Love Like the Galaxy

Chapter Nineteen:
The Writing Desk Disturbance (Part 2)

“Mother, your daughter has something to say,” Cheng Shaoshang said with a rare solemnity. Cheng Shaogong’s heart jumped for no reason, and his intuition told him that letting his twin sister open her mouth was going to cause a big deal.

“Speak,” Madam Xiao said.

She inwardly smiled and turned her body. “Lian Fang,” she said, “come here. Do you know what your mistake was?”

Lian Fang rolled and crawled over, crying, “… Yes, it’s the servants who made their own decisions…”

“Actually, I like you making your own decisions.” Cheng Shaoshang laughed and left everyone in the hall dumbfounded. Madam Xiao was disgusted, she disliked this type of glib tone the most.

“To act on your own decisions depends on your own viewpoints. Those who only listen to one sentence and does one sentence are not slow-witted.” Cheng Shaoshang went on leisurely. According to a saying from her time, this was called subjective initiative. Lian Fang was already dumbfounded.

“For example, I asked you to go to Dongshi to buy black bean sauce…”

Cheng Shaogong couldn’t help himself. “Dongshi doesn’t sell black bean sauce.”

“Shaogong!”

“Shaogong, shut up!”

Madam Xiao and Cheng Yong scolded in unison. Cheng Song had to actively work to keep himself from laughing.

Cheng Shaoshang ignored them. “For example,” she continued, “if I asked you to buy fermented bean sauce, you can make up your own mind on what matters – which way to go, which shop to go to, buying what you think is of good quality, or even, like Third Brother said, you found out there is no black bean sauce in Dongshi. Why don’t you just come back to me with an empty jar? This is not possible; you have to find another place to buy. You can make up your mind about these things. So, what can’t you make up your own mind on? When it comes to the sauce, you can’t substitute it with something else, give it to somebody else, nor can you decide whether or not I need to buy black bean sauce. Do you understand?” This was called exerting subjective initiative.

Lian Fang stayed silent for a long time, “I will definitely buy black bean sauce in the future!” she said loudly with tears in her eyes. “Ah, no! I will serve you and serve you well!”

Madam Sang dipped her face behind her double wide sleeve, hiding her smile. The corners of Madam Xiao’s mouth twitched and she tried to resist showing her displeasure. Qing Cong made an effort to flatten the corners of her mouth and knelt behind Madam Xiao.

Cheng Yang was also foolish and her mind was filled with black bean sauce; she couldn’t quite understand Cheng Shaoshang’s words. Chang Pu continued to bow her head and pretended to be ignorant, but Nanny Fu’s expression was no longer pretty. The three Cheng brothers held in a hint of laughter.

Lian Fang was grateful and continuously bowed, her forehead hitting the floor with a light ‘thunk.’ Cheng Shaoshang quickly stopped her and patted her shoulder. “I like smart people,” she said. “However, you need to learn the appropriate time to be smart or not. Go to Aunt Qing to receive your punishment yourself. I’ve never punished anyone before, and I don’t know how to punish them properly.”

Young girls who hadn’t graduated from junior high yet wouldn’t have that type of experience. Cheng Shaoshang waved to signal her to step down, and Lian Fang sobbed and knelt down on the porch before kowtowing and exiting.

Cheng Shaoshang turned around and waved behind Cheng Yang. “Chang Pu, come here. I have some questions to ask you.”

Chang Pu looked quite frightened and moved over, trembling.

The three brothers were unhappy. Although not very old, they had been training with their parents since childhood, had seen true criminals, witnessed cunning and meticulous techniques, and even fled for their father in military preparations from afar. How could a maidservant who caused such a big disturbance be so simple, and why bother to put on a show? In addition to Nanny Fu, one was bold and talkative, and the other was pretending to be stupid. The Ge family sent a pair of good helpers.

If they couldn’t even see through their façade, the past ten years of training from Madam Xiao would have been in vain!

“Chang Pu, let me ask you,” Cheng Shaoshang began with a smile, “when Lian Fang saw that my cousin wasn’t there, she wanted to move the writing desk back. You stopped her. But Lian Fang was with several healthy maidservants, and you couldn’t stop them alone and you called for a dozen or so of your friends to surround them. What did you say to your friends at that time? Did you say, ‘Don’t ask them to move the writing desk that Eldest Young Master gave the Fourth Young Lady,’ or, ‘They want to grab our Young Mistress’s writing desk, stop them quickly?’”

Nanny Fu’s heart sank and she thought, ‘How powerful.’

“I, I…” Chang Pu stopped pretending to be silly this time and really didn’t know how to answer.

Cheng Shaoshang’s smile dropped and she said coldly, “Such a trivial matter has alarmed all of Master’s family. After all, isn’t it just that Mother thought I had stolen my cousin’s writing desk? At that time, if someone had come out and shouted ‘Misunderstanding,’ wouldn’t everything be fine? Chang Pu, you fainted and couldn’t tell the truth. Your friends who beat up Lian Fang didn’t faint. They didn’t know the truth and you kept it from them or they knew and let the family misunderstand!”

Madam Xiao closed her eyes and sighed inwardly.

With her shrewdness, how could she not see that Nanny Fu and the maidservant beside Cheng Yang were in the wrong? But it was not the right time to attack. The Ge family had just been divorced which caused a loss of reputation for their children. Cheng Yang just learned how to take charge and had only just established some prestige. She had planned to leave some face for Cheng Yang no matter what, and then deal with those stubborn servants later.

“With a writing desk, the truth of the separation between flesh and blood is true. This crime was either carried out by you or your friends. You choose.” Cheng Shaoshang stared at her.

Chang Pu began to sweat profusely and couldn’t say a word. She knew that this crime was not ‘to act on one’s accord’ and the five lightly floating words could be vague.

Cheng Yang’s face turned pale. “No, no, no…” she exclaimed. “How could this be…?” she was completely confused, her heart in a mess, and didn’t even know what she was talking about.

Madam Sang lowered her head and smiled slightly. Qing Cong was dumbfounded, and unknowingly stopped massaging Madam Xiao’s smooth hand. The three brothers of the Cheng family looked at their younger sister with a calm expression, and compared to Cheng Yang’s flustered appearance, they felt inexplicably proud.

Madam Xiao sighed. In terms of wits and cleverness, a hundred Yang Yang’s would not be as good as a single Niao Niao. What happened today was so sudden, and she wasn’t aware of it beforehand, but in just a few moments, she understood what was going on and reversed the situation.

“Don’t be aggressive,” she said in a deep voice. “You have dealt with Lian Fang’s punishment, let Yang Yang deal with her own maidservant’s punishment.”

“Of course, I will listen to Mother,” Cheng Shaoshang said, smiling.

Madam Xiao just couldn’t see her contemptuous look. “The fault lies with the maidservant,” she said displeasingly. “The writing desk is a trivial matter and can be given to anyone. You sisters must be in harmony with each other in the future, and not create animosity.”

Cheng Shaoshang nodded with a smile, not taking it seriously. However, Cheng Yong and Cheng Shaogong were not very comfortable, and even Cheng Song, who was usually careless, felt a faint sense of tightness in his heart.

It seemed that the matter had come to an end. To everyone’s surprise, Nanny Fu gained confidence from Madam Xiao’s words. “Thank you very much for speaking for our Young Mistress,” she cried loudly. “Our Young Mistress is not as intelligent as the Fourth Young Lady, nor is she as eloquent as the Fourth Young Lady. She is an honest person, and you know that. Just now, when the Fourth Young Lady said what she said – aiyo, let’s not ask Young Mistress to think it out on her own, but write it out and make her recite it. The Fourth Young Lady has three siblings to support her, but unfortunately, Young Mistress is weak and us servants cannot say a word! We worry every day that someone will bully our Young Mistress, trying to be strong everywhere, and we feel that we must ask for a share for her. That’s the only reason I made this mistake…!”

Cheng Shaoshang squinted, feeling that she had overestimated the old lady. She thought she was so smart, but she turned out to be someone who didn’t know when to pull back. Okay, if you don’t want to give up, then don’t give up.

Madam Sang straightened up and spoke coldly, “You old woman, where did you come from? What crazy and contradictory words did you say? Where did you get bullied? What are you criticizing? The Cheng family brothers have been close in flesh and blood for decades, and have never separated from each other. Are you saying this to provoke the Cheng’s family harmony? Who taught you, the Ge family?”

Nanny Fu immediately stopped crying, understanding that she had just made a big mistake. She could say that Cheng Yang was honest, foolish, and easily aggrieved, but she could never involve the Young Masters. She reacted quickly, kowtowed desperately, saying that she was wrong.

Madam Xiao also frowned, and said in her heart that Nanny Fu could definitely not stay. She had been a servant since she was six years old and didn’t know anything. These days, she walked around with Yang Yang, and the servants couldn’t be more pleasing. It was clear that this nanny was clearly provoking.

Cheng Yong straightened up. “You despicable woman!” he said angrily. “How dare you talk about the right and wrong of your master’s family. Guards!”

“All right!” Madam Xiao interrupted. “This is the end of the matter!”

Cheng Shaoshang waited for a long time, waited for Madam Xiao to punish this Nanny Fu. There was no such sentence. She smiled incredulously in her heart; she could only rely on herself.

“Mother,” she said lightly, “do you think this old woman’s words are correct?”

Madam Xiao had had the intention to end this quickly. “You still have things to say?” she scolded.

“Right is right, wrong is wrong. If this old woman’s words are right, then my brothers and I will have the reputation of bullying our cousin. If it is wrong, Mother, you must immediately punish this old woman and set the record straight!” Cheng Shaoshang looked at her mother quietly.

Madam Xiao was frustrated again and again today. She was already extremely angry. “How dare you disobey!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Qing Cong was startled and Madam Sang looked at her sister-in-law in surprise.

“Mother!” Cheng Yong shouted loudly. What a serious charge disobedience and unfilial behavior is! Once implemented, his younger sister would be doomed.

Cheng Song couldn’t believe it and stared at Madam Xiao, while Cheng Shaogong was filled with disappointment. “Mother,” he said, trembling, “isn’t Shaoshang your daughter? This old woman just said those rebellious words, and you won’t punish her. Instead, you want to say such a serious thing to Shaoshang!”

Madam Xiao was so angry she couldn’t speak. She turned her head and sat in silence.

Cheng Shaoshang sneered in her heart.

The hall there is tall and spacious, and there was a martial servant standing outside with a sword hanging on her waist. Earlier today, while she was practicing calligraphy, Madam Xiao sent such a cold martial servant to detain her without any reason. Even A’Zhu was not allowed to go with her and, as soon as she arrived, was angrily questioned by Madam Xiao. With such a three-class trial posture, the ordinary little girl was frightened a long time ago. Finally, she was half-mixed. Back then, the Taiwanese boyfriend of her Big Sister* had been beaten up by three pool cues while in the billiard room. She didn’t blink at that, and wouldn’t today!
[Okay. It’s been alluded that CSS was in a gang/group of delinquents as a young teen. Big Sister in this term refers to the ‘head’ of a female gang. I’m not 100% but I think she’s saying here that she wasn’t fazed by what had happened to the boyfriend and wouldn’t allow herself to be fazed here.]

Now in the Cheng family, although she was a legitimate daughter of the head of the family, her situation was not optimistic. If she gave up today, she would be crushed and beaten for the rest of her life and never shrink back. She was not a person who could swallow her anger!

Cheng Shaoshang had already made up her mind and turned her head to sneer at Nanny Fu. “If your words were heard by Father just now,” she said in a harsh voice, “he would have skinned you alive with a single knife. Believe it or not!” When she mentioned Cheng Shi, Nanny Fu began to tremble like a leaf.

“Mother refuses to scold you, do you know why? It isn’t for you, it’s for the face of my cousin,” Cheng Shaoshang said every word slowly. “You don’t need to feel sad that my brothers are biased towards me. They’re biased towards me because Mother is biased towards my cousin.”

“Niao Niao!” Qing Cong shouted; her eyes filled with panic.

“Let her speak.” Madam Xiao’s face sank.

Cheng Yong felt bad, but it was too late to stop this.

“Just now, Mother said that the fault of the servant should not be attributed to the Young Mistress,” Cheng Shaoshang said. “Well, that’s a good point. Therefore, Lian Fang, who has only been by me for a dozen days, made a mistake, and Mother didn’t even ask me and detained me. Clearly it had to have been my fault and Chang Pu, who has been by my cousin’s side for more than ten years, makes a mistake and my cousin is fine. Tell me, why is that?”

Nanny Fu opened her mouth wide and could not make a sound. She had just implicated the three Young Masters and stirred up the water to escape. Unexpectedly, the Fourth Young Lady was even more fierce and directly dragged her biological mother into the water.

“It’s because Mother loves my cousin.” Cheng Shaoshang slapped her left palm against her right, smiling coldly. “Mother is master of both the pen and the sword, intelligent and capable. Not to mention my three older brothers… they have the strength of thirty older brothers. So, you don’t have to worry about Cousin, with Mother protecting her, no one in the Cheng household would dare bully her!”

“Presumptuous!” Madam Xiao suppressed her anger. “Are you blaming me?”

Cheng Shaoshang turned around and smiled faintly. “Mother, after ten years of separation, the first time we had a deep conversation, you said to me, ‘what’s the point of telling lies and falsehoods?’ Your daughter firmly remembered it and didn’t forget anything. Now that you don’t like how the truth sounds, do you want me to lie?”

Furious, Madam Xiao stood up, pointing and cursing, “You evil creature, where are you coming…”

Cheng Yong knew his mother was about to have a fit, so he rushed up and tightly hugged her legs. “Mother,” he pleaded, “It’s all my fault! It’s my thoughtlessness that caused this kind of thing. It’s all my fault that I caused you to get angry! Niao Niao is young and hasn’t been taught since childhood, don’t blame her!”

Madam Xiao was even more angry when she heard him. “If you had sent out two writing desks, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Three desks.” Unexpectedly, Cheng Shaogong piped up coldly. “Three writing desks. Wei Wei also needs to practice. Mother only has our cousin in her heart and she even forgot about Wei Wei.”
[Although not mentioned until later chapters, Wei Wei is the daughter of Madam Sang and Cheng Zhi and is just a small girl.]

Madam Xiao was stunned and stopped struggling with her legs. She pointed at Cheng Shaogong and said, “You…!” Her dissatisfaction with her third son’s gaze cooled her heart. For the first time in her life, her sons opposed her, and she suddenly felt surrounded on all sides.

Madam Sang quickly came over to try and smooth things over. “Wei Wei can only write a few words, what kind of writing desk do you want? It’s just a little matter, no need to be tense.”

Cheng Yong knelt down at Madam Xiao’s feet, kowtowed again and again. “It’s all my fault. Please punish me, Mother.”

“Okay, I will punish you,” Madam Xiao was trembling with anger. “I will punish you…”

“Why must Mother punish Eldest Brother?” Cheng Shaoshang asked suddenly.

Cheng Yong burst into a sweat and turned around. “Stop talking!” he shouted.

“No, I’m going to speak.”

Cheng Shaoshang straightened up, her thin shoulders were like butterfly wings that would shatter if touched, and the sunlight shone in through the porch, shining on her as if her whole body was submerged in light. Her snow-white and childish face lacked any trace of color, her expression was indifferent, and her voice was cold as ice.

“Mother can punish me, but not Eldest Brother, because he did nothing wrong.”

“Why did Eldest Brother only give me the writing desk? It’s because I am vulgar and poor, and Eldest Brother took pity on me so he gave me his beloved writing desk in hopes that I would not be discouraged and study hard. It wasn’t that he went outside to create it specially for me and missed Cousin. What’s wrong with Eldest Brother?”

The hall was quiet, with no one making a sound except for the gentle cries of Cheng Yang.

“Mother, I can only write a hundred words now, and I have read even less volumes of books. They are all children’s enlightenment materials. As for my cousin, she has learned everything she needs to learn, and you are teaching her what she hasn’t learned yet. Mother, how old is your daughter this year? I will be of marrying age next year.”

Qing Cong didn’t even know that her eyes were wet, but the girl kneeling in the center of the hall didn’t shed a single tear. She was so stubborn and proud, holding her thin back straight. Qing Cong had always stood by Madam Xiao’s side for everything in her life, but this time, she wanted to stand on her daughter’s side.

“If there’s an indivisible wheat cake, and there are two people in front of you. One is starving to death while the other is mostly full. Mother, who do you want to give the wheat cake to? Do you want to tell the person who is going to starve to death that, for the sake of fairness, you can endure it first and give each of you more when I have two wheat cakes?”

Cheng Yong turned his head to wipe his tears and looked back at his thin younger sister in the backlight, momentarily heartbroken.

Madam Sang stared at Cheng Shaoshang. She suddenly remembered a small battle she witnessed with her own eyes many years ago. At that time, the opponent’s lord was dead, and only a few soldiers were left in the battle, but they refused to surrender. Later, their entire army was annihilated, and all of them died in battle. In the afterglow of the setting sun, only the broken poles and flags still stuck obliquely on the slope remained.

She felt that Cheng Shaoshang was like those remaining soldiers, with a sense of solitary bravery and a palpable brilliance on her body.

“Mother, are you still going to punish Eldest Brother? He’s not at fault.”

Cheng Shaogong turned his face and quickly shook off the dampness in his eyes, then turned around with a smiling face.

The wet bluestone road in her hometown appeared in front of her eyes. The winter in the south was actually more difficult than that in the north. It was wet and cold, just like her childhood. She stopped caring about it a long time ago, but it still hurt.

…

Do you guys like the little author’s notes I’m translating? Some of them are just being thankful, which I didn’t think would be too interesting, but I’m having fun showing the ones that speak about the story or adds a bit of flair.

This time, she wrote: “I don’t know where I heard that childhood hurt is eternal. No matter how successful you are in the future, or if you think you’ve been hurt or not, it will always accompany you. It can’t be cured, but can be overcome, so be strong.”

Next Chapter: People’s Bias