Recaps

After learning that the team’s horse carts had all been borrowed, Li Long planned to catch fish with Tao Daqiang and sell them instead, while working toward buying a bicycle. The next morning, Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, Li Juan, and Li Qiang headed to Little Haizi to fish.

• Li Long told Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that he could not borrow a horse cart, so he proposed making a sled to transport fish for sale.
• Li Long gave Li Juan and Li Qiang ankle bones to play with, delighting Li Juan and prompting Liang Yuemei to chide him for spoiling the children.
• Tao Daqiang arrived upset that other families had borrowed the carts, and Li Long invited him to catch fish and sell them the next day, telling him to keep the plan secret.
• The next morning, Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, Li Juan, and Li Qiang set off for Little Haizi and saw a horse cart leaving the village for the mountains.

Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, and the children reopened their ice holes at Little Haizi and scooped up fish. Li Qiang was struck by a flopping Grass Carp but stopped crying after Li Long promised it would be cooked for him.

• Li Long and Li Jianguo found old footprints and ice holes at Little Haizi, then had Li Juan and Li Qiang gather Reed while they cleared the holes.
• Tao Daqiang used the Scoop Net to catch several small fish, then gave it to Li Long to try the other hole.
• Li Long pulled up a large Grass Carp, and its tail smacked Li Qiang across the face as he tried to grab it.
• Li Qiang cried from the pain, but Li Long promised the fish would be cooked for him, and the group continued scooping fish.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang caught a large haul of fish at Little Haizi while Li Jianguo stayed behind to build a sled. They returned home to find out whether the sled was finished, and Li Long promised to take Tao Daqiang to Wu City once they had earned some money.

• Li Jianguo said he would build a sled while Li Long and Tao Daqiang went fishing.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang took turns scooping fish from two ice holes and caught more than twenty large fish and over ten kilograms of smaller fish.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang returned home with the catch and saw a horse cart from the Production Team coming back without having found many pine logs.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang dried their clothes by the stove, and Li Long promised to take Tao Daqiang to Wu City after they made some money.

After dinner, Li Long remembered that jade could be found in the Southern Mountain and the Ma River, then set out to catch Gugu Chickens for sale. He found the first shelter empty and spotted a wild hare before cautiously approaching another spot.

• Li Long discussed buying refined grain with Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, who agreed to give him grain coupons.
• While Li Jianguo told the children about the area's history, Li Long remembered the jade deposits and river jade around the Ma River.
• Li Jianguo advised Li Long to ask about the jade when he had time, and Li Qiang praised him for catching Gugu Chickens.
• Li Long went out at night with a Scoop Net and sack to look for Gugu Chickens, but found other people's footprints and an empty first shelter.
• On the way to another shelter, Li Long saw a wild hare and decided to return after fresh snowfall to hunt hares and set snares.
• Li Long reached a second Gugu Chicken shelter and cautiously crept toward it.

Li Long caught eleven Gugu Chickens from a flock sheltering in tall grass and returned home with them. Zhang Qianjin failed to persuade him to reveal the route into the mountains, and Li Long was startled again the next morning.

• Li Long used his Scoop Net to catch eleven Gugu Chickens and carried them home to sell or keep.
• Zhang Qianjin visited Li Long and asked for directions to the mountain route after his own firewood trip failed.
• Li Long gave Zhang Qianjin only vague directions and refused to share more, so Zhang left angrily.
• Li Long went to bed after turning out his lamp, and the lamp in the West Room soon went out too.
• Li Long was startled again when he got up the next morning.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang set out before dawn to sell fish and Gugu Chickens at the county Black Market. They attracted a crowd, and Li Long made his first sale as the morning began.

• Tao Daqiang arrived at Li Long's house before dawn after staying awake all night, and the family fed him breakfast.
• Li Long took grain coupons from Li Jianguo, prepared fish and Gugu Chickens, and set off with Tao Daqiang on the Sled.
• Sister-in-Law Lu visited Liang Yuemei and praised Li Long, then suggested that he meet her nineteen-year-old niece.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang reached the Black Market, where Li Long displayed fish and Gugu Chickens and named his prices.
• A woman bought Li Long's largest carp for two yuan, making his first sale.

Li Long sold fish at the Black Market, bought rapeseed oil coupons and pork, then left with Tao Daqiang as red-armband patrols arrived. He began selling the remaining fish near the State-Run Canteen, where he persuaded a woman to buy two fish and accepted two crucian carp as a bonus.

• Customers complained that the remaining fish were smaller, so Li Long lowered their price and sold fish to them and an elderly man.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang counted twenty-eight yuan in sales, and Li Long bought ten jin of rapeseed oil coupons and two pieces of pork belly.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang packed up and left the Black Market as people wearing red armbands approached.
• Li Long bought buns at the State-Run Canteen and then offered fish to a passing woman.
• Li Long persuaded the woman to buy a carp and a Five-Stripe Perch by adding two crucian carp to the sale.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold their remaining fish around the county town, exchanging many for grain and flour before selling the last fish to an old man. They headed home with their earnings and provisions after Li Long bought rapeseed oil.

• Li Long sold five more fish outside the pork canteen before a man asked him to move along, so he and Tao Daqiang left.
• Li Long sold and traded fish in the Grain Bureau compound, receiving rice, flour, and cornmeal before its gatekeeper ordered them out.
• Li Long explained that people trailing them hoped to collect unwanted fish cheaply, then led Tao Daqiang to an old courtyard house.
• Li Long sold the remaining silver carp and crucian carp to an old man for six yuan.
• Li Long offered Tao Daqiang provisions and ten yuan for his work, but Tao Daqiang refused the money.
• Li Long bought a bucket and five kilograms of rapeseed oil, then he and Tao Daqiang headed home.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei discussed their family’s plans and the goods Li Long had brought home from selling fish. At the Tao home, Tao Daqiang confronted his father and older brother over their habit of taking what he earned, and he left determined to protect his share and build his own life.

• Li Jianguo told Liang Yuemei that Xiaoxia's father was recovering and planned to catch more Little Dragon Fish.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei planned to send food to her parents for the New Year.
• Li Long delivered rice, flour, and pork to Tao Daqiang's home, and Tao Daqiang's father considered trying the fish-selling business himself.
• Tao Daqiang refused his father's demand to give food to Tao Dayong and complained that his brother repeatedly took his goods and supplies.
• Tao Dayong arrived hoping to claim a share, but Tao Daqiang confronted him and warned him not to take the wood he planned to use for fuel.
• Tao Dayong left empty-handed, while Tao Daqiang insisted he would build a good life without letting his family take advantage of him.

Tao Dayong defied Ma Chunhong and went to bring coal to his father, while Li Long stood up for Li Juan when Lu Nier took her knucklebones. Li Juan got her bones back, and Li Long reflected that things were different now.

• Tao Daqiang told Tao Jianshe not to give supplies to Tao Dayong and left with food for himself.
• Tao Dayong argued with Ma Chunhong about helping his father, then shoved past her and went to get coal.
• Li Juan told Li Long that Lu Nier had taken two of her ankle bones and driven her and Li Qiang away.
• Li Long took Li Juan and Li Qiang to the Lu family’s house and demanded the bones back.
• Sister-in-Law Lu ordered Lu Nier to return the bones, and Li Juan took them home.

After selling their first haul of fish, Li Long returned to Little Haizi with Tao Daqiang and helped Li Jianguo catch more. They brought home over seventy kilos of fish, and Li Long decided to borrow a horse cart and sell fish in Stone City the next day.

• Li Long rested at home, drank lamb broth, and told Liang Yuemei that he had sold all the fish.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang went to Little Haizi, where Li Jianguo had caught a nearly ten-kilo bighead carp.
• The three men scooped fish from the ice holes and discussed where Li Long could sell another load.
• Wang Hongjun, Wang Hongbing, and He Wei arrived to fish and borrowed Li Jianguo's steel bar to open another hole.
• Li Long, Li Jianguo, and Tao Daqiang caught more than seventy kilos of fish and headed home while the Wang family kept fishing.
• Li Long decided to borrow a horse cart and take fish to Stone City the next day.

Tao Daqiang told Li Long that his father wanted him to catch and sell fish with his brother instead, and Li Long accepted the change and shared advice about selling safely. They traveled to the county together, where Li Long began selling fish at the Black Market.

• Tao Daqiang found the extra coal his brother had brought and heard Tao Jianshe say that the brothers should reconcile and catch fish together.
• Tao Jianshe told Tao Daqiang to stop fishing with Li Long and split the earnings with his brother.
• Li Long borrowed Xu Chengjun’s horse cart and set out for the county with Tao Daqiang the next morning.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long about his father’s plan, and Li Long agreed while advising him how to avoid trouble when selling fish.
• Li Long left Tao Daqiang with the cart, carried fish to the Black Market, and quickly attracted a customer.

Li Long left the county town with Tao Daqiang and traveled to Stone City to sell the fish in a factory residential compound. After selling two carp to the gatekeeper, he attracted more customers and began making sales inside the compound.

• Li Long sold most of his fish at the county market, then left with Tao Daqiang when buyers dwindled.
• Li Long explained to Tao Daqiang that Stone City's factory compounds offered more customers and less risk of being reported.
• At the agricultural machinery factory compound, Li Long sold two common carp to the gatekeeper, who let him enter.
• Li Long invited children to tell their families about his fish, and a middle-aged man questioned his prices.
• A woman arrived with her child, learned the fish cost two yuan each, and bought two.

Li Long sold fish in a workers’ housing compound in Stone City, earning a strong return despite the winter cold. After paying Tao Daqiang his share, the two headed to the department store to look for a fishing net.

• A woman bought two fish, drawing neighbors to Li Long’s stall and prompting him to fetch more fish from the horse cart.
• Tao Daqiang waited in the freezing weather while Li Long brought another load into the compound and sold fish to the waiting customers.
• Li Long sold the small crucian carp quickly and negotiated the price of the remaining bighead carp down to seven yuan.
• Li Long counted forty-eight yuan and fifty cents in sales and gave Tao Daqiang fifteen yuan as his share.
• Tao Daqiang kept five yuan and asked Li Long to hold the rest while they went to the Stone City Department Store to look for fishing nets.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang searched Stone City for fishing nets, then set off home without finding the kind they wanted. Two armed men tried to rob them on the road, but Li Long and Tao Daqiang fought back, took their money and weapons, and hurried away.

• Li Long bought New Year snacks and set aside peanuts for Tao Daqiang, who felt too overwhelmed to shop in the Department Store.
• Li Long found only gill nets at the supply and marketing cooperative and learned their prices without buying one.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang bought steamed buns and left Stone City in their horse cart.
• Two young men carrying an iron chain and an iron pipe blocked the road and demanded ten yuan.
• Tao Daqiang and Li Long attacked the robbers, beat them, and took their money, grain coupons, chain, and pipe before leaving.

Li Long returned to Ma County with Tao Daqiang, bought supplies and meat buns, and made clear he was moving on from Wu Shufen. After sharing fish-sale money with Li Jianguo and deciding to take a break from selling fish, Li Long set off for the mountains the next morning, where a great surprise awaited him.

• Li Long bought thin wire to make rabbit snares, and he and Tao Daqiang bought meat buns to take home.
• Li Long gave Lao Luo a bun on his way back, then walked past Wu Shufen without speaking to her.
• Li Long arrived home to a waiting meal, gave Li Jianguo ten yuan from the fish-sale earnings, and said Tao Daqiang would no longer be fishing with him.
• Li Long decided to rest from selling fish and go into the mountains for wood and another sheep.
• The next morning, Li Long packed bullets, hitched the horse cart, and set off for the mountains.

Li Long went to the county Black Market for flour for Harimu’s family, then visited the Winter Camp and learned about nearby wild boars and Harimu’s knowledge of jade. The chapter ended with Harimu smiling at Li Long’s question about green stones.

• Li Long made rabbit snares while traveling to the county and bought ten kilograms of flour at the Black Market.
• Red-armband enforcers raided the Black Market, and Gu Ermao was arrested while trying to follow Li Long.
• Li Long reached Harimu’s Winter Camp and gave Harimu’s family the flour.
• Harimu told Li Long that he had shot one wolf and wounded another, then offered to take him hunting wild boars the next morning.
• Li Long agreed to hunt the wild boars and asked Harimu whether he had found jade in the mountains.

Li Long visited Harimu and Jade Mountain River, and both herders gave him valuable jade as a gesture of friendship. He accepted their gifts and planned to repay them with supplies, while turning his attention to Jade Mountain River’s rifle.

• Harimu showed Li Long a fine piece of river jade and insisted he accept it as a gift.
• Harimu and Li Long planned to borrow Jade Mountain River’s rifle and hunt wild boars, as predators had become more common near the herders’ camps.
• Li Long rode with Harimu across two mountains to Jade Mountain River’s Winter Camp.
• Li Long gave Jade Mountain River’s children cartridges, then accepted a large piece of jade from Jade Mountain River.
• Jade Mountain River took down his rifle as Li Long eagerly watched.

Li Long joined Harimu for his first wild boar hunt, using a borrowed Type 56 rifle and waiting in an ambush in the pine grove. A large herd of boars arrived, and Li Long took aim at a young female as the chapter ended.

• Li Long examined Jade Mountain River's well-used Type 56 and decided to leave him any ammunition left after the hunt.
• Harimu showed Li Long the boars' tracks and chose a downwind ambush spot in a pine grove.
• Before dawn, Li Long loaded ten rounds and followed Harimu to the grove, where they lay in wait.
• More than a dozen boars charged down the opposite slope, led by a huge tusked male.
• Li Long opened his coat and aimed at a female boar weighing about sixty kilograms, hoping to kill it with one shot.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei learned that Gu Ermao had been arrested at the black market after following Li Long, and they worried about the trouble his actions could bring. As the story spread through the team, Tao Dayong was also caught selling fish, leaving team leader Xu Chengjun furious.

• Li Jianguo told Liang Yuemei that Gu Ermao had been fined after being arrested at Thunder Black Market and had tried to report Li Long.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei decided to talk to Li Long when he returned and to confront the Gu family.
• Gu Laoda ordered Gu Ermao to apologize to the Li family, but Gu Ermao refused.
• Sister-in-law Liu told Gu Ermao that the team was gossiping about his arrest and urged him to stay with his uncle.
• Xu Chengjun learned that Tao Dayong had been caught selling fish at the Black Market and blamed Li Long's imitators for the trouble.

Tao Dayong and Tao Daqiang copied Li Long’s fish-selling business, but Tao Dayong was arrested during a raid on the Black Market and fined. Meanwhile, Li Long and Harimu shot wild boars, bringing down two as the surviving animals fled.

• Tao Dayong and Tao Daqiang caught nearly forty kilograms of fish with their father, Tao Jianshe, and Tao Dayong refused to leave the smallest fish at home.
• Tao Dayong sold fish at lower prices in the Black Market and made sixteen yuan fifty before Tao Daqiang noticed other sellers packing up.
• Tao Daqiang tried to flee when the Joint Defense Team raided the Black Market, but the crowd separated him from Tao Dayong, who was caught while dragging the sled.
• Tao Daqiang returned home and learned that Tao Dayong had been arrested and fined fifty yuan.
• Li Long and Harimu fired at a group of wild boars, and Li Long shot a second boar as the animals scattered.
• Harimu praised Li Long and went down the slope toward the boars while Li Long saw that his first target was still twitching.

Li Long and Harimu killed two wild boars, hauled them to Harimu’s Winter Camp, and prepared to part ways after breakfast. Li Long left for the county town to ask whether the purchasing station would buy his jade, unaware that rumors claimed he had been arrested.

• Harimu explained that he had killed the lead boar to protect his Winter Camp, then left Li Long to gather the boars.
• Li Long struggled to drag the boars together and waited for Harimu to return with a horse.
• Harimu helped Li Long tow the boars to the cart, and they loaded both carcasses together.
• Li Long rested at the Winter Camp, gave Harimu the remaining bullets to return with the gun, and promised to bring rice next time.
• Li Long covered the boars with hay, drove to the county town, and stopped at the Big Meat Canteen for food before heading to the purchasing station.
• Rumors had spread in the production team that Li Long had been arrested after staying away overnight and because of the matter involving Gu Ermao and Tao Dayong.

Li Long failed to sell his river jade but arranged to bring wild boar meat and stomachs to Chen Hongjun later. Meanwhile, Tao Dayong was arrested and his family struggled to gather the fine, while village rumors falsely claimed Li Long had been arrested too.

• Li Long showed Chen Hongjun his river jade, learned he would need to seek a buyer in Wu City, and asked about selling wild boar stomachs.
• Chen Hongjun inspected Li Long’s two wild boars and agreed to buy meat and stomachs after Li Long butchered them.
• The Lu Family’s Eldest Sister-in-Law warned Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that villagers were saying Li Long had been arrested.
• Xu Chengjun told Tao Jianshe that Tao Dayong had been arrested and needed a fifty-yuan fine, while Tao Daqiang explained that they had scattered when people wearing armbands arrived.
• Li Jianguo lent Tao Daqiang twenty yuan toward the fine, and Tao Daqiang returned home to help his family gather the money.
• As Xu Chengjun and Tao Jianshe went to collect Tao Dayong, rumors that Li Long had been arrested spread further through the village.

Li Long returned to the Production Team with two wild boars, ending rumors that he had been arrested and reuniting with his relieved family. He told Liang Yuemei that land and team property would soon be divided, leaving the family to prepare for farming and future purchases.

• Li Long showed the children the wild boars and reassured his family that he had gone into the mountains rather than been arrested.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo unloaded the boars as neighbors gathered to help process them, and Lao Luo told Li Long that Tao Dayong had been arrested while Tao Daqiang had escaped.
• Liang Yuemei told Li Long about the arrests and Li Jianguo's loan to Tao Daqiang, so Li Long returned twenty yuan and said Daqiang would work for him if they did business again.
• Li Long told Liang Yuemei that land and team property would be divided in spring and urged the family to save money for farming needs, possibly including a horse.

Li Long and his family processed two wild boars, hosted a feast for their helpers, and discussed trading the surplus meat for ammunition or money. Gu Laoda left after Li Jianguo and Li Long kept their distance, while the Li family’s standing in the production team rose.

• Li Long poured boiling water over the boars while neighbors butchered them, and Gu Laoda tried to reconnect with him.
• Li Jianguo called Li Long away, making clear he would not welcome Gu Laoda’s approach, and Gu Laoda stayed awkwardly until he finally left.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei prepared a feast with the boar meat and innards to repay the people who had helped the family.
• Li Long told the gathered villagers that he and his friend had ambushed the boars at a spot where they often fed.
• Li Long proposed selling meat for one yuan per kilogram or trading it for five rounds of Type 56 rifle ammunition, and Li Jianguo agreed to limit trades to people close to them.
• The adults ate and played cards while Qiangqiang and the children kicked around an inflated pig’s bladder outside.