When the three kites and five girls arrived at the 800-li Dongting Lake, they saw a huge number of fishing boats of all sizes and shapes lined up on the shore. From afar, they saw tall masts and a huge momentum.
The best restaurants with the best views of the lake are already packed, and even some makeshift food stalls are overcrowded.
As Wang Xipei was hesitating, she saw a waiter hurried out of the restaurant and said to her, "Young lady, please go upstairs."
After Wang Xipei confirmed that it was her who was called, she followed the waiter up the stairs until she reached the top of the restaurant. There were only three dining rooms on this floor, and the door of the middle one was open. The waiter did not go in, but just gestured to Wang Xipei to come in.
Wang Xipei walked in and saw that the dining room was quite large. A wide variety of food was placed on the large dining table in the middle, forming a circle, and the space in the middle for the main course was still empty.
There was a man standing by the window facing the lake, with two servants standing behind him.
Seeing Wang Xipei enter, the man turned around. It was Jiang Tao. Unlike the usual attire they had worn when they first met, he was wearing a cloud-white satin robe. The hem of the robe was embroidered with a circle of handmade Hunan embroidery, depicting the opening of the Yuya market with thousands of sails competing for the crossing. It was exquisitely embroidered, but for the sake of color matching, all the embroidery was made of solid silk thread: silver, ivory, and jade gray. From a distance, he looked completely white. The crown was made of green jade inlaid with pearls, and it was a perfect match with the one in the waist belt, complementing each other brilliantly.
He was born tall and handsome, and now in this outfit, he looked even more unparalleled.
Wang Xipei was indeed pleasantly surprised. After the greetings, Wang Xipei asked, "Such a good seat, did you reserve it long ago?"
Jiang Tao just smiled and said nothing, when he suddenly heard thunderous cheers outside the window. Wang Xipei came to the window and saw a medium-sized speedboat appear on the lake. It had been lined up with the other boats at the lakeside, but now it stood out from the crowd and was heading out onto the lake.
Then, a man with extremely nimble hands and feet climbed up to the top of the mast at a lightning speed and stood there. Wang Xipei was horrified: "If he falls down..."
Jiang Tao, who was sitting and drinking tea, said, "When they climb the mast, they wear hanging boots. With practice, they can climb the mast very quickly. After climbing the mast, the boots are still hanging on the mast. If they fall, they will usually be hung upside down on the mast and need to be rescued. However, there are also many who are more agile and can rescue themselves."
Then he heard the sound of sails being raised in unison. It turned out that all the ships were raising their sails together according to the flag signals given by the man on the mast. After raising the sails, they stopped for a moment, just like covering the sky and the sun. While Wang Xipei was amazed, he saw all the ships suddenly lowering their sails in unison according to the flag signals.
This went on three times, all heading towards the restaurant where Wang Xipei was, as if all the boats were bowing to someone in the restaurant.
Wang Xipei looked at Jiang Tao in surprise: "Are they bowing? To whom?"
Jiang Tao smiled but did not answer, just raised his hand. One of the two servants took out a huge flower ball made of colorful silk and threw it out of the window. Two people below were holding a large copper basin to catch it.
A man ran quickly to the lakeside with a bouquet of flowers in his arms. When he reached the lakeside, he saw two boats with people pulling the two ends of the bouquet respectively. As the two boats sailed towards the lake, the distance between them widened, and the bouquet was pulled apart into a long straight silk thread by the people on the two boats. Finally, it was broken into two pieces. As the silk thread broke, deafening cheers resounded throughout the entire lakeshore. Thousands of sails set sail, and the 800-mile Dongting Lake, which had been closed to fishing and navigation for four months, was officially reopened.
Jiang Tao said to Wang Xipei, "Let's eat and try some of the local specialties. The 800-li Dongting Lake, also known as the Yunmeng Lake, is rich in aquatic products and spans two prefectures. Some of the dishes are quite spicy. If you like it, here's some cold sweet wine."
Wang Xipei was delighted to see the delicious food, but she still made a bold guess: "Are you the head of the Three Rivers and Five Lakes?"
Jiang Tao smiled and said, "They like to call me the Big Boss. There's also the Second Boss and the Third Boss. I'll take you to see them later."
Wang Xipei was surprised and asked, "But didn't you start working in the Ministry of Industry when you were nine?"
Jiang Tao was a child from another family. He was working in the Ministry of Works at the age of nine. When the news got out, all the parents of officials in Kyoto went back and scolded their own children.
Wang Xipei remembered that her brother Wang Suwen also suffered this unexpected disaster and was scolded.
Jiang Tao nodded and said, "I'm still working in the Ministry of Industry, so I have nothing to do."
Businesses in the Three Rivers and Five Lakes, which had taken considerable effort to regulate in the past few years, have now become much easier. These businesses, named after rivers, lakes, and seas, operate under the banners of the Three Rivers and Five Lakes. Besides freshwater and saltwater fish, rare conchs, shellfish, and shrimp, they also boast restaurants, embroidery shops, transport fleets, gold and silver shops, banks, pastry shops, calligraphy and painting studios, and even two opera troupes.
Wang Xipei thought of her father's words: "It was the Xuanyuan Dynasty's loss and the responsibility of Jiangyan that Jiang Tao didn't engage in water conservancy. But he entered the Jianghu and became such a big leader."
Wang Xipei was just thinking about it when she heard Jiang Tao say, "This is my jade pendant. Take it. When we get back to Kyoto, you can ask the shopkeepers of all the shops with the names of rivers, lakes, and seas to get you whatever you want."
Wang Xipei was shocked and asked, "How can I take it?"
Jiang Tao looked at her and said, "This is my first time facing the girl I like. I don't know what to give her, so I just want to give her everything."
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