CH 64

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 Wuji’s request to tell the story of the Qixi Festival’s magpie bridge meeting.

In this world, girls should definitely know these stories, right?

“The story of Qixi? It goes like this… In ancient times, there was a kind-hearted cowherd…”

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. “Hey, this cowherd stole someone’s clothes? You call that kind-hearted?”

“Um… That’s how the story goes.”

“You made it up, didn’t you?”

“I’ve written so many books, but I’ve never come up with a protagonist like this. I didn’t make it up… Different eras have different values. In your world, people respect women relatively more because it’s based on my values. If we strictly follow ancient times, it’s not as good…”

Qiu Wuji frowned and pondered for a moment. “Seems quite similar. The cowherd steals clothes, and you steal stockings.”

Chu Ge: “?”

Feeling that her analogy wasn’t quite accurate, Chu Ge had indeed shown her a lot of respect. Fortunately, he wasn’t like the cowherd… Qiu Wuji huffed, “Anyway, if it were me, I would slap the cowherd’s head…”

“Slap it until it’s smashed, right?” Chu Ge lamented, “I wrote her as a female sword immortal, how did she end up like this…”

“You didn’t let me use a sword,” Qiu Wuji said. “In this world, I don’t see anyone wielding a sword, so I’ll change the attack style. I’ll think about it and come up with a skill for head-slapping, convenient for use here.”

“…Are you still listening to the story?” Chu Ge asked.

Qiu Wuji felt that she couldn’t relate to the beginning of this love story, so it didn’t matter if she didn’t listen to it.

Chu Ge said, “Although the beginning has its flaws, the rest of the story is quite touching. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been passed down and become a traditional festival.”

He paused for a moment and continued to finish the story. He added, “Regardless 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 people’s wishes for lovers to reunite and their hopes for enduring love. So, on this day, lovers make appointments…”

Originally, he wanted to subtly hint that he and Qiu Wuji were lovers, but Qiu Wuji didn’t pick up on it. Instead, she fell into silence for a while before slowly saying, “The meeting between heaven and earth, the divide between two worlds, is it truly impossible to bridge?”

“Squeak!” Chu Ge slammed on the brakes, nearly toppling over. He angrily retorted, “What nonsense are you talking about!”

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, “Stop talking about this!”

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 didn’t dare to continue that topic any further and weakly said, “Even so, they will eventually meet. Why are you so impatient?”

“What’s so great about seeing each other once a year?” Chu Ge retorted, frustrated. “The reason why the story has been passed down through the ages is not because it’s beautiful, but because it’s flawed! Stories can have flaws, but reality shouldn’t!”

“Alright, alright, no need to be so impatient…” Qiu Wuji spoke softly. “You’re not the Cowherd, you’re our Creator God. The one who can separate the Cowherd and Weaver Girl is none other than yourself.”

Chu Ge froze and fell silent.

The reason why Qiu Wuji’s thoughtless words had angered him was because deep down, he also had lingering worries, a typical case of being “anxious.”

To this day, they hadn’t figured out why Qiu Wuji was able to travel through, but what if one day she couldn’t 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 Wuji’s words were not wrong…

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 Wuji’s 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. “What do you think they should do, considering they only meet once a year?”

Qiu Wuji yelled, “Ride your bike!”

Chu Ge quickly pedaled his bike and rushed away, saying, “Let’s go eat supper. It’ll serve as a place to seek shelter from the rain!”

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 wouldn’t be separated by the crowd…

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.

“Oh, shit! I just remembered it’s Qixi Festival today!” Someone noticed Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji entering while holding hands and lamented to their companions, “Other couples are holding hands all lovey-dovey, why am I stuck here with you bunch of single guys, talking nonsense?”

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.

Isn’t she the beautiful woman I encountered this morning? What a coincidence!

Oh no, she already has a man…

Then a chubby guy chuckled “That’s nothing. We’re still doing fine. At least we have friends to hang out with. The book I’ve been reading with Ah Jun recently, the author is all about tragedy, but on Qixi Festival, there’s 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.”

The chubby guy then turned to the young man and said, “Oh, by the way, Ah Jun, I should tell you. Today, I accidentally discovered that Brother Chu should be from our Nanjiang…”

Chu Ge: “?”

The young man withdrew his gaze from Qiu Wuji and asked in surprise, “Don’t tell me you actually went to confront him through the internet?”

The chubby person put his hands on his hips and said, “Of course! Couldn’t beat the crap out of him, but at least he finished writing the plot this afternoon, right? Sigh, it was an impulsive act…”

The young man said, “Well done! These past few days, all he’s been writing is Chu Tiange. I want to see Qiu Wuji!”

Qiu Wuji: “…”

Chu Ge: “?”