Axolotl Translations

“Windwing, Windwing, Juqing 5 calling, please respond!”

The high-frequency radio crackled, and Gu Mengran, binoculars still in hand, stepped back into the cockpit. He exchanged a quick, questioning glance with Liang Zhao, but neither of them reached for the radio.

It wasn’t odd that they were calling for Windwing—the ship’s name was prominently displayed on the bow. But the voice on the radio held a strange quality: a mix of surprise, disbelief, and a definite urgency. It almost sounded like they recognized them.

Seeing the confusion in Gu Mengran’s eyes, Liang Zhao kept his hands off the radio.

His long, well-defined fingers lightly drummed on the console. When the high-frequency crackled again, he lifted his gaze and, after a brief pause, spoke. “Juqing 5, have you ever heard of that name? Could it be someone we know?”

Gu Mengran shook his head quickly. “Never heard of it. We don’t know anyone running a ship, but I did see someone on deck earlier… he looked vaguely familiar.”

“Windwing only set sail right before the disaster, and we haven’t encountered many people since,” Liang Zhao raised an eyebrow. “Could it be someone we helped during the earthquake?”

Before he could finish, the high-frequency crackled once more. This time, the voice was clearer, less formal. It was a man’s voice, filled with excitement.

“I see you, Windwing! It’s Xu Xinghe. Remember us? My sister’s Xu Xingran, our old ship was the Heng Rong Sheng! You saved us at Anchang Port!”

Xu Xinghe, Heng Rong Sheng—Wheat!

A buried memory surged back, and Gu Mengran hesitated for a moment. Driven by curiosity, he picked up the high-frequency receiver and responded, “It’s you! How did you get ahead of us, and change ships? What happened to Heng Rong Sheng?”

“We got a response! I knew it—you’re way too formal! It’s not like the old days. Who’s brave enough to just answer the radio anymore?”

“Stop talking nonsense, just reply already.”

The voices of a man and woman came through the speaker, and then Gu Mengran heard Xu Xinghe deliberately clear his throat. “Heng Rong Sheng’s out of commission, it’s a long story. We’ve been through quite a bit on the way here. Brother Gu, we’re not that far apart, how about we meet up?”

Gu Mengran didn’t reply immediately. He instinctively glanced up at Liang Zhao.

Liang Zhao’s eyes narrowed slightly. He leaned closer to the hand-held receiver Gu Mengran held, casually asking, “You’re on another ship? How many people are on board?”

“Hey, the voice changed. Is that Brother Liang?”

“Mm.”

Xu Xinghe politely greeted Liang Zhao, then got straight to the point. “Well, it used to belong to someone else, but it’s ours now. There aren’t many of us—just me, my sister, and a little girl.”

“Are you still carrying cargo? What is it?” Liang Zhao followed up.

There was a brief pause before Xu Xinghe responded, sounding hesitant. Almost twenty to thirty seconds ticked by before he stammered, “I think we should discuss that face-to-face, Brother Liang. We can come to Windwing, or you can come to our ship.”

Xu Xinghe’s cautious tone made Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao realize the cargo was likely something important. The oil tanker and chemicals were useless to most people—leaving fuel as the only logical possibility.

Was this fate offering them an opportunity? Gu Mengran felt a flicker of intrigue. He said, “Hold on,” and released the receiver, turning to Liang Zhao, raising an eyebrow. “What do you think? Should we go check it out?”

“The ship’s probably carrying fuel,” Liang Zhao replied, his voice thoughtful. “The draft is low, indicating a substantial load. Plus, he seemed genuinely excited to see Windwing—he likely wants to trade supplies or express gratitude. It’s worth considering.”

“But just in case,” Liang Zhao paused, glancing at the gradually brightening sky through the windshield. His voice turned serious. “I’ll go alone.”

Gu Mengran snorted, his voice cold. “If we go, we go together. Otherwise, forget it.”

His tone left no room for argument. Liang Zhao could only smile helplessly. “Alright, then should we take the small boat over?”

Gu Mengran shot Liang Zhao a glare but didn’t answer. He pressed the call button again. “Juqing 5, we’ll come over in the diesel boat. Get the crane ready.”

“Okay, okay, just let me know when you’re about to leave, Brother Gu.”

“Got it!”

Although Gu Mengran had said “just wait,” they ended up waiting for nearly half an hour.

After waking the old man from his nap, explaining everything, calming him down, and finally heading down to the river in the diesel boat, Gu Mengran couldn’t stop yawning.

With the prospect of fuel dangling like a carrot in front of him, he forced himself awake. He took out a bottle of medicated oil from his space and rubbed it on his temples, gradually feeling more alert.

It wasn’t far, and Liang Zhao drove quickly. In less than three minutes, the diesel boat pulled up steadily alongside Juqing 5, near the front of the ship’s deck.

Having given them a heads-up earlier, the crane slowly descended with a loud roar just as the small boat came to a stop. Liang Zhao maneuvered the boat to adjust the angle, while Gu Mengran grabbed two ropes and quickly secured the small boat to the crane.

“Vroom, vroom…”

The crane slowly lifted the diesel boat, aligning it with the deck. Gu Mengran glanced around, taking in the full view of Juqing 5.

Juqing 5 was indeed about the same size as Windwing, both capable of carrying 3,000 tons. The red and green color scheme was almost identical. But the two ships had completely different structures, giving Juqing 5 a more impressive, stylish look. It even appeared slightly larger.

The superstructure was only at the stern of the ship, while the bow and hull resembled a vast runway—smooth and flat. Standing on it, one seemed almost insignificant, which made the ship appear even more grand.

But despite its impressive appearance, it was more show than substance, a decorative piece with little practical use.

Being an oil tanker, pipelines crisscrossed the deck, immovable and untouchable. This relentlessly constricted the space, leaving only narrow walkways along the edges.

The diesel boat landed on the bow deck, where Xu Xinghe and a demure-looking young girl waited. They hurried along the narrow passage towards them.

“Brother Gu, Brother Liang!”

It had been a while, and Xu Xinghe looked visibly more worn. Though he still wore a bright smile, the eighteen or nineteen-year-old seemed to have aged rapidly, maturing overnight.

Gu Mengran nodded and greeted him politely, “Long time no see. How have you been?”

“Just surviving, more or less,” Xu Xinghe replied, bringing the girl onto the deck. He stepped aside in the narrow passage and cheerfully gestured, “Let’s head to the stern, it’s too hot to talk out here.”

The passage led directly to the stern, making a guide unnecessary.

Gu Mengran didn’t hesitate and entered the passage first, with Liang Zhao following close behind.

The passage was very narrow, and the tanker had installed sprinkler systems on both sides, spraying water to cool down the fuel tanks. By the time they reached the stern, the sneakers they had changed into were soaked.

The squelching sound of their shoes clued the ship’s owner in on the problem. Unfortunately, there weren’t any extra shoes to offer, so he could only apologize awkwardly.

Gu Mengran, whose only thought was sleep, didn’t really care about his wet shoes. But after navigating the twists and turns through the stern, when he stepped into the clean, tidy living room, he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about leaving wet footprints on the floor.

The stern was essentially a multi-story building at the ship’s rear, serving as the crew’s living quarters. Compared to other riverboats, Juqing 5’s interior was relatively spacious, though it couldn’t match the nearly deck-sized Windwing.

The living room, about thirty to forty square meters, boasted an open ceiling almost two stories high, creating an expansive, airy feel. The space was bright and open.

Juqing 5 wasn’t a new ship, and its interior felt somewhat dated, but it was well-equipped with a TV, air conditioning, a sofa, and other furniture. The warm color scheme immediately enveloped them in a cozy, inviting atmosphere.

“Come in, come in! Brother Gu, Brother Liang, sit here!”

Upon entering, Xu Xinghe, finally acting as the host, hurried ahead and stood by the couch, gesturing for Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao to sit.

Gu Mengran, unable to hide his curiosity, glanced around the room. He hesitated for a moment before sitting on the couch, casually complimenting, “Your new ship is really nice. It’s big, well-equipped. Where did you get it?”

He intended to steer the conversation to the point quickly, but Xu Xinghe unexpectedly became overly polite.

He stood grinning for a few seconds before laughing sheepishly, “Not bad, right? My sister and I are pretty happy with it. It might not be as grand as your Windwing, but in these times, having a ship to call home is already a stroke of luck.”

The last three words were almost lost in the air. Gu Mengran tried not to appear too eager. He glanced around again, then awkwardly asked, “By the way, how did you guys avoid the flash flood back then? Were you able to make it ashore?”

Gu Mengran couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. Back then, he hadn’t anticipated the dammed lake’s collapse, triggering the massive flash flood. He’d urged the siblings to head upstream. Thinking about it now, if they’d followed his advice and taken the diesel boat upriver, they’d likely be long gone.

He’d never expected to see them again. And considering his past advice… the more Gu Mengran thought about it, the more awkward he felt. The soft couch beneath him suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

Xu Xinghe, however, seemed completely unfazed, as if he’d forgotten everything.

Grinning, he plopped down next to Gu Mengran like an old friend, casually throwing an arm over his shoulder. “That flood was insane! Just thinking about it still gives me chills. We were this close to shaking hands with Death!”

Just as he was about to launch into the full story, hurried footsteps echoed down the stairs. Xu Xingran came down quickly, carrying an old-fashioned kettle in one hand and a bag in the other. Xu Xinghe immediately got up to help, taking the kettle from her.

Hot tea, canned goods, spicy jerky… one by one, food items filled the empty coffee table. The siblings had clearly gone all out, probably pulling out their last stash of snacks. Gu Mengran even spotted two sad-looking, shriveled apples among the offerings.

Before the disaster, no one would have given these snacks a second glance. Now, they were a rare treasure.

Once the table was set, Xu Xingran finally sat down, unhurried. She picked up two cans and handed them to Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao, her voice warm and sincere. “It’s been a while. Have something to eat first. How have you been? Is Grandpa Meng in good health?”

“He’s doing great—eating well, moving around just fine, full of energy,” Gu Mengran said with a smile, accepting the canned mandarin oranges without hesitation, rolling the can in his hands.

“That’s good to hear.” Xu Xingran nodded, her lips curving into a small smile. “I never thought we’d run into each other again. It must be fate, right? We left in such a hurry back then that we didn’t even get to thank you properly. Now that we’ve met again, we definitely have to share a meal together.”

Compared to her chatty younger brother, Xu Xingran was far more reliable. She could tell at a glance that Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao had been up all night—clearly, they weren’t just there for a friendly chat.

So, after a brief round of small talk, she cut to the chase. Tilting her chin slightly, she met Gu Mengran’s gaze and spoke seriously. “I didn’t invite you here just for a meal. I’m sure you’ve already figured it out—Juqing 5 is carrying cargo. The cargo hold is full of Grade-0 diesel.”

Grade-0 diesel—the primary fuel used by most inland waterway vessels.

Gu Mengran had expected her to be direct, but not this direct. His eyebrows arched slightly in surprise, though he made no attempt to hide that he’d already guessed as much. Chuckling, he teased, “You’re certainly straightforward, Sister Xu. Just laying it all out like that—aren’t you afraid we might get some ideas?”

Xu Xingran shook her head with a calm smile. Her gaze was steady, her tone unwavering.

“You and Liang Zhao saved my brother and me. I trust you.”

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