I Rely on Gifting the Female Supporting Character to Get Cash Back (GL) - Chapter 2

After the upperclassman finished speaking, she didn’t intend to stay and turned to leave, but Qin Ran stopped her. Holding the handkerchief in her hand, she asked the upperclassman, “How is Upperclassman Yu Shuman doing?”

“Oh, still the same…” she said vaguely, and with a call from her companion, she left Qin Ran’s classroom. Qin Ran took the handkerchief back to her seat. The handkerchief wasn’t exactly the same as the one she gave, but it was seven or eight tenths similar. The most similar part was the little rabbit on the handkerchief.

Qin Ran sighed and put the handkerchief away. She was supposed to go to her part-time job that evening, but her steps turned, and she went to the hospital instead. She inquired about Yu Shuman’s mother at the nurses’ station. Perhaps many people from the school had come to see Yu Shuman recently. Yu Shuman was beautiful and had a good personality, so it was reasonable that she had many friends.

The nurse, seeing she was a student, didn’t hide anything and told her the ward number, adding that Yu Shuman was a really heartbreakingly good child. After listening to the nurse for a while, Qin Ran turned and headed upstairs. She didn’t enter the ward but stood outside the door, looking inside through the small glass panel.

Yu Shuman was holding her mother’s hand, a smile blossoming on her face, exactly as Qin Ran had seen that day. However, she looked much more haggard, with dark circles under her eyes, making her exceptionally pitiful. Qin Ran watched for a long time before leaving the ward and going downstairs.

She was someone with shallow familial ties. In her previous life, her parents married for alliance, neither of them liked her, only knowing to give her money; this life was even better—she didn’t even have parents. Thus, Qin Ran couldn’t understand the excellent relationship between Yu Shuman and her mother. But subconsciously, she didn’t want to see that smile disappear.

Qin Ran sat on the flower bed beneath the hospital building, watching the people come and go, thinking for a long time. Did she really want to bind herself to Yu Shuman for the rest of her life, just for Yu Shuman? Yu Shuman was just an upperclassman she had met once; their only connection was that handkerchief. She was tangled, she was hesitating. She pressed her lips together and told herself: But if you don’t act, Yu Shuman’s mother will die.

Yet, another voice in her heart told her: Look at all the people coming and going in the hospital, how many are living from hand to mouth, unsure if they’ll be alive tomorrow. Why don’t you go save them?

The two voices lingered in Qin Ran’s heart, leaving her unsure what to do. Just then, she saw Yu Shuman. She was holding a metal box, apparently heading to get food. Qin Ran wasn’t stupid; she knew that while the hospital food might not be expensive, it wouldn’t be cheap either. For Yu Shuman, it was probably better to find cheaper options nearby than ordering from the hospital.

Yu Shuman didn’t miss Qin Ran and spotted the girl sitting on the flower bed right away.

Yu Shuman walked over and, without greeting her, sat down beside her: “Junior, what are you doing here? Are you feeling unwell?” Even in this situation, she had the presence of mind to care about others.

Qin Ran silently criticized Yu Shuman, but her face remained expressionless. Yu Shuman added, “It can’t be that you came to see me, can it?”

“I received the handkerchief, Upperclassman.”

Hearing this, Yu Shuman smiled even more happily: “That’s good. I looked for that handkerchief for a long time. Is the little rabbit exactly the same?” They chatted about this and that for a while. Yu Shuman said she had to go get food, or the good and cheap items would be snatched up by others. Qin Ran waved to her and watched her leave.

After she was gone, Qin Ran called out to the System. The System thought it would never see Qin Ran bind anyone in this lifetime, but unexpectedly, Qin Ran finally called it. She asked, “Can I bind Yu Shuman?”

By now, the System no longer cared if Qin Ran bound a person or a dog; as long as she bound someone, that was good. It nodded eagerly, telling Qin Ran that it was possible.

So, on this evening at sunset, Qin Ran sat on the flower bed downstairs from the hospital and bound Yu Shuman. From then on, every penny spent on Yu Shuman would be returned to her as cash back.

The first thing she did was go to the hospital payment office and pay for Yu Shuman’s mother. She was very generous, directly prepaying 500,000 yuan. After all, it was the System’s money. When Qin Ran wanted to bind someone, the System immediately transferred the money to her card, urging her to spend it quickly.

The only requirement was that the expenditure must be for Yu Shuman; if it was for any other reason, it would become a debt for the Host, subject to penalties.

After the expenditure, the System only gave her 5,000 yuan as cash back. Facing this small amount of money, Qin Ran couldn’t help but sneer, “With this little money, you dare call yourself a Tycoon System.”

The System also knew that 5,000 yuan for the first transaction was a little unworthy of its title. It replied sheepishly, “The ratio will increase later, as long as the Host spends money diligently!”

Although 5,000 yuan was little, it was a lot for Qin Ran. She only earned 1,000 yuan a month from her part-time job, which the supermarket owner gave her extra out of pity. 5,000 yuan could sustain Qin Ran, who lived, ate, and slept at school, for several months. 500,000 yuan was pitifully little to the Qin Ran of her previous life, but it was frighteningly large for the current Yu Shuman.

Yu Shuman returned from getting food and heard that a kind-hearted person had donated 500,000 yuan to her. She was stunned on the spot. Qin Ran’s image suddenly flashed in Yu Shuman’s mind, but then she thought: Qin Ran is also poor, maybe even poorer than me. How could she possibly have money to donate? But upon hearing that someone had donated such a large amount, she couldn’t help but burst into tears, asking the nurse which kind-hearted person had donated it.

The nurse shook her head: “The person requested anonymity; we cannot say.”

Yu Shuman tried every trick, pestering the nurses until they couldn’t stand it, but they had professional ethics and didn’t leak any information. Yu Shuman could only sigh helplessly, thinking to herself that she must find this kind-hearted person someday. Right now, she had no means to repay the favor, but after graduating, she would definitely earn money to give back to them.

Qin Ran didn’t know what was happening in the hospital, but helping someone made her feel very good. Subsequently, she helped out a lot more, including but not limited to finding a suitable bone marrow for transplant and covering subsequent medical expenses. After Yu Shuman’s mother’s condition stabilized, Yu Shuman returned to school. Qin Ran knew about this because Yu Shuman came to find her during the very first break after returning to school.

For a moment, Qin Ran suspected that her identity as a “social benevolent person” had been slipped out by a nurse, but Yu Shuman came to share her recent situation with her. The break was only ten minutes long. They found a rarely used stairwell and stood face-to-face.

The stairwell had little light, but just a few steps further out was the bright, sunny corridor.

Yu Shuman’s voice was as cheerful as a lark: “Junior, do you know? Just on the day you came to the hospital, a benevolent person donated money to my mom. Thanks to them, my mom’s condition is stable now, and she’s doing well…” She rattled on about these things. Qin Ran had thought she was testing her, but it turned out she was simply sharing. In the end, she smiled at Qin Ran: “Junior, thank you. I think you brought me good luck. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that I received the donation on the very day you came!”

“Junior, you must be a lucky star. Don’t ever lose heart. Even someone in my predicament was helped and came through; you can definitely do it too!”

“…Okay, thank you, Upperclassman.”

Faced with Yu Shuman’s encouragement, Qin Ran didn’t know what to say. Just as class was about to start, Yu Shuman left. The Grade 12 classroom was a bit far from the Grade 1 classroom. She was called out by a teacher coming up the stairs for class: “No running in the stairwell!”

Yu Shuman said, “I know, I know, Teacher, I’m going to be late!” and ran toward her building.

Qin Ran stepped out of the stairwell into the corridor, leaning against the railing and watching Yu Shuman, who seemed to sense her gaze and abruptly turned back. Her ponytail swished in an arc in the air, the hair at the end spreading out with the movement. There were no trees on the playground, and the warm sun of the early, still muggy autumn morning fell upon her, making her shine exceptionally brightly, but what was most striking was her smile—so radiant and moving.

“Junior! See you next time!” As soon as she finished speaking, the class bell rang. And so, that bouncing ponytail continued to run forward.

After this, Qin Ran continued to help Yu Shuman, doing many things anonymously for her as a “social benevolent person,” such as sponsoring her university tuition and living expenses. Yu Shuman was from a single-parent family, with only an elderly, seriously ill mother. After her mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia, she couldn’t work anymore and required constant medication and treatment. Yu Shuman’s family had no income. If it weren’t for the help of this “social benevolent person,” she might have stopped her education after high school.

Her grades were good, but not exceptional. With her grades, she could attend a top-tier university, but winning a scholarship was impossible. So, she had been thinking of quitting her studies and going straight to work. Although it was irresponsible for her future, it was her best way out.

However, the “social benevolent person,” the one who had been helping her all along, didn’t give up on her and subsequently covered her tuition and living expenses. She really wanted to thank the person in person, but they consistently worked through third parties, with a specific agent appearing on their behalf.

Yu Shuman performed well on the college entrance exam and got into a top-tier university in the capital. Qin Ran also got a good amount of cash back thanks to Yu Shuman. However, all in all, the total cash back was only 20,000 yuan. Qin Ran mocked the System with a voice full of contempt, while the System huddled in a corner, wanting to retort but unable to speak.

It also wanted to despise Qin Ran! Other Hosts, shortly after binding the System, were already building massive businesses and buying luxury cars and watches without batting an eye. But its Host? 17 years! A full 17 years! And the total cash back received was only 20,000 yuan. It even wanted to find someone to complain to! The System took a deep breath. Everything is difficult at the start; at least the Host finally bound someone.