Richest Man: It All Started With My Rebate System-Chapter 9: Making Necessary Purchases

Hearing that Steven wanted the apartment, Andrew nodded and led him to the kitchen.

When they got to the kitchen, he brought out an application form and slid it across the countertop to Steven.

"Please fill out the application form."

Steven took the paper, the rental application form, and read through it. The form asked for the usual details — his full name, phone number, email address, current address, employment information, and monthly income.

He started filling it out with ease, but paused for a moment when he got to the employment section. He thought about what to write and decided to put down independent. In the monthly income section, he wrote personal funds.

After he was done, he passed the form back to the agent, who received it and went through the details Steven had written.

A moment later, he nodded and placed the form back in his document bag, then turned to Steven.

"There’s a $50 processing fee."

"Account details?"

The agent gave him the account details and he made the transfer.

[You spent $50. A 3.5x rebate was triggered]

[You received $175. The money has been sent to your account]

Steven glanced at the notification and sighed inwardly when he saw the rebate multiplier. He didn’t dwell on it for long, turning his attention back to the agent.

"I’ve made the payment," he said.

"We should have an answer for you by tomorrow, possibly later today if everything checks out."

"Thank you," Steven nodded. "I’ll be waiting."

He really wished he had enough money to speed the process up to instantaneous, if that was even possible. But there was nothing he could do except wait. This was standard procedure.

With the tour concluded and the rental application filled out, both of them had achieved their objectives and it was time to leave. They left the condo, heading back the way they came.

"I can give you a lift back if you’re going the same way," Andrew said.

Steven thought about it for a moment and accepted the offer. He wasn’t going home directly, as he planned to stop by the gadget supermarket to pick up a laptop, and to also buy a decent luxury wristwatch for himself.

They both got into the car and a couple of seconds later, they were on their way back to the agency.

***

Forty minutes later, they arrived back at the agency. Andrew stopped the car by the sidewalk.

"Thanks for the lift," Steven said as he stepped out of the car.

"You’re welcome," Andrew nodded, then steered the car toward the parking lot.

Steven started walking in the direction of the fashion accessory store. The store was close to the clothing store where he had bought his clothes the day before.

The walk to the store took fifteen minutes. He stepped through the door and walked to the glass counters where the watches were on display.

"Good afternoon, sir," one of the salespersons, a young woman, walked up to him and greeted. "What are you looking to buy today?"

"Hi. I would like to buy a watch. Nothing higher than $4,000," Steven replied.

"I’m sure we have something you’ll love," the lady said, and started walking him through their collection, keeping his budget in mind.

Steven simply listened to everything she said, though he had no real idea what half of it meant.

The store sold all kinds of accessories — watches, jewellery, bags, sunglasses, and more. All of high quality, or at least to Steven, who had an admittedly poor fashion sense, they looked high quality enough.

He had never been someone who wore watches or cared much for luxury things, but with his situation changing, he knew his mindset had to change with it. Not that he planned to turn into a male fashionista or someone obsessed with luxury items. It was all for the rebate.

After she was done, she turned to him and asked, "Which one would you like to go with?"

Steven looked over the watches and after a moment of contemplation, settled on a plain-looking silver one with leather straps.

"This one," he said, pointing to it.

"Excellent choice, sir. That would be $4,671."

The price was above what Steven had told the lady his budget was, but it was within the amount available in his account balance.

Without hesitation, Steven handed her his debit card immediately. She swiped it and the transaction was processed instantly.

[You spent $4,671. A 4x rebate was triggered]

[You received $18,684. The money has been transferred to your account.]

Steven smiled and let out a long breath of relief when he saw the multiplier. His luck seemed to be turning around.

With the rebate reward just received, his account balance had climbed past $23,000.

$23,806.48, to be precise.

Steven couldn’t quite put into words how it felt, seeing his account balance enter five figures for the very first time.

"Your package is ready, sir," the lady said, extending his debit card and the packaged watch toward him.

"Thank you," Steven said as he collected them, the smile still on his face.

He slipped his debit card back into his pocket and left the store with the small shopping bag containing his watch, making his way toward the gadget store.

He got there twenty-five minutes later and the lady who had attended to him the day before smiled when she noticed him walk in.

He wasn’t there for another phone, though. He made his way to the laptop section instead.

Steven needed a laptop because he planned to research business opportunities he could invest in down the line.

While he didn’t have to worry about money thanks to the system, Steven still planned to build a business of his own and establish a proper financial structure to protect his money and future assets. That structure would also make things smoother when the time came to acquire the restaurant.

He had done his research before leaving home and already had a specific model in mind — the HP OmniBook 5 14.

"Hello. Can you package this one for me?" He said to one of the male salespersons handling the laptop section.

The man, who looked hardly any older than Steven, nodded.

"That would be $899.99."

Steven handed over his debit card without a word. The salesperson swiped it and the transaction went through immediately.

[You spent $899.99. A 6x rebate was triggered.]

[You received $5,399.94. The money has been transferred to your account.]

Steven smiled in satisfaction when he saw the multiplier.

Seems like today is my lucky day. Should I buy something else?

He considered picking up a console. A PlayStation 5 Pro would be nice, but he wasn’t sure he’d have the time for it. On top of that, he didn’t own a TV, and buying one now would be wasteful considering the condo already came with a 4K OLED.

He decided against it. The console could wait until he moved in.

The salesperson had already finished packaging the laptop and Steven collected it.

"Thanks for shopping with us."

Steven gave a single nod, then turned and walked out of the store.