Love Like the Galaxy

Chapter Twenty-Two:
Wait A Minute

Despite being the main topic of discussion, Shaoshang remained motionless. Faced with A’Zhu and Cheng Yong’s desire to speak with her, and Madam Xiao’s complicated looks at her, she ignored them all. Whether it was a daily greeting or dining in the same room as them, she ignored them.

To put it bluntly, she had been a topic queen since the day of her parents’ divorce. She was a delinquent as a little girl, became the prodigal daughter and came back and studied hard, got into a key high school and a prestigious university, directly scaring the meddlesome women in town. She had always been the topic of discussion.

No one spoke about mediocre talents! Like her SMS roommate from her previous life; she was said to be the first college student in her village since the People’s Republic of China had been founded. She had shocked village branch secretaries within a hundred miles. She was sent out of the village gate with gongs, drums, colorful flags, and big red silk flowers tied around her. By comparison, Yu Cai Ling’s appearance on the day she left town was weak, completely unmatched by the name of the upstart in Yu Town.

“Mu Xu, has my cousin been crying at night these few days?”

Shaoshang rubbed her sore wrists. Since she had won Cheng Yong’s writing desk, A’Zhu’s enthusiasm for urging her to practice calligraphy was unstoppable.

The girl named Mu Xu was helping Qiao Guo set up Shaoshang’s food table, with a beautiful smile on her melon-shaped face. “Nanny Fu and Chang Pu had been with our Young Mistress for more than ten years. If she isn’t moved by their departure then people would say she is too cold? Besides, after crying for three nights, she should be fine… Oh! There is grilled quail today, it’s delicious! By the way, Sister Lian Fang’s injury is healed. Yesterday, my Young Mistress received a can of ointment and asked me to bring it to Sister Lian Fang.”

Shaoshang looked at the girl in front of her with a smile.

There was a famous saying that said when the tide receded, it would be clear who was swimming naked. Chang Pu and Nanny Fu had been driven away, highlighting the previously inconspicuous Mu Xu.

The day after the writing desk scandal, Mu Xu had come to her door, both to compensate for gifts and defend Cheng Yang. Afterwards, she came and sat for a while every day, facing the cold faces and white eyes of her maidservants and A’Zhu, always smiling. Sometimes she would help with work, sometimes she accompanied others to talk; she spoke about Cheng Yang’s past in the Ge family, old interesting stories of her hometown, about Cheng Yang’s difficulties, and occasionally compliment Shaoshang and her maidservants.

Not only did she speak decently, but she also was diligent and forthright. Within a few days, even A’Zhu couldn’t decide whether to reach out and hit this smiling person or not.

Shaoshang thought, ‘It seems that not all those sent by the Ge family were fools.’

“Fourth Young Lady, don’t be angry with our Young Mistress. You don’t know, but Nanny Fu, who had raised Young Mistress for more than ten years, often claimed that she was the half mother of the Young Mistress in the village. She is too arrogant. The Madam of the Ge family didn’t want her to come to this household with Young Mistress, but General Cheng had been winning battles and receiving rewards all these years. No one in the village knew why should give up the wealth there, but she cried and shouted that she would come. The Ge family was generous and had to agree. Chang Pu was the same…”

When Cheng Yang had first been sent to the Ge household, they thought that Madam Ge would send someone to pick her up after a few years and they hurriedly found Nanny Fu and a few little maids and didn’t think about changing them. They didn’t know that after a year passed, the Ge family discovered that Madam Ge was as ruthless as ever and had no plan to pick up her daughter at all. Aunt Ge was determined to raise Cheng Yang as her own daughter and carefully selected her companions. It was that time that Chang Pu had been selected.

“At that time, Young Mistress was nine years old, and Cheng Pu had been with her for many more years than us. Naturally, their friendship was different.”

Cheng Yang’s situation at the Ge family was very delicate. It was reasonable to say that she was not the daughter of the Ge family and belonged to her natural mother who did not care about her. However, as Cheng Shi gradually developed and good news arrived to the village, the Ge family became more and more respectful towards him.

When the river rises, the boat will float. Nanny Fu and Chang Pu had long been accustomed of the proud days at the Ge household. Whatever was extravagant, delicious or tasty must be enjoyed by Cheng Yang first. Even after Aunt Ge’s genuine grandchildren were born, the food and clothing were not as refined as Cheng Yang’s was.

In particular, Aunt Ge knew she was getting old and frail, and she was afraid that she would not be able to take good care of her. She let her daughters-in-laws, nieces and nephews neglect Cheng Yang which, intentionally or unintentionally, indulged the domineering behavior of Nanny Fu and the maidservants.

Later, Madam Xiao wrote to the Ge family to beg them for Cheng Yang, saying, “My niece has troubled my in-laws for many years and this foolish couple will return soon.” Only then did the Ge family reluctantly return the girl. Once she arrived at the Cheng household, Madam Ge did not show them respect, and they were discouraged for several months. Fortunately, after Cheng Shi and his wife returned, Madam Xiao took great care of Cheng Yang in every possible way, so they reverted to their old ways.

Nanny Fu and Chang Pu were not big villains, otherwise Aunt Ge would have never let them stay by Cheng Yang’s side. They were just used to living in comfort for more than ten years.

“I said to our Young Mistress that not only should she not be angry and sad, but thank Master and Madam for helping her to get rid of those two vermin. They did it for her own good. Otherwise, if she had to deal with it by herself, or allowed them to continue serving her, wouldn’t that cause trouble for her? Our Young Mistress has heard it, and regrets indulging them. But she is shy by nature, and these words can only be said by this servant. I hope that you will not hold any grudges with her.”

Mu Xu spoke frankly. In her opinion, Chang Pu and their companions were really foolish. With Madam Xiao’s love for Cheng Yang, she would inevitably marry into a noble family in the future, and her maidservants would naturally rise up in rank.

“I also said that even I have to thank Master and Madam, otherwise I, the maid who came after, will one day be able to replace Chang Pu’s position! Oh, thank goodness Young Mistress listened and chased after me to beat me!” Mu Xu beamed brightly, smiled and covered her shoulders. “I was beaten several times, but it didn’t hurt. If I had known that Young Mistress was so weak, I wouldn’t have run away, and my efforts to run away were wasted.”

Qiao Guo and the maidservants couldn’t help but laugh and A’Zhu shook her head helplessly. Shaoshang raised her eyebrows. Although she had an atypical accepting personality, at least her cousin knew how to take care of her father, little brother, and household.

But maidservants were still people. After Mu Xu’s constant pleading and snack bribery, aside from Lian Fang who was still recuperating, they no longer remembered the past. Based on the fighting spirit of Mu Zu, it was estimated that it would only be a matter of time before Lian Fang would be worn down by her.

Why couldn’t Aunt Ge have the ability to reincarnate with Cheng Yang? How much trouble would that save?

Since the incident that day, Madam Xiao seemed to be discouraged and stopped reprimanding and restraining Shaoshang all the time, letting her play freely. Now that the goal had been achieved, Shaoshang was happy to be obedient and kind these days…

On the fifteenth day of the first month was the Lantern Festival. It was also a rare time of peace when there was no war in the neighborhood. The emperor deliberately postponed the curfew by two hours, and opened a long and wide street from Dehuifang to the front of the North Palace for his subjects to watch the lanterns and play. After dinner, except for Cheng Wei and her brothers who had a runny nose and were left at home, the entire Cheng family went out to enjoy the festival.

Cheng Shi was afraid that the Lantern Festival would have too many people, so he sent the women out with several security carriages, then surrounded them with servants to travel.

Shaoshang excitedly exhaled as soon as she stepped out of the carriage, watching her white breath disappear in the air. Her lips became cold, teeth white, and her face youthful. Madam Sang stood next to her, straightening her wrinkled dress.

Madam Xiao glanced displeasingly at her then turned to Cheng Yang. She was dressed in a scarlet brocade three-round curved skirt, with a three-finger wide golden embroidered satin wrapped around her. She was beautiful.

She had prepared the same dress and accessories for the two cousins for them to wear today. Unexpectedly, her restless daughter decided to be foolish and instead put on the cyan blue double curved train and snow pleated inner skirt given to her by Madam Sang.

It wasn’t that she was unattractive or that her temper was bad. The appearance of this evil little creature was beyond description. Recently, she had grown a lot taller, and the little girl with green clothes and snowy skin, so graceful and delicate, was truly childish and tender. She couldn’t help but pity her.

Within the ten breaths of getting out of the carriage, several young men in splendid attire had already glanced over and taken a peek. Cheng Shi walked ahead with his head held high and chest puffed out, deliberately pretending not to notice, feeling proud and unable to express himself. After so many years of marriage, Madam Xiao couldn’t help shaking her head because she didn’t know what her husband was thinking. Yes, their daughter was beautiful, and as a parent she had to save face.

At the time, people revered the beauty of simplicity and grandeur. The streets were wide and spacious, with the narrowest part being two zhang wide.* On either side there were fifty steps on both sides of the lamps that were one-person high, and the copper plates filled with kerosene  was over a foot high. A raging fire was ignited, illuminating the cold winter night as if it were a bustling day.
[A zhang is an ancient unit of measurement. Two zhang wide is around 21 feet.]

Cheng Shi looked at the copper basin of fire oil for a long time and murmured, “…His Majesty spent a lot of money this time.” The amount of kerosene was enough to fill up a street and was not a small waste.

Shaoshang’s little ears twitched and she quickly asked, “Father, is His Majesty very frugal?”

Before Cheng Shi could respond, Madam Xiao’s eyes snapped over. Shaoshang hurriedly waved her hands. “Okay, okay, okay! I won’t ask anymore, will I? Heaven, earth, king, relatives, and teachers, no one can make irresponsible remarks!” There was no way this woman could be so annoying, could it be that her ancestors were eighteen generations of teaching directors?

Cheng Shi shrugged. He didn’t want to deal with his wife in front of everyone. He would go talk with his daughter when they returned. He pulled his Second and Third Younger Brothers to the front of the group to make Old Madam Cheng happy.

Madam Xiao pondered for a moment. “There are some things that can be said. Ask your brothers to tell you later.”

Shaoshang was startled and her three brothers were overjoyed. Cheng Song and Cheng Shaogong were even more overjoyed, thinking that it would be great if their mother and sister could reconcile. “Yong’er, come on,” Madam Xiao quickly said before the boys could speak. She turned to Cheng Song and Cheng Shaogong, “You two shut up and listen to your nonsense. It’s better not to know anything.” They chuckled.

Madam Xiao turned her head and said softly, “Yang Yang, you too. In the future, when socializing under the feet of the emperor, you should listen to what is taboo and what to avoid.” Cheng Yang happily bowed and agreed.

Since Cheng Yong surrendered, the brothers’ joy was inexplicably halved.

Standing back, Madam Sang shook her head. “Sure enough,” she said, “no one is perfect. A female hero like Xiao Yuan Yi, who has literary and military skills, is so careless and arrogant in dealing with her children’s affairs.”

Only Shaoshang didn’t pay attention and did what she wanted to do. She had endured countless cold words since childhood. If she was sensitive to every little thing, how could she live until she was old and gray?

Lanterns and rotating lanterns hung on the buildings on both sides of the street.

The bamboo frame lamp was directly lit with a blazing fire in a round lamp holder the size of a hug.* The lamp frame was wrapped in various dyed sheepskin, including vermillion, turquoise, light yellow, and azure blue. Tonight, many homeowners and shopkeepers hung several large lanterns on strings to attract attention and show off their brilliance.
[The size of a hug, 合抱, means wrapping your arms around a tree to measure its girth. I couldn’t think of a suitable way to translate this and thought hug was something CSS would say.]

Most of the rotating lanterns were cylindrical, with oil burning inside. When the hot air rises, the movable light frame on the outside begins to rotate, and the patterns drawn on the lamp skin slowly float and swim, which was very pretty.

Shaoshang was dazzled by the sight, her black and white eyes were wide open as she took in the rotating lanterns one at a time. There were soldiers returning home and their wives welcoming them, children playfully chasing and playing, warriors bowing and shooting beasts, and even fish and birds talking with each other.

Cheng Shi saw his daughter’s appearance was childish and cute, and he proudly asked to buy more lamps for her to go home and play with. Unexpectedly, Shaoshang shook her head, only took one, and said, “I’ll make it myself when I’m home, and I’ll make it look better.”

She was a science girl, the kind who could find squares with her bare hands. Although her major was more theoretical, and her hands-on ability not as good as those of her engineering brothers, she was confident that with such a simple principle, she could make one after some practice.

The Lantern Festival not only had lanterns, but also had stands to sell silk, jewelry, snacks, and even books.

A person dressed as a Confucian scholar was tearfully telling Cheng Yong and Cheng Shaogong a story about a scholarly family that was persecuted by Emperor Li’s claws until their families had been destroyed, and now they had no choice but to sell books in their homes.

Cheng Song was holding both Cheng Zhu and Cheng Ou’s hands and were watching a tendon be extracted from the body of a tiger with a drowsy eye in front of a hunter’s booth. It was used to make bowstrings.

Madam Xiao and Cheng Cheng chatted with each other as they walked. Madam Xiao was encouraging him to perk up his studies without any worries. Cheng Yang accompanied them with a smile.

Seeing the novelty and wildness of the silk flowers in a shop, Cheng Zhi bought one for Madam Sang’s hairpin. Old Madam Cheng’s face turned as black as an inkstone, so Cheng Zhi hurriedly bought another one for his mother to wear. Old Madam Cheng refused, insisting that the flowers Madam Sang wore were more beautiful. Madam Sang deliberately did not take the initiative to give her flower to Old Madam Cheng and looked at it with a smile which caused Cheng Zhi to become flustered.

Cheng Shi stroked his beard and shook his head. He bought a silk flower and hid it in his sleeve to give to his wife at home.

Shaoshang, however, was addicted to watching the lights and trailed behind the Cheng family, followed by two martial maids and three servants. She was not worried about safety and walked slowly. At this moment, a bamboo embroidered ball slowly rolled to her feet.

…

It. Begins.

Next Chapter: Bamboo Embroidery Ball and Revolving Lantern