WMSR — QT Chapter 53

Chapter 53

"This..." The honest-looking servant opened his eyes wide in utter astonishment, instinctively wondering if he had just done something wrong.

However, Xu Jiangzhe had no intention of offering any explanation. Instead, he forced his way directly to the bedside, nudging the servant aside before picking up the towel himself to begin wiping Bai Yichen down.

Although the servant felt a bit bewildered and helpless after having his job taken over by the family's young master, he didn't overthink the matter.

Yet, as Bai Yichen stared at Xu Jiangzhe's face—which still retained a distinct touch of youthful innocence—a deep, troubled frown quietly formed in the depths of his mind.

Author's Note: I have a hunch someone might say this is too Mary Sue-esque, but a white moonlight is naturally meant to be incredibly charming and dreamy! How else could he be a white moonlight? (Earnest face)

Chapter 26: The Caged White Moonlight (03)

Bai Yichen wasn't sure if he was simply being overly sensitive, but having just survived that kind of past experience, it was genuinely impossible for him not to be hyper-vigilant about certain underlying signals. Even though the current Xu Jiangzhe was still just a child, certain horrific acts in his past had been committed by the very person who had seemed to be the most well-behaved child in his eyes back then.

Add to that the fact that Bai Yichen had never considered leaving his legal guardianship in the hands of the Xu couple to be a wise choice, he now had yet another compelling reason to break free from their control.

What nobody knew was that after that day, Xu Jiangzhe had specifically approached his parents to suggest that they didn't need to hire a professional caregiver after all—proposing that he could personally take care of Ziqian from now on.

Naturally, that proposal was shot down by Xu Weihai and his wife without a second thought. While they certainly wanted that paralyzed child to trust them with absolute, unreserved devotion, they had no intention of letting their own precious son follow him around every day like a domestic servant. After all, in the eyes of the Xu couple, Xu Jiangzhe was their sole heir, and at his current young age, his academic workload was already exceptionally heavy; where would he ever find the spare time for such menial labor? In fact, alarmed by Xu Jiangzhe's bizarre idea, they actually accelerated their search for a professional caregiver.

Having his idea ruthlessly rejected, Xu Jiangzhe simply kept his head down without saying another word, biting his lip as he turned and walked away.

In the days that followed, tranquility returned once more. The only minor interlude occurred when the Xu couple approached Bai Yichen again to bring up the idea of formal adoption. Their pitch was that as long as Bai Yichen gave his consent, they could process the adoption paperwork immediately, adding Bai Yichen's name to their household registry so they could truly become one unified family.

Faced with this proposition, Bai Yichen naturally turned it down without a moment's hesitation. No matter how emotionally moving or persuasive the Xu couple's words sounded, he remained entirely unshaken. Bai Yichen—far from being an easily duped, gullible early-teen boy—knew all too well that while holding legal guardianship over him was certainly a hassle, it was still infinitely better than full legal adoption. After all, the law still placed specific checks and boundaries on a guardian's power. However, if it turned into a full adoption, the Xu couple would gain direct, legal inheritance rights over the substantial personal fortune under his name. To put it bluntly: if he were to suffer a fatal accident one day, that entire estate would pass directly into the hands of the Xu couple.

Although Bai Yichen preferred not to view human nature through a sinister lens, he had no choice but to prioritize his own life. Furthermore, once he was formally adopted, he would truly lose any remaining room to maneuver regarding the trajectory of his future in this lifetime.

The Xu couple spent half a day trying to coax and persuade him, but seeing that Bai Yichen refused to budge or yield an inch, their expressions inevitably soured for a brief fraction of a second. Yet, being thoroughly calculating individuals with deep composure, they quickly suppressed those subtle slip-ups and reverted right back to their familiar facade of tender solicitude and warmth.

Naturally, Xu Jiangzhe remained completely oblivious to the silent, under-the-table clash between Bai Yichen and his parents. He was just a genuine twelve-year-old boy who only knew that his absolute favorite person, Ziqian, was now living under the same roof, allowing them to spend every waking moment together. He was far too ecstatic to care, so how could he possibly suspect that his parents harbored dark, hidden motives of their own?

Following the Xu couple's proposal of adoption, Bai Yichen accelerated his research into the legal details surrounding guardianship and the specific mechanisms required for revoking guardianship. In the past, Bai Yichen hadn't possessed an extensive understanding of guardianship laws, but after carefully sifting through the relevant legal references, he found himself facing a brand-new set of daunting challenges.

First and foremost, a minor held no legal standing to choose their own guardian. In the event that both parents were deceased, the order of priority for assuming guardianship dictated that it should fall to grand-parents, maternal grand-parents, older brothers, older sisters, or other individuals or organizations willing to assume the duty of guardian.

Logically speaking, the priority ranking for the Xu couple should have been placed at the very bottom of the ladder. Unfortunately, Bai Yichen had zero living relatives in higher priority ranks for this current lifetime, allowing the Xu couple to intercept the opportunity and apply for it first. Of course, the fact that the Xu couple were close personal friends of his deceased parents as well as co-founding business partners in the family enterprise undeniably granted them heavy bonus points in the eyes of the court.

Furthermore, once a guardian was officially designated, attempting to replace them proved to be an extraordinarily arduous process. Only in scenarios where the current guardians failed to fulfill their duties, or inflicted severe harm upon the ward's interests, could the ward themselves, or other related individuals and organizations, submit a formal petition to the court to revoke guardian status.

In other words, if he wanted to break his legal guardianship bond with the Xu couple, he would first need to gather concrete, undeniable evidence before he could submit a valid petition to the court.

Yet, judging by the Xu couple's current performative behavior, he knew he was unlikely to catch them dropping their masks or exposing their true colors anytime in the near future.

Shelving the plan to replace his guardians in the back of his mind for the time being, Bai Yichen continued pouring his efforts into adapting to his daily life in this world. Fortunately, two days later, the new professional caregiver hired by the Xu couple finally arrived, allowing Bai Yichen's persistently dark mood to lighten just a fraction.

With his spirits slightly eased, Bai Yichen couldn't help but think back to the little boy he had rescued from the wrecked vehicle when looking at this family—the designated protagonist shou of this world, Fang Ruoming.

Originally, the person destined to be adopted into the Xu household should have been him, but through a twist of fate, he had taken that place instead. He couldn't help but wonder how that child was faring right now.

Without the Xu family stepping in to adopt him, and having lost his only living relative, had he been taken in by a new adoptive family? Or had he ended up stranded in an orphanage?

Musing over these thoughts, Bai Yichen unconsciously knit his brows once more. He deeply disliked the idea of his presence altering another person's life trajectory—especially if it ended up plunging them into an even more tragic predicament.

If Fang Ruoming had been fortunate enough to encounter a kind, warm-hearted adoptive family, that would be ideal. But if luck was against him and he ended up in a household that subjected him to neglect, abuse, or even twisted mistreatment, Bai Yichen knew he wouldn't even be able to sleep peacefully at night. And when it came to the hardships an orphan might suffer, Bai Yichen had never dared to be blindly optimistic.