Chapter Summaries

Li Long planned his trading for the next day before Gu Xiaoxia came to buy lamb for her sick father, Gu Boyuan. Li Long walked her home, chased off a shadowy figure on the way, and left the meat with the family without charge.

• Li Long counted his remaining money and planned to trade ammunition for frozen sheep and buy supplies for the herders.
• Gu Xiaoxia came to the Li house to buy lamb because Gu Boyuan had caught a chill.
• Li Jianguo gave Gu Xiaoxia a piece of lamb and asked Li Long to walk her home.
• Li Long spotted a dark figure near a corner and frightened it away with his flashlight.
• Li Long delivered the lamb to Gu Boyuan’s house and refused Gu Xiaoxia’s offer to pay.
• On his way home, Li Long wondered why the fleeing figure had seemed familiar.

Li Long set out for the mountains with Tao Daqiang after sharing a warm breakfast with his family and refusing Gu Ermao’s request to join them. At Harimu’s Winter Camp, Li Long spotted something promising beside the stove.

• Li Long ate breakfast with Li Jianguo, Liang Yuemei, Li Juan, and Li Qiang, and promised the children he would bring back plenty of mutton for New Year.
• Gu Ermao waited outside and asked Li Long to take him into the mountains, but Li Long refused and left him behind.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long he had waited by the stables because he feared Gu Ermao would take his place, and Li Long assured him they would keep traveling together.
• Li Long bought brick tea, salt, sugar cubes, and fruit candies in the county town, then drove Tao Daqiang to Harimu’s Winter Camp.
• Harimu welcomed Li Long and Tao Daqiang, and Li Long noticed something good beside the stove.

Li Long traded supplies and ammunition with Harimu, shared a meal with his family, and loaded sheep, coal, pinewood, and antlers onto his cart. He sold the antlers at the purchasing station after bargaining the price up to three yuan per kilogram.

• Harimu told Li Long he had traded tea for two frozen sheep and antlers, and Li Long gave Harimu twenty rounds of ammunition.
• Harimu's family slaughtered a sheep for Li Long and Tao Daqiang, and Li Long took ten knucklebones for his nephew and niece.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang loaded the sheep, coal, pinewood, and antlers onto the cart before leaving Harimu's home.
• Li Long asked Harimu to save wild boar stomachs if he hunted any and said he would bring more ammunition next time.
• Li Long bargained with a purchasing-station worker and sold his antlers for three yuan per kilogram.

Li Long returned from town with Tao Daqiang after buying treats and discussing the supplies they lacked coupons to purchase. Back in the Production Team, Xu Chengjun and others considered following Li Long’s example by going into the mountains themselves.

• Li Long bought candy and canned food at the Department Store, but he lacked the coupons needed for a bicycle, sewing machine, flour, or rice.
• Li Long found the black market empty, then offered Tao Daqiang a leg of mutton and extra timber for joining him on the trips.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long that his father had wanted his older brother to come along and learn the mountain route, but Tao Daqiang had insisted on going himself.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang returned home as villagers speculated about their haul.
• Ma Hongmei asked Xu Chengjun whether Li Long might bring back more mutton, and Xu Chengjun offered to take her brother into the mountains to seek timber or game.

Li Long returned from trading with Tao Daqiang, bringing home wood, two sheep, and coal, and shared some of the haul with the Tao family. After returning the Production Team’s cart, he learned all the other carts had been borrowed and asked Xu Chengjun about bicycle and sewing machine ration coupons.

• Li Long gave candy to Li Qiang and Tao Daqiang as they arrived at the Production Team.
• Li Long unloaded half the cart’s wood at the Tao family’s house and promised Tao Daqiang one sheep leg, rebuffing Tao Jianshe’s demand for more.
• Li Long brought the remaining wood, two sheep, and coal to the Li family’s home and privately told Li Jianguo to give Tao Daqiang only one leg.
• Li Long returned the cart and learned from Xu Chengjun that all the Production Team’s carts had been borrowed.
• Li Long asked Xu Chengjun whether he could find bicycle or sewing machine ration coupons, and Xu Chengjun offered to ask around.

After learning that the team’s horse carts had all been borrowed, Li Long planned to catch fish with Tao Daqiang and sell them instead, while working toward buying a bicycle. The next morning, Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, Li Juan, and Li Qiang headed to Little Haizi to fish.

• Li Long told Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that he could not borrow a horse cart, so he proposed making a sled to transport fish for sale.
• Li Long gave Li Juan and Li Qiang ankle bones to play with, delighting Li Juan and prompting Liang Yuemei to chide him for spoiling the children.
• Tao Daqiang arrived upset that other families had borrowed the carts, and Li Long invited him to catch fish and sell them the next day, telling him to keep the plan secret.
• The next morning, Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, Li Juan, and Li Qiang set off for Little Haizi and saw a horse cart leaving the village for the mountains.

Li Long, Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang, and the children reopened their ice holes at Little Haizi and scooped up fish. Li Qiang was struck by a flopping Grass Carp but stopped crying after Li Long promised it would be cooked for him.

• Li Long and Li Jianguo found old footprints and ice holes at Little Haizi, then had Li Juan and Li Qiang gather Reed while they cleared the holes.
• Tao Daqiang used the Scoop Net to catch several small fish, then gave it to Li Long to try the other hole.
• Li Long pulled up a large Grass Carp, and its tail smacked Li Qiang across the face as he tried to grab it.
• Li Qiang cried from the pain, but Li Long promised the fish would be cooked for him, and the group continued scooping fish.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang caught a large haul of fish at Little Haizi while Li Jianguo stayed behind to build a sled. They returned home to find out whether the sled was finished, and Li Long promised to take Tao Daqiang to Wu City once they had earned some money.

• Li Jianguo said he would build a sled while Li Long and Tao Daqiang went fishing.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang took turns scooping fish from two ice holes and caught more than twenty large fish and over ten kilograms of smaller fish.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang returned home with the catch and saw a horse cart from the Production Team coming back without having found many pine logs.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang dried their clothes by the stove, and Li Long promised to take Tao Daqiang to Wu City after they made some money.

After dinner, Li Long remembered that jade could be found in the Southern Mountain and the Ma River, then set out to catch Gugu Chickens for sale. He found the first shelter empty and spotted a wild hare before cautiously approaching another spot.

• Li Long discussed buying refined grain with Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, who agreed to give him grain coupons.
• While Li Jianguo told the children about the area's history, Li Long remembered the jade deposits and river jade around the Ma River.
• Li Jianguo advised Li Long to ask about the jade when he had time, and Li Qiang praised him for catching Gugu Chickens.
• Li Long went out at night with a Scoop Net and sack to look for Gugu Chickens, but found other people's footprints and an empty first shelter.
• On the way to another shelter, Li Long saw a wild hare and decided to return after fresh snowfall to hunt hares and set snares.
• Li Long reached a second Gugu Chicken shelter and cautiously crept toward it.

Li Long caught eleven Gugu Chickens from a flock sheltering in tall grass and returned home with them. Zhang Qianjin failed to persuade him to reveal the route into the mountains, and Li Long was startled again the next morning.

• Li Long used his Scoop Net to catch eleven Gugu Chickens and carried them home to sell or keep.
• Zhang Qianjin visited Li Long and asked for directions to the mountain route after his own firewood trip failed.
• Li Long gave Zhang Qianjin only vague directions and refused to share more, so Zhang left angrily.
• Li Long went to bed after turning out his lamp, and the lamp in the West Room soon went out too.
• Li Long was startled again when he got up the next morning.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang set out before dawn to sell fish and Gugu Chickens at the county Black Market. They attracted a crowd, and Li Long made his first sale as the morning began.

• Tao Daqiang arrived at Li Long's house before dawn after staying awake all night, and the family fed him breakfast.
• Li Long took grain coupons from Li Jianguo, prepared fish and Gugu Chickens, and set off with Tao Daqiang on the Sled.
• Sister-in-Law Lu visited Liang Yuemei and praised Li Long, then suggested that he meet her nineteen-year-old niece.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang reached the Black Market, where Li Long displayed fish and Gugu Chickens and named his prices.
• A woman bought Li Long's largest carp for two yuan, making his first sale.

Li Long sold fish at the Black Market, bought rapeseed oil coupons and pork, then left with Tao Daqiang as red-armband patrols arrived. He began selling the remaining fish near the State-Run Canteen, where he persuaded a woman to buy two fish and accepted two crucian carp as a bonus.

• Customers complained that the remaining fish were smaller, so Li Long lowered their price and sold fish to them and an elderly man.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang counted twenty-eight yuan in sales, and Li Long bought ten jin of rapeseed oil coupons and two pieces of pork belly.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang packed up and left the Black Market as people wearing red armbands approached.
• Li Long bought buns at the State-Run Canteen and then offered fish to a passing woman.
• Li Long persuaded the woman to buy a carp and a Five-Stripe Perch by adding two crucian carp to the sale.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold their remaining fish around the county town, exchanging many for grain and flour before selling the last fish to an old man. They headed home with their earnings and provisions after Li Long bought rapeseed oil.

• Li Long sold five more fish outside the pork canteen before a man asked him to move along, so he and Tao Daqiang left.
• Li Long sold and traded fish in the Grain Bureau compound, receiving rice, flour, and cornmeal before its gatekeeper ordered them out.
• Li Long explained that people trailing them hoped to collect unwanted fish cheaply, then led Tao Daqiang to an old courtyard house.
• Li Long sold the remaining silver carp and crucian carp to an old man for six yuan.
• Li Long offered Tao Daqiang provisions and ten yuan for his work, but Tao Daqiang refused the money.
• Li Long bought a bucket and five kilograms of rapeseed oil, then he and Tao Daqiang headed home.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei discussed their family’s plans and the goods Li Long had brought home from selling fish. At the Tao home, Tao Daqiang confronted his father and older brother over their habit of taking what he earned, and he left determined to protect his share and build his own life.

• Li Jianguo told Liang Yuemei that Xiaoxia's father was recovering and planned to catch more Little Dragon Fish.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei planned to send food to her parents for the New Year.
• Li Long delivered rice, flour, and pork to Tao Daqiang's home, and Tao Daqiang's father considered trying the fish-selling business himself.
• Tao Daqiang refused his father's demand to give food to Tao Dayong and complained that his brother repeatedly took his goods and supplies.
• Tao Dayong arrived hoping to claim a share, but Tao Daqiang confronted him and warned him not to take the wood he planned to use for fuel.
• Tao Dayong left empty-handed, while Tao Daqiang insisted he would build a good life without letting his family take advantage of him.

Tao Dayong defied Ma Chunhong and went to bring coal to his father, while Li Long stood up for Li Juan when Lu Nier took her knucklebones. Li Juan got her bones back, and Li Long reflected that things were different now.

• Tao Daqiang told Tao Jianshe not to give supplies to Tao Dayong and left with food for himself.
• Tao Dayong argued with Ma Chunhong about helping his father, then shoved past her and went to get coal.
• Li Juan told Li Long that Lu Nier had taken two of her ankle bones and driven her and Li Qiang away.
• Li Long took Li Juan and Li Qiang to the Lu family’s house and demanded the bones back.
• Sister-in-Law Lu ordered Lu Nier to return the bones, and Li Juan took them home.

After selling their first haul of fish, Li Long returned to Little Haizi with Tao Daqiang and helped Li Jianguo catch more. They brought home over seventy kilos of fish, and Li Long decided to borrow a horse cart and sell fish in Stone City the next day.

• Li Long rested at home, drank lamb broth, and told Liang Yuemei that he had sold all the fish.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang went to Little Haizi, where Li Jianguo had caught a nearly ten-kilo bighead carp.
• The three men scooped fish from the ice holes and discussed where Li Long could sell another load.
• Wang Hongjun, Wang Hongbing, and He Wei arrived to fish and borrowed Li Jianguo's steel bar to open another hole.
• Li Long, Li Jianguo, and Tao Daqiang caught more than seventy kilos of fish and headed home while the Wang family kept fishing.
• Li Long decided to borrow a horse cart and take fish to Stone City the next day.

Tao Daqiang told Li Long that his father wanted him to catch and sell fish with his brother instead, and Li Long accepted the change and shared advice about selling safely. They traveled to the county together, where Li Long began selling fish at the Black Market.

• Tao Daqiang found the extra coal his brother had brought and heard Tao Jianshe say that the brothers should reconcile and catch fish together.
• Tao Jianshe told Tao Daqiang to stop fishing with Li Long and split the earnings with his brother.
• Li Long borrowed Xu Chengjun’s horse cart and set out for the county with Tao Daqiang the next morning.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long about his father’s plan, and Li Long agreed while advising him how to avoid trouble when selling fish.
• Li Long left Tao Daqiang with the cart, carried fish to the Black Market, and quickly attracted a customer.

Li Long left the county town with Tao Daqiang and traveled to Stone City to sell the fish in a factory residential compound. After selling two carp to the gatekeeper, he attracted more customers and began making sales inside the compound.

• Li Long sold most of his fish at the county market, then left with Tao Daqiang when buyers dwindled.
• Li Long explained to Tao Daqiang that Stone City's factory compounds offered more customers and less risk of being reported.
• At the agricultural machinery factory compound, Li Long sold two common carp to the gatekeeper, who let him enter.
• Li Long invited children to tell their families about his fish, and a middle-aged man questioned his prices.
• A woman arrived with her child, learned the fish cost two yuan each, and bought two.

Li Long sold fish in a workers’ housing compound in Stone City, earning a strong return despite the winter cold. After paying Tao Daqiang his share, the two headed to the department store to look for a fishing net.

• A woman bought two fish, drawing neighbors to Li Long’s stall and prompting him to fetch more fish from the horse cart.
• Tao Daqiang waited in the freezing weather while Li Long brought another load into the compound and sold fish to the waiting customers.
• Li Long sold the small crucian carp quickly and negotiated the price of the remaining bighead carp down to seven yuan.
• Li Long counted forty-eight yuan and fifty cents in sales and gave Tao Daqiang fifteen yuan as his share.
• Tao Daqiang kept five yuan and asked Li Long to hold the rest while they went to the Stone City Department Store to look for fishing nets.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang searched Stone City for fishing nets, then set off home without finding the kind they wanted. Two armed men tried to rob them on the road, but Li Long and Tao Daqiang fought back, took their money and weapons, and hurried away.

• Li Long bought New Year snacks and set aside peanuts for Tao Daqiang, who felt too overwhelmed to shop in the Department Store.
• Li Long found only gill nets at the supply and marketing cooperative and learned their prices without buying one.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang bought steamed buns and left Stone City in their horse cart.
• Two young men carrying an iron chain and an iron pipe blocked the road and demanded ten yuan.
• Tao Daqiang and Li Long attacked the robbers, beat them, and took their money, grain coupons, chain, and pipe before leaving.