WMSR — QT Chapter 54

Chapter 54

"But let Fang Ruoming walk back onto his original life trajectory?" Bai Yichen knew that with the Xu couple yet to completely get what they wanted from him, if he simply proposed that they adopt Fang Ruoming as well, the couple might very well grit their teeth and agree. But what would happen after Fang Ruoming was adopted once again? In the original plotline, even when Fang Ruoming was needed to help pull their own son out of psychological shadows, the Xu couple had never treated him well. Now, with himself trapped in a state of dependency under someone else's roof and barely able to protect himself, forcing Fang Ruoming into an adoption here would likely, in the long run, cause him to suffer an even more wretched fate than he would have in the original storyline.

He didn't know all the intricate details, but based on the information he had gathered, after Fang Ruoming was adopted back then, despite moving into the household, he was never given a room in the main residence like this one; instead, he was stashed away in a cramped, miserable servant's quarters. While he held the nominal title of an adopted son and attended school alongside Xu Jiangzhe every day, the chores he performed were indistinguishable from those of a hired servant or errand boy. Even his so-called adoption wasn't registered under the Xu couple's own household registry—it was instead attached to a distant, impoverished relative's branch, all to draw a sharp, unmistakable line between him and the true young master, Xu Jiangzhe, and to ensure he had zero possibility of ever touching a single cent of the Xu family fortune.

This couple calculated everything down to the absolute fraction of a cent.

Moreover, that pair was far from easy to deal with. If he wanted to trick or pressure them into adopting Fang Ruoming, he would inevitably have to pay a heavy price. But why should he expend so much effort just to gift the Xu family another disposable laborer? Was it merely to shove Fang Ruoming back onto his original plot track? Just to force the protagonist gong and protagonist shou to cross paths early and start cultivating feelings, exactly like in the previous world?

Thinking back on the events of the last world, Bai Yichen's expression involuntarily chilled. Meddling in that kind of unnecessary business once was already more than enough for a lifetime.

He swore that no matter what world he found himself in moving forward, if something wasn't his responsibility to manage, he would never interfere by so much as a fraction of an inch.

As for Fang Ruoming, he had accidentally usurped the boy's chance of adoption, meaning he owed him. He would find another way to compensate him—such as figuring out a direct financial provision. With that sum of money, Fang Ruoming's standard of living shouldn't fall any lower than if he had been adopted by the Fang family originally.

As for everything else, he simply wouldn't waste his mental energy worrying about it.

Bai Yichen had always been a man of swift action. Within a couple of days, he approached Xu Weihai to propose hiring a legal consultant to discuss providing financial support for the second surviving child he had personally pulled from the wreckage of that car crash.

To his surprise, the usually smiling Xu Weihai wore an expression of deep difficulty the moment the subject was broached. He even adopted an elder's, been-around-the-block tone to voice his strong disapproval, arguing roughly that the child was being well cared for by the orphanage, that the nation's welfare systems were robust nowadays, and that every child there was fed, clothed, and schooled without needing any external charity. Furthermore, he claimed that the child might get adopted by someone else down the road, and tossing a large sum of money his way now would only stir up unnecessary complications.

Had he been an ordinary, impressionable early-teen boy, he might well have been swayed by such a polished, logically structured argument. But how could Bai Yichen fail to see right through Xu Weihai's eloquent speech and evasive maneuvers? It was just a flimsy excuse to avoid parting with any money. Fixing his gaze on Xu Weihai, Bai Yichen stared at him in silence.

Perhaps lingering guilt still twinged in Xu Weihai's chest, or perhaps Bai Yichen's piercing stare made him feel inexplicably exposed and unable to bear the weight of those eyes. After murmuring a couple more empty phrases, he hastily excused himself and left.

Yet over the next few days, Xu Weihai acted as though Bai Yichen's request had never been uttered; the legal consultant Bai Yichen had asked him to source never materialized.

Realizing it was utterly hopeless to expect Xu Weihai to assist with this matter, Bai Yichen decided to handle it himself. As it turned out, his current body's parents—Bai Ziqian—had doted on him to an extreme degree. Every year's New Year cash gifts and birthday funds had been carefully set aside by his parents into a dedicated bank account under his name, accumulating into a quite substantial figure. Additionally, his smartphone was linked to a supplementary parental credit card with a capped spending limit, which happened to be more than sufficient.

Using these funds, Bai Yichen located a major law firm online, retained them for this specific commission, and instructed them to manage the trust: disbursing an annual living and educational stipend for Fang Ruoming until he reached adulthood, while the remainder of the principal would be transferred to him in a lump sum upon his eighteenth birthday. The total sum wired by Bai Yichen to the law firm—after deducting legal fees—came out to exactly 1.5 million, which conveniently matched the combined available limits of his personal account and his parents' supplementary card.

The Xu couple only found out when a pair of lawyers suddenly showed up at their doorstep one day carrying formal contracts and requesting their signatures. Learning what Bai Yichen had pulled off behind their backs left the couple's faces twisted in fury. Liu Ling looked as though she might faint on the spot; if the two lawyers hadn't been standing right in front of them, she would have lunged forward to shred the agreement to pieces.

1.5 million! That was a full 1.5 million!

While 1.5 million wasn't a world-shattering figure relative to their total asset portfolio, think of how many things 1.5 million could buy! She could snap up a dozen or two of her favorite designer handbags! She could fund years of luxury treatments at her high-end beauty salon! That diamond necklace she had been eyeing without ever daring to pull the trigger could finally be hers! Even a decent, presentable luxury car could be bought outright!

Yet right now, a staggering 1.5 million had just been squandered away like dust by this unfilial brat!

After fuming in bitter rage for a long stretch, Liu Ling suddenly snapped back to reality with a thought: Right—they brought the contract here for us to sign! We're his legal guardians now; this agreement is completely invalid and legally unenforceable without our signatures. Just as Liu Ling's expression hardened with absolute resolve to utter a flat refusal, one of the two lawyers suddenly produced a digital video camera and began recording them.

"What are you people doing?" Xu Weihai, far more sensitive than his wife, snapped instantly, fixing a sharp, suspicious glare on the camera lens.

"Oh, this is just a new protocol implemented by our firm. We retain video documentation during the contract execution phase to prevent any future disputes," the lawyer holding the camera replied with a smooth, polished smile.

"Uncle Xu." Bai Yichen wheeled himself forward until he stopped right in front of Xu Weihai, sliding neatly into the frame of the video camera's lens. "Uncle Xu, I genuinely want to help the child I rescued. He's already an orphan and has suffered enough; this money will make his life so much easier. 1.5 million isn't a huge amount compared to the assets my parents left behind, is it? Besides, I'm giving this aid with a sincere heart—surely that doesn't count as reckless spending, right?"