Sun Jiaqiang had come to Northern Xinjiang in spring by hopping a train. Although land had been allocated to his family back home, they still did not have enough to eat, let alone earn any money. A few men from his village had spent two years in Northern Xinjiang, then returned laden with bags and plenty of money. He had envied them.
He was nearly thirty and still unmarried. His home was bare, and no one wanted to marry into his family, so he too had decided to go out, make some money, strike it rich, then return to marry a wife and settle down.
Only after arriving had he learned that earning money was not easy. Fieldwork was exhausting, and factories would never hire an outsider like him. He disliked hard labor and knew nothing about business. Remembering that the villagers had said they had made their fortunes digging medicinal herbs, particularly Fritillaria, in the mountains, he had headed into the mountains too.
Unfortunately, the Fritillaria had only just sprouted, and he was not very good at digging it up. After several days in the mountains, he had gathered less than a kilogram. The Forestry Team chased him off, as did other Fritillaria diggers. Those people occupied the good spots and would not let a lone man like him near them.
Sun Jiaqiang could do little about it. Back in the village, he had always been a pushover, rarely daring to compete with anyone. Otherwise, he would not still have been unmarried-other people snapped up every good opportunity, leaving him nothing, and the girls thought he was useless too.
Although people kept driving Sun Jiaqiang away in the mountains, he was not discouraged. The mountains were vast, after all, and he could find food almost anywhere. He often went