Recaps

Li Long managed fritillaria trades at the Wooden Cabin while overseeing taibazi inspections, but three men threatened Sun Jiaqiang and fought Li Long after disputing the trade price. Bolati arrived on horseback as Li Long considered how to handle the men and protect the cabin.

• Li Long collected 112 kilograms of fritillaria from Bolati, who mentioned that someone was searching for rumored buried treasure near Mantou Mountain.
• Sun Jiaqiang traded supplies with several herb gatherers, including a disguised woman, while Li Long warned him to take precautions.
• Li Long inspected nearly two hundred taibazi at Small White Poplar Gully and found that their pass rate had improved to about eighty percent.
• Li Long returned to the Wooden Cabin and found three men tussling with Sun Jiaqiang after they complained about the trade terms.
• Li Long fought the men and ordered Sun Jiaqiang to stop striking one of them, then sent him to handle another customer as Bolati arrived on horseback.

Li Long helped Bolati capture three men who had tried to rob Sun Jiaqiang, then learned they had hidden stolen fritillaria in a mountain cave. He searched for the hideout and found a gully that seemed to match, but the chapter ended before he discovered what was inside.

• Bolati arrived at the Wooden Cabin, took the three men away for trying to assault Li Long and Sun Jiaqiang, and confiscated their sack of fritillaria.
• Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard with the harvested Taibazi, then drove the young men back to the mountains and came home before midnight.
• Li Long checked on Sun Jiaqiang the next morning and helped him prepare mushrooms and steamed buns before Bolati told him about the men’s hidden stash of stolen fritillaria.
• Li Long drove to Jade Mountain River's Winter Camp, found its door forced open and the interior ransacked, then searched nearby gullies for the hideout.
• Li Long spotted a man from the previous day searching the gullies, and the man fled when Li Long called out to him.
• Li Long found a gully with many footprints but untouched fritillaria, and concluded it was likely the three men’s hideout.

Li Long found a hidden cave containing fritillaria, money, antiques, and supplies, then carried its contents away and traded some clothes with herb diggers. Back home, he showed Gu Boyuan the antiques and heard an account of silver dollars spilling from a truck during Sheng Shicai’s flight.

• Li Long found a concealed cave, discovered its stored fritillaria, money, antiques, and tools, and moved most of the goods to his Jeep while an unseen man failed to locate the cave.
• Li Long traded clothes and dried meat for fritillaria with two herb diggers at the wooden cabin, and several other groups later chose to trade with him rather than Sun Jiaqiang.
• Li Long returned the money he found in the cave to Bolati, who thanked him and agreed to consider the matter settled.
• Li Long brought the haul home, spread out the fritillaria, and showed the antiques to Gu Boyuan.
• Gu Boyuan told Li Long that he had heard Sheng Shicai’s fleeing forces lost a truckload of silver dollars when a truck overturned in Wu City.

Li Long sold his dried fritillaria at the purchasing station, where Chen Hongjun had become station chief, then went to the mountain cabin and found that Sun Jiaqiang was struggling to earn the gatherers’ trust. Bolati brought Li Long fritillaria collected by four colleagues, while Sun Jiaqiang continued to receive only a small share of the trade.

• Li Long learned that Gu Boyuan’s farm supply store was thriving and that Gu Boyuan credited Li Long with laying the groundwork for his success.
• Li Long sold 28.4 kilograms of first-grade fritillaria for 1,363 yuan and discovered that Chen Hongjun had been promoted to station chief.
• Chen Hongjun showed sellers samples of morels and black tiger’s paw mushrooms and explained which varieties the purchasing station bought.
• Li Long drove to the mountain cabin, where Sun Jiaqiang said gatherers still preferred to trade directly with Li Long and that Bolati had discouraged them from trading with him.
• Li Long stayed to trade supplies with gatherers, and Bolati brought four sacks of fritillaria collected by his colleagues in exchange for different goods.

Li Long traded supplies for fritillaria in Small White Poplar Gully, encouraged Sun Jiaqiang to stay and gather mushrooms, then drove home after a busy trading day. Meanwhile, Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming went into the mountains to cut rods and shot two wild boars, returning with their catch and surprising the others.

• Li Long told Sun Jiaqiang he could earn money by gathering morels and black tiger's paw mushrooms or by doing mountain work.
• A disguised woman traded fritillaria with Li Long for clothes, dried noodles, and matches, then changed into the dry clothes and left after the rain stopped.
• Several other gatherers arrived to trade fritillaria, keeping Li Long and Sun Jiaqiang busy until their clothes, noodles, steamed buns, and venison were mostly gone.
• Li Long paid Sun Jiaqiang for the fritillaria he had traded, instructed him to tend the buns, and drove down the muddy mountain road.
• Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming headed into a distant gully to cut rods, where Li Jianguo spotted a herd of wild boars and shot an adult and a piglet.
• Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming returned carrying the two wild boars and rods, astonishing the people weaving taibazi.

Li Long balanced family duties with his fritillaria trade before arriving at the cabin to find a Forestry Team deputy leader ordering Sun Jiaqiang and a herb gatherer arrested and their goods confiscated. Bolati introduced Li Long as he stepped out of his Jeep, leaving the confrontation to unfold.

• Li Long brought wild boar meat to his family, cooked lunch with Du Chunfang, and told Liang Yuemei about the remaining meat.
• Li Long traded fritillaria with buyers at the cabin, warned Sun Jiaqiang to prioritize his safety, and later sold dried fritillaria for over four hundred yuan.
• Li Long visited Small White Poplar Gully, gave Lao Huang vinegar, and told Xie Yundong he would inspect the Taibazi the next day.
• A Forestry Team deputy leader arrived at the cabin, questioned Sun Jiaqiang about the fritillaria trade, and ordered him and a waiting herb gatherer arrested while their goods were confiscated.
• Li Long drove up in his Jeep, and Bolati introduced him to the deputy leader.

Li Long used the Prefecture-owned Jeep and his official credentials to persuade Nur Maimait to release Sun Jiaqiang and support his mountain-products collection point. After buying fritillaria from several gatherers and arranging the transport of nearly three hundred inspected Taibazi, Li Long planned to hunt in Inner Mountain to replenish his meat supplies.

• Li Long explained his collection-point mission to Nur Maimait, who released Sun Jiaqiang and the herb gatherer and ordered the Forestry Team to support Li Long.
• Li Long traded supplies and cash for fritillaria, while forest rangers began directing gatherers to sell their harvest to him.
• Li Long sold his remaining venison to a ranger and told Sun Jiaqiang he would hunt for more meat after finishing the Taibazi work.
• Li Long decided to make a future trip into Inner Mountain, where he hoped to find herds of wild mountain goats or other game.
• Li Long inspected the Taibazi, arranged trucks through the Transport Company, and helped load nearly three hundred accepted Taibazi for delivery to the Big Courtyard.

Li Long explored the deep mountains, discovered ancient cave paintings, and encountered a brown bear while hunting wild mountain goats. He returned to the Wooden Cabin with five goats, where Sun Jiaqiang told him that two people planned to return to trade for fritillaria.

• Li Long led Tao Daqiang and the others into the mountains, then continued deeper in search of wild mountain goats.
• Li Long spotted a young goat, followed it through a cave, and found ancient paintings depicting a powerful goddess and her people.
• Li Long found a herd of more than twenty wild mountain goats, but a brown bear appeared and attacked them.
• Li Long shot two goats and collected four injured ones, but an unknown animal dragged off one before he could carry it away.
• Li Long brought five goats to the Wooden Cabin and began skinning them as Sun Jiaqiang said two people would return to trade for fritillaria.

Li Long processed and traded wild mountain goat meat, then explored an unfamiliar mountain area in search of Mantou Mountain. After he refused a suspicious group’s request for help, another rider approached his Jeep.

• Li Long processed five wild mountain goats into meat, organs, and hides while Sun Jiaqiang helped and traders exchanged fritillaria for supplies and meat.
• Bolati brought sacks of fritillaria and traded them with Li Long for cooked meat, alcohol, and money before riding away.
• Li Long returned home with another goat, spent the evening with Gu Xiaoxia, and prepared the morels he had gathered for Sister Yang to cook.
• Li Long drove to the Tashi River area to look for Mantou Mountain and climbed a nearby ridge, but saw no sign of it.
• Li Long hurried back to his Jeep when he spotted three armed men approaching, then refused their offer of a hundred yuan to guide them or find them a local guide.
• The three men left, and Li Long hesitated over whether to continue exploring when a rider approached from the northwest.

Li Long met Forestry Team member Aili, searched Mantou Mountain for rumored treasure, and later hunted three wild boars at Hot Spring Ravine. Back at the cabin, he traded a knife and money to the disguised woman, then butchered the boars with Sun Jiaqiang before preparing to head home.

• Li Long met Aili, sold him Fritillaria, and learned the route to Mantou Mountain and Small White Poplar Gully.
• The three armed treasure hunters watched Li Long and Aili, then decided to approach Aili for information rather than risk attacking Li Long.
• Li Long searched Mantou Mountain but found no caves or treasure, then went to Small White Poplar Gully for lunch.
• Bolati traded over forty kilograms of Fritillaria for money and goods after the Forestry Team cut its Fritillaria reward, and Li Long decided to hunt for more meat.
• Li Long shot three wild boars at Hot Spring Ravine and returned with them to the cabin.
• Li Long traded the disguised woman a knife and sixteen yuan for her Fritillaria, then butchered the boars with Sun Jiaqiang and planned to take two home.

Li Long distributed wild boar meat to relatives and neighbors, then learned from Yang Laoliu that he had once surveilled Zhou Bin, an alias used by the Chairman’s younger brother, Zemin. Their conversation also raised new questions about a rumored treasure, and Li Long returned home near midnight to find everyone waiting for him.

• Li Long paid Sun Jiaqiang for the day’s work, warned him to keep the door bolted against wolves, and returned to the Big Courtyard with meat and fritillaria.
• Li Long delivered wild boar meat to Liang Donglou and his family, then brought another boar to his eldest brother’s household and left meat for Uncle Lao Luo.
• At Uncle Lao Luo’s home, Li Long heard Yang Laoliu recount his former work surveilling a man named Zhou Bin.
• Li Long told Yang Laoliu and Uncle Lao Luo that Zhou Bin was an alias for Zemin, shocking both men.
• Yang Laoliu recalled leaving his post in 1941 and discussed Sheng Shicai, Jin Shuren, and rumors about missing treasury gold.
• Li Long drove home near midnight and found everyone in the Big Courtyard still waiting for him.

Yang Laoliu fled the Fourth Team after fearing Li Long might report his past, while Li Long bought knives for Herb Gatherers and arranged the delivery of Taibazi to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. After a long day of trading, inspection, and hauling, Li Long returned home after one in the morning to find the courtyard light still on.

• Yang Laoliu left the Fourth Team in the night, and Lao Luo realized two days later that he had fled; Yang Laoliu returned two months afterward when nothing had happened.
• Li Long reassured Gu Xiaoxia that he would stay home once his busy spell ended, then bought twenty sharpened knives at the Free Market.
• Li Long gave Sun Jiaqiang a knife, and Herb Gatherers eagerly traded Fritillaria for more knives at the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long inspected the Taibazi woven by He Yuqing and the others, paid them, and arranged for workers to help load and unload the goods.
• Li Long and the workers delivered the Taibazi to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then he drove the men back to Qingshui River Village and returned home after one in the morning.

Li Long finished the taibazi project ahead of schedule and arranged for the workers to help dig a sheep-dipping pool at Harimu’s winter camp. After continuing to trade for fritillaria, he set out to hunt in a new part of the mountains.

• Bolati told Li Long that many people were digging fritillaria in the mountains, explaining the large daily supply he had been receiving.
• The taibazi workers completed their work on May 20, and Li Long offered them a day of paid work digging a sheep-dipping pool before arranging fritillaria gathering as an alternative.
• Li Long took Li Jianguo and Xie Yundong to Harimu’s winter camp, where they chose a site for the pool and discussed how to line it against water seepage.
• Li Long warned the other workers about bears and wolves after some went exploring in the gullies, while Sun Jiaqiang continued collecting fritillaria at the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long traded goods for more fritillaria and then drove toward Jade Mountain River’s winter camp to hunt, deciding he would not let a brown bear escape if he encountered one.

Li Long explored an unfamiliar stretch of Heavenly Mountain, discovered ancient stone ruins containing gold rings and a gilded statue, then hunted a red deer and a gray wolf. He returned to Small White Poplar Gully with the animals to prepare meat for the camp.

• Li Long crossed several mountains toward a high peak and came across an abandoned stone settlement in a broad gully.
• Li Long searched the ruins and found three gold rings and a finely made statue of a woman riding a tiger.
• Li Long spotted gray wolves chasing two red deer, shot one deer and one wolf, and carried both back to his Jeep.
• Li Long drove to Small White Poplar Gully, where Lao Huang and Jia Weidong helped him process the deer and wolf for the camp's meals.

Li Long encountered a woman slashing a herb gatherer who had been harassing her, then learned the next day that a wolf attack had killed a man gathering fritillaria. He warned the others to be careful in the mountains as work continued.

• Li Jianguo taught Liang Wenyu and the other young men how to dig fritillaria, then joined Li Long's group for a meal after Li Long returned with a red deer and wolf.
• Li Long came upon a woman escaping a herb gatherer; she cut his arm with a knife and fled with her bag, leaving another bag of fritillaria behind.
• Li Long took the abandoned fritillaria to the Wooden Cabin, then brought meat and the gathered herbs home and told his family about the ruins and gold objects he had found.
• The next day, Bolati told Li Long that a forest patrol had found a herb gatherer's body in Elm Tree Gully, mauled by wolves.
• Li Long realized the dead man was probably the injured gatherer he had encountered and listened as Bolati warned him to be cautious in the mountains.

Li Long showed Sun Jiaqiang how to find morels, then traded knives and dried noodles with two herb gatherers before checking the sheep-washing pool at Harimu's Winter Camp. He helped feed the workers by grilling meat, and the chapter ended with him enjoying Lao Huang's pilaf during their break.

• Bolati warned Li Long and Sun Jiaqiang that the mountains held dangerous people, and Li Long decided to keep selling knives until fritillaria season ended.
• Li Long led Sun Jiaqiang into the woods, showed him how to spot morels, and continued gathering them after Sun Jiaqiang returned to trading fritillaria.
• Li Long traded five knives and dried noodles to two herb gatherers, then reminded Sun Jiaqiang to secure the cabin at night.
• Li Long drove to Harimu's Winter Camp, where Li Jianguo and the workers had built more than half of the sheep-washing pool.
• Li Long grilled meat for the workers, who took a break from building the pool and repairing the Winter Camp.
• Li Long ate Lao Huang's pilaf with Li Jianguo, Lu Yingming, and the others.

Li Long helped an injured herb gatherer but refused his demand for compensation, then bought fritillaria seized by Bolati and another forest ranger. After inspecting the completed sheep-dipping pool and repaired winter camp at Small White Poplar Gully, Li Long drove to the County Seat to unload the valuable herbs.

• Li Long gave a hungry, injured herb gatherer a steamed bun, but refused to compensate him for being robbed after the man blamed Li Long for selling knives to his attackers.
• When Bolati and another forest ranger arrived with four sacks of confiscated fritillaria, Li Long bought the half-dried herbs at six yuan per kilogram and arranged for his brother and others to dig nearby the next day.
• Li Long saw that Li Jianguo and the others had finished the sheep-dipping pool and repaired Harimu's Winter Camp.
• Li Long loaded the fritillaria into his vehicle and drove to the County Seat to unload it.

Li Long learned that the county Purchasing Stations would close at the end of the year and then went into the mountains to gather morels. There he shot one of two suspicious men in the leg, and the captured man’s answers shocked him.

• Li Long prepared for Gu Xiaoxia’s upcoming leave and birth while finishing his fritillaria and taibazi work.
• Li Long sold forty-two kilograms of first-grade fritillaria for 2,084 yuan after the purchase price rose.
• Chen Hongjun told Li Long the Purchasing Stations would close at the end of the year and offered to introduce him to private buyers.
• Li Jianguo, Lu Yingming, and the others searched nearby gullies for fritillaria while Li Long visited Sun Jiaqiang at the Small Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long confronted two men hiding in the woods, fired at one who fled, and ordered the other to help bandage the wounded man.
• Li Long questioned the captured man and was shocked by what he learned.

Li Long captured two robbers who had been targeting people trading and digging fritillaria, then found their stash of stolen goods. He brought the haul back toward the Small Wooden Cabin and planned to negotiate with Bolati over how much of the fritillaria would be kept as evidence.

• The wounded robber confessed that he and his partner had robbed fritillaria diggers and revealed where they had hidden the stolen goods.
• Li Long marched the robbers back to the cabin, where Bolati arrived, inspected the wound, and took both men away.
• Li Long warned Sun Jiaqiang to be careful, then drove to the stash and found seven sacks of fritillaria along with traded goods, money, and digging tools.
• Li Long moved the haul to his Jeep and told the fritillaria diggers about the robbers over lunch at Small White Poplar Gully.
• Li Long drove back toward the Small Wooden Cabin to meet Bolati and discuss keeping part of the stolen fritillaria.

Li Long dealt with the stolen fritillaria and waited several days for Bolati, who eventually explained that the two robbers had attacked him and were killed. Li Long reassured Bolati that he had acted in self-defense, and Bolati chose to take money for the recovered fritillaria.

• Li Long traded goods with herb gatherers, kept part of the recovered fritillaria, and arranged for tractors to bring his eldest brother and the other workers home from Small White Poplar Gully.
• Li Long returned to the Wooden Cabin and told Gu Xiaoxia about the robbers, then helped lead the workers’ return the next morning.
• Li Long gathered morels and caught fish while Bolati remained absent for several days, and the herb-gathering season began to wind down.
• Bolati arrived and told Li Long that the two robbers had taken his gun and tried to shoot him, so he stabbed one and shot the other; both died.
• Li Long suggested the robbers had feared exposure for earlier crimes and reassured Bolati that he had done nothing wrong.
• Bolati declined to return the recovered fritillaria to the Forestry Team and asked Li Long to give him money instead.

Li Long settled Bolati’s concerns, completed most of his mountain trading, and counted the profits from fritillaria and Taibazi. As fritillaria season ended, he left Sun Jiaqiang to choose whether to keep picking mushrooms or leave the mountains.

• Li Long gave Bolati two thousand yuan, kept most of it safe for him, and reassured Sun Jiaqiang that Bolati’s hostility came from the robbers who had attacked him.
• Sun Jiaqiang cooked pilaf for a mountain trader, who paid with fritillaria and exchanged more of it for supplies.
• Li Long returned home with three sacks of fritillaria and calculated that his Taibazi and fritillaria sales had earned him enough to consider buying a Daihatsu van.
• Liang Wenyu returned home with fritillaria he had dug, while villagers who had woven Taibazi asked him for more work and Du Haihua accepted a commission to find wheat-harvesting customers.
• Li Long told Sun Jiaqiang that fritillaria season was over and left him supplies, advising him to pick mushrooms or leave the mountains as he preferred.

Li Long balanced his fritillaria business, arranged a trip to Kuytun to bring back more harvesters, and prepared for Gu Xiaoxia’s approaching delivery. His family came to visit her, and Liang Yuemei immediately suspected she was carrying twins.

• Li Long bought Sun Jiaqiang’s morels, brought supplies to the Pastoral Team families, and learned that black tiger’s paw mushrooms fetched less than he had expected.
• Li Long calculated that selling nearly a ton of fritillaria had brought in about fifty thousand yuan, and he planned to share some money with Bolati for protecting him.
• As farmers crowded Li Long to buy harvesters, he arranged with Ma Team Leader to use two Transport Company trucks for a run to Kuytun.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei decided to visit Gu Xiaoxia and planned for Liang Yuemei to help care for her after the birth.
• The Li family arrived at Li Long’s courtyard with food and supplies, and Liang Yuemei noticed Gu Xiaoxia’s unusually large belly and asked if she was carrying twins.

As Gu Xiaoxia approached childbirth with twins, the Li family visited her and agreed she should deliver at Stone City No. 2 Hospital, with Liang Yuemei helping during her confinement. Li Long planned to travel to Kuytun for harvesters but promised to put family first if anything happened.

• At the General Store, Ma Jinbao mocked the Li family for visiting Gu Xiaoxia, but Tao Dayong defended them and said he would visit after the birth.
• Tao Dayong returned to tending his twenty mu of watermelon fields, hopeful that the crop would bring his family prosperity.
• Li Jianguo drove his family to Li Long's courtyard, where they learned Gu Xiaoxia was carrying twins and Liang Yuemei offered to help during her confinement.
• Li Long told the family he planned to take Gu Xiaoxia to Stone City No. 2 Hospital shortly before her due date, and they agreed.
• After the family shared a meal, Li Long mentioned his plan to haul harvesters from Kuytun, and Li Jianguo told him to put Gu Xiaoxia and the family first.

Li Long collected twenty harvesters from the Kuytun Farm Machinery Factory and discussed with Factory Director Du why the factory’s other farm machines were not selling. He continued selling harvesters until he took Gu Xiaoxia to Stone City Hospital for childbirth, where she was admitted and their family prepared to wait for the baby.

• Li Long traveled to Kuytun with two trucks, inspected twenty harvesters, and completed the purchase with Factory Director Du.
• Li Long explained that corn shellers and small-plot plows were not urgent necessities for most households, and declined Factory Director Du’s offer to become a technical consultant.
• Li Long returned to the courtyard, where Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, and the others unloaded the harvesters before everyone shared a meal prepared by Sister Yang.
• Li Long sold one or two harvesters a day as customers came to collect them.
• Li Long took Gu Xiaoxia to Stone City Hospital and had her admitted, then brought his elder sister-in-law to help while the family waited for the birth.

As Gu Xiaoxia neared the birth of her twins, Li Long stayed by her in the Stone City hospital while neighbors and family prepared gifts for the babies. The chapter ended when Gu Xiaoxia went into labor and Li Long rushed her back to the ward for a nurse.

• Yang Pingping sewed baby clothes for Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia’s twins, grateful for the work and prosperity Li Long had brought to the Fourth Team.
• Li Long told a fellow expectant father that he and Gu Xiaoxia had chosen names for their twins: Junming and Junwei for boys, or Junjing and Junchan for girls.
• Li Qingxia decided to return home in autumn to make sure the younger generation’s names were added to the Li family genealogy, and Li Jianguo agreed to help arrange the trip.
• Meng Hai arrived at the Big Courtyard with two bags of food and baby gifts for Li Long’s family, then left them with Sister Yang.
• Gu Xiaoxia felt a contraction while walking with Li Long at the hospital, and Li Long hurried her back to the ward and called for a nurse.