NEW FIC IDEA courtesy of By Any Other Name by lav_casio. Not even done with the first three chapters I was just struck with inspiration very suddenly.
ANYWAY.
Endgame qijiu (I Am Predictable Like That) premise where SJ goes down to Warm Red Pavilion only to find this slave kid who looks a whole lot like him. A suspicious amount, really. No he is not feeling things about it. Why would you even think that. Anyway since SJ's love language is targeted assholery he decides to purchase one (1) new disciple servant boy or something. Definitely not going to teach this little street rat no he's not an unreliable narrator.
If anyone else takes inspiration from this: up to you whether SJ decides to Free Ya Boi (who is definitely a newly-transmigrated SY by the way, details up to you since I already know what I want to do in that regard) or Keep Him as (technically) property.
I imagine his thought process would probably be something like "well this kid is snarky and will Clearly die on his own, so I'm just going to impart some Street Smarts on this brat since he never managed to learn anything useful" at first (SJ is so mother hen coded by the way. He's Kanaya-coded. He's a meddler by nature and he just has to be an asshole about it. I love him) which eventually morphs into "no way am I becoming fond of that Wretched Child, even if his commentary on literature is surprisingly engaging somewhat entertaining" to "if anything happened to this feral child I would kill all of you and find a way to bring him back because there's no way in hell I fought this hard to survive to just die with him."
So like all of the Qing Jing disciples and hallmasters know that he's brought back this feral little street rat. And SJ has a choice. Either he can free him and raise him as his own take him as a disciple, or keep him a slave so he can't abandon him like Qi-ge did. I'm going the route of "he's a slave but also My Property and I am the lord of this peak so no one will dare hurt my slave or they will FACE MY WRATH" because that way he can protect SY and not, like, lose face about it? God forbid this man admit that he cares about a disciple (besides NYY because she has merits! Like being precious, and not being a man).
Besides! If he does "Keep Him" like that, it means if YQY finds out and goes surprised pikachu face at it then there's room for a Confrontation Scene which eventually leads to a Confession Of Past Wrongs and soon enough Qijiu Reconciliation (if I ever stop caring about qijiu reconciliation assume I am Dead).
I feel like his thought process would definitely include something like "I need to teach this fool how dangerous men are." This is all actually inspired by lav_casio's A/N before chapter 3! Because there's no way SJ wouldn't see SY trying to protect NYY from him and not feel proud of it at least a little. He'd be like, almost rejoicing. The little rat can learn! He's imparted the dangers of men successfully! Yes it gets on his nerves a bit that he's being gatekept from his favoritest and most precious darling little daughter NYY, but what's important is that SY Got The Message. Kind of annoying that he developed such a strong backbone, but whatever. It'll keep him alive. That's how kids learn.
Then LBH is brought to the peak, and everything changes.
SJ would probably be incredibly offended that this random little twerp who clearly has Untapped Cultivation Potential and came to the sect young enough to utilize it fully and was even lucky enough to be able to remember and cherish his late mother is who catches SY's eye. Like, he tries whipping this little beast into shape one (1) time and SY goes full feral street kid. Again, kind of proud. But of all the things, this little beast is his disciple servant's bottom line?
There's no way that SJ made the decision to just buy out SY's contract without considering the potential ramifications. He thought to himself "I can either free him to formally take him on as a disciple, or I can keep him a slave to better protect him from the world control him. If I keep him a slave, he'll either die from a lashing or survive long enough to try to kill me." Like, he would fully be expecting SY to eventually turn on him. I mean that's what he did and he turned out fine, so seeing this street rat who reminds him of his younger self makes SJ immediately come to that conclusion.
All this to say, SY sees shizun use a single corporal punishment against LBH and goes Fucking Insane. Like, full on howling lashing snarling hissing biting clawing at him. SJ is Even More Proud. Like, yes, finally the rat is fighting him back. But he is also lamenting a bit because of ALL THE POSSIBLE THINGS. Seriously, this random kid is what does it?
By the way. I will never not write YQY as an enabler, because 1) he's obsessed about his Xiao Jiu in a way that is neither healthy nor normal, 2) as a former slave with a very cruel pragmatic shizun himself his perspective on corporal punishment is skewed to say the least, and 3) this is ancient xianxia fantasy China so cultural attitudes on corporal punishment and slavery and all that are Way Different from today's standards. Like, YQY helped SJ hide the body. Literally name a crime he wouldn't forgive his Xiao Jiu of???
Anyway. YQY only confronts SJ to ask if he's sure about keeping this kid as a serf when he could just be a disciple. But, like, SJ Really Is Not Mentally Well so he can't comprehend how that would be preferable. Still supposed to be qijiu though.
So anyway qijiu start raising this servant kid like he's their own son. SJ is like "leave this kid alone I found him first" and YQY is like "but Xiao Jiu" and SJ eventually concedes. EVENTUALLY.
Plus a cute scene where SY almost gets to call YQY Qi-ge but SJ is there in a nanosecond going "WHO'S YOUR QI-GE. GET YOUR OWN. BACK OFF HE IS MINE."
Also bingyuan is going on in the background much to SJ's eternal displeasure.
