Chapter Text
Yu Ziyuan knew it the moment she held her son in her arms.
She knew.
Maybe it was mother's instinct, or alpha's instincts or maybe she was just that perceptive, whatever it was, five minutes after her son is born and she finally gets to hold him, she knew.
The baby had inherited her looks, yes, she could see herself in him, the same way she could see Fengmian in him, no matter how the man denied it.
But the baby was born with a softness inherent to him, unique to him, not something he got from his parents. And how would he inherit that when both his parents were alphas while he was an Omega.
It only added more evidence to her strong suspicions when, on Jiang Cheng’s third birthday, she secretly gifts him a soft doll. The way the toddler had held on to that doll, caring for it as if it was a real baby- or a real pet, the tenderness and care that you would find in no other person, other than an omega.
There hasn’t been a single male omega presentation for the past decades; hell there were only four female omegas who presented in the cultivation world for the past 20 years. Her son would no doubt be a prize among prizes, gold among silvers, and a pearl in the eyes of many.
Yu Ziyuan would make sure that no one would touch her pearl unless she deemed them worthy, in this world- there were few she deemed worthy.
She had always been known for her beauty, not just her strength, her beauty that transcended mortal expectations the commoners would say, and she confidently knew that Jiang Cheng would turn out more beautiful than she ever was, that just added more shine to the pearl.
But she would also make sure that the boy would be stronger than her, in her opinion, no matter the status, one should always be able to stand up for oneself, and no one should rely on their partner- she certainly refuses to do so and her son would also follow.
Jiang Cheng, at the age of five, was free of responsibility and full of innocence. His days consisted of playing with his playmates, a few short hours of studying, having meals with his family, and playing with his a-jie.
His days were simple.
He waits for his father to come home from his sect leader meetings and greets him like a good son should when he does. When his a-die is in a good mood, he might even carry Jiang Cheng around, his strong arms protecting Jiang Cheng and making him extremely happy from the short few seconds that he is at the top of the world in his father’s arms.
One day, his father comes home from traveling around the markets with three puppies in his hold, one of his first-ever gifts for him- and the young boy has yet to know that it would likely be his last.
He names them Love, Jasmine, and Princess. Love because he loves them, Jasmine, because he likes the smell of jasmine, and princess because… the doggie looked like a Princess.
He thinks it’s very good names and is very proud of coming up with them, some people make fun of their names, they don’t dare make fun of him but they make fun of his precious puppies and he doesn’t like his beloved pets being bullied so he glares at them, he was too small to do anything much about it.
One time his father sees him glare at one of the kids who kept mocking his Princess and he looks as if cold water had been poured all over him.
His father never holds him again.
At age seven, he thought that something was wrong with him. He’d always known that he was different, that he was ‘unique’ as his a-jie always said, but maybe he wasn’t unique- maybe there was something wrong with him. To have absolutely no friends at all, maybe there really was something wrong with him- maybe he wasn’t just ‘different’, maybe he was a bad person and no one liked him anymore.
At age seven, he loses his beloved dogs but gains a brother.
At age seven, when his father brings home a child who was terrified of his Jasmine, Princess, and Love, he does something he hasn’t done since he was four- he throws a tantrum.
It falls on deaf ears.
He doesn’t get it at all- how could anyone be terrified of such sweethearts, he doesn’t want them away- they were his only friends and yet, despite his pleas, his three best and only friends were given away.
He also breaks his legs that night, but at least, just like his a-die said, he gains a friend- a brother and a promise to keep.
He doesn’t know why his mother hates Wei Wuxian, because he loves him a lot, and Wei Wuxian, in his own ways loved and cared for him too.
Wei Wuxian protects him from people- as someone who doesn’t have that much experience dealing with others and is happy if one of the other disciples even talks to him, Wei Wuxian says that he needs to learn to identify who and who not to trust because it’s a dangerous world out there, Jiang Cheng grumbles saying he already knew that. But it’s okay though, because while he doesn’t know how to interact with others, Wei Wuxian will help him with it.
On a rare instance that Wei Wuxian wasn’t with him, a visiting disciple from one of the minor sects around Yunmeng had grabbed him by his left arm, startling him and asking for directions saying he was lost because he was new there. Jiang Cheng, kind soul that he is, leads him to where he said he was heading, the other striking up a conversation with him- leaning uncomfortably close. But since he was a disciple from a visiting sect, he wasn’t supposed to do something that would make them look bad and he didn’t want to disappoint his father, so he gritted his teeth and bore with it.
On the way to the training grounds, they pass by Wei Wuxian, who immediately comes in between them, nearly shoving the boy out of his place and letting another disciple direct the other.
As soon as he was gone, Jiang Cheng let out a breath of relief and thanked Wei Wuxian. The other though doesn’t respond and instead is in a bad mood for the rest of the day, weirdly enough, he is demanded to stay in his rooms for the rest of the day by his own mother, with only his siblings there to accompany him.
The incident was something completely minor- so he immediately puts it on the back of his head but had Jiang Cheng paid more attention, he would have noticed that the disciple is never seen by him again.
When Jiang Cheng was 12, he was given more lessons regarding second-gender dynamics- he’d known the basics but this lesson was more about what to expect when one presents as an alpha, omega, or beta. Jiang Cheng is taught about his ancestral line of strong alphas, and the history of Sect Leaders being mostly alphas.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what he’ll present as but he wants desperately to be an alpha.
So he tries his best to fit that description. He trains from the early mornings to late evenings, studies hard, and tries his hardest to please his alpha father.
He isn’t able to.
As always, it’s his martial brother who catches the man’s attention with his minimal effort in doing so however Jiang Cheng doesn’t blame him, instead he sees it as a motivation to work harder, and strain himself further- he takes his mother’s criticism as the same.
When Wei Wuxian notices his overworking, he tries and miserably fails at trying to let Jiang Cheng win some of their friendly competitions. He ignores the other boy for days planning to keep doing so until he apologizes- he doesn’t. Instead, he comes up with a deal, that he won’t do it anymore as long as the other boy sleeps before 11 pm.
Jiang Cheng huffs, “Are you giving me a bedtime?”
“Yes.” Wei Wuxian replies, his stare is unwavering, and something about the way the other boys say it makes Jiang Cheng feel… something.
He huffs and says, “Fine.”
When Jiang Cheng is 14, he hears news of him and his brother going to Cloud Recesses to continue their studies.
Things finally begin.