Future Pet Shop

The trunk of this great tree rose far above the surrounding woods, standing out like a crane among chickens. Although it grew at the bottom of the valley, its crown already surpassed the Southwest Birch trees on the hillside. That Southwest Birch was at least thirty meters tall, which meant this great tree had to be well over sixty meters high. From what they could see of the trunk, it was perfectly straight and tall, showing no curvature at all until it branched out at the very top. Based on its shape alone, it was absolutely perfect material for a Totem Pole.

What worried Shen Yibin was that there were barely any leaves left in the tree's crown; it seemed to be dead. 'If that's the case, won't the trunk be rotten? I can't even tell what kind of tree this is. I wonder if the wood is hard enough, or if it's even suitable for carving a Totem Pole.'

"Oh, that tree is the treasure of our forest farm. It's a Heaven-Reaching Tree, a species of the Dipterocarpaceae family, and it's unique to our province," Lao Qi explained to Shen Yibin. "The tallest tree in all of China is a Heaven-Reaching Tree in Xishuangbanna that stands 84 meters tall. This one here is 68 meters, making it the tallest tree in our Yunzhong City."

"Bin, I did some research yesterday. There aren't many trees in the world that can grow over 80 meters tall—only a few species. First is the Australian mountain ash. According to records, the tallest known one reached 156 meters, about as high as a fifty-story building. Second are the redwoods of America. In California's Humboldt Redwood State Park, there's a redwood called the 'Stratospheric Giant' that stands at 112.5 meters. It was the world's tallest tree before that mountain ash was discovered. Then there's the Tualang tree from the Southeast Asian rainforests, which can also grow to 80 or 90 meters. In fourth place is our very own Chinese Heaven-Reaching Tree," Wen Yuan added. "But this tree is a Class I nationally protected wild plant, the giant panda of the plant kingdom. We can go take a look, but cutting it down for a Totem Pole is impossible."

"Sigh, what a shame. The wood of a Heaven-Reaching Tree is hard, durable, and highly resistant to rot and insects. The grain is straight, and the structure is uniform. It's absolutely perfect material for a Totem Pole," Wen Yuan said, shaking his head with regret. He found it to be a real pity.

"Mr. Wen, you're a real expert. You know more about the Heaven-Reaching Tree than an old forest farm worker like me." Lao Qi gave him a thumbs-up, then flashed a mysterious smile. "But you're not entirely right when you say it can't be cut down. If you really want it, I can actually let you take this tree back with you."

"Don't! Wouldn't that just cause trouble for you and Director Qin? We don't do anything illegal." Wen Yuan quickly refused. He thought Lao Qi was trying to use this as a chance to curry favor with Qin Qing, and getting involved in something like that was just asking for trouble. He wanted no part of it. "If it really comes to it, we can just take that Toona tree from earlier."

"Mr. Wen, I've been at this forest farm for over a decade, and I've always been an honest, law-abiding man. I've never done anything illegal." Lao Qi sounded a little angry hearing this. 'What kind of person do you take me for!' "And cutting down this Heaven-Reaching Tree really isn't against the law!"

"Oh? Is there a story behind it?" Of course, Wen Yuan wanted such a magnificent tree. He had only refused out of fear of breaking the law. Now that he heard it could be taken legally, he was immediately thrilled.

"Heh heh, you'll understand when I take you over there!" Lao Qi decided to be mysterious. With his hands behind his back, he started walking toward the Heaven-Reaching Tree. Shen Yibin and the others hurried to follow. They descended from the hillside to the valley floor and, after a good while of twisting and turning, finally arrived at the base of the Heaven-Reaching Tree.

The tree wasn't growing alone. It was surrounded by a few shorter Heaven-Reaching Trees, these ones only about twenty to thirty meters high, looking as if they were still in their youth. Just a short while ago, they had to walk a long way to see a single tree over twenty meters tall, but here, they were everywhere.

"Huh?" Hah'Er stood at the base of the tree, craning its neck desperately, trying to see the top. But no matter how hard it looked, it couldn't. Finally, with a loud DUANG, it leaned back too far and toppled onto the ground.

Xiaoliu's jaw dropped at the sight of the tree. It limped forward and wrapped its arms around the trunk, but couldn't even encircle a third of it. Bald Qiang and his partner went over to help, but even with all three of them, they still couldn't hug the tree completely.

"This tree has a diameter of one and a half meters at breast height. Of course they can't wrap their arms around it," Lao Qi said with a chuckle. Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is the diameter of a tree measured at 1.3 meters from the ground. How could the three of them possibly encircle a tree that's 1.5 meters thick?

"Huh? Could this tree be dead?" Wen Yuan walked up to it, carefully observing the bark. He knocked on the trunk, then whipped his head around to ask.

"Exactly. Why else would I say it's not illegal to cut it down?" Lao Qi finally revealed the secret. He patted the trunk and sighed. "Sigh, it was already starting to show its age when I first came to this forest farm. I thought it would last a few more years, but a few months ago, it started losing its leaves. We brought in several groups of botanists, but none of them could save it. It's been dead for a few months now."

Shen Yibin finally understood. A living Heaven-Reaching Tree was a Class I nationally protected wild plant that no one would dare to cut. But since it was already dead, there was no longer a need to protect it. As long as they had the proper legal documents, cutting it down was no problem.

"The documents and everything are in my office. Even if you hadn't come, I was going to have it cut down in a little while anyway. So, Mr. Wen, do you want it or not? If you do, I'll go back and get the paperwork and find some people to come cut it down. If not, we can go look elsewhere. I remember there are a few twenty-seven or twenty-eight-meter Toona and Iron Fir trees on the farm," Lao Qi pressed.

"No need to look at any others! As long as the paperwork is in order, I want this tree!" Who would even look at a twenty-eight-meter tree when a sixty-eight-meter one was available? Wen Yuan caressed the trunk, his face full of adoration. "Back in ancient times, a tree this magnificent could probably only be used by the emperor. If we used it, it would be considered treason, an offense punishable by beheading!" He was a designer, after all. 'To be able to use such a unique material in one of my own projects... just thinking about it is thrilling!'

"Alright, this is the one!" Shen Yibin had also recovered from his shock. No matter how much it cost, he was determined to take this tree. "You can go back and get the documents, sir. And please call a few people over to help with the other tasks. As for cutting the tree down, we can handle that ourselves!"

'Huh? You don't even have a saw. How are you going to cut down a tree? Gnaw on it with your teeth?' Lao Qi was completely baffled.