1970s monkey race

81

Chapter 81 Beach Castle

Li Zhenzhen approached the tree. It had a straight dark grey trunk, which was about as thick as two people could hold together. The tree was about 9 meters tall.

The tree must have been struck by lightning, breaking in the middle, and then a new branch grew out on top, which was half as thin as the trunk below.

Li Zhenzhen looked up and saw that on the tall tree crown, the dark green leaves were oval, and the tops of the leaves gradually became pointed. Among these leaves, clusters of light green delicate flowers poked their heads out, looking particularly cute.

Li Zhenzhen saw that a huge tumor had grown out of the wound in the middle of the tree. It was as big as a water tank! It was yellow-brown in color and had an irregular shape. It was heavily attached to the trunk and looked quite ugly.

It was this ugly tumor that caught Li Zhenzhen's attention. If she guessed correctly, it was a very expensive spice - agarwood!

Combining the various characteristics of this tree, Li Zhenzhen could say with certainty that this was an agarwood tree, also known as the white agarwood tree.

Li Zhenzhen thought that the growth rate of agarwood trees is very slow. If they can grow to this size, they must be several hundred years old.

Xie Changping came over and asked curiously, "Boss, what are you looking at?"

Li Zhenzhen turned around and said, "Vice President Xie, I found an agarwood tree here."

Xie Changping looked at the agarwood tree carefully, but couldn't see anything special about it. He couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Boss, is there anything special about this tree?"

Li Zhenzhen pointed at it and said, "Do you see the big tumor on it? That's agarwood!"

"What? That's agarwood? Is it the kind of agarwood used to make agarwood pills?" Xie Changping seemed very surprised.

The agarwood pills mentioned by Xie Changping are a kind of precious medicine in Hong Kong, and its main raw material is agarwood.

Li Zhenzhen nodded and said, "Yes, it's the kind of agarwood you think of."

Xie Changping couldn't help but look up at the big tumor, and immediately said in surprise: "It's so big! How much is this worth!"

Then, Xie Changping circled the tree, stopped and said excitedly: "Boss, this tree is so big, is it all agarwood? I heard that agarwood is very valuable, should we cut it down?"

Li Zhenzhen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and hurriedly said: "Vice President Xie, you misunderstood, the agarwood tree itself has no fragrance, and it is not agarwood."

"But, boss, didn't you say..." Xie Changping looked at Li Zhenzhen in confusion.

Li Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Vice President Xie, the agarwood I'm talking about is only the big tumor on top. You may not know that agarwood is usually formed after the agarwood tree is injured and infected with fungi, which will secrete a kind of resin from the trunk. After many complex reactions, agarwood is finally formed. Not every agarwood tree can produce agarwood."

"Oh, boss, now I understand." Xie Changping Suddenly he realized, "That is to say, every piece of agarwood is actually produced by accident."

Seeing Li Zhenzhen nod, Xie Changping continued, "That's not easy. First, there must be an agarwood tree, and the tree must be injured, and fungi must infect it, and then it must go through a complex evolution process. My God, no wonder agarwood is so expensive!"

Although Xie Changping didn't understand, he was right about one thing.

The price of agarwood is indeed very expensive, even more expensive than gold. In ancient times, only dignitaries could afford it.