WMSR — QT Chapter 84

 

Chapter 84:The Caged White Moonlight

In the past, Xu Weihai fancied himself utterly fearless, fearing neither heaven nor earth. Yet, having genuinely experienced the crucible of imprisonment, he finally discovered just how precious mundane existence and the breath of freedom truly were. Accumulated wealth only needed to be sufficient for uninhibited indulgence; a man had no business falling victim to such insatiable greed. Still, a sudden thought struck Xu Weihai, instantly twisting his expression into a cold, mocking smirk as he narrowed his eyes: "Hmph! Does that Bai Ziqian honestly believe winning a lawsuit means he has completely won the war? Does he genuinely think he will be capable of defending and holding onto those assets once he takes them back? How utterly naive. With his pathetic capabilities, he'll be ripped apart and swallowed alive by the ravenous vultures out there before long."

Hearing Xu Weihai's declarations, Xu Jiangzhe snapped his head upward with a violent jerk.

Having operated within the ruthlessly Darwinian arena of high-stakes commerce for decades, Xu Weihai understood the brutal reality better than anyone: even if Bai Ziqian possessed a shred of innate genius in his youth, he had deliberately insulated him from all exposure to business affairs and commerce-related literature over the years, raising him to be utterly helpless and divorced from practical survival. A Bai Ziqian who reclaimed his inheritance under such conditions was no different from a five-year-old child stumbling through a bustling marketplace cradling a massive, glowing chunk of priceless jade. Xu Weihai simply waited to watch Bai Ziqian plunge from the dizzying heights of his perceived triumph into a catastrophic, bone-shattering fall.

Meanwhile, Fang Ruoming was wrestling with the exact same anxieties plaguing Xu Weihai. Testing the waters with calculated tact, he offered a cautious proposal: "Brother Bai, why don't you hire me to serve as your official corporate proxy?"

The massive portfolio of assets Bai Ziqian had successfully wrestled back constituted an immense logistical challenge—not to mention that while these holdings were officially restored to Bai Ziqian's legal name, they still shared a complex, deeply tangled web of corporate lineage with the Baixu Group. Though Fang Ruoming recognized the situation was intensely thorny, he calculated that if he threw his entire weight and intellectual capital behind it, he could untangle the knot.

Having cast his proposal, Fang Ruoming watched expectantly for Bai Yichen's response, yet to his utter astonishment, Bai Yichen gave a slow, deliberate shake of his head.

"I've already imposed on you far too much. I'll figure out a way to resolve this myself."

Hearing that firm refusal, Fang Ruoming froze in momentary shock. Though his lips parted to argue further, he ultimately swallowed his words. Wealth and corporate power were profoundly sensitive, delicate domains; he desperately wanted to avoid projecting any ulterior motives or giving the impression that he was plotting a play for control. Nevertheless, he silently resolved to keep a vigilant eye on the situation, ready to step in and intervene the moment he spotted a crisis his Brother Bai couldn't handle alone. (Read this novel on https://donttelmewhattodo.blogspot.com/ for free.)

While Fang Ruoming privately locked in his resolve, Bai Yichen gazed out the window for a long stretch before casually announcing: "I've stayed here far too long and put you to too much trouble. My new residence is nearly finalized, and I plan to move out in a few days."

Compared to Bai Yichen's earlier rejection of his offer as a corporate proxy, this bombshell detonated with infinitely greater force, driving Fang Ruoming's reaction into immediate overdrive. He snapped his head up, locking his eyes onto Bai Yichen in panic: "What? Moving out? No—I mean, there's no need to rush! Brother Bai, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you desire. The new residence can take all the time it needs to prepare so you'll be completely comfortable when you transition."

Fang Ruoming's brain spun in complete, chaotic panic. The sheer abruptness of the disclosure triggered an urgent impulse to throw up any barrier to keep him here, though he checked his tongue instantly, terrified that a desperate slip of the tongue might provoke negative associations in Bai Yichen's mind. Thus, his explanation tumbled out in a breathless, jagged rush.

Faced with Fang Ruoming's frantic pleas for retention, Bai Yichen maintained an absolute, unshakeable serenity, yet his counter-response was terrifyingly resolute: "The new home is already equipped and ready; lingering here any longer serves no purpose. Furthermore, I am eager to settle into my own space."

Bai Yichen's phrasing mapped out his stance with crystal clarity, leaving Fang Ruoming zero room for negotiation. No matter how deeply reluctant he felt, he had no choice but to yield and accept the decision. Even without spelling it out, he knew all too well that anyone who had survived over a decade of confinement and imprisonment harbored an acute psychological aversion to any perceived infringement upon their personal autonomy; he would never commit a blunder that might trigger memories of restricted freedom. Even so, a massive, crushing wave of desolation surged upward from the depths of his chest: Is he really leaving?

Surrendering to that heavy sense of loss, Fang Ruoming could only retreat to a secondary request: "Then... Brother Bai, may I come visit you from time to time?"

Hearing that inquiry, Bai Yichen offered a gentle, welcoming smile and nodded: "Of course. You are always welcome."

Armed with that affirmative reply, Fang Ruoming finally found a fragile anchor of comfort settling in his chest.

True to his word, a few days later, Bai Yichen packed his belongings and formally checked out of the sanctuary provided by Fang Ruoming, returning to a home that belonged to him in every legal and physical sense. Concurrently, he initiated a brutal, uncompromising campaign to restructure and audit the assets that had so recently returned to his portfolio.

The ensuing chain of events left Fang Ruoming—and indeed, the entire external corporate ecosystem—completely paralyzed by shock. Everyone had envisioned that the fragile youth confined to a wheelchair, who appeared so utterly in need of shielding, would falter; instead, the moment he stepped onto the chessboard, his execution proved to be remarkably swift, decisive, and thunderous.

The aggressive liquidation of toxic assets, the ruthless culling and replacement of executive talent orchestrated through high-profile headhunting firms, the complete and permanent surgical severance of tangled umbilical cords connecting his portfolio to the Baixu Group, and the drafting of an entirely fresh annual strategic blueprint and operational roadmap—it was a masterclass in execution. Shortly after carving out every single independent asset capable of standing on its own away from the Baixu Group, Bai Yichen filed paperwork under his personal name to incorporate a brand-new corporate entity christened Xinri Company, severing every last thread of association with the Baixu behemoth.

Bai Yichen's sweeping, iron-fisted reforms, paired with the dazzling, undeniable commercial genius and tactical acumen he displayed throughout the entire restructuring campaign, left onlookers utterly breathless. Numerous predatory corporate players who had been circling the waters, salivating at the prospect of carving up what they assumed was a vulnerable chunk of prime meat, collectively slammed on the brakes, withdrew their teeth, and transitioned into a cautious posture of observation.

Yet that very hesitation handed Bai Yichen a priceless, golden window of developmental acceleration. In a staggeringly brief span of time, Xinri Company matured into an exceptionally lethal, streamlined commercial apparatus. Every internal department functioned with the terrifying, synchronized precision of micro-engineered mechanical gears, while its external corporate defense was sealed like an iron fortress. When the first-quarter financial statements finally dropped, this newly minted enterprise didn't just survive—it posted an astonishing net profit.

That staggering financial disclosure completely shattered the collective sanity of everyone secretly monitoring Xinri Company, leaving them utterly dumbfounded and stammering in disbelief. A faction of suspicious rivals even dispatched secret investigators to dig into whether Xinri Company had secretly poached some legendary, elite corporate titan from the upper echelons of global industry. Yet no matter how deep they dug or how many angles they probed, the executive roster staffing Xinri Company's core leadership positions revealed utterly ordinary résumés. If those individuals possessed even a fraction of such high-level strategic brilliance, they never would have settled for paltry annual salaries in their past posts or jumped ship with such effortless fluidity.

A cohort of industry analysts tore their hair out in futile frustration, while others stubbornly doubled down on their espionage efforts, digging ever deeper. For certain opportunistic competitors, the temptation represented by Xinri Company's market potential was completely eclipsed by the sheer gravitational pull of that mysterious, unidentified corporate mastermind. After all, everyone in high-level commerce understood an eternal truth: capital was easy to generate, but elite talent was exceedingly scarce. To take a chaotic, contaminated pool of liquidated assets, purge the rot, reorganize the architecture, build a brand-new corporation from scratch, and drive it to immediate profitability with such ruthless, immaculate administrative precision—what an unfathomably rare, precious level of managerial genius that represented!