Zhang Zian and Huang chatted for a while, but because their ages, experiences, and personalities were completely different, they were at a loss for words. Hearing Xiao Zhi's shout, the two of them turned their heads at the same time.
"What? Where is it? "
Huang craned his neck and looked around, but the sea was vast. There was no sign of the minke whale.
"Over there! It's over there! "
Xiao Zhi was so anxious that his face turned red. He felt that his father didn't believe him, so he desperately pointed in a direction and shouted.
Zhang Zian also looked over, but Xiao Zhi only pointed in a general direction. He had no idea how far it was. He stared intently for a while, until his eyeballs were stiff, but he didn't see any minke whale.
Huang was the same. He didn't see it either, so he asked suspiciously, "Where? Could it be that you're seeing things? "
Ever since Xiao Zhi had saved the minke whale, he had been in a state of excitement. He had told his mother what had happened several times. He talked about it when he was eating, before he went to bed, and even when he was dreaming. Unfortunately, the minke whale had swum away. Early in the morning, it had been clamoring to come back to the beach. Therefore, Huang suspected that his son was so eager to see the minke whale that he saw it wrong.
"It's true! It was over there! Who told you to just talk? "Huang's doubt hurt Xiao Zhi, so he said angrily.
Zhang Zian didn't see it either, but he didn't rush to deny it. Instead, he scanned the sea and asked, "Xiao Zhi, did you see it clearly? Did it surface and sink again? "
Xiao Zhi shook his head. "I saw water spray."
"Is it the water column from the whale?" Zhang Zian asked.
"Yes!" Xiao Zhi nodded.
Zhang Zian frowned imperceptibly, gave Huang a look, and called him to the side.
Xiao Zhi was still staring at the sea, trying to wait for the whale to spray again.
"Brother, what's the matter?" Huang could tell that Zhang Zian had something to say, and he didn't want to say it in front of Xiao Zhi, so he followed him and asked in a low voice.
Zhang Zian also said in a low voice, "Huang, do you think Xiao Zhi really saw the whale?"
Huang took a deep breath and said awkwardly, "Xiao Zhi rarely lies, so I don't want to think he's lying, but … I really didn't see any water column. Did you see it?"
"No." Zhang Zian thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I don't think Xiao Zhi is lying, but there's a problem … If it's that semi-adult minke whale, we've all seen the air column it spits out. The air column is relatively thin, and we can only see it when it's very close to us. But if it's that close, and the seabed around us is relatively flat, it shouldn't be able to dive too deep …"
Huang was confused. He didn't understand what Zhang Zian meant at all. He smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, what are you trying to say? Why don't you just say it? I don't understand what you're saying! "
Zhang Zian had no choice but to use simple words to explain, "I mean, either Xiao Zhi's eyes are playing tricks on him, or … what he saw was not the minke whale, but a bigger adult whale."
He tried not to suspect the possibility that Xiao Zhi was lying.
To further confirm, he walked to Xiao Zhi's side, squatted down, and asked, "Xiao Zhi, how far is the air column you saw from the seaside where we are standing?"
"It's very far. We're almost there." Xiao Zhi pointed at the horizon.
Zhang Zian was more inclined to the latter. What Xiao Zhi saw might have been another whale. At such a distance, the thin air column that the minke whale sprayed would be very difficult to see, unless Xiao Zhi had a pair of fighter pilot's eyes.
"Brother, did the minke whale come back to see us?" Xiao Zhi asked expectantly.
"Well … It's hard to say. I think it might be another whale," Zhang Zian said frankly. "Xiao Zhi, you know that a lot of whales have come to our city's open sea recently. Although most of them are minke whales that live in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, there might be other kinds of whales among them."
"Yeah …" Xiao Zhi was a little disappointed, but then he asked curiously, "What kind of whale is it?"
"I'm not sure yet. I'll only know after I see it," Zhang Zian answered.
So, Xiao Zhi and Huang stopped flying the kite. Anyway, the kite seemed to have some flaws, and it couldn't fly high. They sat on the reef with Zhang Zian and stared at the sea, looking for traces of whales.
A few minutes passed …
More than ten minutes passed …
"Why isn't it spraying water anymore? Did the whale swim away? "Xiao Zhi was so anxious that he couldn't sit still. He stood up and sat down. But it was no wonder. Boys at this age were always restless — they couldn't sit still.
Huang was also a little impatient from waiting. He spent most of his time playing with his phone, and occasionally looked up.
There was nothing on the endless sea. It was empty. If it weren't for the waves that were still rising and falling, people would have thought that it was a huge painting in front of them.
"Be patient if you want to see whales," Zhang Zian advised. "Whales are slow animals. It takes a long time for them to come up for a breath of air after diving down."
That being said, minke whales usually didn't dive for that long. It made him even more certain that if Xiao Zhi wasn't mistaken, it was definitely not a minke whale in the sea.
Minke whales could dive for 20 to 25 minutes, but they usually wouldn't dive for that long. They would only dive for about 10 minutes.
Xiao Zhi was anxious and disappointed, as if he had gone to the zoo to see a tiger, but the tiger always stayed in the tiger's den.
Huang looked at his watch again, pulled Xiao Zhi, and said, "Xiao Zhi, let's go. Don't wait anymore. You should go to the English interest class."
"But I'm not interested in English!" Xiao Zhi twisted his body and said awkwardly, "I'm interested in whales!"
"Cough! It's not about whether you're interested or not! " Huang said with a serious face. "Other kids are going. If you don't go, you'll be left behind. We can't lose at the starting line!"
Zhang Zian didn't say anything. He pretended he didn't hear it.
"I don't want to go to the interest class. I want to see whales!"
Xiao Zhi sat on the beach and pretended to have a stomachache. He didn't want to go to the English interest class, but Huang refused to budge. He wanted him to go no matter what.
After a long time, Zhang Zian still sympathized with Xiao Zhi, but Huang was right. The Qing Dynasty had its own national conditions. Xiao Zhi didn't understand it now, but he would thank his father in the future.
So he said, "Xiao Zhi, how about this? I'll wait here, and you go to the interest class. If a whale appears, I'll take a picture and send it to your father. It's so far away, so there's no difference whether you see it with your eyes or through a picture. What do you think? "
Xiao Zhi was still reluctant, but he had no other choice.
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