Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was no harvest that day. There were some rare marine creatures, but they were all too small and too young. Zhang Zian threw them back into the sea after picking them up and looking at them. He continued the search with his head down.
“Uncle! Uncle!”
Loud, flapping footsteps came behind him. It was the specific sound of when shoes flapped against the sand.
Zhang Zian didn’t look back. Who could possibly be the uncle? It was surely not him.
“Uncle! Uncle!”
The footsteps came even closer. A shadow suddenly stepped out from one side, and stopped in front of Zhang Zian.
“Uncle, you… Do you have hearing problems?”
An outgoing boy put his hands on his knees and panted heavily, either from the workout or the sea breeze. His cheeks were as red as fire.
Zhang Zian was speechless. “Why did you call me uncle?”
The little boy blinked in confusion. “You are younger than my dad. What else should I call you? Older uncle?”
Zhang Zian lamented that the world was spiraling downward. Kids today were so rude.
He glanced around and didn’t see anyone, then he bent down and said seriously, “You should call me brother, of course. I’m not that much older than you. Should you call me older brother?”
The little boy stared at his face and looked carefully. He didn’t seem only a few years older than him.
“…Okay then. Brother, you seem to be free. Can you come over with me? My dad needs help over there.” The boy stopped dealing with the uncle and brother issue. While he spoke he pointed in the distance, looking very anxious.
Zhang Zian thought, Do I look free?
He looked where the boy pointed, then at the sky above. It was sunny without a cloud, except the kite was now gone.
“Were you just flying the kite?” he asked.
“Yes! Un… Brother, come with me now!” The boy didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Zhang Zian’s arms and left.
“Wait a minute. What is it exactly?” Zhang Zian was dragged against his will.
The boy pointed with his fingers. “There’s a whale on the beach over there!”
“What?”
Zhang Zian was astonished. “A whale?”
“Yes! I think it’s dying. I saw it when I was flying the kite with my dad. We wanted to push it back into the sea, but we can’t…” the little boy said.
“Wait!” Zhang Zian braked with his feet. He didn’t really resist, otherwise, how could a little boy drag him away?
The boy felt as if he was pulling a pillar. He suddenly tripped and almost fell.
“Brother, why are you doing this? That whale is really dying!” The boy was so mad and anxious that he was almost in tears.
Zhang Zian pulled him with the other hand. “Are you stupid? What can I possibly do even if I go there? Do you really think that the three of us are Hulks, strong enough to push a whale? Let me make a phone call first.”
He called the yellow pages first and got the local Fishery Administration Office’s number. He then called the office and reported their location, telling them that a whale was stranded here, and a tow boat was needed as soon as possible.
The boy was scratching his face anxiously, telling him to hurry up.
After Zhang Zian had finished the call, he didn’t go forward with the boy, but instead pulled him to his car. He took a few empty plastic containers out of the car, and stacked them on top of one another.
“Why are you taking these? Do you want to cut off a few strips of meat after the whale dies, then make whale dumplings at home for lunch?” the boy asked skeptically.
“Aren’t you too imaginative?” Zhang Zian didn’t have time to explain. He locked the car door and said, “Let’s go.”
The boy ran in front. Zhang Zian followed him with plastic containers in his hands.
Soon, they turned along the coast. A gigantic, streamlined body appeared in front of them, and a middle-aged man stood next to it.
“Dad! I’m back!” The boy shouted at the top of his lungs. “I’ve searched everywhere. This man is all I could find!”
“Xiao Zhi, what took you so long? I was worried you got lost…” The middle-aged man had a H-shaped kite handle in his hands. The goldfish kite was lying on the beach nearby with a rock on top of it, in case the wind blew it away.
“Hello. What happened?” Zhang Zian nodded to greet the middle-aged man. His eyes fell upon the whale.
“Oh. I was out flying a kite with my son. We found this stranded whale when we ran here. I think it may not survive. But Xiao Zhi, my son, insisted we get help to save it…” The middle-aged man explained. “Oh, by the way, my last name is Huang. Just call me Huang.”
Judging from his face and tone, Huang didn’t really want to get involved with the whale. He waited in patience only because his son kept begging him. Maybe he didn’t want to frustrate his boy’s innocent heart.
Huang and Xiao Zhi were ordinarily dressed. Their family was most likely ordinary, lower-middle class.
Zhang Zian told them his name.
The whale had a flat and pointy head, white pectoral fins, grey back, and white belly––all of its characteristics indicated that it was a young minke whale that was stranded on the beach. It was around five meters in length and three tons in weight. The body laid sideways on the beach at a 45 degree angle.
Its chest and belly fluctuated slightly. It tail, dorsal, and pectoral fins flapped from time to time with less and less strength.
Huang rolled up his sleeves and said, “I just tried with my son, but we can’t move it. Shall we try again on three? There’s nothing else we can do if we can’t…”
Despite the fact that his pants were rolled up, they were already wet up to his knee. He took off his shoes and socks and left them where the waves could not reach.
“We don’t need to try. We can’t move it, for sure.” Zhang Zian shook his head.
“Don’t you have a rod? Let’s try to use it as a lever,” Xiao Zhi said, unwilling to give up. “Didn’t someone say, ‘Give me a fulcrum, and I shall move the earth?’ There shouldn’t be a problem to move a whale, should there?”
Zhang Zian said, “My rod is plastic. You can’t even move me with it, not to mention the whale… I already notified the local Fishery Administration’s Office on my way here. They should arrive soon. Lately, the city government office has voiced repeated acts to protect the whales in our neighboring sea. They should not ignore this.” Zhang Zian debriefed Huang.
“If the government officers are coming, shall we go back then? You mom is cooking at home and waiting for us to go back to eat.” Huang said the first sentence to Zhang Zian, and the second to his son. Clearly, he was ready to leave.
“We should wait for a moment.” Zhang Zian tried to keep him there. “Let’s not overestimate the government’s promptness. Come, let’s grab a container each and take turns to pouring water on the whale, just in case it overheats.”
