Chapter Summaries

Gu Xiaoxia prepared to begin her secondment at the County Seat, and Li Long took her to the large courtyard he had bought so she could make it her home. As Li Long helped her settle in and bought her supplies, Xiao Liu saw the couple together and finally gave up hope of winning him over.

• Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long she had to report to the Education Bureau on Thursday and was worried about finding somewhere to live, so Li Long offered her a room in his newly purchased courtyard.
• Li Long took Gu Xiaoxia to see the courtyard, where she chose a separate bedroom and agreed to move in after they prepared it.
• At the Big Meat Canteen, Zhong Guoqiang treated Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia to a meal and asked Li Long to bring him mountain specialties on his next trip.
• Li Long bought Gu Xiaoxia new bedding, daily necessities, leather shoes, socks, and clothes at the Department Store, spending 127 yuan.
• Gu Xiaoxia noticed Xiao Liu watching them, and Li Long explained that Xiao Liu's coworkers had once considered setting him up with her; Xiao Liu then saw the couple leave together and wished them well, though she still felt reluctant.

Li Long settled Gu Xiaoxia into the Big Courtyard and helped her handle gossip about her secondment to the County Seat. Back in the village, he shared watermelons with his family and explained why he had turned down a Supply and Marketing Cooperative job; the next day, he brought Li Xiangqian a gift as he prepared to ask a favor.

• Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia prepare her room, then escorted her back to school, where Teacher Wang asked about her trip to the County Seat and Gu Xiaoxia answered modestly about her secondment.
• Li Long picked up mud-covered Li Qiang, brought him home to wash, and shared watermelon with the family after Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei returned from the threshing ground.
• Li Long told his family he had refused a Supply and Marketing Cooperative job because his fish and broom-making work earned far more, and he described the County Seat house he had bought for five hundred yuan.
• The next day, Li Long hauled in a smaller fish catch, sold fish in Stone City, and brought two roe deer penises to Li Xiangqian at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative before asking him a favor.

Li Long helped his fiancée Gu Xiaoxia move into the County Seat, bought her a bicycle and radio, and stayed overnight so she would feel safe. When Gu Xiaoxia returned to her village, she heard people gossiping about Li Long and her engagement but chose to ignore them.

• Li Long gave Li Xiangqian roe deer penises in exchange for industrial coupons to buy Gu Xiaoxia a bicycle, and Li Xiangqian promised him a wedding gift.
• Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia move her belongings to the County Seat, taught her to ride a bicycle, and bought her a 26-inch bicycle and a radio in Stone City.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia explored Old Street, then he stayed overnight at her courtyard house and helped her register the bicycle at the Police Station.
• Li Long returned home the next morning, assessed the fish his family had caught, and explained that their nets had been set too tightly.
• Gu Xiaoxia rode home to visit Wu Shufen before her wedding and heard women gossip about her engagement and Li Long's prospects.
• Gu Xiaoxia noticed the women staring at her colored bicycle and ignored their gossip, feeling that she and they were no longer on the same level.

Gu Xiaoxia visited Wu Shufen before her wedding, gave her gifts, and warned her that village primary school teachers faced exams and layoffs. Meanwhile, Li Long sold mushrooms in the County Town, and the next morning the wedding and wheat harvest began.

• Gu Xiaoxia brought Wu Shufen wedding gifts and learned that Wu Shufen planned to live in the township after marrying.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Wu Shufen that village first- and second-grade classes would be abolished and only a third of village teachers would be selected for brigade schools.
• Wu Shufen reacted to the news, and Gu Xiaoxia refused to interfere with the selection before revealing that Li Long had a formal job as a purchasing agent.
• Li Long gathered mushrooms and sold thirty-one kilograms, along with wild vegetables, to Zhong Guoqiang for forty-six yuan fifty.
• The next morning, Wu Shufen waited for her husband, Gu Xiaoxia made breakfast, and Tao Daqiang joined the wheat harvest.
• Li Long picked his first black tiger's paw mushroom of the day while Tao Daqiang was stung by a wasp.

Li Long gathered Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms, cooked and ate at the Wooden Cabin, then visited Jade Mountain River's hot springs to soak and scout for game. He found a promising ambush site and four large codonopsis roots, and planned to return early the next morning to hunt.

• Li Long recognized the gully where a lynx had scratched him and cautiously left before carrying a sack of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms back to the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long cooked wild celery and mushrooms, ate a large meal, napped, and laid the morning's mushrooms out to dry.
• Li Long followed the stream to natural hot spring pools, found fresh animal tracks and blood, and soaked in a warm pool.
• Li Long explored farther upstream, then decided to use the pool frequented by animals as a hunting ambush site.
• Li Long found and dug up four codonopsis roots on the western mountainside, then planned to return early the next morning to lie in wait for game.

Li Long ambushed game at the hot springs, killed a roe deer and a wild boar, and brought the meat and other goods back from the mountains. After learning the Purchasing Station would not accept his sliced mushrooms, he returned to the Big Courtyard, cooked dinner, and reunited with Gu Xiaoxia.

• Li Long waited at the hot springs, shot a roe deer, and killed a wild boar when a herd burst from the woods.
• Li Long butchered the animals, then traded a boar leg for honey and pollen from Lü Dafeng.
• Li Long learned Chen Hongjun could not buy his sliced black tiger's paw mushrooms, so he gave some away and kept the rest.
• Li Long cooked roe deer and mushroom dishes at the Big Courtyard, where Gu Xiaoxia returned from work and was touched by his welcome.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia he would leave meat for their families before heading back, and they agreed they did not want to help with the wheat harvest.

Li Long brought home meat from a hunt, helped his family and Gu Boyuan process it, and invited Gu Boyuan to hunt with him after the autumn harvest. The chapter ended with Li Long advising the wasp-stung Tao Daqiang to use his fishing net and sell fish rather than wait for Li Long to go fishing with him.

• Li Long picked up Li Juan from school and brought her home, where he began rendering the meat from a roe deer and a wild boar he had hunted.
• Li Qiang shared tender milkweed pods with Li Long and the family while they prepared the meat.
• Li Long brought meat to Gu Boyuan and helped him render it, then discussed organizing a group hunt after the autumn harvest.
• Li Long found Tao Daqiang bruised from wasp stings and told him to try vinegar or soapy water.
• When Tao Daqiang asked when they could go fishing, Li Long suggested he borrow the net, catch fish himself, and sell them in the County Seat.

Li Long visited the Li family, shared ice pops with them, and left for the County Seat with vegetables Uncle Luo had picked. On the road, he nearly hit a little girl gleaning wheat and discovered that she and her mother were living in an abandoned culvert.

• Li Long returned to the Li family’s courtyard, where they discussed electricity, buying a television, the wheat harvest, and going fishing.
• Li Long visited Uncle Luo, checked on the animals and vegetables, and ate breakfast with him the next morning.
• Li Long bought cream ice pops for Li Qiang and the family, then left with baskets of vegetables Uncle Luo had picked.
• Li Long rode toward the County Seat and braked to avoid hitting a little girl who had run into the road, spilling some vegetables and scattering her wheat heads.
• The frightened girl ran toward an abandoned culvert, where Li Long saw her mother emerge.

Li Long helped a poor mother and daughter, then shared a meal with Gu Xiaoxia before heading into the mountains with food and his gun. While gathering mushrooms, he encountered a lynx with its hare prey and two cubs, and wondered whether he could keep one.

• Li Long gave vegetables and a tomato to a hungry mother and daughter he had nearly struck with his bicycle.
• Li Long cooked noodles for Gu Xiaoxia, and they talked about her father and the family they had encountered.
• Li Long bought watermelons and sweet melons at the Free Market, then brought a watermelon to Lü Dafeng in the mountains.
• Li Long gathered black tiger's paw mushrooms and left the boletes because he could not identify them safely.
• Li Long spotted a lynx holding a hare and saw two cubs beside it, then considered keeping one.

Li Long gathered and dried Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms, then spent the next day collecting more and resting at the Wooden Cabin. When he went to the hot spring, he saw wolves attacking wild mountain goats and rushed forward with his gun.

• Li Long failed to catch the lynx cubs, gathered a sack of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms, and returned to the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long prepared breakfast, spread the mushrooms outside to dry, and headed east to gather another full sack.
• Li Long rested through the afternoon, then set off toward the hot spring with his gun and sack, picking mushrooms along the way.
• Li Long spotted a wolf watching the hot spring pools and prepared to shoot, but a howl from the opposite slope sent the wolf charging downhill.
• Li Long followed and saw three wolves attacking four wild mountain goats in two hot spring pools.

Li Long hunted a wild goat and two wolves, then spent the next day salting and drying the meat and preparing the organs. He shared some provisions with Gu Xiaoxia's household and his family, and traded dried meat for salted fish with the grateful girl he had nearly hit before.

• Li Long waited for the wolves and goats to wound one another, then shot two wolves and the large goat while the mother goat and one kid escaped.
• Li Long hauled the kid, the large goat, and one wolf back to the Wooden Cabin, where he salted and butchered the animals until exhaustion forced him to sleep.
• After waking, Li Long built a rack, hung salted meat to dry, and cleaned and cooked the animals' organs.
• Li Long divided dried meat and organs between sacks, took some provisions to Gu Xiaoxia's household, and rode toward the village with the rest.
• A girl who had waited two days gave Li Long three salted Crucian Carp, and he traded her two strips of Dried Meat despite her protests.

Li Long shared meat and vegetables with neighbors, returned to the mountains to gather mushrooms, and brought a large sack of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms to the County Seat's Purchasing Station. Chen Hongjun praised their quality and prepared to inspect the whole batch.

• Lan'er worried that Li Long had given her meat in exchange for her fish, and her mother reassured her.
• Li Long returned home with game, hung dried meat to dry, shared cooked offal with his family, and took food to Gu Boyuan and Uncle Lao Luo.
• Li Long left vegetables for Lan'er and Gu Xiaoxia before returning to the mountains to pick mushrooms and check the hot spring pool.
• Li Long dried the mushrooms and meat at the Wooden Cabin, gathered more mushrooms, and later cycled to the Purchasing Station with over forty kilograms.
• Chen Hongjun inspected one Black Tiger's Paw Mushroom, praised its quality, and said the mushrooms still needed to be poured out for inspection.

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia bought matching watches after discovering that each had been saving to buy one for the other. After Gu Xiaoxia returned to work, Li Long gathered another sack of mushrooms in the mountains and ended the day visiting Lü Dafeng, who offered him fresh honey.

• Li Long sold 44.5 kilograms of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms for 979 yuan and decided to buy watches with Gu Xiaoxia.
• Gu Xiaoxia showed Li Long the money she had saved to buy him a watch, and Li Long hugged her before they agreed to spend their savings on a watch each.
• Li Long bought a men's and a women's Shanghai Brand watch at the Department Store, and Gu Xiaoxia wore hers back to the Education Bureau.
• Deputy Director Wang praised Gu Xiaoxia's work and asked about her watch, while Gu Xiaoxia said her boyfriend had bought it with his wages and bonus.
• Li Long gathered a sack of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms in White Poplar Gully and found two codonopsis roots, then returned to the Wooden Cabin to dry the mushrooms.
• Li Long visited Lü Dafeng, who had finished harvesting honey and offered him some to take home.

Li Long sold another sack of Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms, gave Li Xiangqian an eighteen-ridged Siberian Ibex head, and learned of a courtyard for sale that he promptly agreed to buy. He returned to the Big Courtyard and shared a home-cooked dinner with Gu Xiaoxia.

• Lü Dafeng refused payment for three jars of Wildflower Honey, and Li Long spent the following days collecting Black Tiger's Paw Mushrooms and finding two well-preserved Siberian Ibex skulls.
• After rain delayed his trip, Li Long sold his dried mushrooms to Chen Hongjun for 1,024 yuan.
• Li Long gave Li Xiangqian the eighteen-ridged ibex head and learned that an official was selling a courtyard south of Wuyi Road for 450 yuan.
• Li Long agreed to buy the courtyard and offered Li Xiangqian 500 yuan, but Li Xiangqian returned the extra fifty and told him to come back in a few days to complete the paperwork.
• Li Long cooked buns, stir-fried dishes, and soup, then shared dinner with Gu Xiaoxia.

Li Long bought a second courtyard, but Gu Xiaoxia preferred to stay at the Big Courtyard, so he left the new place for future use. After gathering and selling mushrooms in the mountains, he visited Li Xiangqian, where a phone call from Yusufu reached him.

• Li Long completed the paperwork for a small courtyard and inspected its rooms, garden, and furnishings.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about the courtyard, and she said she wanted to keep living at the Big Courtyard.
• Li Long gathered mushrooms in the mountains for several days, dried them, and sold them at the Purchasing Station.
• Li Long brought mushrooms to Li Xiangqian, who asked him to buy wool or safflower, but Li Long could not take either job.
• Li Xiangqian called Li Long to answer a phone call, and Yusufu greeted him from the other end.

Li Long planned to buy Hetian jade for his family and advised Gu Xiaoxia about her job prospects before surveying the reorganized Free Market. The next morning, he waited at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Yusufu arrived carrying a heavy sack.

• Li Long agreed to meet Yusufu in the County Seat and buy small pieces of Hetian river jade, then told Li Xiangqian he would visit the Jade Factory for more jade.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia he would buy jade for his mother and urged her to communicate with her supervisor as she pursued permanent employment.
• Li Long visited the tidier, expanded Free Market, greeted Meng Zhiqiang, and noticed the fish seller had been left with unsold fish after Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang drew away customers.
• Li Long bought potatoes, tomatoes, and piyazi at the market, then went home thinking that hot food might sell well there.
• The next morning, Li Long waited at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Yusufu arrived with a heavy sack on his back.

Li Long bought river jade from Yusufu, treated him to food and watermelons, then grew closer to Gu Xiaoxia during an evening walk. The next morning, Li Long set out for Wu City.

• Li Long bought more than fifty pieces of river jade from Yusufu for 210 yuan and gave him a meal, nang, and a bus ticket.
• Li Long bought sixteen watermelons for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and asked Li Xiangqian to distribute them.
• Li Long showed Gu Xiaoxia the jade, then took her for a walk and held her hand as they talked about work and his life in the mountains.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia changed their route after he suspected an old woman passing them had tuberculosis, then returned to the Big Courtyard hand in hand.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia shared breakfast the next morning before she went to work and he headed to the bus station for Wu City.

Li Long traveled to Wu City and bought jade pieces for his family, while Engineer Liu was encouraged when Li Long purchased his carvings. Back in the village, Li Long joined his father, Li Qingxia, and Tao Daqiang on a fishing trip to Little Haizi.

• Li Long rode the bus to Wu City and learned he could buy small jade pieces at the Jade Factory’s side entrance.
• Li Long bought Engineer Liu’s carved jade pieces and the jadeite and other pieces in the display cabinet for 235 yuan total.
• Engineer Liu took the day’s sales money to the accounts office and told Little Xu he wanted more offcuts to carve.
• Engineer Liu celebrated his sale with his wife, who was pleased to see him in better spirits.
• Li Long returned to the village, saw his father, Li Qingxia, and Tao Daqiang preparing to fish, and agreed to join them.

Li Long helped Li Qingxia set fishing nets at Little Haizi, then refused Tao Daqiang’s request to judge a marriage match. After a reporter named Jiang Zhiyu interviewed him about the animals he raised, she wrote an article that later had a significant impact on him.

• Li Long and Li Qingxia set nets on the south side of Little Haizi, where Li Long warned that waterbirds might get caught.
• Tao Daqiang asked Li Long to judge a marriage match, but Li Long refused and told him to decide for himself.
• Li Qingxia said he wanted to keep earning money in Northern Xinjiang before returning home to show his relatives he was doing well.
• Li Qiang told Li Long that Jiang Zhiyu had come to interview him, and Li Long hurried to Old Ma's Place.
• Jiang Zhiyu entered the deer enclosure to take pictures, and a red deer knocked her down before Li Long arrived.
• Li Long answered Jiang Zhiyu's questions casually about his animals and their connection to Li Jian's pig farm, and she later mailed out an article about him.

Li Long sold his fish and mushrooms, shared gifts with his family and Gu Xiaoxia, and returned to the village with plans to rest. There, he met Huang Xuejun, who proposed making Li Long’s animal-raising operation a branch of his farm, but Li Long suspected he wanted the animals without paying for them.

• Li Long gave jade gifts to his parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece, then delivered Gu Xiaoxia’s bracelet the next morning.
• Li Long sold his fish to a crowd of eager customers in Stone City Old Street, then spent a week picking mushrooms in the mountains.
• Li Long sold his dried mushrooms to Chen Hongjun and gave honey and a jade palm piece to Li Xiangqian before heading back to the village.
• At Old Ma’s Place, Uncle Lao Luo introduced Li Long to Huang Xuejun, who claimed he wanted to buy Li Long’s deer for the Zhoufeng Agricultural Special Breeding Farm.
• Huang Xuejun proposed making Li Long’s operation a farm branch and using Li Long’s deer, wild boars, and roe deer as his equity contribution, prompting Li Long to suspect a scam.