Chapter Text
It was around midday when Shen Qingqiu first heard the ruckus. He had been in his bamboo house quietly trying to grade some papers when all of a sudden it was like his peak had just multiplied its usual volume. All of the noise and chatter seemed to be coming from about the same direction though, so Shen Qingqiu put his brush down to go address the situation.
When Shen Qingqiu arrived at the scene all he could see was a large handful of disciples making a circle around something, effectively blocking his vision from whatever they were 'ooh-ing' and 'aw-ing' at.
Shen Qingqiu cleared his throat and watched as the whole circle of disciples went quiet and stiff before turning around quickly to face him. They all went into a low bow as they bombarded him with a chorus of "greetings Shizun!"
Shen Qingqiu flicked his fan open and moved it languidly. "What is all the noise for? Surely you know you're being impolite to all the other disciples still in class or should I have all of you re-write all of Qing Jing Peak's Manners and Decorum book?" They all hurriedly stood up straight and started apologizing to him, most likely hoping they wouldn't have to do the mentioned punishment.
Shen Qingqiu resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he snapped his fan shut, quickly quieting all of the disciples around him. With slow, sure steps Shen Qingqiu moved forward towards what appeared to be the cause of all this chaos. The disciples scuttled out of his way, not wishing to earn his ire, and he quickly found what they were ogling asleep on the floor.
It was a panda cub with a small piece of bamboo clutched firmly to its chest, hugging it in its sleep.
"Can we keep it here Shizun?" One of the disciples spoke nervously. "We had a few of our martial siblings look for its parents on the peak but they said there were no adults in sight."
"Please Shizun?" Another disciple said, giving him puppy eyes. "We'll take great care of it!"
Soon enough all the disciples were talking about the amazing care they would give to the panda cub and telling him how they would make sure it wouldn't cause any trouble.
Shen Qingqiu had never been big on the idea of pets before...but he couldn't very well just leave a panda cub on its own without the protection of its parents. Shen Qingqiu let out an inaudible sigh.
"Fine, you may keep it. You will add its care to the chore list and all of Qing Jing Peak will take care of it and keep it out of trouble. If I find out that its misbehaving though its going straight to the beast peak. Am I understood?"
All of the disciples nodded their heads and promised that there would be no trouble before going back to admiring the cute little cub.
Shen Qingqiu walked off back towards his bamboo house without so much as a thought about the new addition to Qing Jing Peak. He opened the door to his bamboo house, sat himself down at his desk, and picked back up his brush before dipping it in ink and grabbing another sheet of paper to mark up. He continued to do this until the sun had set. Eventually, when he realized the time, he got up from his seat and prepared himself to go to sleep. Or at least try to.
It was only after Shen Qingqiu was in bed did he think of the panda again. He just hoped it wouldn't be too much of a bother...although then again, it was just a panda cub. He was sure it couldn't cause that much chaos on his peak. What was really the worst that could happen?