Axolotl Translations

The main room fell into silence. The middle-aged man seated in the chair said nothing, and it was as if someone had hit pause on the entire space. His men all stared toward the doorway in unison—not a single sound was made.

What had been calm now felt heavy, the air slowly thickening with tension. Two minutes, maybe three, passed before the man finally moved. He leaned forward, fingers loosely interlaced, and lazily nodded toward the door. “So… who are these two?”

The moment he spoke, one of his underlings stepped forward, eager to report. “Captain, we spotted these two sneaking around the edge of the village in a diesel-powered raft. They said they’re locals, but—”

“Ah! So that’s where you two disappeared to all afternoon!” Sister Fang cut him off before he could finish. She shot up from her chair like a loaded spring, jabbing a finger toward Liang Zhao and Gu Mengran. “Couldn’t sit still, huh? Work all done, is it? Always causing trouble!”

Then, just as quickly, she flipped the switch—her face breaking into a polite smile as she turned to the man beside her. “Sorry about that, Captain Dong. Kids these days—always looking for excitement. I hope you’ll forgive the commotion.”

Captain Dong raised a brow, clearly amused, and let his eyes linger on the two of them. “So these two are from the village too? Fine-looking boys. What’re their names?”

The way he looked at them—like inspecting livestock—made Liang Zhao’s skin crawl. Before he could answer, Sister Fang jumped in smoothly, gesturing toward each of them. “That’s Liang Zhao, and that’s Gu Mengran. Came here with their families after the disaster. Young, but they work hard and don’t cause much trouble—just a bit playful. Sorry if they’ve been a bother.”

“Not at all, not at all. That’s what youth is for—being full of energy,” Captain Dong said with a chuckle, waving off her apology. His eyes flicked subtly toward the doorway, sending a signal with just a glance.

His three men received it loud and clear, quietly slipping out of the room.

At that same moment, Sister Fang shot a sharp look at the boys, then barked, “What are you standing there for? Can’t you see we have guests? Go on—scram.”

Liang Zhao gave a small nod and turned to leave with Gu Mengran.

But before they could take a step, Captain Dong laughed lightly. “What’s the rush? They’re local boys—they’re family. Let them stay. Might even have something useful to contribute.”

With the invitation phrased that way, walking off would seem rude. Liang Zhao gave Gu Mengran’s hand a reassuring squeeze, then led him to the back of the room to stand quietly behind Sister Fang.

The scene was almost comical: two opposing sides, one a packed crowd, the other so sparse they could be counted on one hand. Duan Yueyan and the rest of the village youths were nowhere to be found. Behind Sister Fang stood only Liang Zhao, Gu Mengran—and a confused-looking Xiao Dong.

Despite the numerical imbalance, the atmosphere wasn’t tense. The visitors arrived in force, yet their tone remained polite, measured, and open to discussion. If you didn’t pay close attention to the underlying implications, they almost seemed like ordinary guests.

Liang Zhao and Gu Mengran had arrived late. From what they could gather, Sister Fang had already been speaking with them for quite some time. The man called Captain Dong, however, possessed a knack for drawing things out—long-winded and theatrical, repeating himself incessantly.

After listening for a while, Liang Zhao finally pieced together the situation.

In short: the group of villagers who had departed Shijin Village after the disaster had returned—and they hadn’t come back alone. They brought a cruise ship with them, along with a substantial group of strangers. But they weren’t planning to stay. Their true purpose was to extend a sincere invitation to every resident of Shijin Village to leave with them aboard the cruise ship.

Captain Dong had come in person to deliver the offer. He arrived prepared, with generosity and tempting terms, speaking with clarity and precision. He didn’t sugarcoat the problems currently plaguing Shijin Village.

“Live off the mountain if you’re near the mountain, live off the water if you’re near water.” That had always been the way here—Shijin Village was surrounded by both. If not for the relentless, year-long rain, the villagers could have lived out their days peacefully.

But the constant downpour had worn everything down. The mountains were depleted—potatoes and sweet potatoes had all been harvested within two months after the rains began. The surrounding forest was stripped bare, leaving behind nothing but wooden stumps. The endless rain had even eroded the soil, layer by layer. And as for food? That was an entirely different struggle.

Right now, their only sources of sustenance were fishing in the lake and cultivating crops under makeshift rain shelters—but the former was unreliable, and the latter slow due to the lack of sunlight.

And food wasn’t even the worst of it. Thanks to Duan Yueyan’s foresight, the village had stockpiled supplies well before things deteriorated. Their biggest challenge now… was shelter.

The rain hadn’t let up—not even for a single day. Even the sturdy stone houses were showing signs of wear. Roofs had begun to leak. Some homes were no longer habitable.

Worse yet, the water level kept rising. Flooding had already reached the village entrance. If the rain didn’t cease soon, it was only a matter of time before Shijin Village would be submerged.

Captain Dong seemed to know the village’s predicament intimately. He zeroed in on their vulnerabilities, then smoothly transitioned to highlight his own advantages. With confident flair, he laid his offer on the table:

“Our Yongyue is big and spacious—six floors, over four hundred rooms. We can carry up to 730 people.”

“There’s no shortage of food or water on board. We’ve been sailing and collecting supplies for over a year. Even if we stop restocking today, I can guarantee three full years of food and clothing for everyone. On top of that, we’ve got professional fishing crews and scientists. Our hydroponics experiments are already showing results. Before long, we’ll be living just like we used to.”

“This rain’s been falling for over a year now—who knows how much longer it’ll last? On the ship, you won’t need to worry about that. Even if the whole world floods, we’ll still have a place to stay.”

The more Captain Dong spoke, the more impassioned he became—his voice swelling with emotion, his tone shifting into something akin to a fervent oration.

Whether Sister Fang was moved or not remained ambiguous. But outside the house, the assembled villagers were visibly affected. The crowd buzzed like a pot of boiling water, overflowing with noisy chatter:

“Is this for real? Plenty of food and water, and a stable place to live?”

“I’ve never even seen a cruise ship before. Can we at least go take a look?”

“Seriously though, I think the captain’s got a point. If the rain keeps up, it’s only a matter of time before the village floods. If we don’t figure something out now, where would we go then? Things aren’t like they used to be—being on a ship really might be safer than staying on land.”

“Hey now, that’s not fair—haven’t Xiao Yan and the others been doing everything they can—”

“Ahem, let’s not get into that. Just talk about the issue.”

“If you ask me, it’s worth thinking about. It’s not easy to find a ship. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve seen the cargo ship Old Luo and the others are on—it’s tiny. If the whole village squeezed on, we’d end up sleeping in the storage hold. No way it compares to a passenger cruise ship.”

“Over 400 rooms! Even if everyone got one, there’d still be extras!”

“Yeah, right. You think we’re the only ones on board? That ship’s already got plenty of people.”

“I wouldn’t mind living on a ship long-term… it’s just… being at someone else’s mercy doesn’t sit right.”

“Don’t ships run on fuel? What happens if they run out?”

“Then it floats, I guess. Drift wherever it drifts. But really—if they’ve got enough food and supplies, why would they want to take us in? Just out of the kindness of their hearts?”

“Come on, don’t be dumb. Isn’t Xiao Zhou on that ship? Obviously he talked to the captain and came back for us.”

……

Voices piled on, one after another, until the crowd at the entrance of the main house sounded like a full-blown chorus. The place was in total uproar.

There were plenty of doubts, of course—but Captain Dong acted as if he didn’t hear any of them. He waited patiently until the noise slowly subsided, then raised a hand and called out gently,

“Come on, Xiao Zhou. Why don’t you explain things to your fellow villagers?”

As his words hung in the air, a tall young man stepped out from the corner near the right wall.

He possessed neat, defined features and a handsome face—one that, under normal circumstances, would have been quite pleasing to look at. But the heavy dark circles beneath his eyes and the unshaven stubble along his chin gave him a haggard, worn-down appearance.

Xiao Zhou moved with a languid slowness. It took him nearly a full minute to shuffle from the corner of the room to the doorway. He looked utterly exhausted, completely drained—but when he turned to face the villagers, he still managed to force a weak, strained smile.

“Uncles, aunties… some of you have already guessed it. Yes, I was the one who brought Captain Dong back to the village. I know… some of you might still be angry at me—for leaving without saying a word back then. But I swear, I wasn’t abandoning anyone. We left to search for help… to find somewhere safer we could stay.”

“After we left, we wandered all over. It was hard. Brutally hard. And we lost people along the way. A lot of people. We didn’t meet Captain Dong until six months ago, and by then… we were barely hanging on. He’s the one who took us in and gave us food and shelter.”

“Captain Dong is a good man. I told him right away that there were still people in our village. He promised he’d come for you. But the rain never stopped. The roads were all destroyed, there were mudslides, floods everywhere—we had no way of making it here until now.”

He sounded almost as if he were delivering a prepared speech, standing there before everyone while the villagers whispered and murmured amongst themselves.

“Is he telling the truth? Maybe we really misunderstood them…”

“Wait, what? A lot of people died? Who?”

“Where’s that Li family kid? Haven’t seen him at all…”

Xiao Zhou raised a hand, signaling for quiet. Once the room settled down again, he continued.

“This flood… it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. A disaster unlike anything in history. So many places out there are already underwater. Our village is on high ground—that’s the only reason we’ve lasted this long. But Captain Dong’s right. It’s only a matter of time before we get hit too.”

“Everyone who left before is on the ship now. Uncles, aunties… I hope you’ll come with us. We don’t have to be separated from our families. We can ride the waves together, and together… we’ll search for a new home. I promise you, as long as—”

“Zhou Zhiqi!” Sister Fang snapped, cutting him off sharply. Her face had flushed bright red.

Before the villagers could start murmuring again, she turned toward Captain Dong, forcing a tight smile. “Captain Dong, like we said earlier—we still need to talk it over. Relocating the whole village isn’t a small matter. It’s not something one person can decide on. You really don’t need to have Xiao Zhou playing the persuader here. Just give us a little time, alright?”

Her words were polite, but her tone was far from warm. Still, Captain Dong didn’t seem the least bit offended. He stroked his chin and chuckled softly. “Hear that, Xiao Zhou? You’re running your mouth again.”

“Sorry, Captain,” Xiao Zhou said, quietly stepping aside.

“He’s young, passionate, and cares about his people. Can’t fault him for that,” Captain Dong said with a smile, then turned to meet Sister Fang’s eyes directly. His grin deepened. “Of course you can take some time to think. But you should understand—this is an opportunity for you, not for me. If it weren’t for Xiao Zhou pleading with me, I wouldn’t have made this trip.”

“Thank you for the opportunity, Captain Dong,” Sister Fang replied, the corners of her mouth twitching in a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Captain Dong gave a short, amused laugh and fixed his gaze on her, shaking his head as if helpless. “How about one night? I’ll give you all until tomorrow morning. We’ll be leaving then. In the meantime, I’ll have to trouble you, Miss Fang, to arrange lodging for us.”

As if he’d already forgotten everything he’d just said, Sister Fang’s head shot up, her pupils shrinking. “You’re staying in the village tonight?”

“What, are we not welcome?” Captain Dong raised a brow. His voice dropped lower. “If this is how Shijin Village treats its guests, then there’s no need to wait until tomorrow. We can leave right now.”

By the end, his tone practically spat the word “leave,” sharp and edged with anger. Qin Fang looked at the self-righteous man standing in front of her, and at the group of men behind him who were already itching for action. Her hand at her side gave the faintest tremble.

“…Of course you’re welcome. You’re absolutely welcome.”

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