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Time flew, and it was almost noon.
Langyun Tower's master reported that all the preliminary work had been completed, everything that needed to be packaged was ready, and all modifications had been made; then, Fan Xinglai pocketed the address booklet given by Liang Qu and took a flatcart to the county town to collect people one by one.
Liang Qu, having instructed on many matters in the kitchen, returned to wait by the pond.
Half an hour earlier, Liang Qu, with tremendous effort, had persuaded the Old Toad to agree to provide another Treasure Fish to support the three-thousand-mile lotus enterprise.
Unexpectedly, the Old Toad ate everything up, leaving behind a pile of empty cages, and vanished in a trail of smoke; he was nowhere to be seen as the banquet was about to begin.
"He wouldn't stand us up, would he?"
Fortunately, just as Liang Qu was worrying, two bubbles floated up in the middle of the pond, bursting into spray.
In an instant, water splashed in all directions.
