WMSR — QT Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Therefore, he didn't rush to act recklessly toward the person now securely held within the palm of his hand. After all, Ziqian was already a duck cooked and safely in his pot—he could eat his fill sooner or later. Why be so impatient and risk missing out on this golden opportunity to truly capture his heart?

Compared to the transient gratification of physical intimacy, having Ziqian—the person he had adored for so many years—gaze back at him with an identical, reciprocal devotion was the ultimate prize.

Furthermore, now that they had finally broken free from that suffocating prison which had trapped him for over a decade, Ziqian had to be experiencing the peak of emotional vulnerability, making him the most susceptible to being deeply moved.

With such thoughts swirling in his mind, the gaze Xu Jiangzhe cast upon Bai Yichen grew increasingly dark and fathomless.

Ever since relocating to the new villa, aside from the initial few days where Xu Jiangzhe remained glued to his side, his excursions outside began to increase in frequency.

Taking advantage of Xu Jiangzhe's absences, Bai Yichen meticulously surveyed the entire estate.

Yet, as his observations deepened, Bai Yichen's heart sank lower and lower. He realized that while he had finally escaped the impregnable fortress constructed by that cunning old fox Xu Weihai, the security surrounding this new location was not a fraction less rigorous.

Whenever Xu Jiangzhe was away, the burly bodyguards who had escorted him out of the Xu residence remained stationed around the clock, never moving an inch. These security personnel appeared to have undergone specialized, professional training; while they spoke very little in daily life, they maintained razor-sharp vigilance, locking down the villa into an airtight bubble.

Beyond that, surveillance cameras and monitoring devices were scattered ubiquitously throughout the property, their mechanical lenses tracking the movement of anyone navigating the interior halls with cold, mechanical precision.

Was this another classic case of a student surpassing their master in the art of confinement?

Having temporarily shelved any illusions of attempting an escape, Bai Yichen quickly realized that Xu Jiangzhe's frequent departures brought distinct disadvantages as well—namely, the sudden exposure of severe logistical inconveniences in their daily routines.

When Xu Jiangzhe had first abducted him, he had brought along only Bai Yichen himself. Naturally, all the resident domestic workers back at the Xu estate belonged to Xu Weihai and Liu Ling, meaning none of them were relocated. Consequently, all nursing and personal care during this period fell entirely upon Xu Jiangzhe's shoulders. With Xu Jiangzhe now frequently absent, the only other humans occupying the villa were those thick-limbed bodyguards who possessed zero experience or aptitude in patient care.

To compound matters, wishing to distance their safehouse as far away from the Xu family estate as humanly possible, Xu Jiangzhe had handpicked an exceptionally remote location. Commuting back and forth required a significant block of time. Fortunately, Bai Yichen wasn't the only one who foresaw this operational bottleneck.

Inside a spacious executive office, Xu Jiangzhe cast a critical, examining gaze toward the somewhat timid young man standing before him. The visitor looked to be in his early twenties, clad in an inexpensive, heavily laundered outfit that had faded with age. A long, shaggy fringe hung across his forehead, drooping over an old-fashioned pair of black-rimmed glasses, giving him an overall air of dull, unassuming rustic docility. Though his entire presentation lacked polish, he appeared reasonably tidy; his clothes were neat and crisp, and his fingernails were meticulously trimmed.

The man didn't score a 10/10 on Xu Jiangzhe's internal rubric, but he was currently the most viable candidate available: he possessed formal caregiving experience, maintained an isolated, uncomplicated social network, and—most importantly—held a fatal leverage point tightly squeezed within Xu Jiangzhe's grasp, guaranteeing absolute obedience.

Tapping his fingers lightly against the smooth wooden desktop, Xu Jiangzhe slid a printed dossier across the surface. "Take a look. If the terms are acceptable to you, sign it. I will wire 200,000 yuan into your account immediately to cover your father's upcoming medical treatments, and subsequent expenses will be disbursed in scheduled installments. Rest assured, as long as you perform your duties diligently, your father's therapeutic bills and surgical costs will be entirely taken care of."

Trembling slightly, the young man reached out to accept the contract. Scanning the dense, meticulously detailed clauses, his eyes caught the core of the agreement: an exhaustive sequence of non-disclosure protocols. These stipulations explicitly banned him from ever leaking any observations or experiences gathered inside the employer's residence, prohibited bringing any communications devices onto the premises, and forbade relaying any incoming or outgoing messages on behalf of anyone residing within the villa.

Yet, trailing behind those draconian, ironclad rules lay a remarkably generous compensation package. If this employment contract went into effect, it would instantly resolve the catastrophic financial crisis surrounding his father's staggering medical bills, exactly as promised.

On one side hovered a dying parent drawing his final breaths; on the other sat a lucrative, high-paying job. Anyone with a pulse knew how to make that choice.

Watching the young man grip his pen and scrawl his signature onto the dotted line, Xu Jiangzhe offered a satisfied nod. Retrieving the executed contract, he instructed: "In that case, head back to prepare your personal affairs and report for duty tomorrow. As for your father, don't worry—I've hired a dedicated nurse to look after him full-time. You just need to focus single-mindedly on executing the tasks I assign you."

Going to the extravagant length of hiring an extra nurse just to look after an employee's hospitalized relative, accompanied by an astronomical salary alongside watertight confidentiality clauses—viewed from any angle, this recruitment drive reeked of unusual circumstances. Yet the young man merely nodded with a dull, submissive expression, turning to depart without daring to voice a single question.

Once the visitor exited the office, Xu Jiangzhe tapped his desk thoughtfully. Imagining the look of relief on Ziqian's face when he learned of this arrangement, a faint, contented smile curled the corners of his lips.

What Xu Jiangzhe failed to realize was that the moment the quiet, unassuming young man stepped out of the corporate building, he boarded a local transit bus, transferred across several lines, and returned straight to the hospital to resume watching over his critically ill father. Everything appeared completely ordinary on the surface.

The sole anomaly took place inside the private hospital room, shielded from prying external eyes: the elderly father lying upon the medical bed turned toward his devoted son who was tending to him, a subtle, unnatural twitch crossing his features.

Author's Note: A reader commented in the review section asking if the gong is completely useless now and if we should just give up on him—are you guys serious? Hahaha!

Chapter 35: The Caged White Moonlight (12)

The following morning, the ostensibly dull and docile young man was transported into the private villa.

The vehicle carrying him was driven by one of the burly bodyguards. Set deep within a sparsely populated residential enclave, the surroundings carried an inherent, oppressive weight of isolation. The young man maintained a tense, rigid silence throughout the drive, offering only a single, hurried sweep of his eyes across the property as he was escorted inside.

When the bodyguards ushered him into the main hall, Bai Yichen was currently being held in Xu Jiangzhe's arms on the living room sofa, half-reclining against his chest while being patiently fed a bowl of warm rice porridge.