"Although it’s not the sa batch of bees, the reaction is quite similar to when I brought bees here last ti. They’re not really interested in these flowers," Locke said, witnessing the scene of the queen bee, unsurprised as he had experinted before.
"Sothing’s off," Xiao Xian glanced at the flowers, plants, and trees around, feeling that sothing was missing.
"Off? What’s off, is it my queen bee or this farm?" Locke hadn’t been here for quite so ti, but as he saw it, nothing much had changed. In this world, only "humans" could be affected deeply by the term "abandoned," while for plants and animals, "abandoned" and "freedom" are synonymous.
"Why are there no pine trees?" After repeatedly checking, Xiao Xian finally realized what was out of place.
No pine trees; this open farm’s surroundings are entirely comprised of shorter shrubs and herbaceous plants. Hu Song, before giving up on learning at South Gate, was considered to be "obsessed with pines." According to Mao Dazhu, there was once a heated debate among the "Five Gentlen" of South Gate.
"Pine trees? You had that question after seeing where Mr. Hu currently resides," Locke, reminded by her, looked around again and saw no sign of pine trees.
Locke is very familiar with the terrain in Arica; on the East Coast of the United States, pine and cypress trees are rare. Instead, on the other side, the Pacific Northwest Coast, all the way to the Alaska region, famous Canadian Red Cedars grow, which are top materials for furniture making. However, on the East Coast, various pine and cypress trees are not common.
"The pine trees in Mr. Hu’s yard are mostly brought by his fellow hotown villagers. Pine trees are easy to manage and don’t require much ti. Plus, they can be used as reserve trees for Christmas each year, so that’s why you see a yard full of pine trees." After Locke analyzed the reasons, the doubt in Xiao Xian’s eyes didn’t diminish but rather intensified.
"Do you have detailed information on North Arican Red Cedar?" Locke took out a laptop from the car and pulled out the information about pine trees.
Locke, known as a leading figure in international plant research, had his views closely matched what was docunted.
"Red Cedar, also known as Big Side Bai, giant cliff cypress," upon reading this, Xiao Xian paused and looked up at Locke, "You said there’s a bay behind the house?"
After walking about half a kiloter, Xiao Xian saw the bay Locke ntioned.
It was a dium-sized bay, surrounded by hills on three sides, forming a U-shaped distribution. Below the bay mouth was a sheer cliff. The chaotic rocks around the cliff and the constantly flapping sea gulls depicted a delicate seaside refinent.
Xiao Xian approached the cliff, stepped forward a few steps, and the pebbles at her feet rolled down without a sound returning for a while. Based on visual estimates, this cliff faced the sea and should be at least a hundred ters high.
"You don’t think Mr. Hu would be interested in planting pine trees around here, do you? Even if he did, it doesn’t have much to do with our trip. Our focus is to find clues related to the queen bee’s honey production," Locke, sowhat afraid of heights, looked down the cliff; the waves were crashing against the shore.
"I used to conduct a small experint on campus, having bees collect different flowers to test the differences in honey produced. Can you guess which flower’s honey received the highest comndation?" The sea breeze blowing past turned their faces rosy.
"There are many types of flowers that can produce honey..." Locke mused, not daring to make a rash judgnt.
"It’s Pinecone Honey." Xiao Xian chuckled; not everyone is fortunate enough to taste such honey.
"Pinecones? Bees collect such things," Locke had never tasted such honey.
"Ordinary bees can’t collect Pinecone Honey because the shell is hard, and the pollen grains are much larger than usual; even bees can be picky. However, like the honey at the Huake Institute and the bees cultivated by Professor Quinn, these bees can collect them." Xiao Xian kicked away the rock fragnts under her feet.
This section of the seaside pebble beach was without a speck of greenery, yet beneath the fragnts laid so withered and rotten pine needles.
"You are implying there’s pine growing under this cliff, such a harsh growing environnt," Locke, assuming his identity as a botanist, denied Xiao Xian’s view.
Even though he saw those pine needles, he had so doubts.
"The vitality of natural plants is very resilient. The last ti I went to Northeast China, amidst the mountainous regions, nurous cliffs and steep ridges harbored many roots and trunks of cliff junipers that had been dead for hundreds of years. So, after rotting for many years, encountered suitable climates and could revive." Xiao Xian was one hundred percent sure that there were cedars or at least had been growing under there.
Locke hesitated briefly, contemplating whether to fetch so climbing equipnt, when unexpectedly, Xiao Xian lightly pinched him, causing an echoing scream from the whole cliff.
Professor Locke truly experienced a high-altitude jump.
Once Professor Locke cald his racing heart and regained feelings in his legs, Xiao Xian had already moved to the front. Locke, astounded by the scene ahead, found that Xiao Xian had guessed correctly.
"Really... you’ve truly guessed it right; there is indeed a pine tree under the cliff," Professor Locke pointed to the lush cliff pine ahead.
Precisely speaking, it was once a lush cliff pine, and "once" was used because this variant of cliff pine had already perished. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian) to cast your recomndation and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)
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