Archive of Our Own

Shen Jiu sat down at a table in his go-to cafe, Warm Red Pavillion, coffee in hand. He took out his phone, and pulled out his earphones to listen to music.

It was another peaceful day, just like any other day in his 28 years of life.

Unfortunately, this couldn’t be said for the previous years of life he had experienced in his first life.

Yes, his first life which he had the misfortune of experiencing AND remembering in his second life.

After he had been reborn in a strange, new world, he had to adjust to the lack of qi, the advanced technology, and the language, which was mostly the same but the way people spoke was unfamiliar, and so casual .

But that wasn’t the main issue.

The main issue was that he remembered .

In this life, he had been an orphan again, but this time, he had been adopted… by Tianlang-jun .

(Yes, what the hell.)

And Tianlang-jun also remembered, and took great enjoyment in teasing baby Shen Jiu by stretching his cheeks, tickling his feet, poking his stomach and just being a damn nuisance in general.

Thank god there was Zhuzhi-lang, who stopped his uncle from going too far. 

(For some reason, the snake general hadn’t been reborn as a snake, but a human. But that was alright for him, as he was able to stick to his uncle, just as he had in his first life.)

But even though Tianlang-jun was an annoyance, it was a distraction. A distraction from his past childhood, when he was a slave of the Qiu’s. A distraction from his time at Cang Qiong, as the most hated person in the whole cultivation world. A distraction from the days spent in the water prison, being tortured by Luo Binghe…

Which led Shen Jiu to be puzzled. Where was Su Xiyan?

When he was old enough to talk, he voiced this question out, but it took several attempts to speak properly , leading to 5 painful minutes of Tianlang-jun laughing at him. When the damn ex-demon finally stopped laughing, he told him that he has avoided her in this life. 

“Don’t you love her?” Shen Jiu had asked, but with ridiculous baby pronunciation.

“I did love her. And now I know that she did love me. But we weren’t meant to be.” Tianlang-jun was so solemn that Shen Jiu had almost thought he was another person. Then he started laughing at his pronunciation again, and Shen Jiu completely lost that thought.

(Shen Jiu did not mention how glad, how relieved he was that Luo Binghe had not been born into this world.)

Of course, even with the distractions, he still had nightmares that plagued him every night. Because they couldn’t take an infant to a therapist, Zhuzhi-lang served as one, having studied psychology in university. And over time, Shen Jiu found himself forgetting. Letting go of the past, of grudges, and regrets. And soon he had dreamless nights, and when he did dream, it had been happy for once.

Once, he had asked Tianlang-jun why he had adopted him.

“You were the victim of my mistakes. And I wanted to help you, as much as I could. Because you saved Zhuzhi once, despite him being a demon. You probably don’t remember, but you saved his life. And now I owe you two life debts, because that idiotic offspring of him ruined yours. A-Jiu, you’re safe here. You know that, right?”

That night, Shen Jiu had cried in the arms of Zhuzhi-lang.

In this life, Shen Jiu once again took up his favourite hobbies, which were calligraphy, playing instruments, painting, and, surprisingly, teaching. This time, he was able to teach properly, no longer tormented by his crippled cultivation that filled him with jealousy. And he enjoyed it, especially when he saw his students progress. He taught children and teens, and their parents often told him how grateful they were for his excellent teaching. And Shen Jiu would always smile and thank them, but not without a slight pain in his heart that he couldn’t do the same for his previous disciples in Qing Jing.

Shen Jiu thought that the best thing that had ever happened to him was being adopted.

The next best thing would be adopting.

Adopting a little baby girl had been an impulsive decision, he admitted. But when he saw the infant, crying out to the world, screaming for the warmth of her mother who had died, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Ning Yingying when he first found her. Except, in that life, he was probably not in the right mind to take care of someone else’s child. But he had promised her mother, and guilt made him take in Ning Yingying.

Look where that got me.

And yet, he still adopted the crying baby girl. Because now he had changed, and he was certain that he could properly love the child.

Before her death, her mother had named her Yanmei. So Shen Jiu kept the name, and Shen Yanmei was added into his family.

Shen Yanmei was a smart girl. Shen Jiu taught her as well, how to play the guqin and the violin, how to write in calligraphy, and how to paint. She learnt faster than any of his students, and soon Shen Jiu got her to be his assistant whenever he was teaching. 

It wasn’t just the arts that Shen Yanmei was quick to learn. Maybe it was because she was adopted, and that she only had a father, and that she understood that her family situation was different to others, but she was observant, open-minded and understanding. And sometimes, on rare nights when Shen Jiu had a nightmare, she would comfort him without even knowing what he dreamed of. 

“Baba, A-Yan is here, baba is safe and A-Yan is safe. So please don’t cry, baba.”

And yet, she was still an 8 year old girl, childish and joyful, filled with sunshine. She wasn’t naive , but she wasn’t pretentious from being smarter than others. And Shen Jiu loved her more than anything in the world. 

Back to Shen Jiu, sitting in Warm Red Pavillion, with his cup of coffee. And, of course, his 8 year old daughter, and her cheesecake.

Wait, since when did I buy a cheesecake?

He looked up to see Hua Xiu, the cafe owner, standing next to his table, and smiling at his daughter. “Ah, Miss Hua, let me pay for the cheesecake…” he began as he took off his earphones, but she stopped him.

“No, no. This one’s on the house, since you’re such a long time regular here, AND you teach my daughter too.” She smiled even more.

Shen Jiu, embarrassed, still tried to look for his wallet. “How could I possibly accept-”

“Baba, just let her. She’s not going to take your money anyway.”

Shen Jiu gave a pointed look to his daughter, who was currently greatly enjoying her cheesecake. “A-Yan…” he sighed. Giving up, he simply thanked Hua Xiu and let it be.

As he watched his daughter eat, Shen Jiu thought back to Hua Xiu of his previous life. She had been the madam of Warm Red Pavillion, and had been kind to him. Very kind. She, and all the other ladies, had cared for him when he came crying to them about the hate he received from his martial siblings, when he had stormed in after an argument (that he lost), and when he was shivering after an encounter with men . Shen Jiu really owed a lot to Warm Red Pavilion, and if making up for it meant being a regular at the parallel equivalent of it, he’d do it without hesitation.

He was very glad that, in this life, they weren’t prostitutes, but simply ordinary workers at a cafe. A little disappointed that they didn’t remember because he couldn’t thank them for all they had done for him, but then again, it was better for them not to.

“Yan-yan! Jie-jie is here! Oh, good morning A-Jiu!”

The cheerful voice broke his thoughts, and he looked up once again. Only this time, it was a young woman with a bright grin on her face. 

“Miss Qiao, good morning,” Shen Jiu replied, smiling in return. Qiao Xia nodded, and then turned to Shen Yanmei, who had finished her cheesecake.

“My sweet Yan-yan, give Jie-jie a hug!” she said, bending down to the little girl’s height. Gleefully, Shen Yanmei threw her arms around Qiao Xia, and they hugged enthusiastically. Shen Jiu sighed fondly at the sight.

Qiao Xia had been another prostitute at Warm Red Pavilion in his past life, and had been his confidant. He had been closer to her than any of the other ladies (resulting in some playful jealousy amongst the ladies, much to his embarrassment), and they shared their thoughts and feelings to each other openly. In his past life, Qiao Xia hadn’t been as cheerful as she was now. How could she be, when she was a prostitute, forced to be seductive and delicate just to live? And so, she had been able to be her true self with Shen Jiu, just like Shen Jiu could speak his mind with her. They both found solace in each other, and became the closest friends ever. Even closer than Shen Jiu had been with Qi-ge. (Not Yue Qingyuan. They’re different. )

In this life, Qiao Xia had been fast friends with Shen Jiu after talking to him during one of his visits to the cafe, and took a great liking to Shen Yanmei after the little girl told her that she was the prettiest person she had ever seen.

Shen Jiu closed his eyes, and let the sound of his music with the underlying layer of chatter wash over him.

What a lovely day.

He didn’t expect that to change right after he thought that.

The door opened, and a group of people barged through the door, eliciting a frown from Hua Xiu. Shen Jiu peeked at the new customers… and his heart almost stopped.

Cang Qiong?!

He stared dumbfounded at them, and his heart began to race with panic. What are they doing here? Why would they come here? Why are they all together? Do they remember? No, of course they remember, why else would they be all together! I can’t let them see me. They hate me. Oh god, please just leave, please leave please leave please leave please-

“A-Jiu! Snap out of it. It’s alright.” 

Qiao Xia’s voice broke his spiral of panic, and he belatedly realised that he had been gripping his cup to the point that it was cracking. Seeing that he had calmed down, Qiao Xia smiled and gave him a hug, so similar to the hugs that she used to give him in their past lives. And Shen Jiu finally breathed properly, and regained control over himself.

They might have their memories, but they don’t know that I have them. And even if they suspect something, I can act the part.

Of course, the ex-peak lords just had to see him when Qiao Xia was hugging him.

“Shen Qingqiu! Get your hands off that woman!” yelled Qi Qingqi. Shen Jiu looked at his hands on his lap with amusement. Then he put on a mask of confusion. Qiao Xia, being a waitress at the cafe, only hugged him tighter and coldly said, “Ma’am. We do not condone such violent behaviours in this cafe. Please leave if you are going to disrupt other customers before we use force to remove you.”

Qi Qingqi finally seemed to notice, albeit a bit awkwardly, that it wasn’t Shen Jiu hugging Qiao Xia, but the other way around. Then, she noticed Shen Yanmei.

In a more civil volume, she said, “Shen Qingqiu, don’t pretend to not remember us! How- how could someone as filthy as you marry someone, and have a daughter of all things! Are you planning to lust over your daughter too, just as you did with Ning Yingying!”

And of course, Yue Qingyuan stepped forward. “Now, Qingqi-shimei, don’t be so confrontational. But Xiao Jiu… why are you…”

So even in this life, you don’t trust me, huh?

Shen Jiu was about to speak, when someone beat him to it.

“Don’t speak about baba like that,” Shen Yanmei said. They all looked at her. “Besides, baba would never lust over me. I’m a minor. And baba likes men.”

Now all the attention was on him. Shen Jiu covered his face, which was surely red with embarrassment. “ A-Yan , you can’t just… oh, whatever.” 

Shen Jiu never had time to think about ‘love’ in his past life, nor was he ever in the right mindset to love someone. But now he had discovered, after he got over his trauma with Qiu Jianluo, that he was attracted to males. In a way, it made sense. He had never felt any attraction towards the Warm Red Pavilion ladies, even with their revealing clothing and makeup, nor had he felt anything towards the pretty female disciples of Xian Shu.

And now it was Liu Qingge’s turn to speak. “WHAT?! Shen Qi- Shen-shixiong, you like men ? Then what about your visits to brothels-”

“A-Jiu never slept with us, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Qiao Xia, still hugging Shen Jiu. Shen Jiu’s eyes widened. 

“Wait, Miss Qiao, you remember ?” he said, forgetting his pretense (not that he cared anymore).

Qiao Xia finally let go of him. “Yes, A-Jiu, I remember. In fact, everyone here remembers, but we all thought it would be better for you to believe that we didn’t.”

Shen Jiu was about to reply, when Qi Qingqi interrupted, “Hey! What- what do you mean he didn't ?”

Qiao Xia rolled her eyes. “Peak Lord Qi, I would’ve thought that you’d be smarter after living two lives. Need this humble lowly prostitute to explain to you? A-Jiu, didn’t, fuck, us. Oh, and the kid isn’t mine, just saying.”

The Cang Qiong gang’s mouths all dropped, and Shen Jiu only felt embarrassment at the crude way that Qiao Xia had explained it.

It was Mu Qingfang who broke the silence. “So, uh, Shen-shixiong-”

“I am not your shixiong,” Shen Jiu said with an edge in his voice. “My name is Shen Jiu.”

“Ah, um, Shen Jiu,” continued Mu Qingfang, “so this is your adopted child?”

Shen Yanmei responded for him. “Yes. I would introduce myself, but I don’t really like the way you’ve been speaking to baba. So I won’t.”

Awkwardly, Mu Qingfang nodded in understanding.

Shen Jiu just sighed. “Well, if that’s all, then I will be leaving-”

“Wait! Xiao Jiu, you can’t leave!” Yue Qingyuan made a move to grab his arm, but was stopped by Liu Qingge.

“Yue Qingyuan, with all due respect, what right do you have to stop him? You didn’t even defend him in the trial! When he was innocent !” Liu Qingge said with slight rage. Shen Jiu looked at him with surprise. 

Yue Qingyuan was also surprised. “Wait, Liu-shidi, how did you know-”

“Because after Shen-shixiong tried to save me, not kill me as you all thought, for some reason I lingered there as a ghost. And I was able to see everything that you did to Shen-shixiong. We all wronged him, and yet, you’re still trying to tie him down with that obsession of yours?”

Shen Jiu offhandedly noted that this was the most he had ever heard Liu Qingge say. 

Mu Qingfang tried to speak, “Liu-shidi, calm down-”

“And you!” Liu Qingge turned abruptly to him, interrupting his words. “You purposely sent low quality medicine to Qing Jing, late at that. Do you know how many Qing Jing disciples died because of your actions?”

Mu Qingfang’s eyes widened, and he forgot whatever he wanted to say. Shen Jiu felt a stab of pain in his heart, as he remembered how his reputation brought down his entire peak, some even losing their lives because of the entire sect’s hate towards him.

Liu Qingge turned to Shen Jiu. “Shen-shixiong, just leave. If you don’t want to see us again, I’ll make sure you won’t. This shidi apologises for everything he has done to shixiong in the past.”

Shen Jiu said nothing in return, and just got up and left with Shen Yanmei following him.

They walked in silence for a while. Then, Shen Yanmei spoke. “Baba, who were they?” she asked.

“Just… old acquaintances,” he said. Well, he wasn’t really lying.

“They don’t seem to like baba. I don’t like them.”

“A-Yan, you’ve only met them for 5 minutes. And besides, some of it was my fault. Not all of their hate is unreasonable.” Shen Jiu sighed. They continued to walk without speaking.

“Baba, do you like the pretty one?” Shen Yanmei asked suddenly.

Shen Jiu almost tripped over air. “Wh-what?” he said, shocked by the question.

“The tall, pretty, ponytail one-”

“Yes, I know who you mean, but what makes you think that I, uh, like him?”

Shen Yanmei thought for a moment. “You smiled when he apologised to you,” she said, finally. “And you blushed.”

“What- I did neither of those,” denied Shen Jiu, though he remembered that his lips had twitched slightly, and his face had felt a little warm.

“No, baba definitely did. I don’t like the others, but he apologised, and I don’t know why he was apologising but he did so he’s good. And he’s really pretty. A-Yan approves,” she said with a small smile.

Shen Jiu glared at her with no real anger. The girl just giggled.

“Does baba mind if he keeps seeing him?”

Shen Jiu considered meeting Liu Qingge again. To be honest, I’ve mostly gotten over whatever happened in my past life. And it does make me happy that he still bothered to apologise after all this time. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.”

“Good,” Shen Yanmei said, “because I slipped a piece of paper with your phone number into his pocket.”

“What?! You- when did you- Shen Yanmei, come back here!” Flustered, Shen Jiu chased after his cheeky daughter.

(If he was secretly overjoyed, no one but himself needed to know that.)

Liu Qingge, curse you for being so damn good looking!