Work Text:
Qinghua goes alone in "vacation" to his grandmother’s house.
There he has a *lot* of menial work but he is content.
His grandmother lives on a desert island. Well not really, but it's the feel our two protags have.
No internet, no tv, no noise. Just the waves, the sun and fishermen.
He was starting to get accustomed to his life on the island but not to his Granma's beatings after he leaves the house and shop disorganized, when he runs into someone. Shen Yuan.
A young boy who seems kinda lost. More lost than himself, which is weird.
He starts talking to the boy, and they develop an unexpected friendship. Qinghua ends up learning that Shen Yuan is here per his family's wish for him to have pure air or something like that.
He is a rich kid, and rich people have their own reason for lunacy (Who comes here on their own free will ?) so Huahua doesn't think more on it. He, on the contrary, is here after his parents quite literally ditched him to his grandma. They had other issues to take care of and so sent him here "for a summer" and to keep her company.
But frankly, Huahua couldn't be surprised if they completely forgot about him. That doesn't mean he isn't affected by their forgetfulness. But he likes his grandma enough not to complain. And in a way, it's better here. Now there is A-yuan (*-Don't call me that!*) too so he's not the only one who knows about Pokemon and yu-gi-oh cards anymore! Ha !
They spend the summer alternating between the shop, the shen family's traditional cottage. No conditional air because mama shen said full immersion(*- Ughhh. Was that absolutely necessary ?*). There is no internet, but put two kids with similar brainrot together and watch them create their own intricate world. It's fun.
The shen family is happy their third son found someone to be sociable with(*- We're just the only two kids in the middle of nowhere*). The kid is quite spontaneous and disorganized but that's kids for you. They're just worried about one thing.
Never, at any point had shen yuan mentioned his illness to Huahua throughout the summer. It is only the week before his departure he speaks of it. And there, Huahua thought he had found his first friend in a while. He and Shen Yuan had so much common interests ! But this illness. He heard of it. It's a terminal illness. The same his grandma has right now too...which is weird.
Oh. So that was why she favored shen yuan so much over him ? Is that why, she said to take care of his friends ? Is Shen yuan going to die ?
-I mean, yeah, probably.
-...
-Hey, you're not going to cry right ?
-w-what no! I'm not...c...crying ! Not a-at all...\* sniff \*
-Hah It's okay don't cry. This summer was fun. Maybe we'll meet again in the future. Then you better show me the final draft of the story okay ?
-Huh ? Not sure it will happen. I don't know where I'll be when grandma...or my parents come to pick me up. I could end up anywhere. Even an orphanage and then in a random family or somewhere near the woods because nobody would want me and-
-Oh come on ! Don't start finding random excuses not to work on the project!
-That's not...okay.
-Please keep writing. I want to be able to read a cool story like that...you know, stories are amazing. They make you travel to a world full of cool monsters and magic.
-...yeah, you're right
-And yours seems really cool hua-ge
-Eh, what was that ?
-Nothing.
-Did you just--Say it one more time a-yuan!
-You wish! And stop calling me that !
-Please, say ge one more time ! You almost sounded cute just know !
-Try winning against me in an arena first, you third grade loser !
-A-yuan !
-I said stop it !!
And in the next days, Shen Yuan goes back. Shang Qinhua is left alone, but with his passion for crafting stories reaffirmed. In the following years, a lot of things happen, not really happy ones, and Qinghua's memories blur. He isn't sure what exactly happened on that island anymore. Just that he wanted to be a writer. He wanted to write that story he's been working on for years now. If not for the world, at least for that little boy, he once met.
In the end, he starts the story, gets sidetracked, loses his data and end up writing Pidw that shen yuan-aka peerless cucumber- love hating.