Chapter Summaries

Li Long reunited with his parents, Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang, at the Wu City train station and brought them to his new home in Northern Xinjiang. He reassured them about his life with Li Jianguo’s family, and they arrived in Ma County impressed by the brothers’ horse cart.

• Li Long sold pelts and medicinal goods with Tao Daqiang, then learned his parents would arrive in Wu City and arranged to meet them.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that his parents were coming, warned them about possible misunderstandings, and informed Gu Xiaoxia, who said she might visit them.
• Li Long traveled to Wu City, waited at the station, and recognized Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang as they emerged from the train.
• Li Long took his parents to breakfast, where they discussed life back home and he reassured Du Chunfang that Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei treated him well.
• Li Long and his parents traveled by bus to Ma County, where Li Jianguo met them with the brothers’ horse cart.
• Li Long told his parents that he and Li Jianguo had earned the money for the horse cart by catching and selling fish, delighting Li Qingxia.

Li Jianguo, Liang Yuemei, and Li Long’s parents visited their northern home, where Du Chunfang worried about the family’s spending and whether Li Long was being treated well. Li Qingxia went fishing with Li Long and Tao Daqiang, while Du Chunfang met Li Juan; the chapter ended with Li Qingxia returning with half a sack of fish.

• Li Jianguo drove Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang home by horse cart, and they admired the land and heard about Li Long’s fishing and hunting.
• Liang Yuemei welcomed the visitors with a generous meal, and Du Chunfang was astonished by the food and the meat hanging in the spare room.
• Li Qingxia reassured Du Chunfang that Li Long was thriving with Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, while Du Chunfang remained concerned about where he slept.
• Li Long took Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang to Little Haizi to set gill nets, and Li Qingxia used a cast net to catch several kilos of fish.
• Du Chunfang met Li Juan and praised her for doing well at school and cutting grass for the pig.
• Li Qingxia, Li Long, and Tao Daqiang returned with half a sack of fish, astonishing Du Chunfang.

Li Long’s parents saw his comfortable home and Du Chunfang urged him to find a wife, while he claimed he already had a girlfriend. Li Qingxia joined Li Long at Little Haizi to try a homemade fish trap and planned to accompany him selling fish the next morning.

• Li Long cooked fish for his family, and the household shared a lively meal before he took his parents to see his room at the old Stable.
• Du Chunfang worried that Li Long should marry, so he told her he already had a schoolteacher girlfriend; Li Qingxia became interested in joining him to sell fish.
• Li Qingxia made a basin trap from a sock and steamer cloth, and Li Long placed it among the reeds at Little Haizi.
• Li Qingxia asked Tao Daqiang about learning to set nets and praised Li Long’s fishing skill, while Tao Daqiang assumed Li Long had learned from his father.
• Li Long cooked pig feed and prepared buns, then offered to make Du Chunfang the braised pork she liked; she decided he was close to her after all.

Li Long and Li Qingxia brought a huge catch of fish from Little Haizi to County Town and sold it at the Free Market. Li Qingxia watched his son handle customers confidently and realized Li Long had grown into a capable trader.

• Du Chunfang helped Liang Yuemei tend the stove, while Li Long, Tao Daqiang, and Li Qingxia went to Little Haizi to collect the nets and basin.
• Li Qingxia swam out to retrieve a basin packed with more than ten kilos of fish, mostly Ditch Fish and High-Mountain Flower Loach.
• Li Long and Li Qingxia brought the catch home, where the family sorted the fish and prepared some small fish for frying.
• Li Long took Li Qingxia by bicycle and horse cart to County Town, then set up three basins of fish at the Free Market.
• Li Qingxia helped guard the fish as Li Long called out to customers, weighed fish, and sold them; Li Qingxia admired how confidently his son handled the business.

Li Long sold fish with his father, Li Qingxia, and introduced him to his girlfriend, Gu Xiaoxia, before they returned home with buns for the family. As a sandstorm approached, Li Long warned everyone to stay home and began securing the courtyard.

• Li Long gave Li Qingxia the eight-yuan fish earnings, and they dumped the unsold fish before going to breakfast at the Big Meat Canteen.
• Li Long bought buns to take home and brought some to Gu Xiaoxia at the Township Middle School, where he introduced her to his father as his girlfriend.
• Li Qingxia told Du Chunfang that Gu Xiaoxia was a pretty teacher who treated Li Long well, and the family shared the buns Li Long had brought back.
• Li Qiang told Li Long that Tao Daqiang had finished sorting the nets with Grandma's help and planned to return that afternoon.
• Li Long noticed a yellow wind approaching, told Li Qingxia they could not fish, and secured the courtyard as Li Qiang spotted the storm in the west.

Li Long rode out a yellow wind and heavy rain at the old Stable, then agreed that his parents would attend a meal at the Liang family's invitation. He stayed behind to fish and prepare for a trip to Stone City, while Tao Daqiang helped him set nets at Little Haizi.

• Li Long warned Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei about the approaching yellow wind, paid Tao Daqiang five yuan from the fish sales, and checked on the animals at the old Stable.
• A yellow wind engulfed the village, followed by heavy rain that flooded the old Stable's yard and left the roads muddy into the next day.
• Liang Wenyu invited Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang to a meal at the Liang home, and Li Long accepted on his parents' behalf.
• Li Long told his parents he would stay behind to sell fish in Stone City, then planned to sell dried muskrat pelts and handle other things at the big courtyard.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang carried eight nets to Little Haizi and began setting them, hoping to catch large carp for the Liang family meal.

Li Long retrieved a large catch with Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang, then took the fish to sell in Stone City. After confronting three thugs who tried to extort him, he drove them away and resumed selling.

• Li Long retrieved the nets and caught several large fish, including common carp, while Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang brought in the fish basin.
• Li Long returned home with the catch and gave the little grebe tangled in his net to Li Qiang.
• Li Long set aside fish for the Liang family, packed the rest, and rode with Li Juan before dropping her at school.
• Li Long claimed a busy stall spot in Stone City and stopped a young thug from reaching into his basin.
• Li Long threatened the three thugs with his scale and weight, and they left after he warned them the market supervisor could arrest them.
• Li Long called out his prices and resumed selling fish as customers began buying.

After selling all his fish, Li Long evaded an armed ambush by alerting the Joint Defense Team, then stocked up on food and cloth for his family. He returned home and planned to have Liang Yuemei make clothes for his parents and siblings.

• Li Long sold all his fish, bought breakfast at the Milk Tea Shop, and learned that local troublemakers had connections and could be dangerous.
• Three young men followed Li Long with weapons, but he warned two Joint Defense Team members, who chased the men after a steel pipe fell from one man’s sleeve.
• Li Long bought rice and flour at the County Town market, hid his jade at the Big Courtyard, and purchased several types of cloth at the Department Store.
• Li Long ate at the Big Meat Canteen, then quietly visited Gu Xiaoxia’s Dormitory; Wang Qihua later told Gu Xiaoxia he had come by.
• Li Long stored the food and cloth at home and planned for Liang Yuemei to sew clothes for his parents, Li Juan, and Li Qiang.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang caught and sold fish from Little Haizi while discussing how to protect its fish stocks. Back home, Li Long helped his family plan next year’s vegetable-seed crops and expand pig raising, leaving them optimistic about future earnings.

• Li Long explained to Tao Daqiang that Little Haizi had enough fish to keep supplying them if its dam held, and said his flood-prevention work could help them earn a thousand yuan within three years.
• Tao Daqiang practiced casting his net while Li Long set nets, and they brought home ditch fish and other catches.
• Li Long gave Li Qingxia the money from the fish sales, bought cloth for the family, and said he planned to ask for a homestead plot and build a house.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo agreed to grow vegetable seeds next year, including stem lettuce, yellow carrot, cabbage, and scallions.
• Li Jianguo said the township had nominated the family for recognition as a model pig-raising household, and he and Li Long discussed building a larger pig pen and growing feed crops.

Li Long cooked a Little Grebe for the family, then took Li Qingxia along to sell fish in Stone City. On the ride home, the three hooligans who had attacked Li Long confronted them, but Li Qingxia and Li Long beat them and took their weapons and money.

• Li Long made beggar's chicken from Li Qiang's Little Grebe, and the family shared the meal together.
• Li Long, Tao Daqiang, and Li Qingxia collected a smaller haul from the nets, and Li Long sold the fish with Li Qingxia in Stone City.
• Li Long and Li Qingxia sold out their fish in under an hour, then stopped for milk tea and nang before riding home.
• The three hooligans blocked Li Long and Li Qingxia on Wuyi Highway and demanded their money and bicycle.
• Li Qingxia and Li Long charged the hooligans with Shovel Handles, knocked them down, disarmed them, and took their wallets and cash.
• Li Qingxia asked Li Long whether such confrontations happened often.

After Li Long reassured Li Qingxia about the danger of selling fish, Yang Huaiying learned how much Tao Daqiang earned and urged Meng Zhiqiang to start fishing with Wang the Miser. Tao Jianshe feared his careless boasting would draw the team into the business, and Tao Daqiang met Li Long in distress to confess that he had caused trouble.

• Li Long told Li Qingxia he would avoid danger by changing routes and agreed to sell fish in the County Seat, then mentioned his guns and hunting.
• Yang Huaiying visited Tao Jianshe to find a wife for Tao Daqiang and learned Daqiang earned five yuan per fishing trip while Li Long made far more.
• Yang Huaiying told Meng Zhiqiang about the profits, and he decided to recruit Wang the Miser to buy a net and investigate the County Seat market.
• Tao Jianshe realized he had revealed too much, and Tao Daqiang left home in shame, fearing the team would undermine Li Long's fishing business.
• Li Long found Tao Daqiang by Reed Gully, offered him five yuan, and asked what had happened as Daqiang tearfully said he had caused trouble.

Li Long reassured Tao Daqiang that his father’s disclosure of the fish-selling profits was no disaster, since other villagers lacked Li Long’s equipment and access to larger markets. He calmed his family’s worries as well, then encountered Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang while selling fish in the County Town the next day.

• Tao Daqiang told Li Long that his father had revealed Li Long’s daily wages and fish-selling profits while discussing a match for him.
• Li Long reassured Tao Daqiang that fishing profits could not stay secret and argued that more villagers earning money would protect him from jealousy.
• Li Long refused Tao Daqiang’s offer to work for free, gave him five yuan, and said he could sell fish in Stone City if competition crowded the County Seat market.
• Li Long picked up Li Qiang on his bicycle and told his family that other villagers’ fishing would not stop him from earning money.
• The next day, Li Long encountered Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang while selling fish in the County Town.

Li Long sold fish at the County Town market, welcomed Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang into the trade, and planned to move his own sales to Stone City. Afterward, he spent forty yuan buying antiques from a market stall, believing they would become valuable.

• Li Long and Li Qingxia sold fish at the County Town market, where Li Long advised Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang on selling fish without discouraging them from joining in.
• Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang bought fishing nets and hurried home to set them in Little Haizi.
• Li Long gave Li Qingxia ten yuan and said they would soon sell fish in Stone City, where demand was greater.
• Li Long bought the silver dollars, snuff bottle, porcelain bowls, jade pieces, and Copper Coin sword from an antiques stall for forty yuan.
• Li Qingxia questioned the purchase, but Li Long insisted the antiques would be worth money someday, and they left the market together.

Li Long set deep-water fishing nets with Tao Daqiang, then gathered pig fodder and brushed off Gu Zhixin’s envy of his family’s good fortune. The day ended with Li Long caring for Li Qiang after he was stung while collecting a wasp nest, and the boy sharing its tiny bit of honey with his family.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang set their nets at Little Haizi while Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang set theirs closer to shore; Li Long told them about net sizes and when to haul in the catch.
• Liang Yuemei and Du Chunfang measured Li Long for new clothes, and he rode to the family’s fodder plot to pick sugar beet leaves for the pigs.
• Gu Zhixin questioned Li Long about the family’s fodder land and piglets, then complained that the Li Family had it easy; Li Long reminded him how hard he had worked.
• Li Long returned with a full basket of beet leaves, and Li Juan helped unload and chop them before he told her to go play.
• Li Qiang arrived with a swollen face after being stung while poking a wasp nest, offered Li Long a little honey, and let him treat the sting.
• Li Qiang shared the honey with his grandparents and mother, prompting Du Chunfang to praise him for sharing with his family.

Li Long noticed that Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang had set their gill nets incorrectly, but he chose not to teach them until they asked. After the two sold their catch and bought more nets, villagers followed their example, driving fish prices down until Li Long felt the boom was nearing its end.

• Li Long explained to Tao Daqiang that Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang had tied both ends of their nets, making them ineffective gill nets, but decided not to correct them.
• Li Long and his family sorted their abundant catch, and Li Long left for the county market with Li Juan while Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang carried their smaller haul on foot.
• Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang sold their fish quickly, then bought another net each because they expected to earn substantial money from fishing.
• More people in the production team began catching and selling fish, driving the market price down to fifty cents per basin, and Li Long judged that the boom had largely run its course.

Li Long sold fish in Stone City, bought gifts for Gu Xiaoxia and his family, and later reassured Tao Daqiang that the team’s new fish sellers would not threaten their business. As more villagers entered the fish trade and undercut one another at the County Seat market, sales collapsed and disputes broke out, leaving Li Long wondering who would keep fishing.

• Li Long bought sun hats and sponge cakes at the Department Store, then left a hat and cakes for Gu Xiaoxia at her dormitory; she tried on the fashionable hat and admired it.
• Li Jianguo helped Du Chunfang treat a cut she got while working in the fields, and she reflected that she wanted to stay in Northern Xinjiang longer despite Li Qingxia’s wish to return home eventually.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long that villagers were buying nets after Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang earned money selling fish, and Li Long said the fish supply would not run out and the competition would not affect his Stone City sales much.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang went to Little Haizi to set nets, where Wang the Miser and Meng Zhiqiang were already fishing and Wang had been bitten by duck leeches.
• More villagers began selling fish at the County Seat market, but sellers undercut one another until prices plunged, many could not sell their catches, and disputes broke out between households.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long about the sellers’ arguments, and Li Long asked how many people, including Wang the Miser, would continue fishing.

Li Long took his family to the township and County Seat to celebrate Li Jianguo being named a model of prosperity and receiving a bicycle. The family shopped, took photographs, and shared a celebratory meal, while township publicity officer Jiang Zhiyu became interested in Li Long’s specialty breeding work.

• Li Long stayed home from fishing and arranged for the family to attend Li Jianguo’s township awards ceremony before going to the County Seat.
• At the township meeting, Li Jianguo received a certificate and a bicycle for being named a model of prosperity.
• Jiang Zhiyu interviewed Li Jianguo, who credited Li Long with handling the specialty breeding, prompting her interest in visiting their home.
• Li Jianguo rode his new bicycle to meet Li Long and the family at the County Seat, where they shopped and had their photographs taken.
• Li Long took the family to the Big Meat Canteen, where Zhong Guoqiang welcomed them and Li Long paid for a celebratory meal.

Li Long continued selling fish and lent Qin Family Jiajie one hundred yuan in exchange for reed-leaf bundles that would reduce the debt. After Qin delivered the first batch, Li Long prepared to begin a new plan.

• Li Long kept selling fish while Li Qingxia practiced riding the family bicycle, and the family celebrated Li Qiang's birthday with eggs and a magnetic pencil case from Li Long.
• Qin Family Jiajie asked Li Jianguo to lend him money, and Li Jianguo directed him to Li Long.
• Li Long agreed to lend Qin Family Jiajie one hundred yuan in exchange for gathering and bundling reed leaves, with the work reducing his debt.
• Qin Family Jiajie brought three thousand reed leaves to Li Long, who marked the debt down to ninety-seven yuan on the IOU.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo he planned to give the reed leaves away with fish as Dragon Boat Festival gifts to people who had helped him.

Li Long secured a forest ranger appointment and large orders for brooms and Dragon Boat Festival supplies, then organized villagers to gather and prepare reed leaves. After delivering an order to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and collecting rice, dates, and raisins, he headed to Stone City with Tao Daqiang.

• Meng Zhiqiang watched Li Long sell fish confidently at the county morning market and admired his success.
• Li Xiangqian gave Li Long his approved appointment as a forest ranger and offered him a contract to supply three thousand jiji grass brooms.
• Li Long sold Li Xiangqian boiled reed leaves and arranged a large order of leaves, glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins for the cooperative.
• Li Long brought fish and reed leaves to Hu Xianxu, showed his purchasing credentials, and secured a larger order for the August First Sugar Factory.
• Li Long bought reed leaves from villagers, using some to reduce their debts, and his family prepared enough to fulfill the cooperative and factory orders.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang delivered supplies to the cooperative, collected the ordered foodstuffs, and set off toward Stone City with a spade.

Li Long collected beet pulp from the Sugar Factory and brought it home for the pigs, then prepared to sell fish and reed leaves in Stone City. The next morning, his nets caught fish, a wild duck, and a little grebe, and he hurried to get the goods ready for the trip.

• Li Long received payment from Section Chief Hu and arranged with Xiao Song to collect beet pulp from the Sugar Factory, taking ten sacks and a cartload.
• Li Long shared beet pulp with Tao Daqiang and the old horse stable, then brought the rest home for his family’s pigs.
• Li Long prepared reed leaves, fish nets, and zongzi ingredients, while offering Qin Family Jiajie work cutting shovel handles for two mao each.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang set nets at Little Haizi, where Meng Zhiqiang was also fishing.
• The next morning, Li Long and Tao Daqiang retrieved fish, a wild duck, and a little grebe, then hurried home to prepare for the Stone City market.