Recaps

Li Long expanded his trade through sugar, vehicles, shoes, and medicinal goods while traveling to Kazakhstan with Liu Shanmin and returning with new business prospects. As winter arrived, he rejoined his family and friends in the Fourth Team, where they prepared for cotton planting and gathered food together.

• Li Long arranged large broom production, sold a shipment to the Prefectural Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and bought Liu Gaolou’s goods while using US dollars to obtain sugar.
• Li Long accepted Liu Shanmin’s offer to handle a small shipment of scrap-declared cars, sold the vehicles locally, and arranged construction of a bridge and floodgate with Zhao Chengfeng and Meng Hai.
• Liu Shanmin advised Li Long that the Soviet Union might collapse, then took him to Kazakhstan, where they sold sugar, hunted gazelles and antelope, and Li Long shot a brown bear.
• Li Long returned home with gifts, sold Bai Xiuming watermelon seeds and shoes, and arranged for Liu Gaolou to transport the shoes to Liu Shanmin in exchange for dollars or scarce goods.
• Li Long bought hides and antelope horns from Liu Gaolou, sold herbs and horns to Jia Tianlong, and paid additional taxes on his profits.
• After heavy snow, Li Long returned to the Fourth Team, spent time with his family, and discussed dibble-sowing cotton with Li Jianguo.
• Li Long took his family to catch sparrows at Old Ma's Place, where they caught nearly two hundred and shared a meal together.
• Li Long led Li Junfeng, Li Jianguo, Li Qingxia, and the children to Reed Gully, where they broke the ice and gathered fish from a shallow canal.

Li Long expanded his cross-border trade in offal, cement, sugar, hides, and vehicles, while taking Li Xiangqian and Director Qian on an inspection and hunting trip and bringing Harimu’s family to Yanjing. As the new year began, he sold more vehicles, organized cotton farming and housing for relatives, and agreed to consider a visit to Ili for Nowruz.

• Li Long sold imported offal and hides, paid his workers and partners, and arranged vehicle deals that included a Volga and cement supplied by Liu Jianhua.
• Li Long took Director Qian and Li Xiangqian across the border with Liu Gaolou, where they completed an inspection visit, hunted antelope and wolves, and returned with goods and antelope horns.
• Li Long arranged trade and travel with the Sugar Factory, then brought Harimu and several children to Yanjing, where they toured the city and he confronted a diner who insulted Ye'erjiang and the other children.
• Li Long returned to Ma County, sold hides and beef products, and learned that the Sugar Factory would offer him wholesale sugar and raise his monthly purchase limit.
• Li Long sold GAZ-69s to buyers who paid with hides and cash, while Liu Gaolou brought more vehicles and cement trade goods and admitted he had accepted his role as a middleman.
• During the 1988 Spring Festival, Li Long urged Li Jianguo and their relatives to plant cotton and bring workers from home, and the family reunited and made plans to build worker housing.
• Li Long continued selling vehicles and hides, helped his relatives prepare for cotton farming and housing, and agreed to visit Ili for Nowruz if his responsibilities allowed.

Li Long expanded his purchasing and farming ventures while helping his community and family, and backed Gu Boyuan’s plan to open a purchasing station in Ili. The stretch ended with Gu Boyuan funded and preparing to leave, while Li Long considered expanding mechanized farming at home.

• Li Long traveled to Jinghe and Yining, bought wolfberry cuttings, went fishing with Liu Gaolou and Wu Yongbo, and celebrated Nauryz with Bek’s relatives.
• Li Long bought hides and other goods at Khorgos, brought a convoy and supplies home, and put his family to work planting wolfberry cuttings.
• Li Long settled accounts with Liu Gaolou, brought Li Qingxia into the County Seat Purchasing Station, and agreed that Gu Boyuan could investigate opening a station in Ili.
• Li Long sought cotton-growing advice from professors, taught residents how to cultivate cotton, and helped improve the Pastoral Team’s school, housing, and water access.
• Li Long sold vehicles and hides, supported Meng Hai’s roadwork crew, and recovered a bear carcass after finding it mauled by a powerful unknown animal.
• Gu Boyuan explored Ili’s markets and suppliers, while Wu Yongbo chose to open a purchasing station in Qingshui and Li Long confronted a seller who challenged Li Qingxia’s pricing.
• Li Long helped Harimu and Jade Mountain River buy courtyards near schools, arranged their renovations, and hired workers to prepare the homes and vegetable beds.
• Gu Boyuan returned from Ili with goods and a plan for a station in Yining, and Li Long provided five hundred thousand yuan while preparing to buy high-powered tractors.

Li Long expanded his agricultural and purchasing businesses while introducing mechanized farming, stocking Little Haizi, and helping Meng Hai establish a construction company. The arc ended with Li Long managing new ventures and local disputes as he prepared for further work and adjusted Little Haizi’s water level.

• Li Long arranged tractors and cement through Liu Gaolou, then demonstrated a John Deere tractor to the Fourth Team and helped the villagers begin mechanized farming.
• Li Long bought combines, trained Li Jianguo and Li Junfeng to use them, and responded to red spider mites spreading through neighboring cotton fields.
• Li Long stocked Little Haizi with juvenile crabs and shrimp, later catching dozens of crabs with Tao Daqiang and sharing them with his family.
• Li Long expanded the Purchasing Station’s trade in fritillaria, hides, mushrooms, and vehicles, while Gu Boyuan built up the Yining station and gathered supplies from remote villages.
• Li Long advised cotton growers and calculated a first-half net profit of about 2.8 million yuan, while Factory Director Du secured a city post and an agreement to remain factory director.
• Li Long and Meng Hai formalized Zhongjian Construction, with Li Long holding 65 percent, and Meng Hai began taking on construction contracts.
• Meng Hai suspended a livestock-shed project after local contractors incited Kazakhs to block the work, and told Li Long he intended to confront the contractors.
• Li Jianguo and Li Junfeng harvested Old Wang’s wheat with the combines, while Li Long sold vehicles, warned Xu Haijun about unauthorized pole-cutting, and opened Little Haizi’s floodgate to drain rising water.