Recaps

Li Long began supporting his family by hunting, fishing, and trading with herders, while bringing Tao Daqiang along on winter trips for wood and livestock. He returned with supplies and mutton, and asked Xu Chengjun to help find ration coupons for a bicycle or sewing machine.

• Li Long refused Gu Ermao’s loan request, helped his family with coal money, and began feeding Li Juan and Li Qiang with sparrows and Gugu Chickens he caught.
• Li Long agreed to break up with Wu Shufen, then caught fish at Little Haizi with Tao Daqiang and brought some home for his family and Captain Xu.
• Li Long borrowed a horse and cart from Xu Chengjun, sold a water rat pelt, and traveled with Tao Daqiang to the winter camp in the mountains.
• Li Long traded with Harimu for fallen wood, a frozen sheep, and antlers, then sold the antlers and returned to the village with his haul.
• Li Long shared mutton with Tao Daqiang’s family and Xu Chengjun, while Tao Jianshe struck Tao Daqiang and demanded more from him.
• Li Long returned to Harimu’s camp with supplies and ammunition, received two frozen sheep, coal, wood, antlers, and knucklebones, and sold the antlers in town.
• Li Long gave Tao Daqiang a share of the timber and mutton, brought the remaining supplies home, and asked Xu Chengjun to find ration coupons for a bicycle or sewing machine.

Li Long turned fishing into a profitable business, then joined Harimu on a wild-boar hunt while trouble grew around Tao Daqiang, Tao Dayong, and Gu Ermao. He returned with two boars, reassured his family, and began selling the meat while planning ahead for the family’s farming needs.

• Li Long made a sled with Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang, caught fish at Little Haizi, and sold them in the county and Stone City for a strong profit.
• Li Long gave Tao Daqiang a share of the earnings, but Tao Daqiang refused his father’s demand to share his supplies with Tao Dayong, and Li Long later decided to fish without him.
• Li Long traveled to Harimu’s Winter Camp with flour, received river jade from Harimu and Jade Mountain River, and borrowed Jade Mountain River’s rifle for a wild-boar hunt.
• Li Long and Harimu shot boars, and Li Long killed a second one as the herd scattered before they hauled both carcasses to the cart.
• Tao Daqiang and Tao Dayong sold fish at the Black Market, but a raid caught Tao Dayong and left him facing a fifty-yuan fine while Tao Daqiang escaped.
• Li Long arranged to sell the boars’ meat and stomachs to Chen Hongjun, while rumors spread that he had been arrested and Li Jianguo lent Tao Daqiang money for the fine.
• Li Long returned home with the boars, repaid Li Jianguo’s loan to Tao Daqiang, and urged his family to save for spring farming needs.
• Li Long and his neighbors butchered the boars, and he proposed selling the meat or trading it for rifle ammunition as the family hosted a feast.

Li Long expanded his trade from fish and jade to game and livestock, while supporting his family and building ties with Harimu and Jade Mountain River. The arc ended with Li Long considering a deal to sell sheep and being invited to inspect an old man's courtyard house in Stone City.

• Li Long sold wild boar meat to visitors, set snares at Red Willow Flats, and caught five rabbits with Li Qiang and Li Juan.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo caught fish at Little Haizi, while Li Long settled his debt with Tao Daqiang and hired him for five yuan per trip.
• Li Long sold jade in Wu City for 956 yuan, bought supplies for his family, and returned to sell fish in Stone City with Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long brought food and supplies to Harimu's winter camp, accepted jade and antler gifts, and joined Harimu in a night hunt that left two wolves dead.
• Li Long and Harimu pursued wild boars and brought back two, which Li Long sold and shared with his family and neighbors.
• Li Long exchanged wild boar meat for ration coupons, gave meat to Li Juan's maternal grandfather's family, and lent Gu Xiaoxia twenty yuan while urging her to study for a teaching exam.
• Li Long sold fish and bought food and supplies, then delivered gifts to Harimu and Jade Mountain River, who gave him a roe deer and sheep for the New Year.
• Li Long sold mutton through cooperative employees and met purchasing chief Li Xiangqian, who offered to buy at least ten sheep if they met his standards.
• Li Long worried that Li Xiangqian's price might not suit him or his herder friends, then heard the old fish customer offer to sell him a courtyard house for five hundred yuan and agreed to inspect it.

Li Long bought a courtyard house, built up his trading business, and celebrated the New Year with his family. He then turned to hunting, selling wild boar and bringing home more game and antlers to sell.

• Li Long bought Old Ma’s courtyard house for five hundred yuan and arranged to take possession after Ma Mengqi had packed.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold fish and sheep to buyers in Stone City and Ma County, then brought sheep offal home to sell.
• Li Long hunted Mongolian gazelles with Harimu and Jade Mountain River, traded the meat to villagers, and kept the horns.
• Li Long took his family to the County Town, bought Li Juan a pencil case and fountain pen, and purchased a sewing machine for the household.
• Li Long celebrated the New Year with his family and visited the Liang family, where he discussed hunting and possible land allocation with Liang Donglou.
• After fish sales slowed, Li Long bought a bicycle and went hunting with Harimu, shooting two wild boars and selling their meat at the markets.
• Li Long returned to the mountains with Harimu, shot snowcocks and a roe deer, and brought home the roe deer and red deer antlers to sell.