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

  Zhang Zian and Huang exchanged a few casual greetings. As they far apart in age, experience, and character, they ran out of topics after only a few words. As they heard Xiao Zhi shouting, they both looked back.

  “What? Where?”


  Huang stretched out his neck and looked around, but the sea was so vast. Where was the minke whale?

  “There! Right there!”


  Xiao Zhi’s face turned red with anxiety; he thought his father didn’t trust him. He then pointed in one direction, jumped, and shouted with all his strength.

  Zhang Zian also looked over, but as Xiao Zhi had only pointed towards an approximate direction, he had no idea how far it could be. He gazed attentively for a while until his eyeballs turned rigid, but he still didn’t see the minke whale.

  Huang didn’t see it either. He asked skeptically, “Where is it? Are you mistaken?”


  Ever since they had saved the minke whale, Xiao Zhi had been in a state of extreme excitement. He told the whole story to his mother a few times, then while he ate, before he slept, and even in his dreams. It was a shame, however, that the minke whale had swam away just like that. He had insisted on visiting the beach again since earlier that morning. Therefore, Huang thought that his son made a mistake, as he was too eager to see the minke whale.

  “It’s real! Right there, just now! You missed it because you were too busy talking!” Xiao Zhi spoke angrily, as Huang’s skepticism was hurtful.

  Zhang Zian didn’t see it either, but he didn’t rush to deny it. Instead, he glanced over the sea and asked, “Xiao Zhi, did you see it clearly? Did it surface, then sink?”


  Xiao Zhi shook his head. “I saw it spraying water.”


  “Is it a whale spraying water?” Zhang Zian asked again.

  “Yes!” Xiao Zhi nodded.

  Zhang Zian made a subtle frown. He hinted to Huang with his eyes, then asked him to come to the side.

  Xiao Zhi was still staring at the sea in perseverance, waiting for the whale to spout water again.

  “Bro, what’s the matter?” Huang followed him and asked him in a low voice. He had taken the hint that Zhang Zian had something to say to him in the absence of Xiao Zhi.

  Zhang Zian replied in a low whisper, “Huang, do you really think that Xiao Zhi has really seen a whale?”


  Huang took a deep breath and told him hesitantly, “Xiao Zhi barely lies. I’m not willing to believe that he was lying. But… I didn’t see any water spraying. Did you see anything?”


  “No,” Zhang Zian murmured. “Actually, I don’t think Xiao Zhi was lying. But there’s a problem… If it’s that half-grown minke whale, then we’ve all seen it spouting water. The spray is quite thin, and is only visible when it’s very close by. If it’s that close, it will not be able to dive very deep, as the sea bed is quite flat in this area…”


  Huang was lost. He didn’t understand Zhang Zian at all. He smiled bitterly and asked, “Bro, what are you trying to say? Please talk straight. I can’t understand what you are saying at all!”


  Zhang Zian had to explain simply. “I mean, either Xiao Zhi’s eyes lied to him, or… what he saw was not that minke whale, but a bigger, fully grown whale.”


  He tried not to suspect Xiao Zhi as a liar.

  To further confirm, he came next to Xiao Zhi, bent down, and asked: “Xiao Zhi, how far was the water spray from the beach we are standing at?”


  “Very far. It’s almost at the end.” Xiao Zhi pointed at the horizon, where the sea met the sky.

  After hearing that, Zhang Zian was more inclined towards the latter—Xiao Zhi might have seen another whale. From such a long distance, the thin water spray from the minke whale would barely be visible unless Xiao Zhi had the eyesight of a fighter pilot.

  “Elder brother, is the minke whale back to visit us?” Xiao Zhi asked expectantly.

  “Well… It’s hard to say. I think it might be a different whale,” Zhang Zian told him frankly. “Xiao Zhi, you may know that there have been a lot of whales lately in our city’s neighboring sea. Most of them are minke whales from northeastern Pacific, but there might be other kinds of whales, too.”


  “Oh right…” Xiao Zhi was a bit disappointed. Yet he asked again curiously, “What kinds of whales?”


  “I don’t know for now. I must see them first,” Zhang Zian replied.

  Xiao Zhi and Huang stopped flying their kite. The kite was poorly made anyway, and it could not fly very high. They sat on the rock with Zhang Zian and stared at the sea, searching for the whale’s trace.

  A few minutes passed…


  A quarter passed…


  “Why is it not spraying anymore? Did the whale swim away?” Xiao Zhi fidgeted anxiously. He sat for a moment before he stood up. It was normal, in a sense. Boys at his age always had a hard time to staying seated for a long time, as if their butts were on fire.

  Huang turned a bit impatient. Most of time, he bowed his head and played with his phone. He lifted his head to look only once in a while.

  There was nothing on the vast sea—it was empty. Without the undulating waves, one might suspect that they were standing in front of a giant painting.

  “If you want to see a whale, be patient,” Zhang Zian persuaded them. “Whales are slow animals. They only come up to breathe after a very long dive.”


  Minke whales normally did not dive for as long as other whales. Zhang Zian became more convinced that Xiao Zhi was not mistaken, but it was not a minke whale in the sea.

  Minke whales could dive 20 to 25 minutes in their deep dives, but they normally would not stay down so long. They came up once every ten minutes.

  Xiao Zhi was anxious and disappointed, as if he made a trip to the zoo for the tigers, yet the tigers rested inside the kennel and refused to come out.

  Huang looked at his watch again. He tugged Xiao Zhi and said, “Xiao Zhi, let’s go now. Let’s not wait any longer. It’s time for your English class.”


  “But I’m not interested in English!” Xiao Zhi twisted his body and said unhappily, “I’m interested in whales!”


  “Hey! This is not a question of interest!” Huang’s face turned serious. He rebuked him, “All the other kids are attending the class. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind. We cannot lose the race at the starting line!”


  Zhang Zian didn’t say anything. He pretended that he didn’t hear anything.

  “I don’t want to go to the English class. I want to watch the whales!”


  Xiao Zhi sat on the sand and pretended to have a stomach ache. He did everything to skip the English class, yet Huang refused to give in on the matter. He insisted that they had to go no matter what.

  After a long fuss, Zhang Zian was sympathetic towards Xiao Zhi, but Huang was not doing the wrong thing, either. They were living in a competitive society. Xiao Zhi did not understand that for now, but one day in the future, he would surely thank his father.

  Then he said, “Xiao Zhi, how about this: I’ll wait here while you go to the English class. If the whale shows up, I’ll take a picture and send it to your father. At such a distance, it makes no difference whether you watch it with your eyes or in a photo. Is this okay?”


  Xiao Zhi was still unwilling, but he had no other choice.