WMSR — QT Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Bai Yichen rapidly pulled up the files of these two individuals in his mind: Xu Jiangzhe's parents, Xu Weihai and Liu Ling, who were also close friends and business partners of his current body's deceased parents.

Bai Ziqian should have been extremely familiar with this couple, so Bai Yichen simply lowered his head and obediently listened to their earnest admonitions. That was until he heard: "Ziqian, although your parents are gone, you don't need to worry. Uncle and Auntie are your mom and dad's friends of many years; we will absolutely not leave you to fend for yourself. Since your legs are in this condition now, from now on Uncle and Auntie will be your mom and dad, and Jiangzhe will be your brother. Our family will take care of you for the rest of your life."

Hearing these ironclad words, Bai Yichen couldn't help but raise his head, meeting three pairs of eyes brimming with anticipation.

Looking somewhat emotionally stirred by his own sentimental words, Xu Weihai pressed on immediately: "Ziqian, you don't have any other relatives besides your parents, so Uncle has already applied to become your legal guardian. Rest assured, we will take care of you for the rest of your life."

Already become my legal guardian... Bai Yichen paused, chewing over the implications of those words and the excessive warmth behind them, while a strange sense of dissonance quietly sprouted in his chest. According to the background info he had received, this couple were hardly paragons of warm-hearted altruism. In fact, they were rather self-serving and opportunistic—their later adoption of the protagonist shou, Fang Ruoming, had been purely a utilitarian move to help their son emerge from psychological shadows, and after raising Fang Ruoming for over a decade, they never developed any genuine familial affection, even ruthlessly trying to crush him when they discovered his romance with their son. Would such people completely alter their disposition simply because he was the orphan of a friend?

Furthermore, judging by what he said, he was already legally his guardian. Within just these few days while he was unconscious and before he had even woken up, they had already finalized all the paperwork. Wasn't everything moving just a bit too hastily?

Yet right as Bai Yichen turned these cautious reflections over in his mind, the man named Xu Weihai shifted his tone, adopting a heavy, mournful register: "Ziqian, we've been constantly preparing for your parents' funeral. We're just waiting for you to recover a bit more before holding it. Don't worry, your aunt and I will definitely make sure your parents' funeral is handled impeccably."

Hearing this, Bai Yichen paused his cautious train of thought for a moment, then gently nodded.

So be it. Given his current physical condition, he couldn't even take care of himself, let alone worry about anything else. Having someone step up to manage this lifetime's parental funeral was a rare blessing. He should wait until his parents in this world were safely laid to rest before considering anything further.

Besides, judging by the confident air of the Xu couple, the paperwork seemed airtight; even if he wanted to revoke the guardianship, there was no rush to do it right this second.

A few days later, Bai Yichen was discharged from the hospital temporarily to attend his parents' funeral in this world. Everything unfolded precisely as Xu Jiangzhe's parents had promised: it was handled with utmost care and dignity, leaving him with zero logistical burdens to stress over.

Once Bai Yichen witnessed his parents' funeral conclude smoothly with his own eyes, a heavy weight lifted from his chest. Although he shared no personal history or bond of affection with them, he had ultimately taken over their son's body, so he deeply wanted them to depart in peace.

At the same time, Bai Yichen had observed the Xu couple running themselves ragged over the funeral arrangements these past few days, knowing they had genuinely poured effort into it. Therefore, he remained entirely cooperative afterward. Regardless of what hidden motives they harbored, he genuinely owed them a debt of gratitude for managing his parents' funeral; otherwise, given his current paralyzed state where he couldn't even look after himself, arranging a respectable send-off for this body's parents would have been practically impossible.

Moreover, through attending the funeral and interacting with various attendees, Bai Yichen gained a vague insight into why the Xu couple had been so eager to secure guardianship and why their attitude was so obsequiously attentive. A massive crowd had turned out for the service: aside from his parents' personal friends and business associates, there were numerous employees from the enterprise jointly founded by his parents and the Xu couple. Naturally, the majority of those who came were high-ranking executives holding original stock shares.

Some of them looked at him with complex, unreadable expressions, while others cast resentful, indignant glares at the Xu couple. Yet whenever the Xu couple faced these people, they smiled down at him with an even deeper, more paternal warmth, projecting the image of fiercely protective guardians.

A sudden flash of clarity struck Bai Yichen: though his parents in this world had passed away, the personal wealth and corporate assets they left behind were likely staggering. No wonder a couple driven by inherently self-interested instincts would put on such an intensely devoted and ingratiating display toward him.

Setting aside the complex undercurrents swirling in the minds of Bai Yichen and the various attendees, the person with the simplest intentions present was undoubtedly Xu Jiangzhe. In fact, upon learning that his father had truly become Ziqian's legal guardian, Xu Jiangzhe was practically ecstatic enough to lose his mind, as it meant Ziqian would henceforth live under the same roof with him, where he could lay eyes on him anytime, anywhere.

Ignoring the fact that Bai Yichen still required a period of recuperative inpatient care after the funeral, Xu Jiangzhe had raced home nonstop to start arranging a bedroom for Bai Yichen. After much deliberation, he selected the room directly adjacent to his own. Both bedrooms featured expansive, side-by-side adjoining balconies, meaning a person could easily bridge the gap with a light push and leap across from one balcony to the other.

Watching their son's bubbling excitement, the Xu couple smiled broadly without a word of protest; on the contrary, they pitched in to help decorate the space, ensuring the room's furnishings and amenities were second to none compared to Xu Jiangzhe's own quarters.

After all, things were only just beginning, and countless eyes within the company were watching closely; they couldn't afford to hand anyone a handle or excuse to criticize them.

Regardless of what underlying motives drove the Xu couple, moving into such a comfortable room was naturally a source of genuine peace of mind for Bai Yichen. Coupled with Xu Jiangzhe hovering about constantly, terrified that he might lack for anything, and the Xu couple projecting an image of utmost affection and approachability, he occasionally even fell prey to the illusion that perhaps this lifetime wouldn't turn out so terrible after all.

Of course, perhaps remained just a perhaps, and an illusion was nothing more than an illusion. In this lifetime, his legs alone guaranteed that his days were destined to be far from smooth.

During the initial days following his awakening, the post-surgical complications had not yet fully subsided, the influx of required information was overwhelming, and it had been immediately followed by his parents' funeral—leaving him with a mountain of crises and zero breathing room to process anything else. But now that life had settled into a semblance of stability, despite possessing a psychological resilience far surpassing ordinary people, he still found it impossible to easily adapt to the stark reality of becoming a paralyzed patient.

Translator's Note:

Hey everyone! Just a quick heads-up: I'm currently typing this chapter up directly on my phone's Wordpad app, so the formatting, fonts, and overall design might look a little different compared to our previous chapters.

​I really hope it's still clean and easy to read, though! Please let me know how the formatting feels to you. As always, thank you so much for reading and supporting this translation project. Enjoy the chapter! (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡