HLM -Chapter 1393 She Bit the Calla Lily

Originally, kauri trees grew in large numbers on the North Island. However, because of their many functions and wide range of uses, people from the South Island transplanted them there as well. But kauri trees have a very long growth cycle, so even after transplantation, there are still not many tall kauri trees to be found on the South Island.

The kauri trees around the castle are only a little over a hundred years old. For many tree species, that would already be enough time to grow into towering giants, but these kauri trees have only reached a height of a little over ten meters.

Ironically, this became one of the reasons kauri trees are suitable for building wooden houses. Because they grow slowly, treehouses built using them as platforms suffer less damage. If the trees grew too fast, they would tear the structures apart.

There were not many kauri trees in the outer courtyard—just over sixty in total. They were lush, tall, and robust. Wang Bo went over to take a look, thought for a moment, and felt that building treehouses on them really was a good idea.

He said to Terrence, “Thank you for the reminder, but I’d like to build the treehouses myself. I’ll just need you to help provide some tools and materials.”

Terrence replied readily, “No problem at all, sir. We’ll definitely make sure you’re satisfied.”

Building treehouses on kauri trees was not that simple. Unfortunately, New Zealand’s environmental and wildlife protection departments have strict regulations on this: cutting or pruning requires approval.

The reason for such strict rules is simple—there are not many kauri trees left in New Zealand today.

When the Māori first arrived in New Zealand, there were about 1.2 million hectares of kauri forests. These trees had many uses. Not only did the Māori like them, but when European colonists arrived in the 18th century, they liked them even more.

The Māori mainly used kauri wood for carving and house building. Since their population was small, housing construction did not consume much kauri.
However, the new immigrants realized that kauri trunks were ideal materials for ship masts, so they began large-scale logging. Later, they discovered that kauri gum could be used to produce resin and varnish, which only intensified the logging.

Even in the early 20th century, New Zealanders were still continuously cutting down kauri forests, harvesting timber as wartime resources and civilian construction materials.
Worse still, after the trees were cut down, the forest land was not replanted but instead converted into farmland, causing severe destruction to kauri forests in New Zealand.

After several centuries of logging, New Zealanders finally realized in the latter half of the last century that this precious, slow-growing tree species could no longer be plundered at will.
From then on, New Zealand began vigorously protecting kauri trees, listing them as protected species and halting further development.

Because kauri trees grow very tall, protecting them also means protecting a small ecosystem. Many other plants grow beneath kauri trees, living and dying in symbiosis with them.

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation stipulates that all kauri forests are protected, and no individual or organization may develop them in any way. Building treehouses on kauri trees counts as a form of development, so any construction on them requires approval from the Department of Conservation.

Fortunately, Sunset Town now holds a rather special status in New Zealand. It is home to many rare animals, plants, and birds, and the Department of Conservation has a good impression of Wang Bo. As a result, they approved his application to build treehouses on the kauri trees on his property.

However, the approval came with a condition: if the construction of the treehouses caused the kauri trees to die, Wang Bo would have to accept fines and compensate for the losses.

This didn’t worry Wang Bo. He was just planning to put up small houses in the trees—how could that possibly kill such strong, healthy trees?

But after looking at the design blueprints Terrence handed over, he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Damn it… is this really a treehouse? This is basically an aerial villa!”

According to the drawings, four kauri trees would jointly support the structure. A building with twenty rooms would be constructed around them, complete with an elevator and staircases. When Wang Bo saw a pool drawn on the plans, he asked in shock, “What’s this?”

“A viewing platform,” Terrence replied.

Wang Bo let out a sigh of relief. “So that’s what it is. I thought it was a swimming pool.”

“Oh, the swimming pool is here,” Terrence said, pointing to another spot on the blueprint.

Dale beside them immediately clapped her hands excitedly. “A high-altitude swimming pool! That’s amazing!”

Wang Bo shot her a glare, then said with a look of horror, “You’re really planning to build a swimming pool in a tree? Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, I’m kidding you,” Terrence laughed. “That’s just a room.”

Dale sighed in disappointment. “Ugh, how boring.”

After learning that a treehouse was going to be built, she was even more enthusiastic than Wang Bo and insisted on helping.

Terrence’s design couldn’t be used as-is—Wang Bo didn’t want something that complex. Still, the blueprints were useful, as they explained how to lay the foundation and how to use the main trunks and branches of the trees to provide a solid base.

Building a sturdy foundation in the trees required professional construction workers—Wang Bo and the others couldn’t handle that themselves.

With his permission, Terrence arranged for a five-man work team to climb the trees and start construction. Once the foundation was completed, Wang Bo could bring people up to build the houses themselves.

Finally free, Wang Bo decided to take this time to rest properly.

Eva had to go to work, so he took responsibility for childcare, accompanying the little girl and the furry companions as they played on the lawn outside the villa.

Summer brought abundant rainfall, and the lawn had grown a bit wild. After thinking it over, Wang Bo decided to personally drive the lawn mower and tidy it up.

There was nothing dangerous on the lawn, but there were plenty of insects. So he carried the little girl over to the flowerbed, had Queen and Princess watch over her, and then started mowing the grass.

As he was driving slowly across the lawn, Queen suddenly cried out, and immediately after that, the little girl opened her mouth and began wailing loudly.

Wang Bo quickly stopped the mower and ran over, picking the little girl up and asking anxiously, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

The little girl had her eyes shut tight and her mouth wide open, crying with all her strength. In her hand, she was clutching a white flower, and for some reason she was crying her heart out.

At first, Wang Bo thought she might have been bitten by something, but there wasn’t a single mark on her skin. Moreover, Queen and Princess showed no reaction—if insects had appeared, they wouldn’t have been so calm.

The baby kept crying. Wang Bo thought about it and figured she might just be throwing a tantrum, so he tried to comfort her.

But no matter how he coaxed her, it didn’t work. Soon, the little girl started vomiting.

Now he panicked. He quickly called Eva and asked her to come back and take a look.

Eva, who never got angry with him, was anxious this time and shouted, “I was only gone for one morning, and our daughter ends up like this?!”

Wang Bo said helplessly, “I really don’t know what happened!”

Eva glanced at the flower in the little girl’s hand, snatched it away, and said angrily, “How could you let her get near a calla lily?!”

Wang Bo asked in surprise, “Calla lily? What kind of flower is that? What’s wrong with it—does it have poison?”

“You’re going to drive me to death,” Eva said angrily, stamping her foot.