Chapter 34: Fundraising Proposal
It was yet another unhappy Monday. When Gu Qinghuan got off the bus, she yawned widely and sleepily walked toward the school gate.
She had barely taken two steps when Xia He popped up beside her like a prairie dog.
“Good morning, sis!” Xia He greeted with a big smile.
Still half-asleep, Gu Qinghuan absentmindedly reached out and pressed down on his head. “Morning… huh?”
Her palm was met with a soft, fuzzy sensation. That woke her up instantly — she quickly pulled her hand back. “Senior Xia!”
Xia He touched his own head, secretly thinking that he could let this happen again next time.
He was in a good mood. “I told you, you can just call me by my name.”
Gu Qinghuan thought to herself: Better not. I still don’t know exactly what his identity is — better to keep some distance.
“Is there something you needed, Senior Xia?” she changed the subject.
“Nope. Just saw you and wanted to say hi,” Xia He replied smoothly.
Then he held his arm out to her, eyes shining. “You owe me a treat.”
Gu Qinghuan took a quick count — sure enough, only six scratch marks were left. The oldest one had already scabbed over and fallen off, leaving just a faint white line.
“Alright. Which fried chicken place do you want? And what milk tea?” she agreed readily.
It was just ordering some delivery — she could eat too.
“No need for fried chicken. Milk tea’s enough. As for the flavor, you choose — I’m fine with anything,” Xia He pulled his arm back.
“When do you want it?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
“Noon?” Xia He tilted his head.
If they set it for noon, she’d probably order in advance and pick it up after morning classes — and then he could eat lunch with her.
Gu Qinghuan was indeed thinking that. “Alright, I’ll bring it over to you then?”
“I’ll come find you for it,” Xia He replied with a sunny smile.
Since the first- and second-year buildings were separate, they split up after entering the school gates.
When she reached her classroom, Yu Xin and Jiang Chuchu were already there.
“Morning,” Gu Qinghuan greeted them.
“Morning,” they replied in unison.
“What’s wrong, Xin Bao?” Gu Qinghuan felt Yu Xin’s expression toward her was a little complicated.
Yu Xin said, “It’s about what my family said yesterday — about giving you that necklace.”
“Huh? Weren’t we going to return it for a refund and save the money for you?” Gu Qinghuan was puzzled.
“You don’t need to make the trip — they just transferred the money directly,” Jiang Chuchu chimed in. “Rounded it off too — gave you a clean hundred thousand.”
Gu Qinghuan patted her chest. At this rate, she suspected that by the end of these three years of high school, her sense of money would be completely warped.
“Why though?” she asked.
“They probably think returning it is too embarrassing,” Jiang Chuchu reasoned. “If they sold it off, that would be one thing. But returning it with the receipt? The store would immediately know which family it came from.”
Gu Qinghuan thought it was a bit of a shame — she wouldn’t have minded going herself. Opportunities to make the Yu family lose face didn’t come often.
“Well, then that’s fine. The money’s in Xin Bao’s account — that works out,” Gu Qinghuan said.
“No, this money needs to be transferred to you. If it stays in my account, they’ll know you did it on purpose,” Yu Xin shook her head.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t get it. “How would that give me away just because it’s in your account?”
The system rarely spoke up, but now it did: [I told you yesterday — people like that have their own logic. If they already believe you’re vain and materialistic, they won’t believe you’d willingly let the money sit in someone else’s account.]
Jiang Chuchu also explained, “Because if they themselves got some windfall, they’d cram it into their own pockets immediately. If you don’t act the same way, they’ll suspect something’s up.”
“What windfall?” Qin Yue walked over, just in time to hear Jiang Chuchu’s words, and butted in.
“A sudden fortune from the sky,” Gu Qinghuan said, “and figuring out how to handle it.”
They definitely needed to use it on Yu Xin — but in that case, it couldn’t be in Gu Qinghuan’s name.
After all, in the Yu family’s eyes, Gu Qinghuan was greedy and vain — how could she possibly spend money on someone else?
But if it were under Jiang Chuchu’s name and she bought something for Yu Xin, that wouldn’t fit their logic either.
This was the Jiang family’s young lady, who could gift an “unbuyable” limited-edition necklace. How could she possibly give something cheap?
And a hundred thousand yuan wouldn’t buy many items — and they might not even be what Yu Xin truly needed.
Gu Qinghuan felt a headache coming on. She finally understood the saying, It’s not the bad people you fear, it’s the stupid ones.
Yu Xin spoke up, “Don’t think about it anymore. This money should’ve been yours from the start. I already know how to deal with my family — I won’t be short of money in the future.”
She said it with confidence, and Gu Qinghuan and Jiang Chuchu exchanged a look — surprised, but also relieved.
Jiang Chuchu patted Yu Xin’s shoulder. “That’s how you should be — if they treat you badly, then don’t bother with them. Just take the resources they owe you.”
In Jiang Chuchu’s view, whether it was money or other resources, it was all stuff the Yu family should’ve been giving Yu Xin anyway.
Yu Xin nodded. After the past few days, she fully realized the Yu family only valued her for her usefulness.
When Jiang Chuchu invited her out and gave her gifts, then she got the family’s attention — and even Yu Yuan’s jealousy.
It made her sad to realize this, but it also made her more determined not to disappoint her friends’ expectations.
Since Jiang Chuchu and Gu Qinghuan were trying to help her get better treatment, she had to think more for herself too.
Qin Yue was totally lost, but his instincts told him he’d just missed a big piece of gossip — maybe a huge one.
“What happened? I want to know too!” he said decisively.
“None of your business,” Gu Qinghuan waved him off, still feeling touched that “Xin Bao had grown stronger.”
“Come on, tell me!” Qin Yue pestered shamelessly. Then inspiration struck. “I can help you figure out what to do with that sudden windfall!”
Gu Qinghuan finally glanced at him. “And what do you suggest?”
“Spending money is easy,” Qin Yue said confidently. “Donate it! I saw a fundraising proposal posted on the bulletin board when I came in!”
“Fundraising?” Jiang Chuchu was intrigued. She pointed down toward the ground. “For our school?”
There were students in the school from poor families, but those ones all relied on excellent grades to get full tuition waivers, plus scholarships from the school.
Under those conditions, how could a student here need donations?
“That’s right! I read that proposal twice!” Qin Yue patted his chest. “It’s not the student who needs donations, it’s their family member. That’s why it’s just a posted proposal.”
That made sense to Jiang Chuchu. Sure, a student’s home life could affect their studies, but there was still a degree of separation.
The school might give some condolence money, but it couldn’t possibly cover all the medical expenses or other costs.
Posting a fundraising proposal was pretty much the most they could do.
