876 Rising Tide (1/2)

The minke whale rolled its black and white eyeballs, staring at Zhang Zian. He responded with calm and gentle eyes, while petting its smooth and soft skin with his palms.

Zhang Zian was not sure which one worked––the eye contact, the tone of his voice, or the body contact––but he was sure that it was trying its best to control itself and to not hurt anyone by struggling. It proved that it understood that they were helping it to relieve its pain.

Each stitch on the wound was not as bad as the pain of cutting off the flesh, or removing the spear, but it needed at least a dozen or a few dozen stitches. Could it take such continuous pain?

Zhang Zian hesitated, wondering if he should invite Sun Xiaomeng to come down. She was a licensed veterinarian, after all, and she would be familiar with stitching up animals––at least much more familiar than he was.

He thought again. She surely stitched up many wounds, but they were all small animals such as cats and dogs. She might not have similar experience in stitching up such a gigantic whale.

Besides, it would take her some time to win the minke whale's trust, and time was what they lacked the most.

As for anaesthesia, she might not be sure about the dose on an animal of that size. If the dose was too low, it would not work. If she was too high on the dosage, it might never wake up again.

Zhang Zian felt a cold sensation on his ankles. As he looked down, the water was above his feet.

The tide was rising.

”Hey! The tide is rising!” Xiao Zhi exclaimed.

Zhang Zian stood up, looked out over the sea in the distance, and got anxious, ”What's taking the tow boat so long? The Fishery Administration is so inefficient…”

The rising tide was the best time to tow the whale back into the water. If they missed that and waited until low tide, it would be in trouble.

Splash! Splash!

The tide rose under the moon's gravitational force, each time higher than the last. The ice-cold water made the minke whale comfortable, but human's movements harder. After the tide had reached their waistline, they could no longer stand firmly under the water. They would have to move back, or else it would be dangerous.

Huang's cell phone rang. He picked it up quickly. ”Where the heck are the two of you? Are you coming home for lunch or not?” A savage voice came out of the loudspeaker like a roaring lion. Even Zhang Zian could hear it loud and clear.

Huang smiled at Zhang Zian with embarrassment, then gave the kite handle to Xiao Zhi. He bent over and ran a bit further to answer the phone.

”We'll be home soon! Very soon! We just came across with a stranded whale by the beach. It's wounded, so we are helping it return to the sea…” Huang's voice came from a distance.

”Wounded? Who's wounded? Xiao Zhi? I'm telling you, Huang, if Xiao Zhi gets hurt, I will kill you!”

”No! It's not Xiao Zhi, but a whale that's stranded on the beach…”

”Bullsh*t! You think I possibly believe this crap?” Huang's wife gave him crap. He had to take a picture of the minke whale and send it to his wife to appease her anger. She asked him to head home immediately after he finished.

Zhang Zian suddenly realized what a bliss it was to be single!

Xiao Zhi was quite used to such interactions with his parents. He stuck to Zhang Zian for all kinds of questions, as he saw the variety of things that Zhang Zian could do with a Swiss Army knife. It was so amazing to him.