HLM -Chapter 1398 Building a Treehouse Isn’t Easy

Building a treehouse wasn’t easy. Wang Bo had no experience, so he called Charlie and Juan to help.

“Boss, I don’t know how to build a treehouse either,” Juan said with an awkward laugh.

Wang Bo looked at Charlie, who grimaced. “You should’ve asked Uncle Bing and his guys.”

“Uncle Bing went back to the UK, didn’t he? I can’t reach him, so of course I have to ask you guys,” Wang Bo said. “Don’t worry, I don’t know either, but if we work together, we’ll figure it out.”

“Why?”

“There’s a Chinese saying: ‘Three cobblers with their wits combined surpass Zhuge Liang.’ Yep, that’s it,” Wang Bo said, psyching himself up.

“Sh*t!”

Following behind, Dale scoffed, “What are you guys afraid of? Building a treehouse is super easy. Let’s start! I learned how to do it at school.”

Wang Bo was surprised. “You guys even learned how to build houses?”

Dale nodded. “Yes! We even practiced. Anliya and I built a really beautiful treehouse.”

“How? Where?” Wang Bo was dumbfounded.

“On a kauri tree. Kauri trees are perfect for treehouses. We just followed the steps to assemble it,” she said.

Juan frowned. “I never saw it. There are steps for assembly?”

Dale nodded. “Yes! There’s an instruction manual. You didn’t see it because I didn’t show you. Here, I have photos on my phone—let me show you.”

She pulled out her phone and showed him. Wang Bo and Charlie leaned in carefully. On the photos, a kauri tree model stood on a desk, with a fist-sized treehouse perched on it.

The three grown men looked at each other, faces saying, “Holy sh*t, we got played.”

The decorating company had supplied plenty of wooden planks and plastic steel. The latter was light but sturdy, perfect for a treehouse, which relies on tree branches and a built-up base that can’t support too much weight.

Wang Bo packed the tools into the lift. Zhuang Ding and Little Wang tried to follow but were kicked back down. After all, the treehouse was six or seven meters high. Even with airbags below, a fall would be serious.

Carrying a pile of tools, they climbed the tree. Wang Bo pulled out a design blueprint. “We’ll follow this. An expert made this design—every step is explained.”

The treehouse’s foundation was solid. Four kauri trees each had thick branches extending at roughly the same level, which the workers had cut to use as supports. They also drove thick steel rods into the tree trunks for extra reinforcement, so combined with the branches, they formed a sturdy base.

On the tree, Juan looked down. “Tsk tsk, boss, if environmentalists or rare plant activists saw this, you’d get criticized big time.”

Wang Bo, putting away the circular saw and drill, asked, “Why?”

Juan pointed below. “Look, these thick steel rods are inside the trees. That must hurt.”

Wang Bo gave a dismissive smile. “No worries. The workers injected some growth hormones. The trees will heal quickly.”

Juan rolled his eyes. “That’ll hurt the trees more. The steel rods will grow stuck inside them forever.”

Charlie added, “Kauri trees can live two thousand years. Maybe after being enclosed in the tree without air, the steel won’t rust and will last indefinitely.”

“And then?”

“Do you think human civilization will last another two thousand years? I don’t think so. Maybe some future civilization will find these steel rods and wonder what the mystery is.”

Wang Bo stared at Charlie in shock, speechless.

“Hey, what’s with that damn expression?” Charlie complained.

“I’m making the face of someone facing a philosopher,” Wang Bo said. “We came here to build a treehouse, and you’re thinking about the end of humanity!”

Juan on the floor shouted, “Stop arguing, guys! Guests are coming!”

Wang Bo looked down. Below, the yard seemed empty. Charlie asked, “Where?”

“On the trunk!”

Wang Bo leaned down and finally saw the two fat cats climbing up.

Rabbals can climb, but their skills were average. Though cats, they had unusually short legs.

The two chubby cats clawed at the bark with their little legs like furry balls, slowly making their way up.

At one point, Er Pang looked down, then clawed harder, meowing, “Woo woo!”

Zhuang Ding and Little Wang looked on enviously, wishing they could climb, but they couldn’t. Luckily, the airbags bounced like trampolines, so they played happily on them.

When the cats reached the edge, Wang Bo quickly grabbed them. The big one pushed him with its paw, making him uncomfortable as he held it by the scruff.

“Enough looking, let’s start working,” Dale said impatiently. “You’ve all been up here forever and haven’t done anything!”

These three men treated building a treehouse like work; she treated it like fun.

Wang Bo said, “Let’s count our tools. Here’s a list. Do we have everything?”

“Hand planes, pulleys, electric drills, levels, squares, chisels, hammers, angle irons, G-clamps, wrenches, latex paint, brushes…”

Wang Bo took a tape measure and circular saw, found a piece of plastic steel, measured according to the blueprint, marked it with chalk, and cut it.

“Woo woo woo,” the saw buzzed, cutting a piece six meters long and two and a half meters wide.

Charlie walked over. “Sh*t, why are you cutting the roof?”

“What?”

“This plastic steel is for the roof! It has a special waterproof coating. Look at it in the sunlight,” Charlie said, annoyed.

Wang Bo looked closely. Sure enough, this piece had a glue-like coating on top.

“Can’t we just coat the others with waterproof glue?” he asked sheepishly.

Charlie said, “Building a treehouse isn’t that simple, boss. We need to plan. Don’t just act on your own.”

Juan said, “Honestly, why work so hard? Why not just buy a prefab playhouse and assemble it like blocks?”

Wang Bo replied, “You think you’re clever? First, where would you find a playhouse of the right size? Second, how heavy would it be? Can these supports hold it?”

“Get to work, stop arguing!” Dale said, pouting.