Axolotl Translations

Knock knock. Knock-knock-knock.

“Lao Wan, Lao Wan, you in there? Is this the place?”

The banging on the door and the rough male voice came almost at the same time. The moment the noise started, Liang Zhao got up to open the door. But before he could take more than a few steps, the impatient man outside spoke up again—and right on cue, Brother Wan’s walkie-talkie crackled to life with the exact same voice.

“What, cat got your tongue? I asked you a question! Come on, say something!”

The same booming voice blasted in from both directions, loud enough to make anyone’s ears ring.

Brother Wan let out a sharp “tch” of irritation, not to be outdone. He raised his voice and shouted toward the door, “You gonna let a guy answer or what? You talk so damn much I can’t even open my mouth! Seriously, you need to do something about that temper!”

Just as the words left his mouth—click—the door swung open.

The hallway breeze hadn’t even made it inside yet when the hatch was shoved open and a man stormed in, walkie-talkie still in hand. He wasn’t tall—in fact, he was a good half-head shorter than Zheng Yijie. He looked about forty, his face deeply lined, his skin sun-darkened like scorched earth: rough, but not aged, surprisingly healthy-looking.

He was the kind of person you’d overlook in a crowd. He looked like a day laborer hauling bricks on a construction site—or maybe just a regular deckhand scraping rust and slapping on paint. But in reality, he was the top dog on the Giant—its captain.

Without a trace of formality, he closed the door behind him, eyes scanning the room. He glanced at Liang Zhao, then Gu Mengran, and finally settled on Brother Wan.

“Which one of them owns the Windwing?”

“That’d be both of them,” Brother Wan said, still seated on the bed. He waved him over. “Don’t just stand there like you’re interrogating someone—come sit, take a load off.”

“Both? Don’t look alike at all.”

The captain clearly wasn’t in the mood to sit and chat. He turned back to Liang Zhao, who was closest, and gave a somewhat friendly smile. His tone, however, was urgent. “Young man, what’s your name? Where you from? You said your family’s boat is called Windwing—so tell me, who’s the captain of that boat?”

Just three words—Windwing—had been enough to summon the Giant’s captain in person via walkie-talkie. He’d arrived within ten minutes, anxious and intense, his questions full of urgency. All signs pointed to one thing: this captain had a deep connection to Grandpa’s old Windwing.

But… was that a good thing? Was he an old crewmate—or an old enemy?

Gu Mengran still couldn’t be sure. But with Grandpa being such a kind, easygoing man, it was hard to imagine someone holding a grudge all these years.

Whatever. No time to overthink.

Before Liang Zhao could say anything, Gu Mengran sprang to his feet and looked straight at the seemingly harmless captain. He got right to the point: “Captain, do you know Meng Gaoyang?”

“Who?”

It was like a stone dropping into still water—ripples spreading fast and wide. The captain’s eyes flew open, mouth falling slack in disbelief. The next second, he closed the distance between them in a blur, locking eyes with Gu Mengran.

“You know Captain Meng? Wait—who are you to him?”

“I’m his grandson,” Gu Mengran answered without hesitation.

Jackpot. Not only did this captain know his grandfather, there seemed to be some genuine history between them. How deep that history went, though, was still unclear.

Rubbing at his slightly reddened eyes, Gu Mengran quickly added, “Brother Wan said the Windwing you knew was a seafaring vessel. That made me think of Grandpa’s old ship right away. Captain, you knew my grandfather, didn’t you? If that’s the case, could you—”

“You don’t have to say another word.”

The captain cut him off before he could finish.

So… maybe they weren’t that close after all.

Gu Mengran looked down, unable to hide his disappointment. Just as he thought the moment had slipped away, a large, sun-darkened hand rested on his shoulder.

The short captain reached up with effort, patting Gu Mengran’s shoulder with a fond, almost fatherly look in his eyes. That gaze was full of warmth and pride, and when he spoke, it was with the affection of an elder: “Mengran, Gu Mengran. I never held you as a baby, but I’ve seen pictures of you when you were little.”

“What? You know my name? You’ve seen pictures of me?” Gu Mengran stared, stunned.

“You’re twenty now, right?” The captain smiled, his uneven but bright teeth showing.

“I joined the crew the year you were born. I was just a trainee back then. Your grandfather—Old Meng—he was already the captain.”

“He never acted high and mighty. Super easy to get along with. All the guys from my year were jealous of me—first voyage out, and I landed with a captain like him. The man was incredible in every way. Only flaw? Loved to brag.”

“He carried around this baby photo of you like it was treasure. Showed it off to everyone. ‘My grandson, my first grandson!’ day in and day out.”

“You have no idea how tired we got of that photo. Not only did we have to look at it, we had to praise it. We were a bunch of roughnecks, but he had us talking like poets, trying to outdo each other with compliments.”

The memories flooded in, and once the captain started talking, there was no stopping him. The more he spoke, the more animated he became, swept away by the warmth of the past.

“The old captain was just… amazing. One word—solid. When I first boarded, I didn’t know a thing and kept messing up, but he never scolded blindly. Instead, he’d patiently guide us, encourage us… he was like a father figure, always worrying about everything.”

“I struggled hard back when I was trying to pass the third officer’s exam. Didn’t have the education for it, failed several times. I was ready to give up. But it was Captain Meng who kept encouraging me, helped me rebuild my confidence, and gave me the strength to keep trying. Honestly… if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

This wasn’t small talk anymore. Gu Mengran listened closely, fully present. His grandfather used to brag all the time about his younger days, but hearing it from someone else—seeing how much admiration and warmth others had for him—was something else entirely. The version of Grandpa he knew, the white-haired old man with a love for tall tales, suddenly felt vivid and full of life through someone else’s eyes.

Reunited with the grandson of an old friend, Captain Ding Pengyi couldn’t hide his excitement. He went on and on, retelling stories from long ago. But eventually, he remembered why they were really here. He gently pulled Gu Mengran down to sit beside him and began asking detailed questions.

And he meant detailed: the exact time, the ship’s type, direction, speed, how many people were onboard, whether there was food… Would the old man go hungry?

Looking at the captain—who seemed even more anxious than he was—Gu Mengran let his guard down completely. He told him everything he could. Well… everything except the part about the space.

Searching for someone at sea always involved luck. But it wasn’t all luck. It also depended on whether the people helping really cared. Wan-ge hadn’t owed them anything, so when he said he hadn’t seen the ship, that was that. But Captain Ding? After getting the full picture, he started asking every crew member onboard, even had someone bring over the ship’s navigation log. He was all in—completely serious about helping.

Even though the information Gu Mengran had was vague at best, after two hours of combing through resources and mobilizing the crew, the captain actually found a lead:

[Log entry, evening of the 16th, 9:00 PM: Detected three mid-to-small vessels coming from the northwest. Mid-sized ship had a multi-deck structure—possibly a container ship. Two smaller ones resembled inland bulk carriers (likely riverboats). All three were heading southeast at matching speeds, slower than standard—likely due to limited propulsion.]

[9:21 PM: Attempted high-frequency hail—no response.]

A thick navigation logbook was spread open in front of Gu Mengran. He read the page top to bottom, carefully, and as he reached the last line, his eyes lit up. His whole expression changed, brimming with excitement.

“Yes! It’s very likely that’s them!”

“Three vessels—that lines up. The big one was a cruise ship, but yeah, on radar it could look like a container ship. And the two smaller ones were both old bulk carriers from the Yellow River route. The date… the 16th—that’s exactly fifteen days ago. Everything checks out!”

The moment Gu Mengran spoke, Captain Ding Pengyi lit up with excitement. His sun-browned face flushed slightly, and like a child bursting with joy, he grabbed Gu Mengran’s arm and shook it back and forth.

“Good, good, good! That’s great news! They’ve been out of contact for over a month—at the very least, this proves they were safe fifteen days ago, and they made it into the East China Sea.”

He grinned from ear to ear, but after a few moments, the smile began to fade. Something crossed his mind, and his expression turned serious. He looked at Gu Mengran, worry creeping into his eyes. Though nothing had been said yet, Gu Mengran suddenly felt a wave of unease. His lips tightened instinctively, and he asked with concern, “Captain Ding… what is it? What are you thinking?”

Ding Pengyi let out a long sigh. “You guys just got to the East China Sea, so you wouldn’t know… things haven’t exactly been calm around here lately. Some weird wind’s been blowing through—don’t know where it came from. The temperature’s dropped sharply, and the sea’s been rougher than usual.”

“That’s for sure,” Brother Wan chimed in from the side. “That storm you hit the other night? That’s been happening all the time now—every few days like clockwork. Our Giant can handle it fine, but the fish? All scared off!”

Captain Ding shot him a glare. “We’re talking business—stop joking around.”

The excitement that had just begun to rise now faded a little under the weight of worry. Gu Mengran stood there, staring blankly at the floor, though his eyes held a firm, unwavering light. After a moment, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He spoke softly, as if trying to reassure himself, “They’ll make it. The Windwing isn’t a typical riverboat. We made a few upgrades at the shipyard—she handles rough seas pretty well.”

“And besides,” he added, turning to Captain Ding, “you said it yourself—my grandfather was an outstanding captain. He knew the ocean like the back of his hand. He’s been through worse. He’ll know how to get them through this.”

The words were calm, but something about them stirred the blood. For a split second, Ding Pengyi could almost see the shadow of the old captain reflected in the young man standing before him. Storms were nothing new—seafarers had braved worse.

Ding Pengyi slapped his thigh and grinned. “That’s right! Our old captain wasn’t one to back down. With his sharp instincts, I have no doubt he’ll find a way through.”

He already seemed to have a plan. Without missing a beat, he turned to the bed across the room where his first mate was resting. With a flick of his chin, he said, “Wan, go tell the crew to start warming up the engines. We set sail at 8:00 AM sharp tomorrow.”

Brother Wan didn’t say much. He gave a quick pat to his own leg and sprang up, vanishing out the door in seconds.

After Brother Wan left, the heavy weight pressing on Gu Mengran’s chest finally lifted. He let out a long breath and turned to Ding Pengyi, thanking him sincerely, “Captain Ding, I don’t even know how to thank you. You saved us when we had nowhere else to go, and now you’re helping me look for my grandfather… It’s really too much—”

“Don’t give me that polite nonsense!” Ding Pengyi cut him off, pretending to be annoyed, his tone lightly scolding. “Your grandfather? I’m going to find my old captain! He was like a father to me—how could I turn my back on him? No way. Not happening.” He bumped Gu Mengran with his shoulder and grinned. “If you really want to thank me, stop calling me Captain Ding. Sounds way too distant. Call me Uncle Ding. Go on—let’s hear it.”

They had never met before, yet from the first moment, there was a strange sense of familiarity.

Smiling, Gu Mengran said without hesitation, “Uncle Ding.”

“Ay!” Ding Pengyi responded with a beaming smile. He patted Gu Mengran on the shoulder and gave his hand a firm squeeze, his voice full of feeling. “Time really is something, huh? You were just a baby in those old photos—fit in the palm of a hand. Now look at you, all grown up. It’s incredible.”

“We were meant to meet again. I never imagined I’d get to see what you look like all grown up.”

Gu Mengran nodded, his voice soft with emotion. “Yeah… fate really is something else. Big world, big ocean—and somehow, we crossed paths. I can’t wait to find Grandpa. He’d never guess that the colleague he lost touch with would end up saving his eldest grandson.”

“Lost touch?” Captain Ding raised his eyebrows and immediately shot back, “Who says we lost touch? Just because I’ve been busy captaining my own ship doesn’t mean I forgot him! I didn’t get to visit, but I always gave your grandpa a call during the holidays!”

He seemed eager to prove his point. “In fact, we just talked recently—right before the earthquake. Your grandfather called me.”

“That call was weird, though. He said a bunch of strange stuff—told me to take my wife and daughter and get away from the mainland. Said to sail somewhere high-altitude, and stock up on as much food and supplies as we could. His tone… it was like he wanted me to bet my whole life on prepping.”

Gu Mengran blinked, surprised. “He said that?”

“Yep.” Ding Pengyi nodded. “At first, I thought maybe he was getting senile or something. But he wasn’t rambling—he made perfect sense. It felt like… he knew something. Like he’d seen what was coming.”

“I’ve always been someone who listens to advice, especially from the old captain. I was overseas with the ship at the time, but I called home and told your aunt to stock up on everything she could.”

He let out a breath, eyes suddenly somber. “Looking back now, he definitely knew something. That was his way of warning me. I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if we hadn’t listened. Running low on supplies would’ve been the least of our problems. Thanks to him, my wife, my daughter… our whole family is alive and safe today.”

Despite the heavy topic, Gu Mengran smiled.

Just a small flap of the butterfly’s wings had changed the fate of so many. A grandfather who should’ve died. Liang Zhao, who should’ve perished. Shijin Village, once doomed. And Uncle Ding—who might’ve lost his family forever.

They were all alive.

And they were going to keep living—well and strong.

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