Chapter Three: The Life-Saving Tortoise

“Zhongsheng, where are you? Have you seen Zhongsheng?” Cai Mao kept calling out anxiously, his face etched with worry.

A crowd had gathered, all focused on something ahead. Some turned their heads toward him, as if to answer, but no words came.

He faintly heard a voice reply, “Dad, I’m here.” Though he couldn’t see anyone, the voice was unmistakably Zhongsheng’s—a young woman’s voice he knew well. A heavy stone pressing on his heart seemed to be lifted. Tears welled in his eyes, yet a faint smile appeared.

Suddenly, the crowd parted, and he saw Zhongsheng: his daughter sat on the beach, drenched from head to toe, her dark hair flowing like storm clouds along her cheeks. Beside her was a large turtle, its shell rounded like a rolling stone.

Zhongsheng rested one hand on the turtle’s back, brushing her bangs aside with the other. Seeing Cai Mao approach, she stood and said, “Dad, your daughter has survived against all odds. If it weren’t for this turtle, I would’ve been food for the fish and turtles in the sea.”

Cai Mao stepped forward, looking from his daughter to the turtle, finally understanding why so many had gathered, drawn by curiosity and spectacle.

Zhongsheng pointed at the big turtle. “Dad, this is my lifesaving turtle.”

Cai Mao asked what had happened last night. She seemed to awaken from a nightmare as she recounted every vivid and perilous detail:

Last night, her boyfriend Liu Sanjun had promised to bring her a chicken to cook with vermicelli on the boat, but by 10 p.m., he hadn’t returned.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew over the sea, waves crashing against the shore relentlessly. The anchor chain holding her wooden boat snapped loose. The boat was carried farther from the shore by the waves. Seeing the danger, Zhongsheng tried to save herself. She climbed out of the cabin, grabbed the wooden oar at the bow, and tried to row back to shore. But before she could steady herself, a towering wave overturned the boat, and she was thrown into the sea.

She struggled, but her body sank deeper into the water. Though Liu Sanjun had taught her to swim, she had never mastered it. In the deep water, she sank like a stone.

Zhongsheng thought she was going to drown. Just as salty seawater filled her throat and she lost strength to struggle, she suddenly felt something hard, like a shell, lift her sinking body out of the water. Closing her eyes in fear, she dreaded that this creature might devour her.

Yet this creature carried her across the stormy waves without harm.

After spitting out the seawater she had swallowed, she dared to relax and lie sideways on the hard shell.

In that dark, wind-lashed night, she couldn’t see what the creature was or where it was taking her, leaving her anxious.

At dawn, as the sky lightened, she finally saw that the creature carrying her through the rolling sea was a large turtle.

She noticed five characters etched on the left side of its shell: “Liang Xiuying’s release.” Understanding something, she lightly tapped the turtle’s back and said, “Grandpa Turtle, thank you for saving me. I think you saved me to repay a kindness, but the name on your back isn’t mine. You’ve mistaken who to repay. I hope you won’t regret it and toss me into the sea!”

The turtle suddenly stopped on the water, turning its long, finely scaled neck to look at her for a full thirty seconds.

Frightened, Zhongsheng kept murmuring, “Grandpa Turtle, even though I’m not the one who released you, please don’t throw me into the sea. If you do, I’ll drown because I can’t swim...” The turtle withdrew its neck but did not throw her off. Instead, it continued to carry her, gliding over calm seas like a mirror. The rising sun in the distance looked to Zhongsheng like a golden turtle carrying clouds across the sky and water. Bathed in the sunlight shimmering on the blue sea, she felt an immense warmth.

Seeing the turtle had no intention of harming her, she said, “Grandpa Turtle, please do a good deed all the way and take me back to the shore. I don’t want to play in the sea anymore.”

The turtle understood and turned toward the golden coastline. Thus, Zhongsheng was safely delivered to the beach by the great turtle.

Upon hearing this, Cai Mao immediately knelt and bowed three times to the turtle beside his daughter, continuously expressing, “Thank you, lifesaving turtle, thank you. Without your grace, my daughter would have met disaster last night!” The onlookers clicked their tongues in amazement.

A young man wearing a sailor’s striped shirt and denim shorts pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. Seeing Cai Mao rise, he realized the man and the grateful girl were father and daughter. Nudging Cai Mao gently with his elbow, he said, “Hey, can you sell me that big turtle? I’ll pay your daughter well. Here, I have a thousand yuan. Will you sell it?”

Cai Mao was stunned. Zhongsheng shook her head firmly, “No. Even if you offer ten thousand yuan, this lifesaving turtle is not for sale.”

The crowd fell silent. The young man sighed, “If you won’t sell it to me, you could at least donate it to a zoo and earn a handsome reward.”

Zhongsheng scoffed, her voice clear and resolute. “I can’t be so ungrateful and greedy. Even if the zoo takes it in, it will lose its freedom. Living freely in the sea is far better.”

Cai Mao agreed with his daughter, emphasizing they must not sell the turtle. “It saved my daughter’s life; it may save others. This is a divine turtle. We must release it back into the sea.”

Cai Mao stepped forward, speaking to the turtle, “Go back to the sea. I, Cai Zhongsheng, will never forget your lifesaving grace.”

The great turtle seemed to understand. It stretched its neck from its shell and looked at Zhongsheng for a full minute, as if bidding farewell.

Some onlookers, eager to capture the turtle, stirred restlessly. Cai Mao planted his feet firmly, raised a hoe above his head, and glared fiercely. “If anyone tries to catch this turtle that saved my daughter’s life, this hoe won’t show mercy.”

His words quelled the restless crowd, who stood motionless.

Sensing the danger, the turtle swiftly turned its heavy body on the sand, pushing off with its legs. It stretched out its delicate, water-sprout-like head and crawled straight into the sea, resembling a small water buffalo charging through waves. After swimming a few meters, it dived beneath the water and vanished.