Chapter 877: Return to the Sea

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The sea water was rising, so there was not much time left for Zhang Zian and his helpers.

They hoped and hoped that the boat would come, just like the poor peasants hoping for the red army’s arrival. They were worried that the boat might not come if they were unable to find the leader of the Administration of Fishery.

Xiao Zhi exclaimed, and both Zhang Zian and Huang turned to look. Indeed, they saw a small towboat coming towards them. On the boat, they could vaguely see the words “Administration of Fishery” written in Chinese.

Huang, at his age, actually jumped up with joy. He waved his hands and shouted, “Hi! We’re here! We’re here!”

There was no need for him to shout since the minke whale was much more conspicuous than he was. The Administration’s towboat had already noticed them from far away.

Zhang Zian tried to hurry what he was doing, and quickly completed the stitching of the minke whale’s wound.

His technique was very crude. The skin around the wound was lumpy, so there would definitely have an ugly scar in the future. Zian could only hope that the would not affect the minke whale’s ability to find a partner…

Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped; there was only a thread of blood that was still seeping out. This semi-mature minke whale had a very strong life force, and its platelets soon coagulated the wound.

The pain that had persisted for a long time was now gone. The minke whale happily patted its pectoral and caudal fins. It inhaled some sea water before expelling it out through its baleen. It couldn’t wait to return back to the ocean.

But returning was not something it could accomplish alone, because its head was in the direction of the land––out of the water––and its body was way too heavy. Without sufficient buoyancy, it was nearly impossible for it to turn around, even with the help of the high tide.

The towboat was getting closer, and the figure of the people onboard the boat were growing clearer. They could see a few enforcement officers from the Administration of Fishery in their uniforms and orange life jackets.

The towboat could not be too close to the shore, otherwise, it might also get stranded on shore.

The enforcement officers turned off the engine and anchored the boat. They parked the towboat approximately about twenty to thirty meters away from the minke whale. Several enforcement officers then took an inflatable boat towards the shore, they jumped into the water and dragged the small inflatable boat ashore.

“Sorry! I’m sorry we’ve kept you waiting for so long!” The person in charge stepped up and took the initiative to apologize. He seemed sincere. “We wanted to come over earlier, but the boat was located somewhere else, so we had to arrange for it to come back.”

“Hello. We were the ones who called.” Zhang Zian pointed to the himself and the two others on his side.

“No problem. As long as you guys are here now,” Huang said with a smile. He even took out his phone and snapped a few pictures.

“How long has this minke whale been beached for?” the enforcement officer asked.

Zhang Zian pointed at Huang and Xiao Zhi. “The two of them discovered it first.”

Huang told him everything that had happened. He mentioned that he was flying a kite with his son along the beach when he had chanced upon the beached minke whale. Zhang Zian was then called over by his son when his son went to look for some help. The three of them then helped to splash water on the whale to control its temperature.

“You guys handled this very well, but we’re really very late,” the officer praised. “Do you have relevant experiences?”

Huang shrugged his shoulders.

Zhang Zian answered for him, “I know some popular science information, so I have a very basic understanding.”

“No wonder…” The officer examined the minke whale. He noticed the wound on its back and the messy stitching. “This is…”

“It was already injured when we discovered it. It was caused by a harpoon,” Huang hurriedly explained. He also shared how Zhang Zian had removed the harpoon and stitched the wound.

“Great!” The officer stuck out his thumb in awe. “It’s my first time seeing someone operate on a whale without any form of anesthesia! Didn’t it struggle?”

“It struggled, but it was still okay. It wasn’t very aggressive,” Zhang Zian answered.

The officer sighed. “Actually a similar situation has happened before… Forget it, let’s get it back into the sea first. We’ll talk again later.”

Now was not the time to talk. The sea water was rising higher––even adults like them were unable to stabilize themselves.

“Lifebuoy and rope,” the officer shouted at the other officers from the administration. “Are there any extra life jackets? Throw them here too.”

Splash! Splash!

Several red and white patterned lifebuoys and life jackets were thrown from the small boat. There was also a thick hemp rope.

“This is what I have in mind: let’s tie the lifebuoy and life jackets onto the whale’s body to increase its buoyancy, then we’ll use the towboat to drag it back into the sea. What do you guys think?” the officer asked.

Zhang Zian nodded and agreed. “I think it’s feasible.”

“Great, then let’s begin.”

They all worked together with the other officers from the administration. They tied the lifebuoy and life jackets on both sides of the minke whale and skillfully used the hemp rope to tie a Y-shaped sailor knot on its body.

When Zhang Zian had used his Wuling Shenguang to turn the minke whale over, he had also used a rope to tie a knot. When his knot was compared to their sailor knot, however, his was far too simple. The sailor knot was both tight and firm. All they needed to do was to lightly tug on it if they wanted to untie it, but it was a skill that only seasoned seafarers would have.

They had increased the buoyancy by the lifebuoys and life jackets, as well as the rising sea water which submerged most of the minke whale’s body in the water. It seemed to have gotten a lot lighter. When everyone was tying the rope around it, it was moving its body around, and that would not have happened earlier. It was also a sign that it’s wound wasn’t hurting as much anymore.

“Okay, there’s nothing more we can do here. Let us go on shore,” the officer said.

Finally, Zhang Zian and the rest could leave the water. Almost half of their bodies were submerged in the sea, and when the waves came, they were pushed around.

They waddled their way ashore.

When Zhang Zian walked past the whale’s head, he seemed to have felt something nudge against his thigh. He looked down to see the minke whale looking at him with its warm and peaceful eyes, as if it was trying to convey something very warm to him.

Zhang Zian gave it a final pat on its head, then waved his hands and walked ashore.

The officers from the administration pushed the small inflatable boat back into the sea, and took the other end of the hemp rope to the towboat, the people on the towboat then tied the hemp rope to a specialized towing tool.

They communicated through the use of their walkie-talkie. They had a discussion to start the towboat when the tide was at its highest.

Zhang Zian and Huang’s pants had absorbed a lot of water, and it was very uncomfortable having them stick to their skin––especially since it was cold, too. They wrung their pants to get some water out, and only then did they feel more comfortable. It was only a temporary solution; they would have to change their pants immediately when they got home, otherwise when their pants dried up, there were going to be white salt spots.

The tide was at its highest, and most of the minke whale’s body was submerged in the water. When the biggest wave came crashing down, they could even see its dorsal fin.

Splash!

A thin vapor of water sprayed out, reflecting a splendid iridescence under the sunlight, like the signal old steam trains give before their departure. The happiness of the minke whale could clearly be felt.

Under the command of their leader, the towboat started up slowly, and it’s horsepower went up from low to high. The thick hemp rope that was originally submerged in the water broke out and stretched into a straight line, dragging the minke whale into the sea.

The body of the minke whale finally moved, dragged by the powerful power of modern mechanical engines. It slowly moved into the sea.

The whale seemed to be unaccustomed to being towed by the ship. Instinctively, it swayed its tail fins and tried to swim towards the shore. It tried to break free, but its power could not compete with the towboat, and it was slowly dragged deeper into the sea.

It suddenly quieted down and let the towboat continue to drag it back. They only turned off the engine after the officers from the administration aboard the towboat felt that they had reached the safe waters. They then sent out the small boat again to untie the rope around the whale.

The lifebuoys and life jackets were attached to the ropes, so once the ropes were untied, all of them naturally left the minke whale’s body along with the rope.

The officers from the administration aboard the inflatable boat were worried that the whale might have a great reaction after it was free, so they quickly moved away.

The minke whale seemed to be lost, however; it was in a little bit of a blur. It remained in the same spot for a short while, then with a wave of its tail, it started to swim out to sea.

It would sometimes swim to the surface of the sea, then plunge back into the sea. Moments later, it surfaced from a very distant place, and squirted out a thin pillar of air. It then splashed a two to three meters high wave with its tail fins. It once again plunged back into the water, swimming further and further away. It soon turned into a little black spot under everyone’s watch, before it finally disappeared.

Huang had temporarily forgotten about his wife, who had been rushing him home to eat. With his son on top a reef rock, he tiptoed and extended his neck out to watch. He only snapped out of it when the minke whale disappeared, but he was still in a low mood. “So it’s gone just like that?”

Zhang Zian laughed. “Of course. Were you expecting for it to stay here forever?”

Huang clumsily explained, “No, what I meant was… Shouldn’t it look back every three steps and wave its tail at us, then leave with reluctance?”

Even the officers from the administration next to them laughed. “Do you think this whale is a dog? Also… wagging its tail?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…” Huang’s face flushed red, but he was also unable to accurately express how he felt.

Zhang Zian could more or less understand his feelings. It was just like encountering a stranger on the street who was in trouble, but after one went through a lot of trouble to help him, he just left without saying anything. Maybe they weren’t expecting any monetary repayment, but the stranger should at least express some gratitude––or at the very least, leave after saying thanks.

But, that was a whale and not a human. So it was not bound by the laws of human society.

Zhang Zian patted Huang’s shoulder. He comforted him, “Huang, although it had received help from humans, it had also been hurt by humans. Although it wasn’t us that hurt it, it doesn’t make much of a difference to it. It’s thankful to us humans, yet at the same time, it also carries a great fear and is on guard against us. With so many of us here, it wouldn’t know what we’re going to do, so its best course of action was to leave immediately after it was freed.”

Huang sighed, but just as he was about to say something, his phone rang again. Unsurprisingly, it was his wife rushing him to bring the child home.

Zhang Zian laughed and said, “Also, it’s a semi-mature minke whale. Its mothers and siblings might be waiting for its return further out in the sea.”

Huang nodded. He felt that what Zian said made a lot of sense, and he was able to accept the situation better. The whale probably had a family waiting for it in the sea; it was no wonder it left in such a hurry.

He and his son had just happened to find the stranded whale, and initially, he was not very enthusiastic about giving a helping hand. He found it to be too troublesome, dirty, and a waste of time. He thought that he might get scolded by his wife, and it might even be dangerous.

However, after seeing the behemoth-like whale regaining its health with the help of himself and the others, then once again returning to the arms of the ocean, there was a great sense of accomplishment in his heart. With how big the whale was, there was a big sense of accomplishment in his heart.

Such an experience was difficult for any ordinary person to go through in a lifetime, no matter how high their salary was, how much power they had, or how successful they were in their life and career.

Huang was just an ordinary person, an ordinary wage earner who had never been known for anything in his life. Even if he had ideals and ambitions when he was younger, he had already lost his edge over the years. Every day, he thought about his mortgage and car loan that had not yet been paid off. Aside from that, he thought about his children’s education and enrollment problems, and his four parents who he was supporting… Although he felt so ordinary, he had also done an extraordinary thing that day: something that was worth boasting of for a lifetime.

After he stood there for a little longer, his wet pants were blown cold by the sea breeze, and the minke whale never came back. After all, Huang was a middle-aged man; his constitution could not be compared to what it was years ago.

“Then… I’ll take my son home. My wife at home keeps rushing me back…” He held his son’s hand and said his goodbyes.

“Thank you for everything you have done. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards you on behalf of all the staff at the Administration of Fishery!” The leading officer from the administration walked over and shook hands with Huang.

Huang’s old face turned red. “Cough! What are you talking about? Anyone who encounters such a thing would definitely help! Well, I’ll go on ahead.”

“Take care. Be careful on the road.” Zhang Zian smiled and waved his hands.

“Unc… I mean, Big Brother, bye bye!” Xiao Zhi also waved goodbye.

From a distance away, Zhang Zian heard Huang ask his son, “I wanted to ask… Why are you calling him brother? Shouldn’t you call him uncle?”

“He told me to call him that!” Xiao Zhi answered.

His dad was speechless.

“Dad! I want to write what happened today into the diary, is that okay?” Xiao Zhi raised his head up and asked. His eyes held so much excitement.

“Sure,” Huang agreed and reached out to rub Xiao Zhi’s head, but Xiao Zhi dodged it.

“Dad! Your hand is dirty! You better wash your hands when we’re home, or you’re going to get scolded by mum again!” Xiao Zhi said with a frown.

Huang laughed and wiped his hands on his shirt.

“Dad!”

“What else?”

“I want to buy a book about the ocean.”

“Okay, we can search for it on the net when we’re home. It’s cheaper on the net,” his dad responded.

“But I don’t want to! I want to see it now!”

“Fine, fine. We’ll take a detour and visit the Xin Hua Bookstore.”

“Are you sure? Hasn’t mom rushed us a few times already…?” Xiao Zhi asked.

“Hehe. She’s already waited for so long, so we can let her wait a little longer…”

“Dad!”

“What is it now?”

“I want a whale kite too!”

“A whale kite? Do they sell whale kites?”

“I don’t think so…”

“Not a problem. Dad will make a whale kite for you!”

“Ah? Dad, you know how to make a kite?”

“You little rascal! Looking down on your old man… Back in my day, I won the first prize for my school’s craft competition!”

“Chie! How long ago was that?”

“How long ago…” His dad paused. “It feels just like yesterday.”

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