Li Long

Biodata

Background / History

Li Long is the youngest child and his parents’ favorite. When he was twelve, his father, Li Qingxia, brought him from their impoverished hometown and entrusted him to his eldest brother, Li Jianguo. The family also included another older brother and an older sister who remained back home. Li Jianguo and his wife, Liang Yuemei, raised Li Long, reserving the household’s refined grain for him and their children while eating coarse grain themselves 1.

Before his rebirth, Li Long neglected household and Production Team work but readily helped his drinking companions and girlfriend. His brother spent fifty yuan to secure him a factory job in Wu City, where Wu Shufen began dating him during his second month of employment. His subsequent dismissal and breakup affected him deeply; his behavior indirectly contributed to Li Jianguo’s fatal fall 1 8 15.

After his brother’s death, Liang Yuemei, Li Juan, and Li Qiang treated him as an enemy. He drifted through life until his forties, when he married a divorced woman with a child, but continued to regret losing his family. At sixty-seven, he suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage while jumping to swat flies and then found himself back in 1981, shortly after returning from the factory 1 7.

Personality

Li Long’s second life is driven by remorse and a determination to repay his family’s sacrifices. He begins contributing money, providing food and fuel, helping with chores, and treating his niece and nephew with affection. His relatives interpret the change as newfound maturity following his dismissal, unaware that he remembers another lifetime 2 5 8 11.

He remains generous but becomes selective about whom he helps. He refuses Gu Ermao’s manipulation, withholds his mountain route from Zhang Qianjin, and no longer seeks Wu Shufen’s approval. With genuine friends, he shares provisions and earnings, recognizes their work, and avoids blaming them for their relatives’ behavior. His approach to business combines bargaining, practical caution, and an insistence on clear accounts 2 12 19 25 30 37 41.

Abilities & Skills

Previous-Life Knowledge

• Retains memories of local resources, changing markets, and developments affecting his village 1 8 29 49.
• Uses his recollection of Li Juan’s injury to remove dangerous roof icicles before they can strike her 1.
• Remembers Little Haizi’s future flood damage and the disappearance of its large fish, recognizing the value of its current abundance 8 28.
• Anticipates land and Production Team property being divided, encouraging the family to save for farming equipment and possibly a horse 49.
• His recollection is not flawless: Li Jianguo’s story reminds him of local jade deposits he had initially overlooked 29.

Ice Fishing

• Selects fishing sites near reeds based on the behavior of carp and crucian carp and the limited oxygen beneath the ice 8 9.
• Cuts multiple ice holes and alternates between them while waiting for fish to gather 9.
• Lowers his scoop net slowly, waits for surface ripples to disappear, and spaces out catches to avoid immediately frightening fish away 28.
• Watches for unsafe footing, exhaustion, and soaked clothing; stops fishing rather than risk Tao Daqiang becoming seriously ill 10.
• Helps Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang bring home more than seventy kilograms of fish in one outing 36.

Bird Catching and Snare-Making

• Finds wintering sparrows in haystacks and uses a flashlight and net to catch them 3 4.
• Locates Gugu Chickens sheltering at the bases of tall grass and catches eleven in one trip 30.
• Recognizes fresh rabbit tracks and makes thirty or forty thin-wire snares while traveling by cart; a successful rabbit catch is not documented in the supplied chapters 9 42.

Marksmanship

• Draws on serious core militia training from his previous life, when his shooting ranked among the best in the Production Team’s winter competitions 7.
• Is particularly familiar with the Type 56 semiautomatic rifle and its handling 44.
• Brings down a wild boar with his first shot during his first boar hunt across either lifetime 44 49 50.
• Still relies on Harimu’s hunting knowledge to choose a downwind ambush site protected by dense pines 44.
• Cannot easily move the carcasses alone; Harimu returns with a horse to help transport them 47.

Trading and Sales

• Sells fish by the piece because he has no scales, setting different prices for different species and sizes 31.
• Uses small extras to close sales, including adding two crucian carp when a buyer dislikes the size of a perch 32.
• Exchanges fish for rice, flour, and cornmeal as well as cash 33.
• Bargains antler prices up to three yuan per kilogram at the purchasing station 23.
• Reduces enforcement risk by carrying only part of his stock, keeping the cart away from the selling area, and arranging an escape route and meeting place 37.
• Understands that demand in the county is limited and expands his sales trips to Stone City 36 41.

Cart Handling and Food Preparation

• Adapts previous-life donkey-cart experience to driving a horse cart, getting the hang of it after roughly five hundred meters 16.
• Cleans and roasts sparrows on a stove cover with salt and chili powder 4.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Scoop net / landing net — His main tool for ice fishing and catching birds; Tao Daqiang initially depends on access to the Li family’s net 3 10 30.
• Flashlight — Used to search haystacks for sparrows and carried on nighttime bird-catching trips 3 29.
• Ice-breaking tools — Uses a reinforcing-steel pry bar alongside Tao Daqiang’s pickaxe to open fishing holes 9.
• Borrowed horse cart — Obtained through Xu Chengjun with an authorization note and a fee of one yuan sixty; used for mountain trips and transporting goods 13 16.
• Li Jianguo’s handmade sled — Carries fish and Gugu Chickens to market; its curved front and wire-lined runners reduce resistance on snow 28 31.
• Thin-wire rabbit snares — Makes a bundle of thirty or forty after buying wire in the county 41 42.
• Borrowed Type 56 semiautomatic rifle — Obtained through Harimu from Jade Mountain River for the wild boar hunt 43 44 47.
• Ammunition — Receives several dozen rounds from Li Jianguo and supplies Harimu with twenty rounds during a trading visit 20 23.
• Gifted jade — Accepts river jade from Harimu and a larger piece from Jade Mountain River, intending to repay their generosity with supplies 43.

Relationships

• Li Jianguo — Eldest brother and guardian. His death is Li Long’s greatest previous-life regret; protecting him motivates Li Long’s efforts to support the household 1 12.
• Liang Yuemei — Sister-in-law who helped raise him. Her earlier frustration gives way to approval as he contributes money, helps with chores, and cares for the children 2 8 11.
• Li Juan — Niece. Initially resents his idleness; he prevents her remembered icicle injury and later retrieves her stolen ankle bones from the Lu household 1 2 35.
• Li Qiang — Five-year-old nephew whose wish for meat prompts Li Long’s early bird-catching efforts. Li Long brings him food, candy, and playthings 2 4 23 25.
• Li Qingxia — Father who entrusted the twelve-year-old Li Long to Li Jianguo because the family could no longer afford to feed everyone 1.
• Tao Daqiang — Fishing companion and trading partner. Li Long shares supplies, buys him mittens, and teaches him market precautions. After Daqiang leaves to work with his brother, Li Long says any renewed partnership will be on an employment basis 19 37 49.
• Harimu — Herder friend and trading contact. Exchanges mountain products for supplies and ammunition, hosts Li Long, gives him jade, and accompanies him on the boar hunt 20 23 43 44.
• Jade Mountain River — Herder who gives Li Long jade and lends the rifle used for hunting 43 47.
• Wu Shufen — Former girlfriend. Ends their relationship after his dismissal; Li Long accepts the breakup and later walks past her without speaking 6 7 41.
• Gu Ermao — Former companion who exploited Li Long’s vanity and generosity. Li Long refuses further favors; Gu Ermao later follows him to learn his mountain route and reports his black-market sales to the Joint Defense Team 1 2 22 45.
• Xu Chengjun — Production Team leader who authorizes his cart rentals; also remembered as the militia company commander during Li Long’s first live-fire training 13 37 44.
• Lao Luo — Stable keeper who prepares horses for his trips and later praises his successful return with two wild boars 13 41 49.
• Gu Xiaoxia — Receives meat for her ill father at no charge, following Li Jianguo’s wish to help the family 21.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“I can't keep letting you two spend all your money on me. I'm an adult, after all...” 2

“If you see anyone wearing an armband coming over, run immediately. Even if you have to leave the fish behind, make sure you get away.” 37

“Things are different now.” 35