By the riverside, the night was deep.
The evening brought a light drizzle, gently brushing against their faces, providing a refreshing coolness to the late summer air.
The bicycle leisurely rode along the riverside road, faint voices drifting in the background. Chu Ge was fulfilling Qiu Wujiâs request to tell the story of the Qixi Festivalâs magpie bridge meeting.
In this world, girls should definitely know these stories, right?
âThe story of Qixi? It goes like this⦠In ancient times, there was a kind-hearted cowherdâ¦â
Qiu Wuji felt that it would be a beautiful story. The beginning of the story made her feel a slight connection between herself and Chu Ge.
One fairy, one mortal.
But as the story unfolded, her anticipation turned sour. âHey, this cowherd stole someoneâs clothes? You call that kind-hearted?â
âUm⦠Thatâs how the story goes.â
âYou made it up, didnât you?â
âIâve written so many books, but Iâve never come up with a protagonist like this. I didnât make it up⦠Different eras have different values. In your world, people respect women relatively more because itâs based on my values. If we strictly follow ancient times, itâs not as goodâ¦â
Qiu Wuji frowned and pondered for a moment. âSeems quite similar. The cowherd steals clothes, and you steal stockings.â
Chu Ge: â?â
Feeling that her analogy wasnât quite accurate, Chu Ge had indeed shown her a lot of respect. Fortunately, he wasnât like the cowherd⦠Qiu Wuji huffed, âAnyway, if it were me, I would slap the cowherdâs headâ¦â
âSlap it until itâs smashed, right?â Chu Ge lamented, âI wrote her as a female sword immortal, how did she end up like thisâ¦â
âYou didnât let me use a sword,â Qiu Wuji said. âIn this world, I donât see anyone wielding a sword, so Iâll change the attack style. Iâll think about it and come up with a skill for head-slapping, convenient for use here.â
ââ¦Are you still listening to the story?â Chu Ge asked.
Qiu Wuji felt that she couldnât relate to the beginning of this love story, so it didnât matter if she didnât listen to it.
Chu Ge said, âAlthough the beginning has its flaws, the rest of the story is quite touching. Otherwise, it wouldnât have been passed down and become a traditional festival.â
He paused for a moment and continued to finish the story. He added, âRegardless of the flaws in the beginning, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl are meant to be a loving couple in the narrative. Every year on Qixi, the magpies spontaneously build a bridge, symbolizing peopleâs wishes for lovers to reunite and their hopes for enduring love. So, on this day, lovers make appointmentsâ¦â
Originally, he wanted to subtly hint that he and Qiu Wuji were lovers, but Qiu Wuji didnât pick up on it. Instead, she fell into silence for a while before slowly saying, âThe meeting between heaven and earth, the divide between two worlds, is it truly impossible to bridge?â
âSqueak!â Chu Ge slammed on the brakes, nearly toppling over. He angrily retorted, âWhat nonsense are you talking about!â
The inertia from the brakes caused Qiu Wuji to unexpectedly bump into his back. Instinctively, she reached out and held onto his waist. Chu Ge felt her soft touch against his back but was too preoccupied to savor the moment. He continued to express his anger, âStop talking about this!â
For some reason, even though she usually beat him up, Qiu Wuji became a bit cautious when he got angry. She curled her lips, released her grip on his waist, and sat up straight. However, she didnât dare to continue that topic any further and weakly said, âEven so, they will eventually meet. Why are you so impatient?â
âWhatâs so great about seeing each other once a year?â Chu Ge retorted, frustrated. âThe reason why the story has been passed down through the ages is not because itâs beautiful, but because itâs flawed! Stories can have flaws, but reality shouldnât!â
âAlright, alright, no need to be so impatientâ¦â Qiu Wuji spoke softly. âYouâre not the Cowherd, youâre our Creator God. The one who can separate the Cowherd and Weaver Girl is none other than yourself.â
Chu Ge froze and fell silent.
The reason why Qiu Wujiâs thoughtless words had angered him was because deep down, he also had lingering worries, a typical case of being âanxious.â
To this day, they hadnât figured out why Qiu Wuji was able to travel through, but what if one day she couldnât come back?
Therefore, her words had a chance of coming true, poking at the very point that Chu Ge feared and avoided the most.
But Qiu Wujiâs words were not wrongâ¦
You are the Creator God, not the Cowherd.
The fate of their meeting is in your hands, not at the mercy of others or the magpies.
And Qiu Wujiâs words are quite intriguing⦠Is she assuming that we are the Cowherd and Weaver Girl?
Chu Ge looked up at the sky, allowing the drizzle to fall on his face, took a deep breath, and suddenly smiled. âWhat do you think they should do, considering they only meet once a year?â
Qiu Wuji yelled, âRide your bike!â
Chu Ge quickly pedaled his bike and rushed away, saying, âLetâs go eat supper. Itâll serve as a place to seek shelter from the rain!â
Qiu Wuji remained silent.
There was a nearby block, part of the old town area. The streetlights were dim, and the houses reflected a style from two or three decades ago. There was a storefront at the street corner that was still illuminated, resembling a small restaurant that also served late-night snacks. Someone had just come out of a private room, heading to the counter to pay.
Chu Ge parked the bike and pulled Qiu Wuji inside.
Qiu Wuji felt that he was intentionally holding her hand now because there was no need to enter and they wouldnât be separated by the crowdâ¦
Just as she was about to pull her hand back, her gaze inadvertently swept over the group of people at the counter, and her heart skipped a beat. She forgot to retract her hand.
She recognized one of the young men among them. He was the one with the ability to write on his face earlier in the morning.
âOh, shit! I just remembered itâs Qixi Festival today!â Someone noticed Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji entering while holding hands and lamented to their companions, âOther couples are holding hands all lovey-dovey, why am I stuck here with you bunch of single guys, talking nonsense?â
Everyone laughed, their gazes passing over Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji. The young man, upon seeing Qiu Wuji, had a momentary daze in his eyes.
Isnât she the beautiful woman I encountered this morning? What a coincidence!
Oh no, she already has a manâ¦
Then a chubby guy chuckled âThatâs nothing. Weâre still doing fine. At least we have friends to hang out with. The book Iâve been reading with Ah Jun recently, the author is all about tragedy, but on Qixi Festival, thereâs even more misery, hahaha. Just thinking about it gives off the fragrance of a single dog. The more I think about it, the more comfortable I feel.â
The chubby guy then turned to the young man and said, âOh, by the way, Ah Jun, I should tell you. Today, I accidentally discovered that Brother Chu should be from our Nanjiangâ¦â
Chu Ge: â?â
The young man withdrew his gaze from Qiu Wuji and asked in surprise, âDonât tell me you actually went to confront him through the internet?â
The chubby person put his hands on his hips and said, âOf course! Couldnât beat the crap out of him, but at least he finished writing the plot this afternoon, right? Sigh, it was an impulsive actâ¦â
The young man said, âWell done! These past few days, all heâs been writing is Chu Tiange. I want to see Qiu Wuji!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Qiu Wuji: ââ¦â
Chu Ge: â???â
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