#the original shen yuan is fine in this scenario btw

[tcfactory]

I have an idea I will need to ruminate on later to flesh it out more, but it goes something like this:

Shang Qinghua is God of the World, in the sense that he was a god who got a premonition of a Calamity that would destroy the entire world. So to prevent that all the gods pool their power to separate the world into one where all the mythology and stuff is real and a copy that's basically a low-magic/no-magic version that will be safe from said Calamity. They make the System to keep the two separated-but-connected and to help Shang Qinghua remake the original world when the time is right. Shang Qinghua, as the god who foresaw the looming disaster and was pivotal in averting it got tasked with taking the remaining divine power and going to the other world to hide from the Calamity and write the world back into existence once it's all over.

Except something goes wrong. One world is destroyed as anticipated, but Shang Qinghua has lost his godly powers and his memories when he got placed into the no-magic world. He's just our poor author friend Airplane bro.

The System is so relieved when the creator finally starts to write that it immediately implements it all without screening - System has been programmed to be very efficient! It can extrapolate from the smallest crumbs to recreate the world and its history in full! When Shang Qinghua has written enough that the world is back to its fully functioning glory the System is meant to bring the author-creator back to survey the world, but it does an oopsie and hey, transmigration! The restrictions on having to follow the plot are there so Airplane can experience the the life of a human in this recreated world as he had written it, so that corrections can be made before the new world is finalized. The 'Return Home' function isn't meant to take Shang Qinghua back to the other world, it's meant to turn him back into a proper God of the World(s) so he can make revisions, with full admin access. That's why it can't be dismissed permanently, it will happen eventually when Shang Qinghua reaches the end of his life or ascends.

The PIDW world also exists, as a backup copy in a way? So god Qinghua can always look at it and check what the effects of his revisions are. It's real enough that Bingge gets to hop over to the SVSSS world for his appearance in the extras.

Shen Qingqiu gets the System's attention because during his qi deviation he briefly makes contact with his incarnation in the other world and gets a full set of copies of Shen Yuan's memories. Someone who has read the Divine Work and can help keep Airplane on track with the plot and in character, because System is getting really agitated that its god is trying really hard to get out of what the System perceives as a short roleplay session. So it locks Shen Jiu's memories away for the time being and let's 'Shen Yuan' lose on the world.

A lock that gets eventually removed shortly after canon SVSSS ends. And the Shen Jiu personality and all his memories take priority because they are the ones that originally belong to this incarnation.

It's a big old mess, waking up and realizing that he lived the last couple of years as if he was a spoiled young master, shoved against his will into someone else's life. The memories from Shen Yuan's life in the other world are faded - still there, but they don't have as much of an effect on him anymore - but the things he felt and experienced since his qi deviations are all very vivid and very disorienting.

He needs time, to make sense of himself. He needs to think and he needs to be away from Binghe for a while, because the jealous disdain he felt for the child who had all the inherent gifts needed for success but still acted the helpless sheep and the love 'Shen Yuan' felt for adult Binghe are both there, equally vivid.

When he comes out of secluded meditation he's... different. Not cruel Shen Jiu, not kind Shen Yuan, but something in between. Much closer to the former, to the initial displeasure of most everyone who's not Yue Qingyuan, but there are aspects of the person he became in the last few years that he refuses to let go.

The eventual talk with Luo Binghe is beyond uncomfortable. It's not easy to admit to someone so much more powerful than him that he's more of the person Binghe hated rather than the person he loved. He's not the kind shizun, he refuses to pretend to be. If Luo Binghe wants to leave, there could be a way for him to go to Shen Yuan, who is the closest thing, but Binghe should keep in mind: that's not the person who has fallen in love with him. He likely would, if given a chance to meet Binghe, but they don't have history together.

He tells him that despite everything, the person Shen Qingqiu is now still loves Luo Binghe - loves him differently so things will need to change, but this is all he can offer. If Luo Binghe is willing to give it a try and see if he can love this sharper, more cruel Shen Qingqiu back, then Shen Qingqiu will not push him away.