30

As the sun sank below the horizon, the last group of tourists left the beach in the afterglow.

A girl wearing a white T-shirt and loose jeans brushed past them and entered this quiet place.

The uneven sand was gradually flattened by the girl's feet.

"Xiao Yan, are you out for a walk again at night?" The lifeguard who was walking towards her recognized the girl.

Niling Island is a tourist attraction and a summer resort, where many parents bring their children for a relaxing vacation during the summer holidays.

But this girl was different from the others. She was seventeen or eighteen years old, had just finished her college entrance exams, and was not accompanied by a guardian. She had come to Niling Island to handle the funeral arrangements for a relative who had passed away.

The news had already spread among the islanders.

The deceased woman was the girl's aunt. She had no children, and her estate consisted of an old house on the island and some worthless paintings.

Zhong Yan nodded and smiled.

"The tide is coming in tonight, stay away from the water." Although the lifeguard knew the girl was afraid of the sea and never went into the water, he couldn't help but remind her out of his professional instincts.

Zhong Yan maintained her smile but did not nod again.

The lifeguard waved and left.

After a long while, Zhong Yan turned her head to look at the sea.

A putrid, fishy smell filled the air.

Like a giant beast opening its mouth wide, revealing bloodstained, interlocking teeth, thick saliva dripping down...

Even from a distance, there was still a suffocating feeling of being swallowed up.

Zhong Yan crossed her arms and stared blankly for a long time.

I dug my fingers into my flesh, my fingertips pressing against the hard bone at the very center. The pain became so intense that I felt numb and no longer felt any pain.

She took a deep breath and stepped toward the shore where white foam was churning, then another.

The damp sand offered no resistance, allowing her to leave complete footprints with each step.

She was still some distance from the sea, so she left her shoes on the beach and walked forward barefoot.

The roar of the waves was like the growl of a wild beast.

Zhong Yan lifted her trouser legs with both hands, as if afraid that the splashing waves would wet them, but she soon realized how ridiculous she was and let go, allowing the seawater to soak through her trouser legs.

The warm seawater washed over her feet, and the resistance of the waves grew stronger, causing Zhong Yan's heart to pound uncontrollably.

She spent five days on Niling Island, the closest she had ever been to the sea.

Zhong Yan fears the sea because in her dreams, she is on a ship surrounded by endless water.

Cold, ruthless, and cannibalistic.

At this moment, her feet were completely soaked in seawater, as if she were stepping on the tip of the ocean's tongue.

And the sea is gently savoring her trembling soul.

"Hey?!—"

The sudden sound was like an alarm clock ringing in the middle of the night while someone was sound asleep.

Zhong Yan was startled and quickly turned her head to look in the direction of the sound.

She had clearly looked around when she arrived, but she was surprised to find someone sitting behind several colorful rubber wheels.

He had been lying down before, but now he sat up, wearing a gray-black baseball cap that blended almost into the night, looking like some strange, giant bird.

"Oh, it's nothing. The signal was just suddenly bad, but I can hear you again now. What do you mean..."

The voice was that of a young, clean-cut man who was on the phone with someone, not directed at her.

Zhong Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps because the wind was picking up at night, the boy's voice was quite loud, filled with interjections and perfunctory remarks, as if he was impatient with the nagging on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, I understand."

"...Tickets?...Just buy them on the spot, no need for help. I'm a sophomore, not a second-year student..."

Zhong Yan didn't know how much longer the boy would stay there, so she wandered aimlessly along the coastline.

There's an event on the peninsula tonight at 7 pm, attracting both locals and tourists. It's a rare moment of peace and quiet by the sea.

Normally, there would be a few people strolling along the coastline here at seven or nine o'clock.

Zhong Yan also often comes here for a walk, but in the past she would always jog on the jogging track outside the beach.

The beach was unusually damp and soft, with lots of seaweed washed ashore by the waves, tangled up in a messy heap, like balls of yarn.

If the ocean could knit sweaters, this would probably be its yarn.

Zhong Yan thought listlessly, and lightly touched her toes together.

A ball of yarn made a faint squeaking sound.

Zhong Yan hurriedly withdrew her foot, squatted down, and carefully examined the lump on the ground.

Alive.

It was a dark, indistinct mass, and it was impossible to tell exactly what it was, but its call sounded like a sparrow or some other bird.

It was entangled in something and could not break free, so it could only be pushed and rolled by the waves.

Hearing the wind and seeing a giant wave approaching out of the corner of her eye, the little bird was about to face its final, devastating blow. Without thinking twice, Zhong Yan picked it up with both hands and stood up abruptly.

A person and a bird leave the dangerous sea at the same time.

The streetlights are located beside the jogging track in the distance, casting a soft glow in all directions, but not enough to cover the entire area.

Zhong Yan took four or five steps toward the light before she could see what was in her hand.

A small, grayish-brown bird, about the size of a sparrow.

Its wings and claws were tangled in a ball of nylon thread, rendering it unable to move. It could only lie with its head tilted to one side, its small black eyes looking at her through the netting.

If it hadn't met her, it would have died silently in the sea long before dawn.

Zhong Yan clenched her hands together, at a loss for what to do.

She had no experience raising animals. In her first year of high school, she found a kitten, but her mother threw it out overnight, saying that keeping a pet would affect her studies.

This little bird is smaller than a kitten, how can she save it?

Calling a wildlife rescue center is one option.

However, she can't make a phone call right now.

She carried the little bird back and was surprised to find that the boy who had been on the phone was still there, so she quickly walked a few steps toward him.

The phone's glow shone on his face, revealing an exceptionally handsome and youthful appearance.

Zhong Yan hesitated for a moment, and her pace slowed down.

But upon hearing the rustling footsteps, the boy alertly raised his eyes.

Zhong Yan is a good student, but that's all she does. She's not good at socializing. Even during the Chinese New Year when the whole family is eating together and she's face-to-face with her so-called relatives, she can hardly utter a few words.

So when facing strangers, she was so nervous that she broke out in a cold sweat, and she even forgot to blink, staring straight at the person without moving.

"What's up?" the boy asked first.

The tone wasn't exactly pleasant; it was more like someone who was being bothered and was rather impatient.

Zhong Yan held her breath as he stared at her. Fortunately, the little bird in her palm twitched, attracting the boy's attention and drawing his gaze away.

Zhong Yan seized the opportunity to speak, saying, "I found this bird."

The boy waited a moment, then asked, "So?"

Zhong Yan had to muster all her courage to avoid being scared away by the boy's indifference. She stammered, "It's trapped, and it's been soaking in seawater for a long time. It might need to be rescued."

The boy said "Oh," seemingly still puzzled as to why she had approached him.

Zhong Yan blushed and explained, "My phone is dead. Could you please help me call an animal rescue center?"

The boy finally got up lazily, shone the light from his phone screen on the bird, and said, "This is a black-tailed petrel, a protected animal in China."

Zhong Yan didn't recognize the black-tailed petrel, but she knew the meaning of "three-protected animals," such as sparrows and swallows.

They are just ordinary birds that are commonplace in the city.

Would anyone go to the trouble of rescuing an ordinary bird?

"Then... what about it?" Zhong Yanyou held the hot potato in her hands.

"Make a phone call."

The boy looked down and started searching on his phone, quickly finding the local animal rescue hotline.

Although it was already after get off work hours, thankfully someone answered the phone.

There were staff members on Niling Island, and soon a middle-aged man on a bicycle found them.

The staff carefully cut the thin thread tangled in the little petrel's claws and wings, frowning as they said, "This thread is so thin, it's a bird-catching net."

Seeing that the boy didn't respond, Zhong Yan, afraid of spoiling the staff's mood, had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask, "Are there people here stealing birds?"

"Over the years, we've removed hundreds, if not thousands, of bird-catching nets, but it's still impossible to completely prevent them." The staff member was angry, but there was nothing they could do, so they could only shake their head.

As long as there is buying and selling, there will always be people breaking the law and committing crimes.

The staff took the opportunity to give the two a science education session.

As a well-behaved student who wouldn't even dare to run a red light, Zhong Yan listened attentively and nodded frequently.

After removing the fine netting from the little petrel, the staff checked its wings and claws and said, "It's alright, there's nothing seriously wrong. Put it back where you found it and let it calm down and fly away on its own."

After giving his instructions, the staff member rode away on a bicycle, as he was in a hurry to attend an event.

Zhong Yan brought the little seagull back to the vicinity where it had been found.

The little petrel folded its wings tightly to its sides, gazing melancholically at the dark, deep sea, motionless.

Seeing this, Zhong Yan assumed it was afraid of the two humans, so she called the boy, and the two of them walked away.

But the little petrel remained motionless, as if it had forgotten how to fly.

Zhong Yan turned her head and looked at the boy for help.

Before she could finish speaking, the boy contacted the animal rescue staff again. After listening to his explanation, they told him that Haiyan might be exhausted and that he could take her home first, put her in a breathable box with a bottle cap of water, and feed her some small fish and shrimp if convenient.

"Don't look at me, you picked it up first, so it's naturally yours to keep."

Zhong Yan's words died before they could be uttered. Looking at the lonely little petrel and then at the "cool guy" with his hands in his pockets, she hesitated and said, "What if... it can't fly because its wings are broken?"

The rescue workers just stretched the bird's wings and checked if the feathers were intact.

"If you're worried, you can take it to a vet tomorrow. There's a birdwatching clinic on the island that you can also visit."

“I’m not familiar with this place…” Zhong Yan mustered her courage again and looked at the boy expectantly.

“You can look it up if you’re not familiar with it.” The boy looked her up and down. “You’re not a child.”

Zhong Yan lowered her head and burrowed her feet into the sand.

She neither left nor spoke, remaining silent as if she wanted to transform herself into a sculpture, standing there for a long, long time.

The boy turned his hat brim behind his head, then turned it back, perhaps after some internal struggle, before finally saying, "Call me tomorrow."

Zhong Yan looked up. "Are you coming with me to the vet?"

"No need? Then go by yourself."

Zhong Yan quickly replied, "Yes."

The boy then pulled a power charger from another pocket. "Want to borrow it to charge your phone again? Write down my number."

Zhong Yan didn't reach into her pocket, and stammered, "I'll remember."

The boy gave her a string of numbers; it was his phone number.

Zhong Yan memorized it after reciting it once.

He then introduced himself, saying, "My name is Jifeng, Ji as in season and Feng as in storm."

Zhong Yan felt the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She blinked a few times before whispering, "...Zhong, the Zhong of Zhongshan, the Yan of Yanzi."

“Zhong Yan?” Ji Feng repeated, his gaze peculiar as he looked her over again.

Zhong Yan felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, as if thorns had grown on her body.

"Aren't you leaving tomorrow?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at her, and Zhong Yan blushed with embarrassment.

It wasn't that she was intentionally eavesdropping; he was just speaking loudly.

"The tickets haven't been booked yet, so it doesn't matter whether we go back or not."

Ji Feng clearly used this as an excuse. Before Zhong Yan could feel ashamed, he turned on the screen and quickly tapped a few times, as if he had sent a message to someone.

"Just say so."

Zhong Yan bent down and picked up the listless little seagull.

Before the other party could pop up a voice call, Ji Feng quickly switched to airplane mode to avoid being bombarded. When he looked up again, he saw a person and a bird standing in front of him.

The girl had a delicate face, with almond-shaped eyes wide open beneath her lightly shaped eyebrows.

Before the pitch-black sea, it looked like a startled bird in a panic.

The monsoon felt like laughing for no reason.

The girl, like the bird in her hand, was disheveled and pitiful.

"There's an event on the island tonight. Are you going home or going to join the fun?"

Zhong Yan looked down at the little seagull with its feathers all ruffled in her palm, "...I'd better go home and find something to feed it."

Although the little petrel was weak, its little head was still moving around like a wound-up toy, observing the two humans, or perhaps examining its own situation.

"Okay." Ji Feng glanced down and said, "Find your shoes first."

Zhong Yan's toes dug into the sand.

She had completely forgotten that she had been barefoot the whole time.

Ji Feng refused her polite refusal and insisted on accompanying her to find the shoes "left behind" on the beach, hands in his pockets.

Upon seeing the shoes, he remarked with a half-smile, "They're arranged quite neatly."

Zhong Yan ignored the sand on her feet, quickly put on her shoes, and said goodbye to him with Xiao Haiyan.

After walking a few dozen steps, Zhong Yan couldn't help but turn back.

The monsoon is still in the same place, like a demanding overseer.

Zhong Yan turned her head back and quickly walked into the brightly lit sidewalk.

/

My aunt's house is on a hillside. After climbing the weathered stone steps for about seven or eight minutes, the ivy and trumpet creeper on both sides are lush and green, and unknown little flying insects hover and collide under the orange streetlights.

The old filaments would occasionally crackle, and the chirping of insects rose and fell from the grass.

The lights were still on in the small shop on the first floor. An advertisement was playing on a television set in the cramped space, but the shop owners were not there.

Thinking of the empty refrigerator upstairs, Zhong Yan still wandered around the freezer section, picked up a box of fresh, refrigerated small fish with a price tag, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, scanned the QR code on the cashier to pay 8.7 yuan, and finally took a picture of the items and sent it to the shop owner.

By the time Zhong Yan reached the fourth floor, her back was already covered in a layer of sweat.

She reached for the key she had left on top of the meter box, turned it around in the lock, pushed open the door, stepped on a stool to turn on the circuit breaker, and then turned on the light. The dim overhead light took three beats to illuminate the room.

The apartment is only 30 to 40 square meters, but even with most of the furniture and appliances in place, it doesn't feel spacious.

Zhong Yan found an empty box, put the little seagull inside, then opened a bottle of mineral water and poured it a capful of water. Finally, she tore off the transparent film on the fish box, letting the little seagull stand on a dozen fish that smelled fishy, ​​like a local tyrant ruling the mountain.

Only then did Zhong Yan have the opportunity to examine the black-tailed petrel closely.

Its feathers were a bit dry, and it had a round, gray-black head. Its beak was similar to that of a seagull, except that it had a peculiar protruding nostril. Its feet were like a duck's webbed feet, and it was clear at a glance that it was a master swimmer.

The little petrel neither ate fish nor drank water, as if it were still trapped in those nets and unable to move.

Zhong Yan stretched out a finger and rubbed its head.

She said in a very soft and gentle voice, "How come you're just like me?"

The little petrel couldn't speak; it gazed sadly at the swallow, as if it had a thousand words to say.

Zhong Yan was the same, but she, too, could not confide in it.

The person and the bird stayed quietly for a while.

Zhong Yan first looked away. She walked around the room and opened all the closed windows so that the little petrel could fly away on its own if it regained its strength.

After doing all this, she lay back on the bed.

The room was quiet; even the refrigerator was no longer running. The only sound was from the bird in the box.

But it was an extremely subtle, almost negligible sound.

Zhong Yan didn't know if it could survive or fly.

Will things get better tomorrow?

She had absolutely no clue.

I lay there for an unknown amount of time, the buzzing sound continuing to fill the room.

Zhong Yan had no choice but to get up. Her phone was lying on the table, with the words "Dear Sister" displayed on the black background and white text on the screen.

She lightly touched the phone with her thumb to answer, and the voice on the other end was already eagerly coming through the airwaves.

"Sis! Why did it take you so long to answer? What were you busy with?"

Zhong Yan looked at the tidy room and said, "They're still cleaning up."

This meager and lackluster answer did not dampen the little girl's joy.

Today is her fifth birthday. Her parents just celebrated with her, and they have so much to say about it.

After describing the gifts she received, the cake she ate, and the two adorable puppies she saw on the street, she added:

"...Oh right, sister, Dad bought you a new tablet. Mom said you can take it to university, since it's close by. You can bring it back on the weekend so I can play with it too."

Zhong Yan paused, then said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you for me, Uncle, but I don't need it."

The little girl across from them sensed something was wrong and asked in a low voice, "Sister, are you still angry with Mommy?"

Zhong Yan didn't make a sound. She closed her eyes, as if she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.

"Dad said that Mom just loves my older sister too much and wants to take care of her as much as possible. Xin Xin also wants her sister by her side. Sister, please don't be angry with Mom anymore, okay?"

Zhong Yan covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

The voices from the other side kept coming.

"Sister, I'm sorry."

"Sister, don't cry, everything will be alright."

The little girl was already a mature child, and she comforted the adults very skillfully.

Zhong Yan said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry."

For the things of today, and for the things of the past.

The two sisters chatted casually for a few more minutes before ending the call.

Zhong Yan went to the bathroom to wash her face and then came back to check on Xiao Haiyan's condition.

It still doesn't eat or drink, and doesn't move much.

Zhong Yan opened the diary website.

This is the website address and account that the homeroom teacher gave to the students when they enrolled at Shishi Middle School, so that they could record their lives.

The students call it the Cyber ​​Diary.

Shih Chung High School is the best high school in the area, and students rely on self-study, so there is no restriction on students bringing mobile phones to school. This diary website is similar to Weibo or WeChat Moments, but it is completely private unless someone shares your account and password with you.

Zhong Yan opened the page, and the top message was scheduled to be sent at 11:00 AM today. There were no pictures, only the simple two words "Goodbye".

She looked at it for a while, deleted that one, and rewrote it.

Friday, August 1, 2025

Today, I found a little seagull.