A Broken Heart Still Beats.

Chapter XII

"So, you fought with them?" Shang Qinghua asked as he ate a few melon seeds, his paperwork spread out across the desk on Shen Yuan's side of the room, a simple screen painted with flying birds and mountains being the only thing to separate the two sides.

His Xia-Shijie was out with a few of his other Shijie as well, they had gone down off the mountain to get something from the market, and he took the opportunity to invite Shang Qinghua over so they could talk.

"I wouldn't say I fought with them...just bickered a little." Shen Yuan murmured, lying on his bed as he thought about the Spring Festival. It was a little over a week ago, definitely long enough for him to overthink the entire interaction and internally scream and cringe at himself for everything he said.

He had just wanted to ignore them! Maybe be cordial when speaking with them out of necessity, but that was it! He didn't want to say all of that! He didn't even want them to really know who he was! But they sure as hell would now! He knew just how spiteful those two could be! Even the smallest slight against them could earn you their ire for a lifetime!

"You outwardly berated them and Bai Zhan and defended your brother in front of them, that's a fight." Shang Qinghua chuckled, laughing when he heard Shen Yuan groan like a pained animal, rolling about on his bed until his head hung over the side limply. "Well, see it this way, a good relationship has a few fights! If everything just went nice and smooth, things would be boring!"

He yelped when a pillow was expertly chucked at his head, and he tried to not think about how terrifying it was that this Shidi of his had such good aim blind. "I shouldn't even have a relationship with them!" Shen Yuan screeched, rolling over onto his stomach so he could press his cheek to the sheets beneath him. "I shouldn't even be talking to them! I should have just ignored them! Or maybe even begged Er-ge just to walk away! Heavens bear witness I don't even like either of them! Why did I talk to them!?"

"Ha! Shen Qingqiu? Walk away from a bickering match between Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe? Not likely my friend." Shang Qinghua laughed, shaking his head at the thought. If there was one thing that Shen Qingqiu was, it was prideful, and he would never walk away from even the silliest arguments if it meant protecting his dignity.

Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge were somewhat similar. Liu Qingge wasn't one for words, if he didn't care enough, he'd only glare at you and walk away silently, likely fuming on the inside, but he'd just take it out on some poor beast later. Luo Binghe, however, could be rather spiteful and would make it his personal mission to repay any slight against him tenfold.

So, putting those three in a room together would be the equivalent of setting up a fire next to a firework shop. It was bound to go wrong, it would be messy and dangerous, but at the very least it would be an interesting show to watch.

Shang Qinghua was a little upset he missed it now, he could only imagine the faces of both Bai Zhan disciples upon earning a tongue-lashing from Shen Yuan! Something that happened to so few and so rarely in the past life that Shang Qinghua had only seen it once himself!

However, upon seeing his friend's dejected expression, he quickly changed the subject to something they could equally rant over. "How is your system? Has it given you any new tasks?"

Shen Yuan shook his head, sitting up to rest on his knees. "No, it still says "pending tasks" any time I ask...I'm almost scared to know what it's going to have me do."

Shang Qinghua hummed at that, tapping his chin with the end of his pen as he said, "I mean technically "Shen Shi" was a character I originally created to die as a young kid in the brothel as a martyr for Shen Qingqiu to give him that really heartbreaking backstory..." He coughed sheepishly when he saw Shen Yuan's glare, smiling nervously as he waved his hand dismissively. "So that's likely why you don't have any tasks yet! Your character was never truly that big in canon, so you have no plot points that you specifically need to reach. You were meant to be a means to an end, a martyr, the reason Shen Qingqiu became such a harsh villain!"