In Search of the Whale

Douyin: linxiaolong123

An ocean conservation and freediving romantic comedy.

The first time he saw her was on Highway 1 in the United States. She said, “Hey, handsome, can you spare me a bite to eat?” She stopped in front of him as the sea breeze blew by.

She smelled of Chanel No. 5, alluring and sexy.

He lifted his head slightly and first saw a pair of swollen, red eyes.

What could have happened to such a lovely girl to make her so upset?

The second time he saw her was at a temple in Chiang Mai. She was nearly fainting from hunger on the ground, and weakly reached out a hand, still saying, “Hey, handsome, can you spare me a bite to eat?”

Ming Hai looked at her. With her rosy lips, pearly teeth, and soft, delicate figure, she seemed like she might be the tastier one!

He remembered how, the first time he met her, she ate his fish, slept in his tent, and how he took a photo of her while she was fast asleep...

The photo was of her.

He had never been so certain of anything: he liked her, wanted to protect her, and wanted to see her smile every day.

He wanted her.

Photographer & travel influencer

[2019.1.3]

Weibo: @Lin Xiaolong Living in the Green Light Forest @Lin Xiaolong's Book Club

Official account: Lin Xiaolong

Reader's guide: 1. This is a novel that will make you hungrier the more you read. 2. It’s also a novel that gets sweeter and sweeter, until it’s almost unbearably sweet at the end. (Goodness, it really is so, so sweet.)

**

They say that seeing a narwhal brings good luck and happiness. The moment Su Ting saw a narwhal through Ming Hai’s camera, she secretly vowed that one day she would seek one out in person.

Su Ting is a traveler, always on the road. To be a traveler, always on the road, is to search, and also to reexamine yourself.

Ming Hai accompanies Su Ting as she searches for narwhals beneath the Arctic ice cap, and captures photos that astonish the world.

Setting out to find narwhals is, in fact, a journey of self-discovery and growth.

That is the original inspiration behind this story.

Note: Narwhals are relatively small and very shy. They are found only in the Arctic, and there are just over 80,000 in the entire world. Arctic divers have generally gone underwater with oxygen tanks and scuba gear, but both the bubbles and the sound of human breathing underwater cause these extremely shy creatures to flee. To date, no one has ever managed to take a successful underwater photo with a narwhal. The male and female leads in this story make their dream of taking a photo with a pod of narwhals come true through freediving, which involves holding your breath underwater for a long time. It’s also humanity’s first attempt. That is why the image of Su Ting dancing with the narwhals through Ming Hai’s lens astonishes the world.

Here’s why it’s called #Searching for Whales#. The heroine is a traveler and adventurer, while the hero is a photographer. Their ultimate goal is to find themselves as they grow, which is the theme of the novel, and to find narwhals, which represents their journey of self-discovery. Finding narwhals requires diving into the freezing depths of the Arctic Ocean. The conditions are extremely harsh, and the expedition can even be life-threatening. That’s why the heroine is an adventurer as well as a traveler.

Theme: Growth and happiness. Truth, kindness, and beauty.