There was no harvest that day. It was not that there were no rare marine creatures, but they were all small, immature juveniles. Zhang Zian picked them up and looked at them, then put them back into the ocean and continued to look down.
"Uncle! Uncle! "
The sound of footsteps came from behind him. It was the unique sound of shoes hitting the wet sand.
But Zhang Zian did not turn around. Was uncle calling a ghost? Anyway, it was definitely not me.
"Uncle! Uncle! "
The footsteps were getting closer.
A figure jumped out from the side and stopped in front of Zhang Zian.
"Uncle, are you … are you deaf?"
A lively little boy was panting with his hands on his knees. Maybe it was because of the strenuous exercise, or maybe it was because of the sea breeze, but his cheeks were as red as fire.
Zhang Zian said, "Why are you calling me uncle?"
The little boy blinked. "You are younger than my dad. What else can I call you if not uncle? Grandpa? "
Zhang Zian could not help but feel that the world was degenerating. Children nowadays could not even speak.
He looked around and bent down. "Of course I'm calling you brother. You see, I'm not much older than you. Shouldn't I be calling you brother?"
The little boy looked at his face carefully. He did not look like he was a few years older than him.
"… Alright then. Brother, you seem to be very free. Can you come with me for a while? My dad needs some help. " The little boy no longer cared about whether he was uncle or brother. He pointed into the distance, looking very anxious.
Zhang Zian thought to himself, Do I look very free?
He looked in the direction the little boy was pointing and looked up at the sky. There were no clouds in the sky, and the kite was gone.
"Did you guys fly the kite just now?" he asked.
"Yes! Uncle … brother, come with me! "The little boy pulled Zhang Zian's arm and walked away.
"Wait, what the hell is going on?" Zhang Zian couldn't help but be dragged along by him.
The little boy raised his hand and pointed. "There's a whale on the shore over there!"
"What?"
Zhang Zian was stunned. "A whale?"
"Yes! It looks like it's dying. My dad and I saw it when we were flying the kite. We wanted to push it back into the sea, but we couldn't … "the little boy said.
"Wait!"
Zhang Zian stopped in his tracks.
Just now, he had only half-pushed and half-resisted. Otherwise, how could this little boy have been able to move him with his strength?
The little boy felt like he was pulling on a pillar. He staggered and almost slipped.
"Brother, why are you like this? That whale is really dying! "The little boy was so angry that he was about to cry.
Zhang Zian pulled him back. "Are you stupid? So what if I go there? Do you really think that the three of us are the Hulk and can push a whale? Let me make a phone call first. "
He first called the directory inquiry station and asked for the number of the local Fishery Administration Department. He then called the Fishery Administration Department to inform them of the location, saying that a whale was stranded here and asking them to send a tugboat as soon as possible.
The little boy was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, constantly urging him to hurry up.
After Zhang Zian finished the call, he still did not follow the little boy forward. Instead, he took the little boy to his car, took out a few empty plastic storage boxes, and stacked them together.
"What are you doing with this? Do you want to wait for the whale to die, cut a few pieces of meat, and bring them home to make whale dumplings for lunch? "the little boy asked suspiciously.
"Isn't your imagination too rich?" Zhang Zian did not have time to explain. He locked the car door and said, "Let's go over first."
The little boy led the way, and Zhang Zian followed behind with the plastic storage boxes in his hands.
After a while, they turned a corner along the coastline. A huge streamlined body appeared not far in front of them, and there was a middle-aged man standing next to it.
"Dad! I'm back! "the little boy shouted." I've been running around everywhere, and I can only find this person! "
"Xiao Zhi, why are you back so late? I was worried that you would get lost … "
The middle-aged man was still holding an H-shaped kite in his hand. The goldfish kite was lying on the nearby beach, supported by a reef to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
"Hello, what's going on?" Zhang Zian nodded at the middle-aged man, and his eyes fell on the whale.
"Oh, my son and I came out to fly a kite, and when we ran over here, we saw that the whale was stranded. I thought that it might not survive, but my son, Xiao Zhi, insisted on finding someone to save it …" the middle-aged man explained. "Oh, right, my surname is Huang. You can call me Old Huang."
From his expression and tone, it could be seen that Old Huang did not want to be involved in trouble. It was only because of his son's incessant begging that he waited there patiently. Perhaps he did not want his son's innocent heart to be thwarted.
Old Huang and his son, Xiao Zhi, were dressed very ordinarily. It seemed that they were from an ordinary working-class family.
Zhang Zian also told them his name.
It had a flat and sharp head, white pectoral fins, a grayish-black back, and a white chest and abdomen. Everything about it indicated that it was a half-grown minke whale that was stranded on the beach. It was about five meters long and weighed about three tons. Its body was lying on its side on the beach at a 45-degree angle.
Its chest and abdomen were slightly moving up and down. From time to time, it would shake its tail fin, dorsal fin, and pectoral fins, but the shaking was getting smaller and smaller.
Old Huang rolled up his sleeves and said, "My son and I tried just now, but we couldn't move it. How about the three of us try again? If we really can't move it, then there's no other way … "
Although his trousers were rolled up, they were already wet up to his knees. He had taken off his shoes and socks and placed them high up where the waves could not reach.
"There's no need to try. We definitely can't move it." Zhang Zian shook his head.
"Don't you have a stick? Let's try to pry it open? "Xiao Zhi said, unwilling to give up." Didn't they say that you can move the earth with a fulcrum? It shouldn't be a problem to pry a whale open, right? "
Zhang Zian said, "My stick is plastic. I can't even pry myself open, let alone pry a whale open …"
"On the way here just now, I already notified the local Fishery Administration. They might be here in a while. Recently, the municipal government has repeatedly asked for the protection of whales in the local waters. They probably won't just sit back and do nothing. "Zhang Zian briefly explained the situation to Old Huang.
"If the government personnel are coming, then can we leave first? Your mother is still cooking at home and waiting for us to go back and eat. " The first half of Old Huang's sentence was directed at Zhang Zian, and the second half was directed at his son. It was obvious that he had already decided to retreat.
"Let's wait for a while." Zhang Zian tried to persuade him to stay. "Let's not overestimate the reaction speed of the government. Come, let's each take a basin and take turns pouring water on the whale to prevent it from getting heatstroke. "
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