I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 448 Qixi Festival Special: Stage Play
F: Ahem, today is Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day). For the benefit of our readers and to fulfill the vote we decided on beforehand, we're putting on a stage play. Since it's for the occasion, the play is called "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl," and the leads are Mu Yegui and Mu Yin, who were chosen in the previous vote.

Mu Yegui (raising her hand obediently): I want to play the Weaver Girl.

Mu Yin: Why do I have to act?

F: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are a couple.

Mu Yin: I'll act.

F: Okay, now that we've decided on the lead actors, let's move on to the supporting cast. The cast includes the wingman Old Ox, the expert at breaking up couples, the mean-spirited mother-in-law Queen Mother, the son and daughter of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, a flock of magpies, the Milky Way, and finally, the narrator.

Ji Qi (annoyed): I need narration. Everyone was there during yesterday's interview, but I was the only one left out.

Rongyi: Who told you to say you were going to sleep back then?
Ji Qi: I want to narrate.

F: Okay, here's the narration.

Xie Er (coldly staring at Mu Yin): The Queen Mother who breaks up lovers? Breaking up lovers...

Mu Yin (surprised): What are you doing?!

Sher: I want to play the Queen Mother.

Mu Yin: ...

F: Okay, next up is a son and a daughter, Magpie and Milky Way. As for this son and daughter…

(Suddenly looking at the Gemini)
F: It just so happens that they are twins, a boy and a girl, and you are twins, so it's the perfect match. You two will be the ones to go.

Gemini: No way!
F: Refusal is invalid, as the magpie said...

Zhu Yan: Are you that poor? The magpies and the Milky Way have to be acted out by people, can't you use props instead?
F: Yes, we're very poor. After all, we don't have enough subscriptions and no money. We even overspent to order a piece of clothing for Ye Gui when we were about to beg for money. We have no money left.

Zhu Yan: ...

F: Since none of you are saying anything, let's draw lots. There are so many people, so let's draw two roles and see which two unlucky ones will be chosen.

(After the draw.)
A Milky Way of Water: Water Qi

A flock of magpies: Koya.

F: Now that you've made up your mind, let's start rehearsing.

Pre-selected role: Scalper (Gold/Silver)
-
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl

[Narrator - Ji Qi (reading in a blank, expressionless voice): Long, long ago, there was a cowherd on earth called Niulang. Not the kind of gigolo who lives off women in a gigolo shop, but a cowherd, a cowherd.]

He raised a yellow ox, an incredibly small ox, only the size of a fist, not yellow at all, and resembling a hamster. Its name was Yellow Ox.

There is a Weaver Girl in the heavens, a woman who weaves cloth, said to be the daughter of the Queen Mother of the West. She is incredibly skillful, able to weave colorful clouds with her nimble hands. Amazing! Why can't I do that?
One day, the Weaver Girl and her sisters descended to earth to bathe in a lake, and thus the story begins. In short, it's a tale of a pervert who hides the goddess's clothes, only to be unexpectedly chosen by her, leading to their separation and eventual reunion.

[Cowherd - Mu Yegui] (expressionless face): Why am I a cowherd? I want to wear a little skirt.

F: Never mind that, just keep acting.

[Niulang-Muyegui] (asking emotionlessly): You said there was a beautiful fairy bathing in the lake?

[Scalper - Gold and Silver]: Squeak.

[Props actor - Rong Yi with the character "Lake" pasted on his face]: I am Lake.

[Narrator - Ji Qi (continues monotone reading): Guided by a rat named Yellow Ox, the cowherd stole the clothes of a weaving woman bathing in the lake. Seriously, how could they steal something like that? Was the fairy's magic just for show? They couldn't even detect such a blatant act?]

F: Cough cough!
[Weaver Girl - Mu Yin] (Stands up calmly): You want to see? Go ahead and watch.

[Narrator - Ji Qi: Are you a pervert?]

F: Try again!
[Weaver Girl - Mu Yin] (playing hard to get): Don't come any closer! Give me back my clothes!

[Narrator - Ji Qi: Are you the Weaver Girl or a prostitute? Can't you be a little more reserved?] F: Don't offer your opinions before it's your turn, and don't try to steal the spotlight!

[Niulang-Muyegui] (well-behaved): Oh, here you go.

[Weaver Girl - Mu Yin] (shyly): Thank you, I like you. (Kissing her on the cheek)

—They held back some people who wanted to rush out—

[Narrator - Ji Qi (cold face): So, in this ridiculous "love at first sight" scenario, they fell in love. From then on, he farmed and she wove, and they even had twins, a son and a daughter, both boys. They lived a happy and fulfilling life. I didn't see it coming.]

[Daughter-Mingjin] (with a stiff smile): I am the older sister.

[Son - Mingxi] (almost bursts out laughing): I'm the younger brother, thankfully I don't have to wear a skirt...

[Scalper - Gold and Silver]: Squeak squeak squeak.

[Narrator - Ji Qi: However, when Wang's mother found out about this, she flew into a rage and sent two extras, one called Heavenly Soldier and the other Heavenly General, to capture the weaving woman and take her back to the Heavenly Palace. "You weave cloth in the heavens, and you also weave cloth on earth, so what are you doing on earth? Contemplating life?"]

[Queen Mother-Xie Er] (with a face full of anger): Heavenly soldiers and generals, go and separate the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and beat the Weaver Girl to death.

F: Start over! That's your 'daughter'.

[Queen Mother-Xie Er] (cold face): Heavenly soldiers and generals, go and separate the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, arrest the Weaver Girl and lock her up in prison, but don't hurt the Cowherd (Mu Ye Gui).

[Heavenly Soldier-Jiafar] (with a happy face): Yes, sir!
[Sky General - Flying] (forced to be included): ...

[Narrator - Ji Qi: So they went to arrest the woman weaving.]

[Heavenly Soldier - Jafar] (with a beaming smile): Weaver Girl! Surrender now and come back to the Heavenly Palace with us!
[Sky General - Flying] (Silence): ...

[Weaver Girl - Mu Yin] (suppressing laughter): No, I won't leave. I want to stay with my husband, hahahahahaha.

[Niulang-Muyegui] (nods obediently): Yes, he can't leave.

[Heavenly Soldier-Jiafar] (troubled): Oh, then I won't catch him.

[Sky General - Flying] (Silence): ...

F: Arrest them!

[Narrator - Ji Qi: So they captured the weaver woman. The cowherd panicked and, with the help of a rat named Yellow Ox, picked up his basket and, with his son and daughter, chased after her. He carried the basket himself, not wanting to trouble others.]

[Scalper - Gold and Silver]: Squeak squeak squeak.

[Lo-Beltias]: ? ? ?
[Kuang-Lanxiao]: ...

[Niulang-Muyegui] (read in a serious, monotone tone): Wow, I'm flying! Hurry up and find Niulang.

[Children-Gemini] (with a cold face): Wow, that's so tall.

[Daughter-Mingjin]: Who wrote these absurd lines?!
[Narrator - Ji Qi: When the old woman surnamed Wang saw the cowherd chasing after her, she used her gold hairpin to draw a silver river between the weaving woman and the cowherd. They can fly, why not just jump across?]

[Shui Qi, with a line written on her face] (Standing expressionlessly between the two)

[Narrator - Ji Qi: The merciless Milky Way separated the two of them on opposite banks, which is quite vivid. They could only weep and gaze at each other from across the river. Why don't you start crying then?]

[Weaver Girl - Mu Yin] (shrugs): I'm sorry, I can't cry.

[Niu Lang - Mu Ye Gui] (raising his hand obediently): Can I have some eye drops?

[Narrator - Ji Qi: A flock of magpies, moved by their sorrowful weeping, transformed into a bridge across the Milky Way, allowing them to reunite. The old woman surnamed Wang was touched, and thus decreed that they could meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. And, joyously, it finally came to an end.]

[Name: A Flock of Magpies - Ke Ya]: So I only live in the narration?
[The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl - Alternate Version - Completed]

(End of this chapter)