Chapter 247: Request

The one who called out to Yun Jiao was none other than Vice Commander Lin.

Although he had also been scraping off barnacles, he had been keeping an eye on Yun Jiao.

He was astonished to discover that she could actually command the Humpback Whale.

Now that the barnacles were more or less gone, Vice Commander Lin approached Yun Jiao.

He explained to her the purpose of the foreigners’ visit to the country.

"I can see they’re quite taken with this Humpback Whale, so I was wondering if it could take them for a spin. It’s fine if it can, but no pressure if it can’t. And we wouldn’t ask you to do it for free. If we can negotiate a deal with them and resolve some of our shipbuilding technology issues, we’ll give you a bonus."

Even though she was just a child of about four, Vice Commander Lin didn’t try to trick her because of her age.

The mere fact that she could command the Humpback Whale was proof enough that this child was extraordinary.

"I’ll ask."

’Well, if I can help, I might as well. It’s no trouble for me, and I’m not the one doing the work anyway.’

Yun Jiao sat on the Humpback Whale’s head and asked if it would be willing to take some people for a couple of laps.

The Humpback Whale, being in a very good mood, agreed. After all, these people had helped clean off its barnacles.

"It’s fine. You can go tell them."

Vice Commander Lin was instantly delighted. After thanking Yun Jiao sincerely, he went to find Andre and the other foreigners.

Naturally, he wasn’t going to let Andre have a free ride.

Their main objective was still Andre and his group’s shipbuilding technology.

The country, at present, was seizing every opportunity to learn. Getting Andre and his team to teach them more techniques would be for the best.

As for Andre, he was thrilled the moment he heard the Humpback Whale could take them for a ride.

The translator was also a skilled negotiator and a member of the military.

After a round of discussion with him, Andre and his group agreed to get to work as soon as they returned, and they would even allow people to observe.

Vice Commander Lin and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. It felt as though a great weight had been half-lifted from their minds.

The other half would have to wait until they actually started teaching.

Then, after Yun Jiao gave a nod, the foreigners excitedly clambered onto the Humpback Whale’s back.

The Humpback Whale was so large that even if everyone in the sea climbed aboard, it wouldn’t be a problem.

As it shot a column of water from its blowhole, amid the cheers of Andre and his group, the Humpback Whale began to swing its tail under Yun Jiao’s command.

"It’s moving! It’s moving..."

"This is my first time riding on the back of such a huge Humpback Whale! It’s incredible! I’m so excited! Someone take a picture of me, quick! I need to capture this moment."

Sitting cross-legged at the front, Yun Jiao cleaned out her ear. ’These people are so noisy, and so loud, too.’

"Hey, kid! How do you do that?"

Seeing Yun Jiao command the Humpback Whale, Andre couldn’t contain his curiosity and sidled up to speak with her.

Yun Jiao looked at him with her innocent, pretty little face. "I don’t understand what you’re saying."

Andre couldn’t understand her either and had to rely on the translator.

But there was only one translator, who was often too busy to keep up.

Andre looked vexed. "Damn it, it’s so frustrating not being able to talk to you directly. You’re an amazing, magical kid."

"I wonder if I can learn the language of your Huaguo in a month. I’ve decided! I’m going to study the Huaguo language when I get back."

"Hey, translator! Come over here and tell this kid that I want to be her friend. Once I learn your country’s language, I’m going to come find her."

The translator looked astonished.

He knew that many foreigners were disdainful of learning their language. Besides, it took a great deal of time and effort to learn another language. They were arrogant and wouldn’t want to waste time learning the language of a country that, for now, still seemed rather backward.

Yet here was Andre, wanting to learn their language just so he could be friends with Yun Jiao and talk to her.

’It was truly incredible.’

The translator’s composure was quite strong. He was stunned for only a moment before smiling and speaking.

"Of course, Mr. Andre. I’ll pass on your request to her."

So, the translator moved closer to Yun Jiao and relayed Andre’s words.

Upon hearing this, Yun Jiao replied, "Then tell him to come find me after he’s learned it."

She didn’t take the matter to heart at all.

She led Andre and the others around for quite a while, and they even encountered several schools of fish.

Yun Jiao glanced at the sky. It was time for her to go home. Growing impatient with babysitting them, she informed Vice Commander Lin.

"I’m going home."

Vice Commander Lin extended a warm invitation. "Comrade Yun, why don’t you take our boat back with us?"

Yun Jiao refused. "No, I have this."

She patted the Humpback Whale.

’Even if the Humpback Whale can’t get too close to the coast, I can just swim back myself.’

When the translator told Andre and his companions that it was time to go back, they hadn’t yet had their fill of the fun.

Exhilarating experiences like this didn’t come around often.

When they heard Yun Jiao was going to ride the Humpback Whale back, they got excited all over again.

"Dear Yun, we want to go back with you!"

Yun Jiao thought about it. ’It makes no difference whether it carries just me or all of them too. Fine by me.’

On the way back, they encountered a small school of fish—the kind Humpback Whales like to eat. The whale put on a show for them, performing a sprinting hunt.

Its massive mouth was like a net, scooping up almost the entire school in one go.

"Whoa! Amazing!"

"I can’t believe my eyes! A mouth that big could swallow all of us in one gulp!"

After eating until it was about half-full, the Humpback Whale filtered out the seawater and, under Yun Jiao’s command, continued swimming in a specific direction with them on its back.