I Rely on Gifting the Female Supporting Character to Get Cash Back (GL) - Chapter 9

Yu Shuman’s daily routine was truly simple: wake up, put on makeup, rehearse, eat, touch up makeup, rehearse, eat, and sleep. Her every day was both exhausting and fulfilling. Experiencing things she had never done before kept Yu Shuman’s spirits high.

She would dance in front of the studio mirror for the entire day, only to discover her feet were swollen when she went to bed at night, forcing her to soak them in hot water. Sister Li would also bring her plasters to stick on her ankles and bought ankle braces for her to wear.

Working so intensely, she could easily get injured.

Yu Shuman profusely thanked Sister Li, unaware that the person behind the scenes instructing Sister Li to do all this was Qin Ran. After reading Sister Li’s reports for a few days, Qin Ran couldn’t sit still. She was supposed to let Yu Shuman have fun, not work herself to death. She absolutely did not want the news of Yu Shuman collapsing from overwork and being hospitalized to reach her before she even performed on stage.

So, Qin Ran communicated with Sister Li and went to the production team to work part-time. She wasn’t sure why, but she was afraid of Yu Shuman finding out that she was the donor. She vaguely sensed that if Yu Shuman knew, they wouldn’t be able to continue their current relationship.

Qin Ran was a homebody and afraid of change. She was accustomed to her relationship with Yu Shuman and was afraid to change it. She was also afraid that if Yu Shuman knew her true feelings, they wouldn’t even be able to be friends anymore.

After clarifying the plot, Qin Ran knew even more clearly that Yu Shuman was straight. Even though she wasn’t part of the lily circle, she knew the saying, “Turning a straight girl gay will incur the wrath of heaven.” Therefore, she could only be extremely cautious, hiding all her little feelings and staying by Yu Shuman’s side as a friend and junior.

Qin Ran changed into a staff uniform and entered the production team, enduring Sister Li’s look of, “I genuinely don’t understand what you’re thinking.” At noon, she distributed lunch boxes to the contestants, walking from resting room to resting room, delivering the lunch prepared by the production team.

In fact, the contestants from big agencies would have their lunches handled by their own companies. Especially given Ling Miaohan’s background, her family would never let her eat a boxed lunch. Otherwise, they’d probably hug her and cry, “My baby, you’ve suffered so much,” while simultaneously cursing the childhood friend.

So, when Qin Ran knocked on Ling Miaohan’s waiting room, only one assistant came out, who took one lunch for themselves and not one for Ling Miaohan.

When she reached Yu Shuman’s waiting room door, the assistant inside came out and took three lunches: one for Yu Shuman, one for the assistant, and one for Qin Ran. The assistant didn’t know that the part-time student delivering the lunch box was their major boss, but they had been instructed by Sister Li, who said Qin Ran was a junior of Yu Shuman’s whom she got along well with, and specifically told them to be extra kind. That’s why they took Qin Ran’s portion first, asking her to come eat with them after she finished her work, as Yu Shuman was still practicing and would eat later.

Qin Ran pulled out her phone and checked the time: “Senior is still practicing?” It was already 11:30 AM. Yu Shuman had gotten up at 6:30 AM, finished breakfast by 7:00 AM, stayed in the vocal practice room until 8:00 AM, and had been in the dance studio ever since.

The assistant looked proud: “That’s right. Our Shuman is the most diligent when it comes to practice.”

Qin Ran frowned, not thinking that was a good thing.

She finished delivering the other people’s lunches before returning to Yu Shuman’s resting room. Yu Shuman was back now, sitting on the small sofa in the room. Her dance shoes and socks were off, and she had her feet up on the sofa, gently massaging them with her fingers.

There were still plasters on her ankles, but they looked a little red and swollen. Qin Ran walked closer. Yu Shuman saw her and immediately put her feet down from the sofa and into the slippers the assistant had brought for her. She looked up and asked Qin Ran, “Why are you here?”

Qin Ran’s gaze shifted from Yu Shuman’s feet to her face. Yu Shuman wore her hair in a high, clean, and neat ponytail, just like in high school. But after a morning of practice, the ponytail wasn’t so neat anymore; strands of hair had escaped and fallen onto her face. She was completely drenched in sweat, and the escaped hair was now clinging to her cheeks.

Excessive sweating makes the face oily, and the current Yu Shuman’s face was shiny. While not ugly, it wasn’t particularly good-looking either. Her practice outfit was also soaked with sweat and clung to her body. Yu Shuman had a very good figure, curvy where needed and slender elsewhere, which suited her commanding face well. The practice clothes were already tight, and now, being wet with sweat, they outlined her body’s curves completely.

To anyone looking, she was the epitome of a beautiful woman glistening with sweat.

Crucially, Yu Shuman’s eyes were bright, sparkling like stars. Clearly, she was enjoying the feeling of being able to exert herself freely. Once you saw her eyes, it was hard not to be drawn to her. If she were to speak about her desire to work hard right now, even the hardest-hearted person would let her have her way.

But Qin Ran was different. Qin Ran wouldn’t be moved by this Yu Shuman; she would only feel concerned.

She pursed her lips and first answered Yu Shuman’s question: “I’m here to work part-time.” Yu Shuman, who was being worried over by Qin Ran, felt concerned for Qin Ran first: “Is working here very tough? And it’s so far from school. How did you get here, Junior?”

She was always like this, thinking of others first. Qin Ran was silent for a moment, then looked down at Yu Shuman’s feet again, but they were in the slippers, making it hard to see the details. Yu Shuman noticed her gaze, and her exposed toenails couldn’t help but curl inward slightly.

“It’s okay. They pay well here, and there’s a return bus.”

It was actually Sister Li who drove her, but Qin Ran felt awkward saying it. After all, why would Sister Li go out of her way to drive to the school and bring her along without any reason? If she said that, Yu Shuman would surely sense that something was wrong.

Yu Shuman was about to say something, but when she heard the pay was good, she stopped. She looked at Qin Ran with pity. She knew Qin Ran’s situation; if the pay was indeed high here, Qin Ran would come, no matter how hard the work was.

The conversation about the part-time job ended there. Qin Ran timely said, “I’m hungry, Senior. Are you hungry? Let’s eat first.”

Only then did Yu Shuman remember. The assistant had conveniently brought over the lunch boxes. The boxed lunches provided by the production team were actually quite good. They were from the same business as Qin Ran’s former part-time boss, clean and sanitary. Not only were they reasonably priced, but they also included one large meat dish, one small meat dish, and two vegetable dishes. There was no soup, as it tended to spill, so it was replaced with a small bottle of mineral water, along with a piece of fruit. Either a small apple, a banana, or a few small tomatoes.

Today’s fruit was small tomatoes, which both Qin Ran and Yu Shuman liked.

Yu Shuman was only a contestant. Although she was backed by a big company and had her own resting room, the room wasn’t large. It only had a makeup table, a small sofa, and a small coffee table. There were only two places to sit originally, so the assistant had to borrow a chair from the staff.

The three of them huddled around the tiny coffee table. The table held their three meals and mineral water. They held their rice in their hands and started eating.

The sofa was naturally the best seat. The assistant had initially intended to give it to Qin Ran, but in the end, it was the assistant who sat on the sofa. Qin Ran and Yu Shuman both sat on chairs that were almost level with the coffee table, leaning in together to pick up food.

Yu Shuman was used to eating with Qin Ran. For one year in high school, she always felt bad for her junior with the difficult background and often sought out Qin Ran to eat with her and give her food. This habit was rekindled now that she had reunited with Qin Ran. She served her food at the restaurant earlier, and she was doing the same now.

“Junior, eat more. I need to watch my figure and can’t eat too much. This is my professional duty as an artist.” She picked up a large piece of meat from her disposable container, intending to put it on Qin Ran’s rice, but Qin Ran avoided it: “Senior, I can’t eat two large pieces of meat.”

Yu Shuman looked slightly lost, remembering that she wasn’t at school anymore, and Qin Ran’s lunch box wasn’t pitifully short on meat.

In reality, Qin Ran had money after binding Yu Shuman in high school. She just didn’t like eating too much meat; she preferred smaller meat portions (sub-meat dishes).

But Yu Shuman thought she didn’t eat meat because she was poor and would often take a large portion of meat, divide it in half, and share it with her. Thanks to Yu Shuman, Qin Ran even gained a little weight during her first year of high school.

Even after Yu Shuman left for university, Qin Ran got used to eating some meat, but even so, she couldn’t eat two large pieces of meat by herself!

Besides, she didn’t believe that Yu Shuman wouldn’t eat meat to maintain her figure. With Yu Shuman’s daily exercise amount, let alone one large piece of meat, even if she ate fried chicken, cola, milk tea, and hot pot all at once, it wouldn’t be enough to keep up with her calorie burn. If she didn’t eat meat, she might not be able to sustain her energy levels.

Yu Shuman saw that Qin Ran’s lunch box did contain meat, so she didn’t try to give her any more. Instead, she put the piece in her own bowl and started eating. Since both of them had been poor, neither felt that eating a boxed lunch was beneath them. On the contrary, this kind of boxed lunch would cost at least 10 yuan at school, and outside of school, the price could be anything: an ethical 15 yuan, or a greedy 20 to 25 yuan.

Sister Li had asked Qin Ran if she should arrange separate meals for Yu Shuman, but Qin Ran shook her head and refused the suggestion.

She knew Yu Shuman’s personality. Such special treatment now would make Yu Shuman uneasy. But seeing the treatment of other artists backed by big companies, she knew that although the company treated her well, their treatment of all artists was probably similar. However, if her food was visibly different, it would make her anxious.

If she became a cash cow later, and her treatment naturally rose, she wouldn’t show signs of panic.

Yu Shuman was down-to-earth and needed to step firmly on every rung of the ladder.