Recaps

Li Long completed competing reed-bundle orders, brought his relatives into paid work, and organized a large fish-buying operation as Big Haizi drained. After the lake refilled, he processed the stored catch, introduced Gu Xiaoxia to his relatives, and joined the family’s New Year preparations.

• Li Long discovered and stored a cache of old coins, silver, and a saber, then gathered codonopsis and sold it before accepting work producing reed bundles.
• Li Long recruited local households and relatives for the reed-bundle orders, enforced strict quality standards, and delivered thousands of bundles for payment despite disputes with Hu Lao'er’s crew.
• Li Long housed Li Anguo, Chen Xingbang, Li Junfeng, and Li Junshan, helped them earn money, and bought a truckload of coal for the community.
• Li Long noticed Big Haizi draining and organized his relatives and the Tao and Yang families to collect and buy fish before the lake refilled.
• Li Long’s group bought nearly five tonnes of fish, then stopped when water from the Mohe Canal began filling Big Haizi again and processed the stored catch in snow.
• Gu Xiaoxia visited Li Long at the Stable and met his relatives, while Li Long took them rabbit snaring on the flats.
• Li Long and his family slaughtered a wild boar and a domestic pig, then sold much of the meat to neighbors.

Li Long expanded his fish-selling operation, excelled in the township militia competition, and traded wild-boar meat for ammunition. He then traveled to his mountain cabin with Li Junshan and Li Junfeng, where the three used spoiled boar meat as bait and waited for wolves.

• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia agreed they wanted to marry the following year, and Li Long learned slaughtering from Chen Xingbang before selling pigs and wild-boar meat.
• Li Long brought relatives and gifts to visit the Liang family, then attended Tao Daqiang’s wedding and arranged for Yang Xiulan to cook for Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long supplied the herders with provisions, sold pelts and antlers, and bought radios, batteries, food, and other goods for them.
• Li Long sold fish in Stone City and recruited Li Jianguo and other relatives to expand the operation, while Xu Chengjun selected him for the township militia competition.
• Li Long won the competition’s rapid-fire contest and agreed to trade wild-boar meat for ammunition after the county competition was canceled.
• Li Long set out for the mountains with Li Junshan and Li Junfeng, stocked and warmed his cabin, and found a snared wild boar whose spoiled meat they used as bait.
• Li Long let a fox take some bait so it would not frighten away wolves, then aimed his rifle when four wolves approached before dark.

Li Long hunted deer, wolves, a boar, and a lynx in the snowy mountains, then returned to the County Seat to sell pelts and prepare for a paid hunting trip. After sharing money and game with his relatives, he went with the others to test ice fishing at Little Haizi.

• Li Long hosted Harimu and Jade Mountain River’s gathering, where Bakhat won the horse race and Tangboli won the Buzkashi contest.
• Li Long traded ten cartridges to Tangboli for a live female Roe Deer, then confronted a man claiming that Geming Bielisen would take over his pasture.
• Li Long found rock salt in a cave, shot a stag, and fought off wolves that followed him back toward the cabin.
• Li Long used snares and bait to kill wolves and catch a lynx, then led Li Junshan, Li Junfeng, Tao Daqiang, and Yang Yongqiang to a cave where they rescued a mother red deer and her young from a wolf.
• Li Long returned to the County Seat, sold his lynx pelt to Li Xiangqian for a thousand yuan, and sold his other pelts to Chen Hongjun.
• Li Xiangqian hired Li Long to guide three officials’ children on a hunting trip, and Li Long agreed to take them into the mountains in about a week.
• Li Long gave Li Jianguo about a thousand yuan for family needs and their father, then shared game with his departing relatives and gave Li Junshan two wolf fangs.
• Li Long led Tao Daqiang, Yang Yongqiang, and the others to Little Haizi, where they caught hares and began gathering fish through holes in the ice.

Li Long built a brisk trade in fish, rabbits, and mountain goods, fulfilled the Sugar Factory’s New Year order, and shared the proceeds and gifts with his family and companions. As Li Long prepared for another market trip, the people around him considered moving north, improving their homes, and pursuing new ways to earn money.

• Li Long hosted the young men at Old Ma’s Place, shared gifts of honey and liquor, and heard Li Junshan speak uncertainly about returning the next spring.
• Li Long guided Qi Jingyue, Yang Chen, and Xie Ruifeng on a mountain hunt, where they killed a wolf and roe deer and later brought back a wild boar.
• Gu Xiaoxia completed her transfer to the Education Bureau, and Li Long returned to the village with her and gave his family insulated rubber shoes.
• Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang told their families they wanted to move to Northern Xinjiang, while Li Junshan planned to return north to earn money for a house.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang caught and sold fish and rabbits in Stone City, faced thieves on their trips, and earned money from their growing trade.
• Section Chief Hu ordered sheep, hares, and fish for the Sugar Factory, and Li Long arranged the sheep with Harimu and delivered the order along with sugar residue and other mountain goods.
• Li Long celebrated with Gu Xiaoxia and his family, gave gifts to relatives and companions, and encouraged them to consider contracting land and growing profitable crops.
• Li Long paid Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang, discussed their plans for houses and family, then loaded another cart of fish and rabbits and headed for the crowded Old Street market.