Chapter Text
There was a baby in the dumpster.
Okay, so that was a bit mean. Not to mention inaccurate.
It was mostly just plopped down right in the middle of some alleyway, but it had the same feel and aura as a regular dumpster baby.
Not that dumpster babies were in any way a regular occurrence, but still.
The dumpster baby started crying.
A small, mean, bitter part of himself whispered that it was best to leave now before it started snowing again.
Shen Yuan ignored that small, mean, bitter part of himself. Instead stepping forward to pick up the dumpster baby.
It was a cute baby.
Cute nose, cute cheeks, cute little ears.
It wouldn't be cute for long if it was left out in the open during winter.
Most likely it would be dead.
Which really wasn't cute at all.
Shen Yuan stumbles away with his new dumpster baby, his stubby four-year-old legs struggling to carry the load.
[ Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Good things must be said three times! Shen Jiu, courtesy name Qingqiu, has been picked up! ]
Shen Yuan didn’t even bother to be angry, already far too used to the System’s bullshit.
“Alright cut the crap, where do you want me to put the baby?” Shen Yuan demanded. This wasn’t the first time the system had made him do some weird side quest and no doubt it wouldn’t be the last. The system probably just wanted Shen Yuan to deliver the baby to someone. The last time Shen Yuan had triggered a side quest the system had made him leave the city to pick Delusion Daisies. Then it had Shen Yuan hide the daisies in some nobleman’s carriage. Shen Yuan still had no idea what the fuck that was all about and he had no intention or inclination to find out.
[ No need to put the baby anywhere host, it's yours now ]
“What? No, I can't have a baby, I’m a baby,” Shen Yuan immediately rebuttled, feeling baffled by the system. Was it glitching? Did it get a bug?
[ Host is only a child in body, System has full faith in you ]
“I’m not raising a child while being physically four, that was never something I was going to do. I was always just planning to leave the baby at some poor sucker’s doorstep,” Shen Yuan explained. While he and the system went back and forth the baby stopped crying and instead let out some truly pitiful whimpers that made Shen Yuan’s stone-cold heart warm and quaking. This dumpster baby was way too cute.
[ System is sad to say that host is not allowed to do that. Shen Qingqiu must be raised by you ]
Shen Yuan felt the urge to punch the system. Which was bad because it was an urge that could never be fulfilled.
“That’s ridiculous, why on earth would that even be a requirement?” Shen Yuan asked, aghast.
[ Because Shen Qinggiu must be raised by Yue Qi, courtesy name Qingyuan ]
That made Shen Yuan pause as he wondered about the lore implications of that.
“Shit that makes sense, no wonder there was that weird tension. Well, let's go find Yue Qingyuan then,” Shen Yuan said, walking a few confident steps forward before the System well and truly pissed on his parade.
[ No need to look, host ]
“You just said Shen Qingqiu must be raised by-” Shen Yuan paused, an ominous premonition emerging.
[ Host doesn’t need to look because host is Yue Qingyuan ]
“Motherfucker-”
Shen Yuan would like to say that his first few steps into fatherhood were graceful and dignified, that he handled his new responsibilities with ease and elegance.
That would be a dirty dirty lie though.
Shen Yuan came into fatherhood holding a dumpster baby that was not his own in a body that was better at crying at the drop of a hat than soothing any tears.
Already, Shen Yuan had gotten into three cage matches with his fellow homeless comrades as they attempted to use his newfound weakness against him.
Jokes on them though because, apparently, rage only made him more likely to beat the ever-loving shit out of them.
When Shen Yuan had first been thrown out of his house at the age of three the system had taught him a couple of cultivation tricks to help him at least survive. Now at age four with a totally reliant baby, Shen Yuan made good use of those tricks.
The only thing that genuinely worried Shen Yuan was food.
Shen Yuan was four, he could eat solids. Xiao Jiu was a week old, he could not.
Shen Yuan ended up having to make a deal with a prostitute from the redlight district who had lost her child in a miscarriage.
She’d feed Xiao Jiu and he’d give her all the money he collected for every day that the baby was fed.
She called it making pocket change and gathering merits.
Shen Yuan called it being ruthlessly money-hungry.
Still, despite that, Shen Yuan didn’t dare to skimp out on the money. If she ever decided that it was all much more trouble then it was worth, Shen Yuan would be screwed and he refused to allow that to happen.
And thus went Shen Yuan’s life for the next six months.
He’d wake up, check to see if the baby had wet himself, change the cloth to a clean one if he had, wrap the baby to his back, run to the river to wash the dirty cloth before going out to beg for scraps and coins, gaining just enough to get by. Xiao Jiu would wake up with a startlingly loud screech as he demanded to be fed. Shen Yuan would soothe him all the way to the prostitute's brothel before handing the precious bundle to callous hands. Xiao Jiu would be given just enough to stop crying before being given to Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan would spend at least five minutes cooing at the baby before he’d hand over the money he had collected thus far. Then he’d go out to collect more. He’d check multiple times to see if Shen Jiu had wet himself again, changing the cloth to the clean one he had just washed. If he had, then he’d run to the river again and once more clean the used diaper. Shen Jiu would eventually grow hungry again and Shen Yuan would bring him back to the brothel. This would continue until the sun went down and the prostitute’s true job began. She'd feed Xiao Jiu one last time before waving Shen Yuan and the baby away. Shen Yuan would take his baby to their temporary shelter and the two would cuddle together until Xiao Jiu would eventually fall asleep. Then Xiao Jiu would awake in the middle of the night with a piercing cry, waking Shen Yuan from whatever rest he had managed to steal for himself. Shen Yuan would check his diaper to see if that was the issue, if it was he’d change it. If it wasn't he’d try his best to soothe Xiao Jiu in any fashion he could. From rocking to singing, Shen Yuan would do it all. Eventually, Xiao Jiu would fall back asleep, but more often than not Xiao Jiu would instead quiet down, soft pained whimpers leaving his chest as he ached with hunger. By this point Shen Yuan’s own belly would clench with starvation and his eyes would blur from lack of sleep.
Still, despite the daily grind, Shen Yuan would continue on, drawing strength from the occasionally joyful giggle Xiao Jiu would gift him.
In the six months Shen Yuan had known Xiao Jiu, his life had been hell that’s true, but he’d also gained a purpose, a goal beyond simply surviving.
Xiao Jiu, Shen Qingqiu, had become one of the only few streaks of light in this shit hole of a world where every single day was worse than the last.