Qixi Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, fell this year on Aug 4, boosting a spending spree in China.

The Qixi Festival has always been linked to the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. This is a very beautiful love story that has been passed down through the ages and has become one of the four major folk love legends in my country.

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a smart and loyal young man in Xiniujiazhuang, Nanyang City. His parents died early, so he had to live with his brother and sister-in-law. In the autumn, his sister-in-law forced him to herd the cows and gave him nine cows, but told him to wait until he had ten cows before returning home. The Cowherd had no choice but to drive the cows out of the village.

Niulang drove the cows into the mountain alone. On the mountain with deep grass and dense forest, he sat under the tree and was sad. He didn't know when he would be able to drive ten cows home. At this time, an old man with white hair and beard appeared. In front of him, he asked him why he was sad, and when he learned what happened to him, he smiled and said to him: "Don't be sad, there is a sick old cow in Funiu Mountain, you go and feed it well, and wait for the old cow to recover. Later, you can rush it home.

The Cowherd walked a long way over the mountains and mountains, and finally found the sick old cow. When he saw that the old cow was seriously ill, he went to bring a bale of grass to the old cow and fed it for three days in a row. When the old cow was full, he raised his head and told him that he was originally a great immortal gray cow in the sky, but he was banished to the sky because he violated the rules of heaven. He broke his leg and couldn't move. My wounds need to be washed with the dew of Hundred Flowers for a month to heal. The Cowherd was not afraid of hard work, and took care of the old cow carefully for a month. After that, the cowherd happily drove ten cows back home.

After returning home, his sister-in-law still treated him badly. He tried to harm him several times, but Lao Niu tried to save him. In the end, his sister-in-law became angry and drove the Cowherd out of the house, and the Cowherd only wanted the old cow to accompany him.

One day, the Weaver Girl in the sky and the fairies went down to earth to play games and bathed in the river. The Cowherd met the Weaver Girl with the help of Lao Niu. . The Weaver Girl also distributed the silkworms brought from the sky to everyone, and taught them how to raise silkworms, spin silk, and weave bright and shiny satin.

After the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl got married, the man farmed and the woman weaved, and they were deeply in love. They had two children, a boy and a girl, and the family lived happily. But the good times didn't last long, and the Emperor of Heaven knew about this soon. The Queen Mother came down to earth in person and forcibly brought Zhinu back to the sky, and the loving couple was separated.

There is no way for the cowherd to go to the sky, but the old cow told the cowherd that after he died, he could use his leather to make shoes, and he could go to the sky when he wore it. Cowherd did as Lao Niu said, put on shoes made of cowhide, dragged his sons and daughters, and chased the Weaving Maid together in the clouds and mist. The Tianhe River appeared, and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were separated from each other, and they could only cry relative to each other. Their loyal love moved the magpies, and thousands of magpies flew over to build a bridge of magpies, allowing the Cowherd and Weaver Girl to meet on the bridge of magpies.