WMSR — QT Chapter 52

Chapter 52

He possessed zero sensation below the waist, to the point where basic self-care had become a struggle. Even a task as simple as going to the restroom was nearly impossible to accomplish on his own, requiring assistance from others—a reality he had never once envisioned for his life.

Not to mention he was no longer a young boy in his early teens. His far richer life experience and significantly more mature mindset compared to ordinary people made certain situations exponentially more embarrassing to endure. Back in the hospital, he had managed to swallow his shame and accept assistance, but that was within the unique setting of a medical facility, handled by professional nursing staff; he could force himself to mentally disassociate from those moments, knowing that patients in similar conditions were everywhere.

However, now that he had returned to a normal residential environment—and worse, somebody else's home—that sense of shame intensified several times over. To make matters worse, upon learning that his post-surgical recovery was progressing well and that specialized medical care was no longer strictly mandatory, the Xu couple—noting that the household already maintained a staff of maids and servants—decided against hiring a dedicated professional caregiver altogether. Duties such as assisting him with bathing and using the restroom were simply tacked onto the chores assigned to the domestic servants.

These non-professional workers, along with the occasional subtle shifts in their expressions, naturally doubled Bai Yichen's sense of discomfort and awkwardness. Thus, when Xu Jiangzhe came by to hang out with him one day, Bai Yichen brought up the matter directly. Since his parents in this lifetime had left behind a massive fortune, there was no reason for him to suffer unnecessarily.

"Hire a caregiver?" Upon hearing Bai Yichen's request, Xu Jiangzhe was caught off guard for a split second, but a dark realization flashed across his face almost instantly. "Why? Have they been doing a terrible job?"

The tone in Xu Jiangzhe's voice was noticeably dark and ominous; Bai Yichen had no doubt that if he answered with a "yes," the specific domestic workers assigned to him would face immediate retribution.

Bai Yichen shook his head, knowing those workers were merely lacking professional training rather than mistreating him in any way.

Only after confirming multiple times that nobody was bullying or mistreating him did Xu Jiangzhe finally head off to relay Bai Yichen's request to his parents.

At this juncture, Xu Weihai and his wife had only just secured legal guardianship over Bai Yichen, with countless watchful eyes keeping tabs on their movements. Moreover, possessing guardianship did not automatically grant them unfettered control over the estate; having Bai Ziqian's cooperation would make their hidden motives far easier to achieve. Therefore, upon hearing that it was merely a minor request like hiring a professional caregiver, the couple naturally offered no resistance and promptly instructed the staff to arrange for one.

However, finding a qualified caregiver and having them report for duty wasn't something that could be completed within a single day. As a result, the Xu family's domestic servants were still tasked with helping Bai Yichen wash up and attend to his daily physical needs for the remainder of the day.

Perhaps because Bai Yichen had brought up wanting a dedicated caregiver—leaving Xu Jiangzhe terrified that someone might have secretly mistreated him in ways he felt too embarrassed to vocalize—the young master, who would usually politely excuse himself whenever these private tasks took place, refused to leave today no matter what, insisting on staying behind to monitor everything.

In truth, Bai Yichen had no desire for an extra pair of eyes to watch over his awkward vulnerability. Yet Xu Jiangzhe had somehow dug his heels in with stubborn defiance, refusing to budge no matter how much he was persuaded. The domestic servants, being paid on the Xu family's payroll, naturally dared not force their young master out of the room. Left with no alternative, Bai Yichen simply closed his eyes, straining to ignore Xu Jiangzhe's presence as he allowed the servant to unbutton his garments and proceed with the daily sponge bath.

The delicate silk sleepwear was unfastened piece by piece, revealing the snow-white skin underneath. A soft towel was soaked in warm water, wrung out until damp, and held by a pair of large hands, gently wiping downward starting from his neck, across his chest, and tracing around his waist... Under Xu Jiangzhe's intense, unblinking glare, the servant executed the task with far greater care and precision than usual. While the wiping pressure was remarkably gentle, perhaps owing to the temperature of the warm towel or the sheer sensitivity of his fair skin, faint, delicate traces of light pink bloomed across every path the towel traversed.

Having been turned over onto his stomach with the servant's assistance, Bai Yichen lay propped on the mattress, blissfully unaware that Xu Jiangzhe's gaze was no longer monitoring the servant's technique at all. Instead, his eyes were locked in a dazed, fixed stare at every single inch of exposed skin.

It had to be said that Bai Yichen's current body possessed skin so luminous it rivaled fresh snow. Even with the servant treading as lightly as possible, the path of the soft towel invariably left subtle flushes of pink behind, forcing the worker to lighten his touch even further for fear of being called out for incompetence by the young master watching nearby.

After wiping down his upper torso, the honest-looking servant let out a quiet sigh of relief. Assisting the person on the bed to roll back over, he peeled away the light quilt to remove the remaining clothing below.

Because Bai Yichen possessed complete paralysis from the waist down, he couldn't even perform the simplest action of lifting a leg. To wipe down his legs, the servant had to hook one hand beneath the bend of his knee to elevate the limb before using his other hand to manipulate the damp towel.

Lying flat on his back with his head turned slightly to the side, Bai Yichen deliberately avoided looking toward the two people in the room. He was painfully aware of how helpless and broken he appeared right now; the realization that this kind of existence—relying entirely on others for the most basic human needs with zero privacy—would persist for decades to come filled his heart with a heavy, suffocating frustration.

Yet, while Bai Yichen was consumed by the agonizing gloom of his crippled state, Xu Jiangzhe stood watching the scene before his eyes, his heart hammering against his ribs like a war drum. An inexplicable, surging heat crept up through his chest out of nowhere. As he stared wide-eyed, unwilling to miss a single second, an intense, stinging sensation prickled at his vision—especially the sight of those rough, dark hands gripping that pale, flawless calf... as if someone were recklessly touching a priceless treasure that belonged exclusively to him.

No... this isn't right...

Fixing his eyes intently on that eyesore of a dark, rough hand, Xu Jiangzhe stepped forward to the edge of the bed as if impelled by some subconscious, inexplicable impulse. One hand reached out to grab the servant's dark wrist, while his other palm pressed directly onto the smooth, delicate skin of the slender calf.

Interrupted mid-task, the servant—who had been wiping with utmost concentration—was caught completely off guard. He had no idea when or how Xu Jiangzhe had glided over to his side, and looked up at his young master in bewildered confusion. "Young Master?"

Having lost all sensation below his waist, Bai Yichen was deprived not only of motor function but also of subtle tactile and thermal perception, relying entirely on the servant's spoken words to realize something was amiss. Turning his head back around, he was met with the sight of Xu Jiangzhe standing right beside him, a hand clamped firmly onto his leg.

Pinned under two pairs of staring eyes, Xu Jiangzhe suddenly snapped back to his senses, realizing what he had just done. Yet, feeling the velvety, smooth softness beneath his palm, he found himself utterly unwilling to let go. Ultimately choosing to yield to the deeper impulse stirring in his chest, he turned to the servant and said softly, "Let me handle it."

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! 💕