Recaps

Li Long discussed his inventions and agricultural mechanization with Jiang Zhiyu during an interview, then returned home and began experimenting with dried meat. A call from a leader’s secretary praised Li Long’s decision to help the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and invited him to meet the leader in Yanjing.

• Du Chunfang complained to Li Qingxia that Li Anguo’s and Chen Xingbang’s families had brought little for the New Year and left with too much, while Li Qingxia urged her not to dwell on it.
• Liang Yuemei told Gu Xiaoxia about Li Long receiving New Year money as a teenager, and the two women chatted warmly as Li Juan and Li Qiang took Mingming and Haohao out to play.
• Li Long told Jiang Zhiyu how he designed the snow-clearing machine, cleared a mountain road for herders, and viewed the future of agricultural mechanization, while sharing only part of what he knew.
• Li Long drove Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao home, checked on his animals and greenhouse, and decided to experiment with making seasoned dried meat for storage and sale.
• Li Long received a call from a leader’s secretary praising his decision to help fulfill the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s quota and saying the leader wanted to meet him in Yanjing and try more dried meat.

Li Long and his coworkers reopened the Purchasing Station to a rush of sellers, while he considered turning his homemade jerky into a business after learning Huang Lei saw a market for it. Just as Li Long discussed making a batch with Harimu and the others in the mountains, a heavy snowfall struck again.

• Li Long, Gu Boyuan, Sun Jiaqiang, and Liang Shuangcheng reopened the Purchasing Station and bought large quantities of hides and medicinal herbs from a long line of sellers.
• Li Long told Gu Boyuan he had made several kinds of jerky from the meat left at home, and he and Gu Xiaoxia discussed whether Sister Yang could sell it as a business.
• Sun Jiaqiang hosted a dinner to thank Li Long and celebrate the New Year, where Tie Lanhua explained that she had begun cooking pork for her husband.
• The Purchasing Station stayed busy for days, spending more than ten thousand yuan each day until visitor numbers began to decline on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month.
• Li Long contacted Huang Lei, learned there was a market for jerky, and went to the mountains to discuss making a batch with Harimu and the others as a heavy snowfall began.

Li Long arranged to trade supplies for cattle and sheep at Harimu's Winter Camp and worried that heavy snow would make this year's floods dangerous for Little Haizi. He gathered seasonings for a large batch of dried meat and continued searching the market for cumin, leaving the seasoning shop still ahead.

• Li Long asked Harimu's households for slaughtered cattle and sheep, and Jade Mountain River arranged a contribution of a hundred sheep and ten cattle.
• Li Long considered widening the diversion channels around Little Haizi to protect it from the coming floods and preserve its large fish.
• Li Long bought seasonings at the Department Store, where Xiao Liu supplied Sister Zhang with stock information and fetched goods from the storeroom.
• Li Long met Zhong Guoqiang at the state-run restaurant and agreed to leave him some dried meat to recommend to customers.
• Li Long drove to the market to find more cumin, passed the former purchasing station and a nang bakery, and followed the scent of seasonings.

Li Long bought seasonings, arranged a mountain supply exchange, and worked with Sister Yang to make and test batches of dried meat. The product won praise from tasters, and after mailing gifts to contacts in Yanjing, Li Long waited for Huang Lei while Zhao Hui arrived to discuss hides and inspect the meat.

• Li Long bought cumin and seasonings, then hired two trucks and purchased supplies to take to Harimu Winter Camp.
• Li Long exchanged the supplies for beef and mutton, brought the meat back to the Big Courtyard, and unloaded it with help from the drivers.
• Li Long and Sister Yang made dried meat, adjusted the seasoning after tasters found the first batch too spicy, and produced more than two hundred kilos over five days.
• Li Long shared samples with the Purchasing Station, Police Station, Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and other contacts, receiving praise for the meat's flavor.
• Li Long sent dried meat to the Autonomous Region Ethnic Affairs Commission's Beijing Office and Gu Xiaoyu, then waited for Huang Lei to visit.
• Zhao Hui arrived to buy winter hides and see the dried meat Li Long had made.

Li Long expanded his jerky business through large orders from Zhao Hui and Huang Lei while paying his workers and partners. He then traveled to Beiting with jerky and greenhouse vegetables for Director Qian, who praised the snack and took it home.

• Zhao Hui sampled Li Long's jerky, ordered 330 kilograms, and bought more than 1,400 hides after inspecting them at the warehouse.
• Li Long paid Sister Yang 200 yuan for her work, gave Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng 100 yuan each, and gave Gu Boyuan 5,000 yuan.
• Huang Lei transferred 4,000 yuan for an assortment of jerky, and Li Long agreed to gather customer feedback.
• Li Long reassured Gu Xiaoxia about workplace gossip, and she told him she was finishing her Radio and TV University assignments and planned to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• Li Long drove to Beiting with jerky and greenhouse produce for Director Qian, who tried the cumin flavor, praised it, and took the bag home.

Li Long discussed his winter greenhouse and dried-meat business with Director Qian, then met Chen Hongjun and urged him to leave his idle office job to start a purchasing station. Chen Hongjun considered the opportunity but remained unsure whether he could give up his secure position.

• Li Long explained his greenhouse methods and dried-meat sales plans to Director Qian, who considered whether greenhouse cultivation could be promoted.
• Li Long delivered goods to Director Wei, then waited for Chen Hongjun and went with him to eat.
• Chen Hongjun told Li Long that his office job felt pointless, and Li Long suggested several businesses he could start.
• Chen Hongjun showed interest in opening a purchasing station, but worried about raising the capital and giving up his iron rice bowl.
• Li Long offered to lend Chen Hongjun money and advised him on getting started, while Chen Hongjun remained hesitant about making the decision.

Chen Hongjun decided to prepare to open a purchasing station after weighing the risks, finding a courtyard, and gaining his wife's support. Li Long returned to the Fourth Team and persuaded team leader Xu Chengjun to protect Little Haizi from spring floods, with Xu affirming that the reservoir belonged to the whole team.

• Chen Hongjun considered leaving his secure job, and a former colleague's complaints helped him imagine opening a purchasing station of his own.
• Chen Hongjun searched for a suitable courtyard, checked the business procedures, and learned why the previous purchasing station had failed.
• Chen Hongjun's wife supported his plan, and ten days after Li Long left, he decided to prepare a purchasing station without immediately taking unpaid leave.
• Li Long visited Xu Chengjun to warn that melting snow could damage Little Haizi's North Dam and proposed clearing flood channels and reinforcing the dam.
• Xu Chengjun said the Fourth Team would protect Little Haizi without charging Li Long because the reservoir benefited the entire team.

Li Long visited his family, urged them to prepare Little Haizi’s flood-control canals, and reassured Li Juan and Li Qiang about their studies. He then agreed to invest in Chen Hongjun’s plan to open a purchasing station in Beiting, leaving them to proceed with the venture on a thirty-percent stake for Li Long.

• Xu Chengjun heard a radio report about the snow-clearing machine and realized Li Long had designed it.
• Li Long visited his family and urged Li Jianguo to widen and clear Little Haizi’s flood-control canals after spring began; Li Qingxia offered to pay for fuel.
• Li Long told Li Juan and Li Qiang to balance their studies with time to play, easing Li Juan’s worries about the advanced materials.
• Chen Hongjun asked Li Long to invest in a Beiting purchasing station and offered him a share of the business.
• Li Long offered twenty thousand yuan for a thirty-percent stake and said he would help Chen Hongjun find buyers and choose what to purchase.

Chen Hongjun opened the Red Army Purchasing Station with Li Long’s investment and learned how quickly the business could grow, while former colleagues sought to join or find investors. As Chen Hongjun’s trade expanded, Xu Chengjun organized the Fourth Team to prepare its canals for the coming snowmelt floods.

• Chen Hongjun and Li Long agreed on a thirty-five-percent share for Li Long’s twenty-thousand-yuan investment, signed a contract, and discussed how to run the purchasing station.
• Chen Hongjun rented a yard, completed the paperwork, hired Huo Bing, and opened the Red Army Purchasing Station, where sellers accepted his prices for pelts and medicinal herbs.
• Chen Hongjun rejected a former colleague’s request to join without investing money, then explained the business to his colleagues and agreed to pass along a request for Li Long to invest in another station.
• Li Long declined to fund another purchasing station and told Chen Hongjun to turn down similar requests, while Chen Hongjun reported that his daily purchases were growing.
• By late February, Chen Hongjun’s daily turnover had reached nearly two thousand yuan, and he prepared for Zhao Hui to collect a batch of pelts before the snowmelt.
• Xu Chengjun relayed the township’s flood-prevention orders to the Fourth Team’s villagers’ representatives and instructed them to clear residential canals and reopen blocked outlets.

Xu Chengjun enforced communal flood-prevention work and silenced Xu Youdao’s objection to protecting Little Haizi. Meanwhile, Li Long expanded dried-meat production and sales, while Chen Hongjun sold his hides to Zhao Hui and recovered his investment.

• Xu Chengjun ordered every household to help clear canals and protect Little Haizi, and threatened to deny benefits to anyone who refused.
• Li Jianguo confronted Xu Youdao for questioning the shared work, and Xu Chengjun explained that the Team owned Little Haizi and depended on its water and Li Long’s business connections.
• Li Long brought cattle and sheep down from the mountains, organized dried-meat production, and prepared packaged goods bearing the Old Li Family name.
• Zhao Hui praised Li Long’s production setup, ordered dried meat and meat bones, and arranged to take photographs to promote the product.
• Zhao Hui bought Chen Hongjun’s cleaned hides for more than twenty thousand yuan, allowing Chen Hongjun to recover his investment and feel reassured about his business decision.

As thawing roads made mountain livestock difficult to reach, Li Long arranged for the Fourth Team to help slaughter his cattle and sheep so he could supply the growing demand for dried meat. The villagers eagerly joined in, and the first meat was sent to Sister Yang at the Big Courtyard for processing.

• Li Long visited Old Ma's Place, discussed the demand for dried meat with Uncle Lao Luo, and decided to slaughter his own livestock while mountain roads and the livestock market were inaccessible.
• Li Long recruited households from the Fourth Team to help slaughter cattle and sheep, offering them offal in return, and his family supported the plan.
• Li Long notified villagers and arranged preparations at Old Ma's Place while Uncle Lao Luo's group cleared muddy work areas.
• Li Long arrived the next day to find dozens of villagers already helping, encouraged by the chance to receive offal and by the Li family's past support for the team.
• Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong prepared to deliver the day's butchered meat to the Big Courtyard, where Sister Yang and two casual workers were waiting.

A severe flood tested Little Haizi's North Dam Line, Reed Gully Bridge, and the nearby settlements, while Li Long helped contain a breach in the Dry Canal. Little Haizi and the bridge held, the water receded, and Li Long returned home with crucian carp as the family prepared to share their meal.

• A sudden flood rushed toward Little Haizi, and Li Long drove there with an iron spade to inspect the dam and flood-control canals.
• Li Long found Little Haizi's water close to the top of the North Dam Line, but the reinforced dam showed no signs of seepage or collapse as the water level stabilized.
• Xu Chengjun reported that water had overtopped Reed Gully Bridge and threatened the road, so he led people to reinforce the bridge and check on the schoolchildren.
• Li Long returned to the settlement, then took Tietou to clear branches blocking the Dry Canal and filled the breach that had sent floodwater into the lanes.
• The water receded, and Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia reported that Little Haizi and Reed Gully Bridge had held; Li Qiang brought home crucian carp stranded by the flood.
• Li Long ate fish soup with his family, took cleaned crucian carp back for Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao, and returned to the Big Courtyard, where dried meat still hung around the yard.

After the flood, Li Long saw the damage to three poorly built reservoirs and watched people gather stranded fish, then considered how to keep his dried-meat business supplied without buying more livestock himself. He asked Chen Xingbang to become his meat supplier, but Chen declined to leave his secure Food Factory job, and Li Long continued down Old Street toward Ke Youmu's milk tea shop.

• Li Long heard that the flood had breached all three reservoirs in East Big Ditch, and he recalled that a later flood would destroy them again and wash away their fish.
• Li Qingxia returned with seven or eight kilograms of fish from the canals, and Li Long saw schoolchildren catching stranded fish in Reed Gully.
• After Huang Lei and Zhao Hui asked for more dried meat, Li Long decided to seek a regular meat supplier and went to Old Street to ask Chen Xingbang.
• Chen Xingbang gave Li Long meat for Mingming and Haohao, then declined the supply business because he valued his secure Food Factory position.
• Li Long left Chen Xingbang's stall carrying the meat and went into Ke Youmu's milk tea shop.

Li Long recruited Ke Youmu to supply beef and mutton for his growing dried-meat business, and Ke Youmu arranged to buy and process the first large batch. After returning home, Li Long told Sister Yang to prepare for the delivery and turned his attention to obtaining a food hygiene permit.

• Li Long asked Ke Youmu to supply meat from a hundred sheep and ten cattle every two weeks, and Ke Youmu agreed after learning Li Long's reputation and visiting his courtyard.
• Ke Youmu planned to finance the purchase through a livestock farmer, arranged slaughterers and buyers for the hides, bones, and offal, and agreed to begin slaughtering the next day.
• Li Long introduced Ke Youmu to Sister Yang and drove him to the bus station, where Ke Youmu left for Stone City to organize the deal.
• Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard and told Sister Yang that the first meat delivery might arrive the next day or the day after.
• Sister Yang reconsidered opening a restaurant after comparing its uncertain income and long hours with her earnings from making dried meat.
• Li Long began thinking about obtaining a food hygiene permit.

Li Long secured Ke Youmu as a reliable supplier of beef and mutton, then arranged for local men to help raise and slaughter additional livestock as his dried-meat business grew. He postponed the livestock purchase after Li Xiangqian called him to discuss restarting mountain roadwork, and began considering buying a separate courtyard for production.

• Ke Youmu delivered Li Long's beef and mutton over three days, and Li Long paid him promptly at market prices; Ke Youmu expected to earn most of his profit from the hides, bones, and offal.
• Li Long visited Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong about supplying meat, but Tao declined to become involved and Xie preferred to protect their relationship by helping with slaughtering instead of becoming a business partner.
• Li Long agreed with Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng to buy cattle and sheep at the Livestock Market and have local men help slaughter them when needed.
• Li Xiangqian asked Li Long to plan the next stage of mountain road construction, and Li Long advised waiting until the wet ground had dried before sending workers up.
• Li Xiangqian offered the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's warehouse for Li Long's dried-meat production, but Li Long said he preferred to buy a courtyard and agreed to look for one in North City.
• Li Long postponed the next day's livestock purchase until the day after so he could first handle the roadwork discussion and investigate production premises.

Li Long bought nearly a thousand sheep for Old Ma's Place, arranged for them to be processed, and purchased a nearby courtyard for dried-meat production. Just as he prepared to head into the mountains, Jia Tianlong arrived with his pregnant wife to pray to the jade for a son and apologize for his dealings with Sun Benchuan.

• Li Long rejected a cheap flock of sheep after spotting skin disease, then bought two healthy herds and later purchased another 382 young, thin sheep.
• Li Long and his companions drove the livestock back to Old Ma's Place, where Yang Laoliu and Uncle Lao Luo divided the sheep into two herds and hired women to shear them and comb out cashmere.
• Li Long inspected two courtyards listed by the Housing Management Office and bought the older, larger one to use for dried-meat production.
• Li Long hired bricklayers to alter the new courtyard and had Sister Yang oversee the work, then planned to head into the mountains.
• Jia Tianlong arrived with his pregnant wife and child to pay respects to the jade, apologize for Sun Benchuan's deception, and pray that his second child would be a boy.
• Jia Tianlong gave Li Long ginseng, rhinoceros horn, patent medicine, and medicinal liquor as offerings, leaving Li Long embarrassed about finding a return gift.

Li Long arranged spring road repairs after learning the mountain roads had mostly dried, then visited the winter camp and inspected the pastoralists’ new hides and animal remains. He confirmed that work would begin the next day and coordinated the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s visit for the day after.

• Jia Tianlong and his wife visited to worship Li Long’s jade, and Mingming and Haohao guessed that their baby would be a boy before receiving money from Jia.
• Li Long met Meng Hai, agreed to hire the team to repair washed-out road sections, and told him to begin preparing the workers.
• Li Long drove into the mountains, where he found the roads dry and met pastoralists gathering to bathe their sheep at Harimu Winter Camp.
• Harimu showed Li Long wolf pelts, deer antlers, and a Siberian ibex skull, while pastoralists shared news about recent encounters with wolves and wild boars.
• Li Long discussed the road repairs with Jade Mountain River and Harimu, then returned to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to arrange for its workers to join the project the day after tomorrow.
• Li Xiangqian asked for the ibex skull, and Li Long handed it over before preparing to organize wages and meals for the roadwork.

Li Long accompanied Li Xiangqian, Ma Xiaoyan, and Supply and Marketing Cooperative staff into the mountains to repair flood-damaged sections of the road. Workers discovered two pieces of jade and a piece of agate along the way, and the chapter ended as everyone stopped for lunch.

• Li Long drove Li Xiangqian and Ma Xiaoyan into the mountains, where they joined Meng Hai and the villagers repairing the washed-out road.
• Li Xiangqian organized the cooperative staff to help mend the road and reinforce its edge with large rocks.
• Li Fengxia found a piece of Ma River jade in the shallows, and Li Long identified it and stored it in his vehicle.
• Li Long and Li Xiangqian arranged a makeshift water-crossing road surface, where another worker uncovered a smaller, higher-quality piece of jade.
• The workers continued repairing the road, and a villager found a large piece of agate before Li Xiangqian called everyone to wash up and eat lunch.

Li Long oversaw road construction, arranged another large meat delivery, and took Mingming and Haohao into the mountains. The chapter ended when Haohao found a good jade pebble and Mingming spotted a herd of wild boar piglets, several of which were pushed into the river.

• Meng Hai warned the villagers not to neglect roadwork to search for jade, while Li Long explained that jade was common in the region but finding it was a matter of luck.
• The cooperative workers and villagers built more than a kilometer of road, and Li Xiangqian turned away newcomers who had signed up only after hearing that people had found jade.
• Li Long paid Meng Hai and Harimu, then later ordered Ke Youmu to deliver boned meat from two hundred sheep and twenty cattle within a week.
• Li Long brought Mingming and Haohao to the worksite and let them play along the riverbank, where Haohao uncovered a fine jade pebble.
• Mingming spotted seven or eight wild boar piglets across the river, and several were pushed into the water when the herd panicked.

Li Long protected Mingming and Haohao when a family of wild boars came to the river, then caught seven piglets and helped recover a half-grown boar. He brought the children and piglets home, where he decided to keep the piglets temporarily and promised to take the boys into the mountains again.

• Li Long scared off two adult sows with a gunshot while their piglets fell into the river, then caught seven piglets as Mingming and Haohao watched and helped.
• Hu Xinjun and Liu Zhigang searched the opposite bank and found the half-grown boar Li Long had shot.
• Li Long led the children back to the worksite, where the villagers cooked the boar and Meng Hai discussed looking for jade in the gully.
• Li Long waited for Mingming and Haohao to wake, packed the piglets into sacks, and drove home after agreeing to take the boys back the next day.
• Li Long washed and changed the muddy children, then put the hungry piglets in the greenhouse and planned to decide whether to keep them or take them to Old Ma's Place.

Li Long built his partnership with Ke Youmu while roadwork advanced and herders moved camp, then resumed buying hides and medicinal herbs from the Forestry Team. The chapter ended with Li Long returning to the Fourth Team to find his brother Li Jianguo thriving as the village’s most sought-after tractor operator.

• Ke Youmu delivered five hundred kilograms of beef and mutton and cattle and sheep offal, then helped cook the offal for Li Long and his family.
• Gu Boyuan scolded Li Long for taking Mingming and Haohao into the mountains, so Li Long kept the children near the roadwork site in the following days.
• Harimu, Jade Mountain River, and the other herders moved camp using the newly extended road to haul supplies, while spring roadwork ended as farmers returned to their fields.
• Bolati gave Li Long the first batch of fritillaria and asked him to visit the Forestry Team to buy its stored hides and bring supplies.
• Li Long returned to the Purchasing Station and saw that fritillaria buying had begun early, while Chen Hongjun worried about cash flow at his own station.
• Li Long visited the Fourth Team and learned that Li Jianguo had taken most of the local tractor-plowing and sowing work from Wang the Miser.

Li Long visited his family’s fields, then arranged a truck to collect a large batch of goods from Aili’s Forestry Team for thirty-eight thousand yuan. Back at the Purchasing Station, he began organizing the supplies and considered reopening the Wooden Cabin barter point during fritillaria season.

• Li Long found Li Jianguo busy sowing the Team’s fields and delivered him dinner, then heard about the growing interest in reclaiming farmland.
• Li Long returned to the County Seat with fish from Li Qingxia and, finding no rental trucks at the Transport Company, borrowed one from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
• Aili welcomed Li Long at the Forestry Team warehouse, where Li Long bought pelts, medicinal materials, deer antlers, and other goods for thirty-eight thousand yuan.
• Li Long declined Aili’s invitation to drink, then reflected on their friendship as he drove the goods back to the Purchasing Station.
• Li Long assigned Liang Shuangcheng to sort the new supplies and discussed steamed alfalfa with Sister Yang, while considering reopening the Wooden Cabin barter point for fritillaria season.

Wu Bensheng and his nephew Wu Donghai reached Li Long’s reopened Small Wooden Cabin after wolves destroyed their supplies, and traded fritillaria for food and equipment. As Li Long drank with Bolati, Bolati told him he was too focused on making money, leaving Li Long to consider whether he was right.

• Wu Bensheng took Wu Donghai into the mountains to gather fritillaria, and wolves later ruined their supplies.
• Wu Bensheng persuaded Wu Donghai to seek supplies at the Small Wooden Cabin instead of leaving the mountains.
• Wu Bensheng and Wu Donghai found Li Long’s exchange post open, where Bolati had brought fritillaria confiscated at the Mountain Pass.
• Li Long traded the pair food and other supplies for twenty kilograms of fritillaria and let them carry the rest away.
• Li Long settled Mingming and Haohao with food, then shared liquor and offal with Bolati.
• Bolati told Li Long that he did not live happily because he thought only about making money, and Li Long began to reflect on it.

Li Long reflected on Bolati’s carefree outlook while sharing a meal and drinks with him at the mountain cabin. After Bolati fell asleep outside, Li Long helped the injured herb gatherer Mo Linsheng with food, medicine, and borrowed tools, and Mo Linsheng left promising to repay him.

• Bolati told Li Long that people should spend their earnings enjoying life instead of worrying about the future, and Li Long explained that he still had to raise Mingming and Haohao.
• Bolati described his past as a pastoralist and his current work as a forest ranger, then discussed the planned Forestry Bureau with Li Long.
• Li Long stopped Bolati from drinking more, and Bolati slept on a pad outside while Li Long kept watch nearby.
• An injured and hungry Mo Linsheng arrived and told Li Long that robbers had stolen his fritillaria, tools, and supplies.
• Li Long gave Mo Linsheng food and aspirin, then lent him a shovel, rubber shoes, a sack, and matches so he could return to gathering herbs.

Li Long bartered for fritillaria, rescued Mo Linsheng from hunger, and took his children into the mountains to build a shelter. Mo Linsheng returned with fritillaria and injuries after fighting off the men who tried to rob him, just as Bolati arrived at the Wooden Cabin.

• Bolati woke at the Wooden Cabin, promised to bring Li Long more fritillaria, and rode away after Mingming and Haohao asked to ride horses.
• Mo Linsheng dug fritillaria, found shelter for the night, and used a fire to frighten off nearby wolves.
• Li Long returned to town with a large haul of fritillaria, then discussed Mo Linsheng's plight and the children's planned horse ride with Gu Boyuan and Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long took Mingming and Haohao back to the mountains, where they helped him gather wood and build a shelter frame at the Wooden Cabin.
• Mo Linsheng arrived with a sack of fritillaria and wounds, explaining that he had fought off two men who tried to rob him and asking Li Long for more food on credit.
• Bolati arrived at the Wooden Cabin as Li Long offered Mo Linsheng Baiyao for his injuries.