With everyone taking an afternoon nap after a hearty meal, Tong Hua went to check on the logs again.
[Sun-dried fast-growing eucalyptus: Quality C. Specially dried logs with relatively light wood and a clear grain, suitable for processing. Recommended processing methods: woodcarving/alchemy.]
"This should do." Tong Hua tapped the wood with his knuckles and heard a crisp echo.
He looked up through the window at the Celebi resting inside. The two of them were lying on the bed, cuddled together as they dozed.
"So cute." Tong Hua felt as though an arrow had pierced his heart. Without thinking, he reached out a finger and poked a Celebi's cheek.
"Bi..."
The sleeping Celebi rolled over and hugged Tong Hua's finger tightly.
That kept Tong Hua completely immobilized for several minutes before he finally slipped free.
"All right, time to get to work!"
After that healing dose of cuteness, Tong Hua was brimming with enthusiasm.
His job for the afternoon was to process these logs and start repairing the Pokémon Cottages according to the blueprints.
Tearing everything down and rebuilding would be far too much work. At the very least, he needed to repair one cottage first so Miltank could move in.
So Tong Hua chose the Pokémon Cottage that was relatively intact. He planned to turn the logs he had collected into new boards and replace the damaged, rotten sections.
As for building brand-new Pokémon Cottages according to the blueprints, that could wait until later.
Tong Hua lifted a sun-dried eucalyptus log and laid it flat on his makeshift workbench.
He rolled up his sleeves and took the Maple Hand Saw Xiang Shi had given him out of his toolbox. Its metal teeth gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
The moment he gripped the saw, his profession switched to Woodcarver, and its associated abilities automatically took effect.
"Let's start with the first log."
Tong Hua carefully measured the log with a tape measure, marking the cutting points with a pencil.
He took a deep breath, set the saw's teeth against the end of the log, and began pulling it back and forth.
"Rasp... rasp..."
Sawdust fluttered down with each stroke, forming a small pile at Tong Hua's feet.
The fresh, distinctive scent of eucalyptus filled the air, and fine beads of sweat gradually formed on Tong Hua's forehead.
He occasionally stopped to wipe his sweat with his sleeve, but his hands maintained a steady rhythm throughout.
"-Bi."
Suddenly, a faint cracking sound came from inside the wood.
Tong Hua immediately stopped and examined the cut carefully.
He had sawn through a small knot inside the log. Fortunately, it had not affected the overall structure.
"Looks like I need to adjust the angle," Tong Hua murmured, tilting the saw slightly.
A eucalyptus log two meters long and roughly half a meter in diameter could yield about 0.3 cubic meters of boards.
Even with all twenty logs combined, the boards he could make would not actually be enough to build a Pokémon Cottage from scratch.
But if he salvaged the usable boards from the old Pokémon Cottages, he would have just about enough.
Tong Hua was using a common log-processing method called radial cutting. Specifically, it involved dividing the circular end of a log into several equal sections.
He would then split the marked sections with an axe and saw them off in turn, producing numerous wedge-shaped boards.
Finally, he only needed to plane each board flat before it could be used.
This method was mainly suited to situations where everything had to be done by hand, without efficient tools such as power saws or chainsaws.
Xiang Shi had casually explained it to Tong Hua yesterday at Miltank Ranch.
Tong Hua focused on adjusting the saw's angle, carefully avoiding the knots inside the wood.
With the final stroke of the saw, the first log was finally divided into twenty-four perfectly even wedge-shaped boards.
"Phew..." He let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Not bad. That went more smoothly than I expected."
Processing that one log alone had taken Tong Hua an hour. Without efficient tools, making things really did require some patience.
"Now I still need to plane these boards flat. Back to work!"
Tong Hua set down the hand saw, picked up the woodworking plane beside him, and began carefully trimming the edges of the wedge-shaped boards.
The blade scraped across the wood with a swishing sound, sending shavings drifting down like snowflakes.
Every so often, he stopped and gently ran his fingers over a board's surface to check whether it was smooth enough.
"That should do..." He nodded in satisfaction and set the first finished board aside.
Just then, a faint rustling came from behind him.
Tong Hua turned and found that the two Celebi had woken up at some point. They were floating in the air, watching his work curiously.
"Bi?"
The green Celebi tilted its head and reached out a tiny hand to touch the wood shavings on the ground, seemingly fascinated by the unfamiliar texture.
"You're awake?" Tong Hua wiped his sweat with a smile. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"Bi~" The pink Celebi floated over and gently patted his shoulder with a little hand.
A moment later, a crystal-clear drop of water sank into Tong Hua's shoulder.
"Hm?"
His fatigue vanished instantly. Tong Hua felt refreshed from head to toe, as though he had just had a full night's sleep!
He was full of energy and in peak condition!
"Was that Life Dew?"
Tong Hua rolled his shoulders in surprise and found that even the muscle soreness from sawing wood for so long had disappeared.
In the game, Life Dew restored the user's and its companions' health. He had never expected it to be so effective in reality, too.
"That's incredible! Thank you, Celebi!"
"Bi!" The pink Celebi happily spun in the air.
Meanwhile, the green Celebi floated over to a pile of wood shavings. With a wave of its little hand, the scattered shavings gathered themselves into a small mound.
It waved again, and the shavings changed shape, becoming a bust that looked exactly like Tong Hua.
"Bi!" It proudly puffed out its chest, as though waiting for Tong Hua to praise it.
"Why does it feel like things are starting to go in a strange direction?"
Tong Hua scratched his head. Luckily, Turtwig and Minccino were still napping. Otherwise, this competition for his attention would probably have become even more chaotic.
"All right, you
two go play over there for now.
I still need to finish processing these boards. I'm going to try to repair the Pokémon Cottage today so Miltank can move in."
With that, Tong Hua picked up the plane again and got serious.
"Hyaaaah!"
Wood shavings flew everywhere as the fully refreshed Tong Hua rapidly finished board after board!
Every time he completed a step, Tong Hua could feel his Woodcarver experience bar filling up!
That feeling was truly addictive!
Seeing Tong Hua absorbed in his work, the two Celebi considerately stopped bothering him. Instead, they floated to one side and began playing at building castles out of wood shavings.
Time always flew when one was focused on something.
In just half an hour, a thick stack of finished boards had already piled up at Tong Hua's feet.
His movements grew increasingly practiced, and he was working much faster than when he had started.
"Another log!" Tong Hua wiped his sweat and raised his axe, aiming at the next log.
Just then, Turtwig and Minccino woke up as well and came out of the house, rubbing their eyes.
"Twig." Seeing the wood shavings scattered across the ground, Turtwig excitedly ran over and began pawing through them for fun.
"Cin, cin!" Minccino, meanwhile, noticed the two Celebi and immediately looked over with a complicated expression.
Tong Hua was focused on splitting the log and did not notice the tension gradually building behind him.
Minccino clenched its little paws into fists, and the fur on its tail bristled.
It rushed up to the green Celebi in a few quick strides and pointed at the wood-shaving statue. "Cin, cin! Cin, cin, cin!"
"Bi?" The green Celebi tilted its head and floated half a meter higher, looking utterly innocent.
Yet the anticipated showdown never happened. Instead, Minccino began circling Tong Hua's bust.
Its gaze toward Celebi was also full of admiration!
"Cin, cin!"
"Bi?"
Only then did Celebi understand. It waved its hand and made another, smaller bust.
"Cin, cin!"
Minccino happily hugged the miniature wood-shaving statue of Tong Hua, rubbing its little face against it over and over.
Seeing that, Celebi smiled happily too.
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