As the two listened to Father Ye recount what had just happened to them, they found it extraordinary too. This huge fish actually stole food and even begged people for something to eat?
"No wonder you said it got dragged into trouble because of him. So that happened too..."
"If those people from Luzhou Island hadn't caught it in their nets and hit it with a propeller, it really would be quite docile. It even begged you for food?"
Although the two thought Ye Yaodong was taking a bit of a risk over a mere fish, his willingness to rescue it showed that he really was loyal and conscientious. They admired him a little more and trusted him more too-the kind of trust that meant they could leave their backs to him.
Father Ye also found it extraordinary, almost unreal. If he hadn't experienced it himself, he wouldn't have believed it either. All he could say was that strange things happened every year.
"And now it's asking a fishing boat for help because it's tangled in a net. Maybe this fish really does have that thing Dongzi mentioned, intelligence or whatever. He said its brain was like a six- or seven-year-old child's. The lad knows a lot more now that he's learned to read..."
Father Ye kept muttering, his attention and eyes fixed on Ye Yaodong the entire time.
The whale shark was enormous. Only its tail wasn't tangled in the net. Perhaps it had reacted the instant it plunged headfirst into it.
Its enormous size also meant an enormous job. More than half an hour passed before half the tightly wrapped net had been removed. Fortunately, both the man and the fish were patient.
Riding on a whale shark-in this day and age, he had to be the first!