CHAPTER 351: CHAPTER 351: MIAOMIAO: CATCH THEM ALL

The guests and audience were all shocked.

A few kids were counting on their fingers, "How long exactly is five hundred years?"

They couldn’t figure it out, but it was definitely a very, very long time.

Tuanzi, puffing with anger, said, "That tree is older than our grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather, those bad guys are so awful!"

Other children were also very upset.

The audience was in an uproar.

[Five hundred years, what does that mean, do those people who do it for profit not feel any guilt?]

[Those people’s eyes see nothing but money]

[Quickly find this person!]

Some people voiced different opinions among the anger.

[Since it’s so precious, why didn’t you fence it off? If you had fenced it off, no one would have destroyed it, now that it’s ruined, who do you blame? Blame those negligent people]

[The person ahead is quite funny, do you mean no matter what kind of protection your house has, if a thief goes to your house to steal something, it’s your house’s fault?]

[This area is a nature reserve, alright, who doesn’t know that randomly chopping down trees on the mountain will get you fined? If there are old trees near the foot of the Mountain, it’s certainly easier to fence them for protection, but there are old trees all over the Mountain, do you want to fence them one by one?]

[Let me be honest, even if you fence it, greedy people will still destroy it. I remember a true case where an old tree at a certain elementary school was specially fenced for protection, but it was cut down in the middle of the night, and the school leaders were held accountable. How could the leaders have imagined that people would cut down the school tree while they were at home asleep at night?]

[What if those people didn’t know this tree was so precious?]

[To the one ahead, I just snickered, there are so many trees around, looking very old, with trunks thicker than this tree, why didn’t they cut down others? Isn’t it because the Gongtong is more precious?]

[I really don’t understand why some people find excuses for criminals, is it that hard to admit they are a bunch of greedy people?]

[No need to argue with such people, they will never put themselves in the locals’ shoes, they only think what they wish, only seek presence, the more you argue, the more vigorous they become]

The forest rangers were not paying attention to the audience’s arguments.

He contacted the forestry bureau, asking them to quickly send professionals to check on the condition of that Gongtong to see if it could be saved, and he also reminded them.

"It’s best to organize the village chiefs from nearby villages to have everyone ask around whether any villagers have recently hosted outsiders."

After hanging up the phone, he followed Tuanzi with a grim face.

The program crew simply all went over together.

Faced with this issue, everyone’s mood wasn’t great.

Also, due to the continuous occurrence of unexpected events over four episodes, everyone could deeply appreciate how extremely difficult the work of a forest ranger is and how challenging it is to protect the ecology.

Everyone not only has to combat natural disasters but actually, more often, prevent man-made calamities.

Previously, Forester Li talked about a matter.

A few years ago, a group of people came to this Mountain to poach and were discovered by a forest ranger.

The ranger, after hitting the alarm button, tried to stop those people.

This gang of poachers, driven perhaps by wishful thinking or the frenzy of poaching, even injured the forest ranger, who later passed away.

Since then, in the local forest ranger training courses, it has always been emphasized not to confront poachers head-on.

The road was still a bit far, and soon, the kids couldn’t stand the silence and started to discuss softly.

Yang Heng curiously asked Wu Yu, "Why did Mr. Li ask people to check with the nearby villagers?"

Wu Yu shook his head.

He didn’t know either.

Tuanzi, not understanding, simply asked while leading the way, and asked Forester Li.

Forester Li sighed, "I hope my guess is wrong."

The ranger explained that, generally, only the officials nearby and the villagers know what’s in these mountains. Even if outsiders watched some documentary or checked online, they could only obtain very vague information.

This means that the person who harmed that Gongtong tree must have asked the nearby villagers carefully and perhaps even hired a villager as a guide to find that tree.

Tuanzi suddenly realized, "An inside and outside collusion in crime!"

Forester Li nodded, "It’s also possible that local people acted alone, but no matter the reality, someone familiar with the mountain roads definitely led the way, checking recent suspicious movements should reveal it."

Tuanzi clenched her fists.

"Uncle, don’t be sad, we will definitely catch the bad guys, and we can save the tree too!"

Upon arriving at the destination, two forest rangers inspected carefully and confirmed the wound was fresh and likely just happened yesterday.

Rangers patrol the mountain during the day; there might not be anyone daring enough to act then, it’s most likely done at night, sneaking up the mountain in the dark.

That would make it easier to check, a village is only so big, who sneaks out stealthily at night, leaving one or two things unknown.

"The damage hasn’t reached deep, and the wound is fresh; hopefully, it can be saved." Forester Li no longer had the mind to patrol the Mountain, he just wanted to wait here.

After discussion, Forester Li and several staff members of the program crew stayed to wait, while others followed the mountain path here to continue the Mountain Patrol.

The program crew would leave a camera with several staff members and would also synchronize the progress of the event in the live broadcast room later.

Afterward, the atmosphere of the Mountain Patrol was somewhat gloomy.

Fortunately, no more damaged trees were found, only some cigarette butts and water bottles were picked up.

"Who is so lacking in morals? We’ve always said not to leave cigarette butts in the mountains!"

Tuanzi practically exploded with anger.

Several children were also giving out various criticisms.

"Why are there always such irresponsible people?"

Yang Heng particularly liked chatting with Wu Yu, even though Wu Yu mostly just responded with ’Mm,’ ’Oh,’ ’Ah,’ or didn’t say a word, just nodded or shook his head.

Luckily, Yang Heng was used to his partner’s two-faced nature and could carry on a whole conversation by himself.

"When I grow up, I will absolutely not smoke, nor will I smoke in public places and forest areas."

Wu Yu glanced at him and gave a thumbs up.

"You also decided to do that, right?"

Yang Heng chuckled, "Then we will supervise each other, and when we grow up, if anyone makes a mistake, they... they have to post an apology video online."

Wu Yu finally spoke.

"I won’t make any mistakes."

Thinking about the process of smoking: got to buy cigarettes, got to buy a lighter, got to find a place to smoke without bothering others, got to deal with cigarette butts, could get smelly, got to use perfume, would get nagged by family.

All of the above based on his biological father’s experience.

Ah, sounds like a hassle, better not to smoke.

Yang Heng didn’t know his buddy’s inner thoughts and thought he was making bold statements, so he followed with bold statements too.

"I won’t make any mistakes either! All the audience can supervise me!"

The audience, initially in low spirits, burst into laughter hearing this innocent banter.

[Sigh, kids, when you grow up, you’ll realize some words are spoken too early]

[Waiting for them to get proven wrong, hahaha]

[Luckily there’s this program, can keep it as evidence, when they grow up, can release it again]