Childhood in a Bottle

Old fisherman Zhang San had no hobbies in his life, except he loved to go out to sea on his rickety boat at dusk. He didn't fish to sell them, it was purely for fun. As he put it, "Chatting with the sea is more comfortable than chatting with people."

This day, the setting sun dyed the sea a golden red. Zhang San cast his fishing rod as usual, squinting his eyes, enjoying the sea breeze. Suddenly, he saw something bobbing in the waves in the distance, flashing with light.

"What's that?" Zhang San rowed over curiously and scooped it up. It was a glass bottle with a crumpled piece of paper stuffed inside, and a... little one?

That's right, it was a little one, about three or four years old, wearing a wet little dress, clutching the glass bottle tightly. Her little face was pale, but her big, bright eyes were still open, looking at Zhang San curiously.

Zhang San was startled. He quickly pulled the child onto the boat and wrapped her in a blanket. Where did this child come from? Could it be... a shipwreck?

He opened the bottle and pulled out the paper. There were a few lines of crooked handwriting on it, like a child's handwriting:

"Help me, Mommy and Daddy are gone... I'm on the boat... The boat is sinking..."

It was signed with a childish name: Xiaoyu.

Zhang San's heart sank. In this vast sea, how did a little girl survive? He quickly called the maritime rescue team.

While waiting for rescue, Zhang San gave Xiaoyu some hot water and biscuits. Xiaoyu was very well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss, just clutching Zhang San's clothes tightly, her big eyes filled with fear and confusion.

Zhang San felt sorry for her. He had never been married or had children in his life. Suddenly, such a poor little thing appeared, making him feel mixed emotions.

The rescue team arrived and took Xiaoyu away. Zhang San watched Xiaoyu being carried onto the helicopter, feeling empty inside.

A few days later, Zhang San received a phone call from Xiaoyu's mother. It turned out that Xiaoyu's family went out to sea to play and encountered a storm. The boat capsized. Xiaoyu's parents tried their best to put her in a sealed box with this drift bottle, hoping that someone would find her.

Xiaoyu's parents did not survive.

On the other end of the phone, Xiaoyu's mother was sobbing. She thanked Zhang San for saving Xiaoyu and giving her a second life.

Zhang San was silent for a long time and said, "Sister, don't cry. The child has lost her parents, and in the future... let me take care of her."

On the other end of the phone, there was a moment of silence, followed by more intense crying, interspersed with intermittent "Thank you... Thank you..."

Zhang San hung up the phone and looked up at the boundless sky. He thought, this might be fate, giving him a belated daughter in the cruelest way.

A few years later, there was a lively and lovely little girl in the small fishing village. She followed an old fisherman every day, calling "Grandpa... Grandpa..."

No one knew that this little girl had drifted at sea and experienced the edge of life and death. The drift bottle was carefully collected by Zhang San and became the most precious secret between them. Only in the deepest darkness of the night, would Old Zhang take it out to stroke. He knew that that was more than a bottle; it was a piece of fate washed by the waves, rough, yet shining with a faint light.