Yu Shuman was something that happened after Qin Ran finished her turn as the class student on duty and went to take out the trash.

By then, the sky had already grown dark. The evening clouds on the horizon had been dyed red by the setting sun, with a faint tinge of pink mixed in, painting the edge of the sky with an especially beautiful glow. The sunset was so beautiful that even Qin Ran stopped for a while to look at it.

Only when she remembered that she still had to go to her part-time job that night did she hurry forward again, planning to throw away the trash and leave as quickly as possible.

But then, the sound of crying came from somewhere unknown, making Qin Ran stop in her tracks.

She wasn’t someone overflowing with sympathy, nor did she think that just because someone was crying, she ought to go over and check on them. It was just that the girl crying sounded so heartbroken, so heartbroken that even Qin Ran felt a little at a loss. In the end, she followed the sound and searched for it. Finally, behind a flower bed, she found the person crying.

This was her first meeting with Yu Shuman.

At that time, Qin Ran looked rather dull and silly, wearing a pair of unfashionable glasses and still holding a trash can in her hands. She also realized that her image like this wasn’t exactly great, so she put down the trash can and slowly walked over. From the pocket of her pants, she took out her handkerchief and handed it toward Yu Shuman.

Qin Ran was poor. Those little packets of tissues were too expensive. A handkerchief was much cheaper.

Yu Shuman was sitting beside the flower bed with her head lowered. The ponytail tied behind her had fallen forward, making it impossible to see her face clearly. A faint trace of sunset light spilled down from afar and landed on Yu Shuman, turning one side of her hair a warm golden yellow. She seemed to hear Qin Ran’s footsteps but didn’t quite dare to raise her head. She only lifted a hand to wipe away her tears.

When Qin Ran got closer, Yu Shuman finally looked up and saw the handkerchief in front of her.

Yu Shuman froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting that there would still be someone who carried a handkerchief around these days. Qin Ran’s handkerchief, meanwhile, was especially cute. It was white overall, with two rows of pink stitching along all four edges. Qin Ran had folded it neatly into a square, and on the upward-facing side she held out in her hand, there was even a little pink rabbit.

Perhaps because she hadn’t expected to see such a handkerchief, Yu Shuman suddenly burst into laughter through her tears.

“What is this…? It’s a little rabbit.”

Qin Ran found it difficult to describe the scene she saw then.

She was standing in front of Yu Shuman while Yu Shuman sat on the flower bed. The instant Yu Shuman lifted her head, tears were still hanging from her eyelashes. That ray of sunset shining on her hair also fell across her cheek. Her jawline was outlined by the evening light, and the interplay of light and shadow made her features look even more beautiful.

But none of that could compare to the moment she smiled through her tears.

Her cheeks were clearly still wet with tears, and her lashes were covered in teardrops, yet the moment she saw the little rabbit, she laughed. Her eyes curved gently, the tears reflecting the sunset until they sparkled brightly. The corners of her lips rose uncontrollably, as though the little rabbit had completely amused her.

After a while, Yu Shuman finally reached out and took the handkerchief from Qin Ran. As she said, “Thank you,” she very unceremoniously used the handkerchief to wipe her tears. She even blew her nose into it.

At that time, Qin Ran had only one thought: the handkerchief was dirty now. It couldn’t be used anymore.

Yu Shuman, however, patted the flower bed beside her, asking Qin Ran to sit over there.

Heaven knew what Qin Ran was thinking in that moment. Between sitting beside this strange person she had never met before and hurrying off to her part-time job before she ended up late, she chose to sit down.

The strange person wiped her face clean, then smoothly tucked the handkerchief into her own pocket. She didn’t mind that it was covered in her own tears and snot at all. Instead, she turned her head toward Qin Ran and said, “Sorry for letting you see something embarrassing. I just couldn’t hold it in for a moment, so I started crying. I’m Yu Shuman from Class 1, third year. Thank you for your handkerchief. I’ll buy you a new one and return it to you later. Which class are you in?”

What Qin Ran was thinking was: so she’s that Yu Shuman.

At that moment, she also understood why Yu Shuman had been crying. Anyone who encountered something like that would be unable to stop themselves from crying, right? Then she thought that Yu Shuman didn’t need to return anything to her. After all, although Qin Ran was poor, she had no dependents and no family to feed. Yu Shuman’s current situation might very well be even worse than hers.

At the very least, Qin Ran still had a tycoon system. No matter what, it was impossible for her to actually die of poverty.

Yu Shuman was different. She was truly, genuinely being troubled by money. And if she couldn’t come up with the money, her family would have to hold a funeral. Qin Ran knew that in this world, money wasn’t omnipotent, but far too many people were still bound hand and foot by it. She was grateful that the heavens had treated her kindly, and yet she also hated the worship of money above all else.

As if driven by some strange impulse, Qin Ran asked, “Were you crying just now because of money?”

Yu Shuman froze for a moment, then revealed a smile.

She tilted her head and looked at Qin Ran. The light of the setting sun passed through the gaps between the strands of her hair, making her smile seem dreamlike and unreal. Qin Ran heard her say, “Of course. In this world, the most difficult thing of all is that one word: money. But money, well—money is a bastard. Once it’s all spent, you just earn it again. I’m guessing you already know about my family’s situation. I plan to list our house at a cheaper price and sell it off quickly. Once I get the money, I’ll use it to pay for my mom’s treatment.”

When she said “money is a bastard,” there was a gritted-teeth edge to her voice. But by the time she reached the end, her whole state had become positive and full of determination again.

Her family’s situation was clearly just like this sunset, already sinking toward the horizon, yet Yu Shuman was like the rising sun.

“Oh right, what’s your name? Which class are you in? I still have to return your handkerchief!”

Yu Shuman asked again. This time, Qin Ran answered, “My name is Qin Ran. I’m in Class 3, first year.”

Unexpectedly, Yu Shuman had also heard of Qin Ran’s great name. She laughed especially happily. “What a coincidence. Aren’t we the famous pair of penniless paupers? I’m even your senior, yet you ended up seeing me like this. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

She smiled freely and casually, patted off her clothes, and stood up from the flower bed. Then she walked forward two steps. “I have to go to the hospital. Thank you for your handkerchief. I’ll bring it over to you in a couple of days. Wait for me, okay?”

With the sunset behind her, she waved at Qin Ran. It was clearly the most difficult and destitute moment of her life, yet she still wore a brilliant smile.

In that moment, Qin Ran did not want that smile to disappear.

But if it meant binding the system for her sake, Qin Ran felt unwilling. She could only bury this memory away and didn’t take Yu Shuman’s words to heart either. She had to take care of herself first. There was no need for Yu Shuman to come return a single handkerchief to her.

In reality, things were exactly as Qin Ran had guessed. If Yu Shuman had cried that hard, then her situation was definitely not one where she still had another way out, as she had claimed. She even took a full month off because of it.

As the person at the center of the school’s attention recently, Yu Shuman’s matters affected everyone’s hearts. Even if Qin Ran didn’t pay attention, she would still hear about Yu Shuman from other people’s mouths.

Qin Ran had no plans to do anything for her.

Not until a senior from Class 1, third year came to the doorway of their classroom.

“Is Qin Ran here?”

After Qin Ran went out, the unfamiliar senior handed her a beautifully packaged square box. Qin Ran opened it and saw a handkerchief lying inside, folded neatly and properly.

“Yu Shuman said this is what she’s returning to you.”