Love Like the Galaxy

Chapter Fifty-Two:
You Make A Lot Of Sense, We Are Temporarily Speechless

When they returned to the Cheng Mansion, it was dark, and the eldest brother Cheng Yong led the servants and younger siblings to light the lanterns at the door to wait.

At nightfall in early spring, the ink-blue sky was mixed with warm lights, like a children’s painting cut out of deep blue wax paper, hazy and warm. Shaoshang sat in the back of the carriage, holding up the curtain and looking at the smiling faces of her older brothers. She curved her lips.

After not seeing each other for several months, everyone in the Chang household had indeed undergone significant changes.

Her mother’s sworn sister, Qing Cong, had turned white, and the three older brothers and Cheng Yang all grew taller. The two younger brothers had been promoted from being like glutinous rice ribs to lotus leaves. The one who changed the most was Cheng Ou. Not only did his complexion improve greatly, but his face was originally full of flesh and eyes were as thin as seams. When he looked at people, he exuded a melancholic and fierce aura, like he was constantly trying to find faults. Nowadays, after many months of hard work, his body was sturdy and tight, and the face even shrank a little. He smiled kindly, fully demonstrating that exercise can make people happy.

Cheng Shi knelt down at his mother’s knee, full of words of relief. As usual, Old Madam Cheng also touched her son from head to foot and judged that he was indeed unharmed before announcing the meal. After the banquet, everyone sat and chatted with each other. Old Madam Cheng was concerned about the recent situation of her youngest Cheng Zhi, and had the intention of asking Shaoshang, but due to her face she endured it. Cheng Shaogong winked at his twin sister repeatedly, but Shaoshang didn’t catch them all.

“I don’t know how Third Uncle and Aunt are doing these days, but you can talk about it,” Cheng Yong said. He couldn’t help it.

“Brother, I know that Grandmother has missed Uncle and Aunt, so I brought home with me a servant with a quick tongue,” Shaoshang said respectfully. “She has been serving them for the past few months and has seen and heard no less than me. From tomorrow on, let her talk to Grandmother in detail, wouldn’t that be better?”

Although Grandmother Cheng was not satisfied with Shaoshang’s attitude, she thought that if this girl hadn’t spoken, she would have been unwilling to say a few words. So, she tugged at the corners of her mouth and reluctantly nodded.
[Shaoshang begins to refer to Old Madam Cheng as Grandmother Cheng in this chapter.]

Cheng Shi turned his head and glared at his daughter, scolding the stubborn and restless little girl with his eyes!

“Father, let me play a piece of music for everyone to listen to,” Shaoshang said with a smile. “I’ve learned to play the flute, and even Mother can’t say it is bad!”

Whether she was stubborn or left-handed, there must still be someone in this world who remembers the innocent little girl who passed away in the countryside. There were indirect and direct reasons for the girl’s death, but Grandmother Cheng was definitely to blame. During the past decade, the Cheng Shi couple had sent people to pick up their daughter multiple times, but they were all blocked by Madam Ge and the old woman.

This old woman was even more unbearable than Madam Xiao. At least Madam Xiao had gained a great reputation for fighting for the family, but Grandmother Cheng was purely selfish. Even if her granddaughter came back from a long illness in the countryside, she was half-apologetic. Why should she put on a low profile and show some kindness, so Shaoshang had to make up for it?!

Was old age that great? As long as you don’t die, anyone could grow old! So, she wouldn’t forgive… she would never forgive!

The clear and serene sound of the flute resonated, like a butterfly trembling on a spring branch, carrying a few fallen petals. Soon, it patted its fragile and charming wings and flew into a sea of flowers, leaving behind brilliant shadows and a strong fragrance all over the ground.

Cheng Shi closed his eyes and listened, finally showing a smile on his face. It was pitiful to say that not only did the eldest son not inherit the slightest bit of his father’s beauty, but he also didn’t have even a trace of artistic sense.

In the middle of the song, Cheng Yong had already asked a servant to bring out his beloved qin. Cheng Shaogong took a delicate black pottery xun from his waist. The former plucked the strings while the latter held the xun and blew into it, merging into the sound of Shaoshang’s flute.
[A xun is a small wind instrument that almost looks like an ocarina but is more blob shaped.]

Cheng Song didn’t know how to play any instruments, but he had a good voice that could make vocal teachers break their heads. He gave a brief audition and Shaoshang was amazed. This guy, he could go as low as a C #2 while as high as a G4. The vocal range was clear and magnificent, with a long, lingering charm.

At first, the four siblings were not very in sync but were able to make up the tune after a moment. The elegant sound of the qin, the quaint pottery xun, the clear flute, and the wide singing that echoed through the house quickly merged into a heroic and enthusiastic song called “Zai Chi” ­– Zai Ji Zai Xiang, returning to mourn the Duke of Wei. Drive the horse leisurely, talk as far as the water. The doctor trekked, but my heart was worried…

Cheng Shi shook his head and smiled, unable to stay angry any longer.

Cheng Yang sat by the side and lightly tapped to the beat, with a look of envy on her face. In fact, she had also learned how to play the qin and se*, but was not very good at playing them, and was sometimes hesitant to play. How dare she perform so generously in front of others like her cousins.
[A se is kind of like a harp.]

Madam Xiao stared at the four children in the center of the hall. The boys were tall and strong, while the girl had snowy skin and beautiful features, all of whom were so intelligent, healthy, and full of energy. She suddenly had a thought that, if she had ever torn her face and wanted to take her daughter with her, would she have seen such a scene many years ago?

At the end of the song, Grandmother Cheng shed tears, feeling extremely sad and muttered, “…If only your grandfather were still here. He was not born in a good time and never had a close friend in his life, so he was always alone. If he could see you today like this, he might have lived a few more years.”

Everyone in the hall remained silent, and Cheng Shi approached his mother to gently comfort her.

Shaoshang curled her lip and didn’t take it seriously. She heard that Old Master Cheng, who had passed away, had been cold and violent towards his wife for decades, and he didn’t give his old wife a good face until his death. Unexpectedly, Grandmother Cheng still had a deep affection for him. ‘I love you, it has nothing to do with you’ sounded very noble and touching, but Shaoshang thought she could never do that.

The reunion ended, and the maidservants served their respective masters back to their residences. Shaoshang yawned and followed behind Cheng Shi and his wife – whose idea was it to have her residence so close to her parents’ residence?

Seeing that she was about to leave, Cheng Shi suddenly turned around. “Niao Niao,” he said, “don’t go back yet. Come to our residence.”

Shaoshang’s heart pounded; what trouble did she cause again? After such a touching artistic cultivation just now, her father could still scold his child. Father was truly a genius!

“Father, the city gate is under martial law today. Don’t you and Mother have to discuss it carefully?”

After entering the city, it was clear that the atmosphere was not right. Even if one took the wrong path, it was too cold and aloof. By this time, the weather had gradually warmed up, and the peddlers and the smell of food stalls that filled Yuyang everyday had disappeared, leaving only bare slate streets.

Unexpectedly, Comrade Cheng asked in a strange tone, “Why are you in such a hurry? I haven’t even mentioned anything from Master Ling, it seems he has nothing to do with our family.” After saying this, he took Madam Xiao and led her to their residence.

Shaoshang reluctantly followed suit. Mother, there are no human rights for children!

In the inner hall where the Cheng Shi couple lived, Qing Cong had prepared high candles and clear soup for sobering and moistening their throats, and then went off to the side. She had a small bamboo basket on her lap and was absentmindedly doing needlework. The Cheng Shi couple knelt at the front of the hall, one on the left and the other on the right, while the young girl sat alone in the middle below them.

“Can you tell me what you’ve done in the past few months, who have you met? Don’t miss a thing!” Father Cheng drank all the clear soup in one gulp, and used his strength to put the dish on the table. Let’s talk!

“You want me to say everything? It’s been several months!” Shaoshang was surprised.

“Let’s talk about everything else later!” Cheng Shi was dumbfounded. “Let’s talk about Ling Buyi first. How did you get to know him and how many times did you two meet? What did you say and do?!”

“So that’s what this is about.” Shaoshang was not afraid at all and leisurely said, “Did Uncle and Aunt not tell you? Aiyo, Father, it isn’t your daughter who said this, you must have been busy scolding Third Uncle. Alright… they didn’t say anything. The so-called kindness and prestige are given together and you are the eldest. You have to use brotherhood like spring wind and rain change…”

“Okay!” Madam Xiao couldn’t stand listening anymore. She slapped the table hard. “Speak well!”

Shaoshang gave a chuckle. “Father, Mother, I promise to say everything,” she said. “But there are some things that don’t sound very appealing. If you get angry and hit me again…”

“Okay, it doesn’t matter what you say. We’ll never hit you,” Cheng Shi sighed.

“You can’t punish me, either! A’Yao and I have made an agreement to do many things, but we can’t be locked up at home every day and punished by copying books!”

Comrade Cheng suddenly realized that there were wolves and tigers after him, and that danger could not be saved everywhere. He breathed in and out in anger for two rounds, feeling angrier than when someone robbed him of military achievements. He could only nod with difficulty.

As soon as these conditions were agreed upon, Shaoshang no longer beat around the bush. She succinctly told the dangers of the hunting house, them staying at another courtyard for a nighttime story, and the horse he gave as a gift. As for the first encounter at the Wan Mansion, why didn’t she mention it? Because the shrewd Cheng father and Director Xiao immediately remembered that Ling Buyi should also know about the harm caused by her bridge demolition. She had already been beaten for that matter last time, and she didn’t want to bring up that old story.

“It’s that simple?” Cheng Shi listened and hesitated.

“It’s really that simple,” Shaoshang said helplessly. “Every time we meet, everyone is watching us, and even A’Yao is there. What else can there be?” After careful consideration, apart from the first encounter with the Wan family, she really hadn’t been alone with Ling Buyi. She was even cleaner than disinfectant.

Cheng Shi stood up and paced around the hall, feeling very embarrassed and unsure how to express himself.

“Do you know…” Madam Xiao suddenly said. She also felt it difficult to say words. “Do you know who Ling Buyi is?”

Shaoshang thought for a moment and hesitated. “Sister Qiqi told me that Master Ling has many, many official positions, but I can’t remember them all. A’Yao also told me that he is like the emperor’s adopted son… as if that’s all…”

“Although Ling Buyi is dignified and amiable, he has always been silent. To be honest, Niao Niao, I have seen Ling Buyi seven or eight times. Not only has he not said a word, but I have never seen him so… so…” Comrade Cheng once again was trapped in a shortage of words. He finally exclaimed shamelessly, “So attentive!”

Shaoshang didn’t like that word and frowned. “What do you mean attentive? Father’s words are really unpleasant! He and A’Yao are like brothers. He’s probably taking care of us for the sake of the Lou family.”

“Nonsense! I’ve never heard of Ling Buyi and the Lou family having such a great friendship! At most, he’ll be invited five or six times and Ling Buyi will go to a banquet once!” Father Cheng was also a person with both eyes and ears, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten to where he was today!

“That’s because Father is ignorant. Do people go around shouting to the world about their friendship?”

“Alright!” Madam Xiao looked at the father and daughter and closed her eyes to suppress her expression. “Niao Niao, don’t you think that Ling Buyi has… intentions toward you?”

“Mother’s words are even worse. What intention?” Shaoshang turned her head, greatly displeased.

“Intention! That’s great!” Old Father Cheng’s beard blew out, like a big octopus with flaring tentacles. “Don’t you think that Ling Buyi is interested in you?!”

The couple thought their question was so straightforward that the girl would feel a bit shy and awkward. However, they only saw their daughter’s clear eyes and slightly troubled expression as she spoke. “That’s what Aunt said, but… you see, A’Yao likes me. Without saying a word, he immediately asked his parents to propose to me, so I know he likes me. But Ling Buyi didn’t come to propose, so what does he think in his heart? Who knows…”

Cheng Shi choked and thought to himself that was also true.

Madam Xiao closed her eyes. “According to your statement, after you left the hunting house, Ling Buyi was either suppressing bandits and clearing thieves, or he was seriously injured and unconscious and recuperating,” she said. “Even if he wanted to do something, it’s too late.”

“Yes, I’ve thought about that, too. But now that things have come to an end, we’ll probably never know if Ling Buyi would come to propose to me if he was available.” Shaoshang nodded and ended up with a bit of humor. “Speaking of it, you could say that it’s fate…”

In short, Ling Buyi’s meaning for himself belongs to a conditional clause, and the condition setting part should use the ordinary pretense clause. You cannot use the past tense because someone else had not proposed marriage, nor can you use future tense because someone else may not propose marriage.

Alternatively, it could also be seen as Schrödinger’s cat, where no one knows if the cat is alive or dead until the lid was opened. Unfortunately, there was no chance to lift the lid now.

Cheng Shi was speechless and went to look at his wife.

Madam Xiao looked steadily at her daughter, who wasn’t in any rush. After a moment, she suddenly realized something. “Actually, you just don’t want to let go of the marriage of the Lou family.”

“That’s right,” Shaoshang said lightly. “There might not be another proposal after that. I don’t want to let go of this marriage.”

Cheng Shi sat dumbfounded next to his wife again.

“Niao Niao, let me ask you this… do you have feelings for A’Yao?” she asked.

The problem was like a thin needle, causing Shaoshang to feel uncomfortable. She immediately responded with a sharp counterattack. “Although Mother has not raised her daughter much, her expectations for her are very high! I also want to ask Mother, are you planning to arrange for my cousin’s marriage these days? Are you planning to have her talk about love with a young man from a certain family before marriage, and then ask her if she has the will to decide on the marriage? It’s not just the order of my parents to make a match, but what’s the difference with me now? Nowadays, most couples in the city are like this, and they don’t live a good life.”

Cheng Shi frowned, feeling that his daughter’s words were quite impolite.

Surprisingly, Madam Xiao was not angry at all, but instead calmly said, “You don’t have to be angry with me. You and my future son-in-law are different. Regardless of whether there are feelings or not, as long as they treat each other with courtesy and respect, they can still be together, and no one owes anyone. Many harmonious couples in the city are like this! Don’t avoid my question, do you love A’Yao as much as he loves you?”

Shaoshang froze for a while. “That’s right!” she said angrily. “I love A’Yao, but it’s different from him loving me. So what?”

“Then you owe him,” Madam Xiao said quietly.

“I don’t agree with Mother’s statement!” Shaoshang heavily slapped her hands on the floor as she exclaimed, “There are many types of emotions in this world, and it’s not necessarily necessary to have a romantic relationship. Did Mother have a deep affection for Father before getting married? Your daughter thought that the best marriage in this world is to take what each person needs. As long as Second Uncle could give Second Aunt prosperity and grandeur, even if he beats the bride three times a day, Second Uncle could endure it.”

“I will be a good wife for A’Yao. I don’t have to love him so much to be a good wife for him! I will take good care of him, be considerate. I will plan his career, manage the estate, and reform regulations for him. When he is down, I will praise him, and when he is proud, I will admonish him. I will help him become a more capable and accomplished man! I will make everyone say that the Lou family had begged me for this marriage!” Shaoshang gasped for breath, she was almost shouting.

After a while, Cheng Shi said, “Niao Niao, it’s not like that. As a father, I know that if it wasn’t for the chaos that caused the difficulties of the Xiao family I wouldn’t have been married to your mother in my lifetime. But today, I still want to say one thing, let me do it again. Even if I have no fate with your mother in this life, I would rather her family be happy. If her father and brother were here, they would be proud of her like the sun. I knew at the time your mother held no affection for me, and I was still willing to wait for her. Does A’Yao know…?”

Shaoshang fell into tears in a daze, and each tear fell heavily onto the floor, making a soft sound.

The girl’s voice seemed to come from a distant place. “But… what if I don’t have that type of luck?”

“Father was able to revive Mother’s family and married her. My aunt wanted to escape the pitiful gaze and nagging of her family and friends, so she chose the most pleasing one from among reliable candidates. How could my mother know that I won’t develop a deep affection for A’Yao like you and my aunt did after getting married?”

“Father and Mother, as well as my uncle and aunts, you are all divine couples. There are always divine couples in this world, but I don’t have the good luck of meeting them. So, what should I do?”

The dripping tears had already soaked her clothes, and the girl knelt straight in the middle, trembling with anger, her expression mixed with stubbornness and confusion.

She had had bad luck since childhood and had never have a good thing fall from the sky. She always put in double the effort to achieve something.

As long as you study hard, your grades will be good. As long as she works hard, she will also have confidants and best friends. Even emotions, as long as you work hard, you can definitely fall in love with the person you ‘want’ to fall in love with.

Although it was intentional, her efforts were also very sincere!

Why did Comrade Cheng and Director Xiao insist on blaming her?!

Since there’s a smooth and easy way to go, why must she climb the Thorn Mountain Range?!

Couldn’t you listen to heaven’s will? The gods brought A’Yao to her and she caught him. What was so wrong about that?!

After hearing this, Cheng Shi was completely stunned.

He didn’t actually want his daughter to be part of a divine couple; marriage was fate, but it was hard to find. It wasn’t like letting his daughter pick on Ling Buyi and do the feat of climbing the dragon and supporting the phoenix. In fact, at this point, it had nothing to do with Lou Yao or Ling Buyi anymore, but rather his daughter’s calm to negative thoughts were really surprising.

At the moment of dizziness and swelling of his mind, Cheng Shi habitually groped for his wife’s hand. After grasping it, he realized that her hand was cold and terrifying, as if it were a dead person’s hand.

“Okay, you can have a good time with A’Yao. Your father and I won’t say anything anymore.” Madam Xiao’s face was pale, her breath trembled, but her tone was very gentle. “I hope you can love each other for a lifetime without any twists and turns.”

The last sentence was like a prayer.