Future Pet Shop

"Alright, I'll go on ahead. You all wait here for a bit, but don't wander off. It'll be a hassle if you get lost." Lao Qi didn't argue, turning to climb the slope toward the forestry station office and leaving Shen Yibin's group behind.

"You hear that? Don't wander off. Who knows what's out here? Just play right here, okay?" Shen Yibin had seen Bear Grylls' survival shows, so he knew exactly how dangerous the jungle could be. He couldn't bear the thought of his pets running wild. However, Hah'Er and the others had no such intention. The Heaven-Reaching Tree was more than enough to hold their attention.

Hah'Er lay on the ground, its eyes wide as it stared at the treetop. Maphario scurried around the base, constantly digging for something. The couple, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie, circled the massive trunk, apparently calculating how long it would take to chew through it. Xiaoliu hugged the tree and rubbed against it twice before decisively giving up on the idea of climbing. 'He'd probably be terrified if he climbed to the top, wouldn't he?'

About half an hour later, the sound of rustling leaves filled the air. Lao Qi emerged from the jungle and appeared before them, leading a large crew. Behind him were a dozen or so sturdy men, some carrying chainsaws, some axes, and others ropes. Clearly, he hadn't taken Shen Yibin's words to heart.

"Here are the documents you asked for. Have a look." Lao Qi pulled a thick stack of printed papers from his bag and handed them to Wen Yuan. Wen Yuan took them and, along with Shen Yibin, studied them meticulously. After making a few phone calls, they finally confirmed that Lao Qi was telling the truth: the sixty-eight-meter-tall Heaven-Reaching Tree had been dead for quite some time and was cleared for felling.

"Then let's get started!" Shen Yibin said, leading Hah'Er and the others out of the way. Several forestry workers used climbing gear to ascend the massive tree, grunting with effort. They secured a rope around its trunk, fastening the other end to a huge boulder on the slope. This was to ensure the Heaven-Reaching Tree would fall in the desired direction, avoiding damage to other trees and preventing accidents.

"All set! The tree will fall in this direction in a bit, so make sure you all stay clear." Once the ropes were secured, Lao Qi gave Shen Yibin's group another solemn warning. He then waved his hand, and the workers with chainsaws and axes started toward the Heaven-Reaching Tree. They brandished their tools, ready to begin felling. One man even took out his phone for a few selfies. Felling a tree this large was, by any measure, a memorable occasion.

"Wait! Don't trouble yourselves. We'll take care of the felling!" Shen Yibin stopped them with a smile. Before Lao Qi could object, he waved his hand. The eager beavers, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately pounced. They latched onto the Heaven-Reaching Tree and began to chew. With a series of piercing gnawing sounds, they tore through the bark, exposing the trunk. Then, the wood itself began to vanish at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"They're not much slower than a chainsaw or an axe!" Lao Qi and the forestry workers stared, their eyes wide with disbelief. They'd been in this line of work for years, but they had never seen anyone fell a tree like this before!

And he wasn't exaggerating. When felling a tree this large with a chainsaw, you can't just saw straight through from one side to the other. You have to make angled cuts, removing triangular wedges of wood from the base before going deeper. By that metric, the loggers really might not have been faster than Bald Qiang and his mate! As for an axe, its speed wasn't even worth mentioning—it was much slower than a chainsaw.

"Mr. Wen, if your two Beavers worked at our forestry station, they'd be absolute star employees!" Lao Qi was now thoroughly impressed by their logging skills, practically bowing in admiration. "If I didn't know you'd never part with them, I'd be trying to hire them on the spot." The working conditions at the forestry station were harsh, and it was getting increasingly difficult to find good workers.

"I suspect they'd actually enjoy the work," Wen Yuan replied with a laugh. Given the couple's instinct to chew on any large tree they saw, a job as loggers at a forestry station would be a perfect fit. "But you'd have to keep a close eye on them. Otherwise, they might 'accidentally' chew down all the trees that aren't supposed to be felled!"

"Haha, in that case, I don't think I dare hire them!" Lao Qi replied, roaring with laughter. The primary work of the forestry station these days wasn't logging but forest management and conservation. If the two were really as Wen Yuan described, they would only cause him trouble. They might chew through a few nationally-protected Class I plant species one day, and by then it would be too late for regrets.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" After chewing for a while, Bald Qiang suddenly stopped. He ran behind the tree, grabbed Gao Lujie's tail with his teeth, and dragged her to the front, indicating she should switch positions and chew from there. Many beavers can't control the direction a tree falls, so it's not uncommon for an unlucky beaver to be crushed by the very tree it just felled. Bald Qiang, however, was far smarter than the average Beaver. He had already figured out that the tree would fall toward the spot where Gao Lujie had been standing, so he had rushed to save his wife.

After watching for a while longer, Shen Yibin saw the towering Heaven-Reaching Tree begin to tilt slightly. The beaver couple had chewed a complete circle around the base of the trunk, leaving only the central heartwood to support its immense weight. Judging from the exposed wood, the grain was straight and the patterns were beautiful—it was absolutely perfect material for carving. What was even better was that since the tree had been dead for so long, weathered by the wind and sun, most of the moisture within the wood had already evaporated. It could be worked on as soon as he brought it back, completely eliminating the need for air-drying or kiln-steaming. This would save Shen Yibin a great deal of trouble and time.

"Alright! They can stop now!" Estimating that it was about time, Lao Qi immediately got to his feet and set his crew to work. They spread out around the Heaven-Reaching Tree, took hold of the ropes, and began to pull, gently guiding the tree to fall in the desired direction.

The workers let out powerful, rhythmic shouts, partly to keep their own spirits up and partly to warn anyone who might be passing by to stay clear of the falling tree and avoid injury.

Bald Qiang and his mate quickly scurried back to Shen Yibin's side, joining Hah'Er and the others in watching the massive tree with wide eyes. A loud, groaning CRACK echoed from the area they had gnawed through as the heartwood slowly began to splinter. Under the workers' control, the great tree tipped over, slowly falling toward an open clearing in the valley.

After a flurry of activity, with a tremendous BOOM, the sixty-eight-meter-tall giant finally came to rest on the ground. It sent a cloud of dust billowing into the air and startled countless birds and beasts from their hiding places.

"CHEEP! CHEEP!" The moment the great tree hit the ground, Maphario was the first to charge forward. He scrambled onto the fallen trunk and sprinted all the way to the very top. 'What's he trying to do?'