[R18] The stars are brilliant, so lucky even (The stars are brilliant, the moon rises over the sea) – Chapter 24 of “The Star is Brilliant and the Moon is Rising Over the Sea” Chapter 24 [English]

Chapter 24

Two days later, the Cheng family hosted a banquet and the whole house was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

Cheng’s mother finally looked forward to the day when she would be in the limelight. She got up early early in the morning and ate three bowls of wheat rice and meat soup before she put down her chopsticks and sat high at the head of Cixin Hall, waiting for the guests to come and greet her.Cheng Shi led his brothers and sons to the main entrance to greet guests, while Mrs. Xiao and Mr. Sang were busy in the inner house.

Today, Shao Shang is dressed up like Cheng Shu, with a three-wrap brocade of crimson woven with Ganoderma lucidum pattern and a skirt, with a snow-colored lining, which is very bright and beautiful – Mrs. Xiao has absolutely no problem with aesthetics, but the problem is her current mood.

Cheng Shu has big eyes, round face, healthy complexion, and can be regarded as dignified and beautiful. Unfortunately, with the same dress, although Shao Shang has not yet grown up, his face is fair and young, and his bright eyes are good at seeing, making Cheng Shu look like a village girl.

Mrs. Sang smiled with the spring breeze blowing on her face, and deliberately glanced at Mrs. Xiao. Mrs. Xiao glared at her, and she found it funny again when she thought about it.

Mother Cheng was dressed like a red lantern today, covered in gold and silver, sparkling, and the thick red gold fire stick had indeed reappeared in the world.Shaoshang visually inspected the back of Cheng’s mother’s head and found that it seemed to be thicker again.She leaned close to Cheng Shu’s ear and whispered, “Did Mother hit that golden hairpin hard?”

Cheng Shu smiled bitterly: “Did you see it? My mother added a full two taels of red gold.”

Shaoshang deliberately teased her: “You are a good granddaughter of my eldest mother, but you didn’t persuade her? Wouldn’t this make you laugh?”

Cheng Shu was frightened: “How dare I!”

“You can ask my mother to persuade my eldest mother.” Shao Shang smiled evilly.

Cheng Shu was speechless. She just reacted awkwardly, but she wasn’t stupid either.

The two sisters were biting their ears, and the guests were already arriving one after another. The first ones to arrive were naturally General Wan and his wife.

General Wan, whose name was Wan Songbai, was five or six years older than Cheng Shi and slightly shorter by five or six inches, but he had a dignified appearance and a cheerful look, and he seemed to have recovered from his foot illness.Shao Shang Guan He wears a gold and purple crown on his head, a red gold belt on his waist, a general belly, a broad and open manner, and a domineering side. You can smell the aristocratic scent of him from three meters away.

In contrast, Mrs. Wan did not have such a strong sense of presence. She looked a bit older than her husband. After greeting Mother Cheng, she sat quietly and smiled.

After the greetings, Mother Cheng greeted General Wan’s mother happily.General Wan replied: “My mother caught a cold a while ago, and Qi Qi also caught it. The doctor said that she will be fine after just two days of treatment. There will be a banquet at my house in a few days, and I would like to invite your boss to come.”

Mother Cheng nodded in agreement with a dignified look.

According to the popular science of eldest brother Cheng Yong, the Wan family in Sui County is also a legendary family, that is, the head of the family is always a single descendant of N generations. No matter how many concubines are taken, no matter how many gods are worshiped, the heir can easily be exterminated if one is not careful.The most amazing thing is that once a side branch that once flourished with children succeeds the main branch, its branches and leaves will wither within two generations, and in the end it will be hard to raise a son alone.

Father Cheng once gave Brother Jieyi a bad idea, saying that the Feng Shui of the Wan family’s ancestral tomb was not right, so General Wan rebuilt the ancestral tomb a few years ago, but it still had no effect. On the contrary, it even cut off the daughter that had been in the flow for two years; the angry Brother Wan gave Brother Cheng a hard blow.

But except for the issue of children and interest, the rest of the Wan family is very safe.Although it was only a local prominent family, Caibo Manor could grow from generation to generation, and its prestige and fame never declined. In Wan Songbai’s father’s generation, they actually transitioned from civil service to military affairs in a timely manner and raised a group of capable generals. Not only did they not perish in the troubled times, they also jumped out of the local structure and came to the emperor.

The current situation of General Wan is that he has been granted the title of Marquis (Marquis), with a rank of two thousand shi, and is now the Sheriff of Xu County (he will soon be appointed). He is rich, powerful, has a good wife, a beautiful concubine, and an experienced and wise old mother. She only lacks a son.

…or several.

Shaoshang said: I am sad to be born.

After Wan Songbai finished chatting with Cheng’s mother, he turned to look at his little daughter, whom his sworn brother had boasted about 108 times.Because Shao Shang was always sitting with his head bowed, he actually took off a dazzling dagger hanging from his waist and handed it over without even seeing his face clearly.

Shao Shang raised his hands over his shoulders and took the gift respectfully. At one glance, he immediately said, “My dear!”

The dagger blade is made of fine steel and is clearly visible. The dagger handle and scabbard are both made of intricately engraved gold, and are studded with all kinds of precious stones and jade – it’s really “studded”!It was so full that Shaoshang could hardly grasp the handle of the dagger, especially the finger-sized rubies and emeralds, with several embedded in the middle of the scabbard!Obviously, although General Wan is from a serious family, he is very popular in terms of aesthetics.However, she likes it so much!

Shao Shang smiled so hard that he not only thanked her loudly, but also raised his head and gave Uncle Wan a sunny smile, which almost made Uncle Wan’s titanium alloy noble eyes shine. At that time, he thought that this dagger was worth a gift. When he saw Mrs. Xiao’s sinking face, he suddenly felt that this dagger was worth a damn!

The Wan Cheng family has known each other for decades. General Wan and Mrs. Xiao actually admit each other’s bright spots, but they just don’t agree with each other and they don’t like each other.Mrs. Xiao didn’t like Wan Songbai’s extravagance, drunkenness and lust. Wan Songbai was dissatisfied with Mrs. Xiao’s rules and airs that were more important than her husband’s. For decades, he was not allowed to take Cheng Shi to “play”, which was simply a lackluster husband (although Cheng Shi would never admit it)!

Mrs. Xiao was finally able to restrain herself, but General Wan had to get up even if he had the opportunity to create obstacles for Mrs. Xiao, and even more so when he had no chance to create opportunities to create obstacles for Mrs. Xiao!In short, if I see you unhappy, I will be happy.

Wan Songbai and Cheng Shi wished they could wear a pair of trousers. He had already known about the Cheng family’s housework. It was rare to catch Mrs. Xiao in such a painful spot and not scratch the knife so hard!

“Niao Niao, our two families are close friends, and your father and I are close friends. If you are wronged in the future, come to me! My uncle will definitely make the decision for you!”

General Wan’s eyes are full of stars, and every little star is evil. The meaning of his words cannot be more explicit.

Finally, Father Cheng knew that it would never be good for his sworn brother to meet Mrs. Xiao, so he quickly called Cheng Yong to drag him away, using the excuse of helping to greet the guests.Everyone was relieved, and Mrs. Wan hurriedly went to joke with Xiao Sang and his wife.

The guests who came later basically followed the same procedure. The female guests stayed and chatted, the male guests ran to the outer hall, and if there was an old woman, they sat next to Cheng’s mother.Cheng Shu and Shao Shang sat on their knees, always acting as mascots, smiling at everyone, lying down and saluting, pretending to be shy and accepting comments from their elders. Cheng Shu, who had such a kind and good temper, could no longer keep up the pretense in the end.

Guests came in droves, and most of them were confused by their faces and names. Only one lady named Yin impressed her deeply.

She was accompanied by many maids and maids, all dressed in gorgeous clothes, and the gifts were especially valuable. Mother Cheng was delighted to see them.After a brief discussion, Shao Shang understood that this was a guest invited by Mrs. Wan, and that the Cheng and Yin families had no friendship at first.

It turns out that although Mrs. Yin and Mrs. Wan appear to be many years apart, they are little sisters who have been friends since childhood. After they got married, they encountered chaos in the world, and they were separated for many years without seeing each other.Mrs. Xiao was good at dancing, Mrs. Sang’s words were interesting, and the sisters-in-law wanted to make friends. The ladies quickly got along with each other and had a great time talking.

An hour passed like this, and Shaoshang and Cheng Shu were almost unable to straighten their backs while bowing.Finally, when Mrs. Sang saw that there were more and more little girls coming to visit, she graciously asked them to lead them to the side hall for buttermilk snacks.The remaining old, middle-aged and young women can also talk about adult topics.

When they arrived at the side hall, Shaoshang obediently and politely handed over his host duties to Cheng Shu, asking her to greet the guests and speak polite words, while also revealing the results of Mrs. Xiao’s many days of training.She herself dragged a lacquered wooden bench and moved it to a corner to sit down. Lotus Fang cleverly served food and drinks, and then led the other two maids to kneel down beside her, half blocking her.Shaoshang smiled and nodded, indicating the reward.

In fact, if there is a theme for this Cheng family banquet, it must be “Farewell to yesterday and welcome the future.”Because today, except for exceptions like the Wan Yin family, most of the guests who came… How should I put it, their families, official positions, and levels were not very high.

If we use numbers to mark it: the Cheng family came from a humble background and came late to the dragon family. It was originally a fourth-class family in this capital. However, after ten years of hard work by Cheng Shi and his wife, it has now been officially promoted to a third-class family. When Cheng Shi completes his mission soon and comes back and is awarded a new official rank and position, it should be promoted to 2.5.As for whether he can climb to the second-level family or fall down in the future, it is unknown.

Moreover, these visitors in front of them are still “on par” with the previous Cheng family, or even worse.

If we had been friends with Cheng Shi and his wife before, maybe we could still have old friendships now. Unfortunately, in the past ten years, it was Cheng’s mother and Ge Shi that we had daily contact with.Therefore, the attitude of Cheng Shi and Mrs. Xiao in treating guests today was obviously not intimate enough, warm and warm, but also vaguely showing a kind of kindness and power from above.

For example, although the dozen little girls in red and green clothes in front of them tried their best to put on a smile, they were obviously angry towards Cheng Shaoshang.They all felt dissatisfied when they saw that Young Shang was dressed elegantly and expensively today, surrounded by maids and maids, and looked calm and generous in his behavior. It was completely different from the shy or arrogant appearance in front of Ge Shi in the past.But they remembered the instructions from their families and had to hold back no matter what, not to speak rudely to Shao Shang.

——Shaoshang is very happy.I just like the way you can’t stand me but can do nothing about me.

But after all, she was a teenage girl. After Cheng Shuo warmly entertained her and everyone joked for a while, someone finally couldn’t help it anymore.One of the girls with a rhombus-shaped face said deliberately: “…I don’t even dare to recognize Shao Shang today. It’s different after all.”

Shaoshang didn’t even move his eyebrows: “That’s natural. I’ve grown four inches taller these days.”

The other girl in green bit her lip: “I’m not talking about that! I’m talking about how you speak and behave differently!”

Shao Shang said calmly: “I used to behave badly and was scolded by my father and mother. Now I have naturally changed.”

——After that, several people tried to pick a fight, but they all asked Shao Shang to pass the test.

Her answer was polite and distant, and the girls couldn’t find any fault with it. It was like a tattoo on a piece of wet cowhide, slippery, soft, and impervious to water and fire.The girls became more and more unhappy, and finally the girl with the rhombus-shaped face at the beginning got the courage and said loudly: “Cheng Shaoshang, stop pretending, we don’t know who you are. You used to beg us to be friends with you, and you were very respectful, but now you are putting on airs! Do you still remember that not long ago, you said bad words to Mei Lin and beat her…”

She’s voice became lower and lower, and she didn’t dare to speak anymore, because Shao Shang was looking at her coldly.

Shaoshang straightened his back and said coldly: “Cousin, you have to testify for me. I was not rude at all today, and I didn’t say a single inappropriate word. I started over again sincerely, but some people are holding on to the past and refuse to let go.” Time has changed, and the Cheng Shaoshang of today is no longer the Cheng Shaoshang of the past. These brain-dead girls still don’t understand the situation.

Cheng Shu was also very angry and said coldly: “Sisters like to talk about the past so much, why not talk about my mother. My sister used to be raised by my mother.”

Mother’s debt must be paid by daughter, and even if the fault of Gu’s family is to be borne by her, it should be borne by her, not by her innocent cousin.After that book incident, she knew that she could no longer hide under her aunt’s sleeves and be a child. It was time to stand up and take responsibility.

As soon as these words came out, the girls fell silent, and the picky girl turned pale.Shaoshang looked at Cheng Shu with admiration.

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, and the room was silent for a while.

Suddenly, a burst of women’s exclamations and noises came from the main hall next door. A little girl sitting near the door curtain seemed to hear something and said in surprise: “…Ah, it seems, it seems that Mr. Shanjian is here!”

The girls all had happy faces, and they took the opportunity to break the awkward atmosphere. They all rushed to the door curtain to take a peek.

Shao Shang was impatient, so he forced a smile at Cheng Shu and the few girls who didn’t push over to take a look, and said calmly: “I feel a little uncomfortable, so I have to leave first. Please forgive me. Cousin, you are overworked.”

After saying that, she saluted, then turned and left, and Lianfang quickly followed.

——Cheng Shu has a kind and gentle nature, and there are no old grudges with everyone. After she leaves, everyone can live in harmony again after taking a step back.

As long as she’s not around.