Recaps

Chen Xingbang decided to leave the village with Li Xia and Hongqin for Northern Xinjiang, cutting ties with his father and selling his home and land to keep them out of his family’s hands. The family began their quiet departure, and Chen Xingbang left for Lilou after securing a stamped political review form.

• Chen Xingbang beat Wang Jinguang for spreading rumors and warned him that reporting the assault could expose his own crimes.
• Chen Xingbang confronted Chen Chang Gui about trying to claim Li Xia’s home and land, then declared that he would no longer concern himself with his father.
• Chen Xingbang sold his courtyard and land to Niu Weiguo for two hundred yuan and arranged for his family to leave secretly for Northern Xinjiang.
• Chen Xingbang persuaded Li Xia to take only a small bundle and travel with Hongqin to Lilou under the pretense of visiting her maternal grandfather.
• Chen Xingbang obtained Yu Yongfeng’s stamp on a political review form for a temporary job at Stone City Food Factory, then took a roundabout route toward Lilou.

Li Qingxia and Chen Xingbang took Li Xia and Hongqin from their hometown to Northern Xinjiang, leaving Chen Chang Gui to discover that Chen Xingbang had sold his courtyard and land. The family reunited with Li Long at his Big Courtyard and waited for Gu Xiaoxia to return from work.

• Li Qingxia finished tending the ancestral graves and prepared to leave with Li Xia, Chen Xingbang, and Hongqin for Northern Xinjiang.
• The family ate braised pork in Yongcheng County, then traveled by train to Wu City and onward to Ma County.
• Niu Weiguo began repairing Chen Xingbang's former courtyard, and Chen Qiangguo told Chen Chang Gui that Chen Xingbang had sold the property and left for Northern Xinjiang.
• Li Qingxia, Chen Xingbang, Li Xia, and Hongqin reached Li Long's Big Courtyard, where Li Long welcomed them and gave Hongqin a doll, watermelon, and wolf charms.
• Gu Xiaoxia returned from work as the family waited in Li Long's courtyard.

Li Long brought Li Xia, Chen Xingbang, and Hongqin to visit his family in Northern Xinjiang, where he welcomed them and gave the children gifts. The next morning, Li Long drove them toward Stone City, while Xu Jianjun tried to recruit Xu Chengjun into worrying about the Li family's growing presence and was rebuked.

• Gu Xiaoxia warmly welcomed Li Xia, gave her a headscarf, and joined Li Long's family for dinner at the Canteen.
• Li Long drove Li Xia, Chen Xingbang, and Hongqin to the Li family's courtyard, where he gave Li Juan a bicycle and handed toys to the children.
• The family spent the evening catching up, and Li Xia saw how spacious Li Long's courtyard was the next morning.
• Li Long drove Li Xia and Hongqin toward Stone City; Li Juan rode her new bicycle to school while Li Qiang joined them on the Tractor.
• Xu Jianjun asked Xu Chengjun whether the Li family was trying to build a clan in their team, and Xu Chengjun scolded him for treating their land as valuable.

Li Long brought Li Xia and Hongqin to their new home in Stone City, then learned a newspaper article about his watermelon profits had sent people searching for seeds at Li Jianguo’s house. He stepped in to confront the crowd, but several visitors still insisted the family had to sell them seeds.

• Li Long drove Li Xia and Hongqin to Chen Xingbang’s courtyard in Stone City, where he gave Li Xia money and bicycle coupons before returning to Ma County.
• Li Long heard that Sister Yang’s family still had not provided Han Xincheng’s address, and Sister Yang later read a letter asking her to send money home instead.
• Gu Xiaoxia showed Li Long a newspaper article by Jiang Zhiyu about his and Li Jianguo’s tractors and watermelon profits, and Li Long warned that people might come looking for seeds.
• Li Long arrived at Li Jianguo’s courtyard and found several people demanding watermelon seeds after reading the article.
• Li Long told the visitors to seek seeds from the Seed Company or Roasted Goods Factory, prompting some to leave, while others continued to demand seeds from the family.

Li Long defended the Li family's watermelon seed from persistent visitors with help from Xu Chengjun and the Fourth Team, then organized neighbors to prepare for next year's crop. As winter approached, Li Long balanced plans for collective farming and other business opportunities with work at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, while Li Anguo prepared to reunite his family in Kuytun.

• Li Long refused to give seed to visitors who had not searched widely, and Xu Chengjun and the Fourth Team gathered to drive away those who kept pressing the Li family.
• After the visitors left, Li Jianguo explained watermelon-growing techniques, and Li Long considered using shared profits to unite the Fourth Team around profitable crops.
• Li Long ordered twenty precision seeders, then brought them back and distributed two to each household while teaching the men how to use them.
• Li Long asked Jiang Zhiyu to avoid publicizing the Li family's affairs too prominently, and he noticed villagers cutting reeds in hopes of making bundles for a future order.
• Li Xiangqian told Li Long to collect his Supply and Marketing Cooperative benefits and encouraged him to appear at the cooperative ahead of the year-end outstanding-worker selection.
• Li Anguo rented a courtyard near his workplace and came to bring Chen Lirong and their child to live with him, though Chen Lirong felt reluctant to leave the production team.

Li Long stayed in the County Seat with Gu Xiaoxia, who suspected she was pregnant, while villagers waited for reed-bundle work and began preparing reeds on their own. Li Long then bought honey for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, accepted a team leader’s under-the-table price arrangement, and returned with the cooperative’s order fulfilled.

• Li Long gave Chen Lirong four hundred yuan to buy a bicycle before she and Li Anguo returned home with the children.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long her period was several days late, so they decided she would not visit Yang Pingping and her newborn that weekend.
• Villagers in the Fourth Team began sorting or tying reed bundles as they waited for Li Long to bring work assignments.
• Li Xiangqian sent Li Long to buy two thousand kilograms of honey from a Corps Beekeeping Team.
• The team leader offered to invoice the honey at one yuan twenty per kilogram and split the difference with Li Long, who agreed and delivered the honey to the cooperative in two loads.

Li Long finally secured an order for 20,000 reed bundles, but the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had doubled the number of reeds required per bundle, putting villagers who had tied theirs early in trouble. After telling Gu Xiaoxia, he planned to return to the team and manage the work carefully.

• Tao Daqiang welcomed Yang Pingping and their baby daughter home after her postpartum confinement, while Li Long told his family that Gu Xiaoxia was pregnant.
• Li Long advised villagers who had started tying reed bundles to stop because no order had arrived yet.
• After a heavy snowfall, Li Xiangqian gave Li Long an order for 20,000 bundles, each containing twenty reeds instead of ten, at fifty fen per bundle.
• Li Long realized villagers who had already tied bundles to the old specifications would be in trouble and planned to haul purchased bundles to the Big Courtyard for safekeeping.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long to return to the team and handle the order, and he promised to come back each evening.

Li Long announced the new reed-bundle standards and price, prompting villagers to revise their work while some struggled with bundles they had already tied. Wang Dongsheng visited to discuss buying the Li family’s watermelon seeds next year, and the chapter ended as Xu Jianjun brought the first bundles for inspection.

• Li Long told Xu Chengjun and the Fourth Team that each reed bundle needed twenty reeds and would earn thirty cents, though previously tied bundles did not meet the new standard.
• Villagers reacted to the changed requirements, and many untied their bundles and combined the reeds while Xu Jianjun tried adding loose reeds around his existing bundles.
• Wang Dongsheng, director of the county’s Fuqiang Roasted Goods Factory, offered to buy the Li family’s watermelon seeds next year, and Li Jianguo discussed the possibility with him.
• Xu Jianjun brought reed bundles to Li Long first, and Li Long frowned when he saw them.

Li Long enforced strict standards while buying reed bundles for a large order, clashed with Xu Jianjun, and later learned Xu had been caught trying to burn Li Jianguo’s reeds. As the Fourth Team fell behind the deadline, Li Long bought thousands of bundles from Wang Delong in Xiahai Village, prompting slow workers to hurry and leaving a villager’s complaint unanswered.

• Li Long rejected most of Xu Jianjun’s poorly prepared reed bundles, and Xu angrily took them away after threatening that Li Long would not collect enough.
• Li Jianguo told Li Long that fires had damaged reeds at four households, and Li Long suspected Xu Jianjun was responsible.
• Li Jianguo later reported that he and their father had caught Xu Jianjun trying to burn their reeds, and Xu fled after being sent to the team office.
• Li Long collected just over seven thousand bundles in fifteen days, then bought more than twenty-three hundred acceptable bundles from Wang Delong of Xiahai Village.
• News of Wang Delong’s delivery spurred Fourth Team members to tie bundles faster, while Li Long challenged a villager who asked him to stop buying from outsiders.

Li Long collected the last reed bundles for his order while making plans to visit Harimu and the others in the mountains. He learned that Tao Daqiang had beaten Xu Jianjun, arranged to save deer afterbirth for Gu Xiaoxia and Du Chunfang, and stopped buying bundles after the final collection.

• Li Long told his family he would finish collecting reed bundles the next day before taking supplies to Harimu and the others in the mountains.
• Ma Chenyang told Li Long that Tao Daqiang had caught and beaten Xu Jianjun near Reed Gully.
• Li Long rejected some of Ma Chenyang's bundles, then visited Tao Daqiang and advised him to buy a tractor in spring rather than winter.
• At Old Ma's Place, Uncle Lao Luo offered to save deer afterbirth for Gu Xiaoxia, and Li Long agreed to get some for Du Chunfang as well.
• Li Long collected more reed bundles and delivered a load to the County Seat before the day ended.
• The next day, Li Long announced that he had stopped buying reed bundles and drove toward the County Seat, leaving Ma Chenyang and other households with unsold reeds.

Li Long delivered grain and supplies to the Pastoral Team's residential post, where he thawed and repaired Harimu's frozen hand pump. After teaching Nasen and Sasiken how to winterize it, he began planning a more convenient water supply for Harimu and Jade Mountain River at Winter Camp.

• Jade Mountain River visited Harimu at Winter Camp, where they discussed winter slaughter, Li Long's expected visit, and gifts for his future child.
• Li Long finished selling reed bundles, deposited most of his earnings, and brought grain and potatoes to the Pastoral Team's residential post at Gu Xiaoxia's urging.
• Nasen and Sasiken told Li Long that Harimu's hand pump had frozen, so Li Long fetched boiling water and carefully melted the ice inside it.
• Li Long got the pump working again, then showed Nasen and Sasiken how to remove and bring its head and pin indoors at night to prevent freezing.
• Li Long decided to explore installing pipes to make fetching water easier for Harimu and Jade Mountain River at Winter Camp.

Li Long returned from the caretaker station, stocked up on supplies, and arranged for Sister Yang to stay with Gu Xiaoxia while he went into the mountains. At Harimu’s Winter Camp, he found the families eager to begin their winter slaughter, with several taking turns inviting him to join.

• The old lady cooked Naren for Li Long, who shared meat with Nasen and Sasiken before driving away as Adili arrived too late to catch him.
• Li Long reached the County Seat, bought rice and flour at the Free Market, and returned to prepare dinner for Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about his plans to visit the mountains and arranged for Sister Yang and Han Fang to stay in the courtyard while he was away.
• Li Long fetched Sister Yang, gave her the keys, and bought supplies, batteries, rubber cotton shoes, and alcohol at the Department Store.
• Li Long drove his loaded tractor to Harimu’s Winter Camp, where Harimu, Jade Mountain River, Talihaal, and others welcomed him and announced their scheduled winter slaughters.

Li Long attended Harimu’s winter slaughter, found a promising stream source for a water pipe, and spent the night at his wooden cabin after wolves prowled nearby. The next morning, he went to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp, where Jade Mountain River’s question about the pelts made Li Long suspect some were unusual.

• Li Long found a flowing stream above Harimu’s winter camp and considered using its pool as an intake for a buried water pipe.
• The herders slaughtered a cow, shared a meal, and told stories about their experiences and wildlife on the Summer Pasture.
• Li Long stored the pelts and offal inside his cabin, where wolves later approached but could not break in.
• Li Long found wolf tracks outside at dawn but saw no wolves, then drove to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp.
• Jade Mountain River asked whether Li Long had inspected the pelts, prompting Li Long to wonder if they included something special.

Li Long discovered that one of the pelts from the mountain herders was a tiger pelt and planned to ask Jade Mountain River and the others about the tiger’s bones. After obtaining approval for more ammunition, he prepared to return to the winter camp, where the tiger and the bones remained unexplained.

• Li Long found a nearby water source suitable for piping to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp, then drove off an approaching wolf by throwing rocks at it.
• Jade Mountain River gave Li Long a large share of brown cattle meat, organs, and suet after the slaughter.
• Li Long discovered a tiger pelt among the pelts at his cabin and decided to ask Harimu and Jade Mountain River where they had shot the tiger and what had happened to its bones.
• Li Long returned to the county town with the pelts and meat, told Gu Xiaoxia about the tiger pelt, and discussed returning to the mountains after getting ammunition.
• Li Long obtained Director Wei’s approval for two hundred rounds of ammunition after learning that Li Xiangqian was away, then went to collect it from the Security Section.

Li Long learned that Harimu had killed a tiger during a seasonal migration and buried its carcass in a snow pit, so he rode deep into the mountains with Harimu to look for its bones. They reached the pit, but the snow gave no sign of whether the carcass was still there, and Li Long took out a rope to investigate.

• Li Long found Harimu at Talihaal's Winter Camp and learned that Harimu had shot a tiger after it fell into a deep snow pit, then buried its carcass there.
• Li Long agreed with Harimu to search for the tiger's bones, and Talihaal traded him a sheep carcass for plastic water pipes while other herders asked about getting pipes too.
• Li Long returned to his Wooden Cabin, prepared his tractor in the freezing weather, and set out before dawn for Harimu's Winter Camp.
• Li Long and Harimu rode through the mountains along the migration trail, resting and feeding their horses as they traveled toward the snow pit.
• Li Long reached the pit and saw that its surface had been covered and leveled with snow, leaving no sign of whether the tiger carcass remained; he took out a rope.

Li Long recovered the tiger and sheep from a snow pit, returned from the mountains with meat and pelts, and distributed sheep as gifts to his household and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Director Wei asked whether the herders were facing difficulties, leaving Li Long to consider whether to raise a matter on their behalf.

• Li Long tied a rope to the tiger and sheep, and Harimu used his horse to haul the tiger out of the snow pit.
• Li Long and Harimu returned to Harimu's Winter Camp, where Li Long shared his plan to use the tiger bones for medicinal liquor before driving back to the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long attended several Winter Slaughters, collected twelve sheep carcasses and pelts, then returned to the County Seat with a full trailer.
• Li Long sorted the meat and pelts at home, shared a meal with Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Boyuan, Han Fang, and Sister Yang, and told them about the Winter Slaughters.
• Li Long delivered sheep to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the herders' name, and Director Wei asked whether the herders needed help.

Li Long arranged for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to bring clean water to the herders’ winter camps in spring, then distributed meat and hides and delivered lamb to people who had helped him. After his family visited, Li Long confided in Li Jianguo about the tiger he was hiding and began discussing larger plans for the coming year.

• Li Long proposed laying about a thousand meters of plastic pipe to bring mountain water to the herders, and Director Wei agreed to organize the work for spring and involve Ma Xiaoyan in publicizing it.
• Director Wei and Li Xiangqian distributed the herders’ meat and hides among the cooperative’s sections, while Li Long delivered lamb to Ma Xiaoyan, Ye Laya, Chen Hongjun, and Zhong Guoqiang.
• Li Jianguo brought relatives to visit Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia, and the two families spent the day together at the compound.
• Li Long showed Li Jianguo the tiger’s head and explained that Harimu had given him the animal; they agreed to keep its identity secret and process its bones privately.
• Li Long gave Li Jianguo a red deer penis and, after locking the side-room door, outlined his plans to expand his activities the next year, startling his brother.

Li Long planned to expand into wheat harvesting and future farm machinery while weighing how to secure local business opportunities. He decided to lease Little Haizi so his father could keep fishing there, and also considered leasing Reed Lake for its reed bundles.

• Li Long told Li Jianguo he planned to buy more tractors and harvesters, recruit drivers, and pursue wheat-harvesting work across nearby townships and Corps companies.
• Li Long discussed seeking harvester dealership rights from Factory Director Du and planned to buy newer, high-horsepower machinery as it became available.
• Li Jianguo suggested adding tractor plowing work, and he reminded Li Long that Liang Wenyu could be recruited to drive and harvest wheat.
• Li Long proposed leasing Little Haizi before an outsider could, explaining that the team could still be allowed to fish there; Li Jianguo and Gu Boyuan considered his argument.
• Li Qingxia supported leasing Little Haizi, and Li Long said he would arrange a ten-year lease with the team and register it with the township.
• Li Long also decided he wanted to lease Reed Lake so he could continue fulfilling the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s reed-bundle orders.

Li Long shared a meal with his family and discussed opportunities in farming before bringing a sheep and five thousand yuan to Liang Donglou’s household. He offered to help Liang Wenyu buy a Tractor and Harvester so he could earn money harvesting wheat, leaving the Liang family to plan for the purchase next spring.

• Liang Yuemei and Sister Yang prepared a generous meal, and Li Long, Li Jianguo, and Gu Boyuan discussed selling seeds and growing seed crops.
• After the meal, Li Long drove to Liang Donglou’s village with a sheep and gave it to the family.
• Li Long told Liang Donglou and Liang Wenyu that harvesting wheat with a Tractor and Harvester had earned him roughly enough to buy a Tractor in one season.
• Li Long offered Liang Wenyu five thousand yuan to buy a Tractor and Harvester and harvest wheat in the Commune, saying he wanted his family to benefit from the work.
• After Li Long left, Liang Wenyu said he would share the harvesting income with him, and Liang Donglou decided they would buy the equipment next spring.

Li Long arranged tractors and harvesting work with Liang Dacheng, Xie Yundong, and Tao Daqiang, then learned from Wang the Miser that the team had more farmland than officially recorded. Wang the Miser left reassured that Li Long would not compete for his plowing work, while Li Long planned to visit Factory Director Du in Kuytun.

• Li Long offered tractors and harvesting opportunities to Liang Dacheng and Xie Yundong, whose wife initially feared the risks but later returned home with him after her father intervened.
• Li Long told Tao Daqiang that he, Li Jianguo, Xie Yundong, and Liang Dacheng would each harvest wheat in a different township next season.
• Li Long shared lunch with his family and stayed to talk with Du Chunfang before Wang the Miser arrived.
• Wang the Miser asked whether Li Long planned to buy a crawler tractor, and Li Long said he would focus on wheat harvesting rather than compete for plowing work.
• Wang the Miser told Li Long that the team had 2,432 and a half mu officially registered and 2,610 mu in actual farmland, then invited him to his younger brother's pig-slaughter feast.
• Li Long planned to rest before going to Kuytun to see whether Factory Director Du had begun producing harvesters.

Li Long dealt with an aggressive roe deer at Old Ma's Place, then processed a frozen tiger carcass and discarded its spoiled meat. He set out by tractor for Kuytun with supplies for his brother, stopped to shoot a gazelle, and scattered the tiger meat in the wilderness; the military supply station came into view as he neared his destination.

• Li Long saw that Uncle Lao Luo had injured his arm when a buck roe deer knocked him down, then entered the pen and sawed off the animal’s antlers.
• Li Long tried cooking the tiger meat, found it sour and foul-smelling, and decided to discard it, while keeping the cleaned bones and tiger penis.
• Li Long prepared to travel to Kuytun, loaded rice and flour for his brother, and asked Yang Hua what messages he had for Yang Yongqiang.
• Li Long drove west with his rifle, shot a gazelle near the road, and scattered the tiger meat across the surrounding wilderness.
• Li Long continued through the Gobi toward Kuytun and spotted the military supply station ahead.

Li Long visited Li Anguo’s family in Kuytun, brought them food and gazelle meat, and learned that Yang Yongqiang had to remain with the company through the end of the year. After meeting Section Chief Ma, Li Long went to the Kuytun Farm Machinery Factory to negotiate with Factory Director Du about the harvesters.

• Li Long found Li Anguo, Chen Lirong, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang at their cramped rental home, gave the children snacks, and left most of his supplies and gazelle meat with the family.
• Yang Yongqiang explained that company rules and militia training kept him from going home until the new year, while Li Long described his plans to order more harvesters and buy equipment for his family and Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long took a gazelle leg to Section Chief Ma, who said Li Anguo would likely receive a place in the company’s residential compound the following year.
• Li Long spent the night at a state-run inn, brought breakfast to Li Anguo’s family the next morning, and drove to the Kuytun Farm Machinery Factory.
• Li Long found Factory Director Du making harvesters and agreed to discuss the machine’s problems and provide firsthand operating data.

Li Long reported the harvester’s flaws to Factory Director Du, negotiated Beiting Prefecture agency rights, and bought five machines to bring home. On his way back, he shot three Mongolian gazelles and arrived at Li Xia’s courtyard, where she greeted him with tears in her eyes.

• Li Long listed the harvester’s problems, and Factory Director Du told him their machine had won second place at an agricultural machinery exhibition.
• Li Long negotiated agency rights for several areas, agreed to buy harvesters at wholesale prices, and signed a contract with Factory Director Du.
• Li Long loaded five harvesters onto his trailer and drove to Li Anguo’s rented home, where he ate with his brother’s family before setting off again.
• Li Long refueled, headed east, and shot three Mongolian gazelles along the road.
• Li Long reached Li Xia’s courtyard with a gazelle, and Li Xia hurried to open the gate and welcomed him tearfully.

Li Long returned from Kuytun with harvesters and gazelles, visited his family, and came back to the county town to rest beside Gu Xiaoxia. Wei Tianxing then asked to buy a harvester, and Li Long sold him one under an agreement that divided up harvesting territory and prevented price-cutting.

• Li Long visited Li Xia and Hongqin, gave them snacks and a gazelle, then drove home to Gu Xiaoxia after dark.
• Li Long rested, dressed the gazelles, and left the harvesters stored at the Big Courtyard before taking meat to his family in the team.
• Li Long visited Yang Hua to report that Yang Yongqiang would remain for militia training, then asked Xu Chengjun to excuse him from this year's training.
• Wei Tianxing came to Li Long to buy a harvester after failing to obtain one in Kuytun.
• Li Long agreed to sell Wei Tianxing a harvester for 550 yuan under an agreement reserving him a separate township and setting a shared wheat-harvesting price.

Li Long taught Wei Tianxing to operate the harvester he bought, then told Li Xiangqian about the gazelles he had seen near Kuytun. Li Xiangqian arranged a hunting trip with Director Qian, and Li Long prepared to join him.

• Wei Tianxing paid Li Long 550 yuan for a harvester, and Li Long carefully taught him how to mount, remove, and operate it.
• Wei Tianxing hauled the harvester home and began considering whether to buy more harvesters from Li Long.
• Li Long visited Li Xiangqian and reported seeing herds of Mongolian gazelles near Kuytun, while Li Xiangqian showed him 1,500 meters of Coarse Plastic Pipes he had bought.
• Li Xiangqian told Director Qian about the gazelles, and Director Qian decided to travel out to hunt them.
• Li Xiangqian summoned Li Long to join the hunting trip, and Li Long took his gun to the Cooperative as a Jeep arrived.