Chapter Summaries

Li Long brought home deer and roe deer from Harimu’s camp, where Gu Xiaoxia delighted in the fawns, then sold antlers and bought another load of grain before returning to the mountains. He settled into the wooden cabin for a hunting stay and went to sleep dreaming of shooting a tiger.

• Li Long traded supplies with Harimu and his companions for antlers, jade, two fawns, and a young roe deer, then drove Chen Xingbang and fifteen sheep back to Stone City.
• Li Long returned to the compound, where Gu Xiaoxia happily fed the fawns pieces of nang and asked him to keep the deer in the yard.
• The fawns woke Li Long thirsty before dawn, and he gave them water before cooking breakfast with Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long sold six first-grade antlers and one second-grade antler to Chen Hongjun, then bought another load of grain and supplies.
• Li Long returned to Harimu’s Winter Camp, ate with Harimu and his wife, and drove to the wooden cabin, where he cleaned and restocked it.
• Li Long gathered mushrooms and wild vegetables, prepared dinner, and fell asleep at the cabin dreaming that he had shot a tiger.

Li Long went hunting and encountered a two-headed red deer, but a pack of wolves and a herd of wild boars interrupted his pursuit. He returned to the Wooden Cabin with three boars, gave two piglets to Zhong Guoqiang, and remained regretful that the rare deer had escaped.

• Li Long left before dawn with his rifle and searched for wild boars near the beekeeper’s old grounds before heading toward Hot Spring Ravine.
• Li Long spotted a two-headed red deer and chased it, shooting it in the neck, but the animal kept running.
• A pack of wolves drove half-grown wild boars onto the trail, and Li Long shot one boar and two piglets while the deer escaped.
• Li Long dressed the piglets, carried the boars back to the Wooden Cabin, and drove to the Big Meat Canteen.
• Li Long gave Zhong Guoqiang the two piglets and agreed to sell him a leg from the half-grown boar, while planning to share the rest with friends.

Li Long processed a wild boar, visited Gu Xiaoxia and her family, and set out into the mountains the next morning, still hoping to find the two-headed red deer. On the way, he saw people heading in to dig fritillaria and continued to his Wooden Cabin to prepare for an afternoon outing.

• Li Long gave wild boar legs to Zhong Guoqiang, Li Xiangqian, Sister Yang, and Chen Hongjun, and Li Xiangqian offered him more taibazi weaving work.
• Li Long told Li Xiangqian and Gu Xiaoxia that he had seen and shot at a two-headed red deer, which had run away despite being hit.
• Li Long shared a meal with Gu Xiaoxia, Sister Yang, and Han Fang, then prepared boar meat and offal at the Big Courtyard.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia ate together and discussed limiting their drinking while trying for a baby.
• Sister Yang told Aunt Wu that Li Long owned the courtyard and worked for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative so the neighbors would know they had support.
• Li Long drove toward the mountains, saw people hiding who appeared to be fritillaria diggers, and went on to the Wooden Cabin to prepare food.

Li Long explored the mountains, met a fritillaria digger, and arranged to buy fritillaria from Bolati through Jade Mountain River. After returning to his cabin and sleeping through rain, he woke to a stranger asking for help because his brother had a fever.

• Li Long searched for the two-headed deer, encountered a wary fritillaria digger, and agreed to buy five kilograms from him in three days.
• Li Long reached Hot Spring Ravine, found animal tracks but no game, and soaked in the hot spring.
• Bolati visited Li Long’s cabin and agreed with Jade Mountain River to bring fritillaria before sunrise in exchange for goods or money.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long where wild boars and roe deer had been seen, and Li Long planned to hunt there after buying Bolati’s fritillaria.
• Li Long returned to his cabin, prepared a meal, and went to sleep as rain fell.
• A stranger pounded on Li Long’s door before dawn, asking for medicine or hot water for his feverish brother, and Li Long took hold of his rifle.

Li Long gave medicine and food to two hungry men hiding in the mountains, then bought fritillaria from them while warning them about Forestry Team patrols. After preparing a large batch of steamed buns, he planned to search for food around the Salt Cave.

• Li Long gave aspirin to Li Zhengtang for his feverish cousin, then woke to meet Jade Mountain River and Bolati, buying Bolati's fritillaria and giving him buns.
• Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting watched the visitors from the woods, then decided to approach Li Long for food after Li Long warned them the Forestry Team might confiscate their fritillaria.
• Li Long traded rice, flour, and leftover porridge for Li Zhengtang's fritillaria, and Li Zhengting drank the porridge as he recovered from his fever.
• Li Zhengtang urged Li Zhengting to return to their earth cellar and gather more fritillaria to trade with Li Long rather than risk selling it far away.
• Li Long sorted and dried the fritillaria, prepared three tiers of steamed buns, and planned to search the Salt Cave for food after finding few mushrooms.

Sun Jiaqiang mistook a cave wall of rock salt for gemstones, but Li Long corrected him and traded food for information about wildlife and Fritillaria. Li Long followed Sun Jiaqiang’s report of a deer into a collapsed gully, hoping to find the Two-Headed Deer or shed antlers.

• Sun Jiaqiang found a cave while digging Fritillaria and discovered that its walls were made of colorful, translucent rock salt, which he mistook for gemstones.
• Li Long arrived at the cave and explained that the supposed gemstones were salt; Sun Jiaqiang tasted one and accepted the truth.
• Li Long gave Sun Jiaqiang steamed buns in exchange for reports of deer, wild sheep, wolves, and Fritillaria, and told him where he could stay safely and sell his harvest.
• Sun Jiaqiang left for a cluster of abandoned earth cellars while Li Long headed south to investigate the gully where Sun had seen a deer.
• Li Long entered the overgrown, partly collapsed gully with his gun ready, searching for the deer and hoping to find shed antlers.

Li Long caught a newborn fawn and its doe in the mountains and brought them to the team stable to raise. After telling Uncle Lao Luo he planned to search for more deer and buy fritillaria, he returned to his courtyard, where Li Qingxia came to see him.

• Li Long found a newborn fawn in a ravine, set a snare for its mother, and later returned to find the doe caught beside the nursing fawn.
• Li Long secured the doe with a rope halter and led her and the fawn through the mountains to his cabin, where he fed them and kept them overnight.
• Li Long drove the doe and fawn to the County Seat, where Zhong Guoqiang admired the tiny fawn.
• Li Long brought the deer to the stable, and Uncle Lao Luo placed them in an empty pen after revealing that a roe deer there had also recently given birth.
• Li Long told Uncle Lao Luo he planned to visit the County Seat, search the mountains for more deer, and buy fritillaria, then drove to his courtyard as Li Qingxia came to greet him.

Li Long discussed possible taibazi-weaving work with Xu Chengjun and agreed to reserve places for several reliable workers while leaving further hiring until the work was confirmed. He then prepared for his tractor-driving test and drove toward the County Seat, where he thought he spotted Wu Shufen carrying a child.

• Li Long told his family about the doe and newborn fawn he had caught, along with the other fawns kept at the Big Courtyard in the County Seat.
• Xu Chengjun asked Li Long to reserve taibazi-weaving work for villagers, and Li Long agreed to take Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang, Xu Laohu, and Xu Dejun if work became available.
• Li Long explained that workers would need to pay toward meals in the mountains this year, and Xu Chengjun and the others asked about conditions there.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long he planned to catch and sell fish with Li Long's father after finishing fieldwork.
• Li Long loaded fuel and grass onto his tractor, took sorted alfalfa from Gu Boyuan for Xiaoxia, and drove toward the County Seat for his tractor test.
• Near the County Seat, Li Long realized that a figure he had passed might have been Wu Shufen carrying a child.

Li Long took and passed the tractor license tests, helped other candidates during the open-book exam, and planned a trip into the mountains to hunt and trade for fritillaria. After buying coupons and supplies, he returned to the Big Courtyard to prepare, where he saw Xiao Liu with the permed hair again.

• Li Long fed and penned Gu Xiaoxia’s deer and roe deer in the greenhouse, then discussed their families and his plans to hunt with her over dinner.
• At the Farm Machinery Bureau, Li Long met Deng Chaoxian, who admitted he could barely read and hoped to copy answers during the open-book test.
• Li Long finished the written exam, let other candidates copy his answers, and passed the tractor’s practical test by maneuvering it through the poles.
• Li Long bought coupons from Cao Liu and planned to use them to purchase supplies for a mountain trip.
• Li Long met Gu Xiaoxia after work, returned to the Farm Machinery Bureau, passed the practical test, and went to the Big Courtyard to prepare for his trip.
• After feeding the deer and setting out to buy supplies, Li Long saw Xiao Liu with the permed hair again.

Li Long stocked the Wooden Cabin with goods and began trading them for fritillaria, while Sun Jiaqiang arrived with a snared roe deer and exchanged part of it for supplies. The chapter ended with Sun Jiaqiang gorging himself on cooked meat and taking hawthorn pills to settle his stomach.

• Li Long drove supplies into the mountains, visited Harimu, and set up a shop in the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting traded fritillaria for food, medicine, tools, bedsheets, and steamed buns.
• Sun Jiaqiang caught a young roe deer in a snare and carried it to Li Long, asking to trade it for supplies and cooked meat.
• Li Long skinned and cooked the roe deer while Sun Jiaqiang cleaned the innards and chose medicine, liquor, and dried steamed buns in the trade.
• Sun Jiaqiang eagerly ate several meaty bones until he was too full to move, so Li Long gave him hawthorn pills.

Tao Daqiang and Li Qingxia decided to take their fish to Stone City, while Chen Xingbang sold a sheep’s worth of Mutton after promoting it as mountain-raised. In the mountains, Li Long traded supplies and cooked meat to Hou Guoliang for Fritillaria, then continued toward a wild-boar site to dig a pit and try to catch young boars.

• Tao Daqiang and Li Qingxia agreed to haul their fish to Stone City, where they expected better prices and more customers.
• Chen Xingbang persuaded several customers to buy mountain Mutton, selling a whole sheep’s worth before lunch.
• Li Long inspected a wild-boar feeding site and decided to return with tools and Corn to dig a pit trap.
• Hou Guoliang met Li Long and traded six or seven kilograms of Fritillaria for food, supplies, and cooked meat.
• Li Long told Hou Guoliang he could trade Fritillaria for cash, then set out to dig the wild-boar pit.

Li Long dug a large pitfall for wild boars, found a valuable piece of jade, and baited the trap before returning to his cabin. The next morning, he heard someone calling for help near the mountain and hurried toward the voice.

• Li Long dug a deep, wide-bottomed pit near wild boar tracks and uncovered a high-quality piece of jade.
• Li Long covered the pit with branches, scattered corn as bait, and went home to rest.
• Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang brought their fish and burbot to Stone City, where they sold out in less than two hours.
• Chen Xingbang told Li Qingxia that his sheep supply was running low and discussed finding more livestock or buying pigs instead.
• Li Long set out to check his pitfall and heard someone shouting for help from up the mountain.

Li Long caught several wild boars in his trap, frightened off a sow that had trapped the man who traded him Fritillaria, and brought meat back to share with family and friends. After returning to the Big Courtyard, he prepared dinner with Gu Xiaoxia and planned to head back into the mountains the next day.

• Li Long found two half-grown boars and two piglets in his trap while a large sow threatened the man who had come to watch it, and he drove the sow away with a gunshot.
• Li Long returned with his tractor, killed and butchered the trapped boars, and refused the man's attempts to claim some meat or trade for it.
• Li Long traded liquor with Bolati for Fritillaria, then carried meat and supplies back to the Big Courtyard.
• Li Long shared boar meat with Uncle Lao Luo, Gu Boyuan, Li Qingxia, and Tao Daqiang, and heard that fish and mutton had sold well in Stone City.
• Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard, where he and Gu Xiaoxia prepared dinner together.

Li Long advised Gu Xiaoxia on handling an exploitative coworker, then went to his mountain cabin, where he caught a thief and learned about a nearby deer herd. He traded supplies with Bolati and Sun Jiaqiang and planned to hunt the wapiti after waiting for sheep to arrive.

• Li Long let the fawns play outside, then helped Gu Xiaoxia deal with Sister Liu’s habit of pushing work onto her by suggesting she set boundaries and keep Director Wang informed.
• Li Long prepared meat and drove to Harimu’s place, where he arranged for Harimu to deliver sheep to the wooden cabin.
• At the cabin, Li Long found Bolati and Sun Jiaqiang holding the man who had tried to break in and steal from him.
• Li Long sent the thief away with Bolati to be taken to the detention center, then traded supplies with Bolati and told him to conceal the trade from his Forestry Team.
• Sun Jiaqiang told Li Long he had spotted a family of wapiti near the earth cellar, and Li Long decided to investigate after the sheep arrived.
• Sun Jiaqiang traded fritillaria for sweets, and Li Long began sorting the day’s fritillaria and preparing to steam more buns.

Li Long settled into his mountain cabin, improved his cooking stoves, and saw a tiger kill a wild mountain goat, making him wary of the surrounding mountains. Harimu, Jade Mountain River, and Bek later brought him eighteen sheep to trade, and Li Long drove them toward Stone City to deliver them to Chen Xingbang.

• Li Long dried the fritillaria, gathered nearby mushrooms and greens, and planned improvements to his cabin and cooking stoves.
• Li Long built proper earthen stoves and cooked rice, but spotted a tiger kill a wild mountain goat near the woods.
• Li Long cleaned and loaded his Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle, then warned Harimu and Jade Mountain River to carry guns because of the tiger.
• Harimu and Jade Mountain River arrived with Bek and eighteen sheep, which Li Long traded for supplies and money.
• Li Long drove the sheep out of the mountains toward Stone City and saw Chen Xingbang selling meat to a crowd at his stall.

Li Long sold sheep with Chen Xingbang, hauled sugar residue for the family and their livestock, and returned to the mountains to gather coal. As he began digging, wolves chased several roe deer into the gully, and one wolf noticed him.

• Li Long unloaded eighteen sheep for Chen Xingbang, collected 270 yuan, and helped him and the others sell the remaining fish before they ate together.
• Li Long, Li Qingxia, and Tao Daqiang loaded sugar residue at the Sugar Factory, where Song Ming asked Li Long to bring him fritillaria for his mother's cough.
• Li Long distributed sugar residue at the Big Courtyard, the Stable, Tao Daqiang's home, and his parents' yard, where the family had nine new piglets.
• Li Long returned to the Wooden Cabin the next morning and drove into a gully to dig coal, carrying his Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle.
• Wolves pursued roe deer into Li Long's gully, killed a half-grown deer, and one gray wolf spotted Li Long.

Li Long shot a wolf while rescuing a roe deer, gathered coal, and processed both animals at the Wooden Cabin. The next day, he traded rice and cooked meat with a stranger who brought fritillaria.

• Li Long wounded and killed one wolf, then carried its carcass and a dead roe deer back to the tractor while leaving the other wolves in the ravine.
• Li Long gathered coal, returned to the Wooden Cabin, and skinned and butchered the wolf and roe deer before storing their meat and organs.
• Li Long found large animal paw prints by the cooking stove the next morning and discovered that scavengers had eaten the discarded scraps.
• Li Long boiled the stomachs and intestines, hung the salted meat to dry, unloaded the coal, and cut branches to cover the pile.
• A stranger arrived at the Wooden Cabin with low-quality jade and fritillaria, and Li Long refused to trade for the jade but offered rice for the fritillaria.
• The stranger asked to exchange some of his rice for cooked meat, and Li Long agreed to give him four jin of rice and a kilogram of meat.

Li Long improved his cabin with Sun Jiaqiang’s help, traded him a wolf fang and rubber boots for fritillaria, and shared a hearty lunch with him. Sun Jiaqiang returned to digging fritillaria and rebuffed another digger who tried to buy his new boots for too little.

• Li Long began mixing mud to insulate his cabin and welcomed Sun Jiaqiang, who brought clean fritillaria to trade.
• Sun Jiaqiang helped tread and prepare the mud, while Li Long gave him a wolf fang and a pair of yellow rubber boots.
• Li Long and Sun Jiaqiang plastered enough mud for two walls, then cooked and ate braised offal, wild celery, and steamed buns together.
• After lunch, Sun Jiaqiang left with dried meat and braised offal, while Li Long dug a toilet pit and spread fritillaria to dry.
• Sun Jiaqiang went to dig more fritillaria and showed his new boots to another digger, rejecting the man’s offer of a kilo of fritillaria for them.

Wu Zhongzhong, a destitute drifter living in the mountains, traded fritillaria to Li Long for food, supplies, and cash. After selling another twenty-three kilograms the next morning and arranging to sell his antlers, Wu Zhongzhong saw a way to earn enough to return home, while Li Long set off east with Bolati after receiving good news.

• Wu Zhongzhong carried a bag of damp fritillaria to Li Long’s cabin and traded seven usable kilograms for shoes, food, and other supplies.
• Wu Zhongzhong returned before dawn with two bags of sorted fritillaria, and Li Long paid him seventy yuan for the twenty-three kilograms.
• Wu Zhongzhong offered Li Long his deer and roe deer antlers for three yuan per kilogram, then left hopeful that he could save several hundred yuan and go home.
• Li Long spread the fritillaria out to dry, but Bolati soon arrived on horseback with good news, and Li Long loaded the tractor and followed him east into the mountains.

Li Long traded rice and flour for a dying cow in the mountains, then brought the beef back to share among relatives, friends, and local contacts. After helping his family process the meat, he left for the County Town with cooked food and planned to return to the mountains for more fritillaria and supplies.

• Li Long offered Sultan rice and flour for the cow that had fallen down the mountain, and Sultan accepted the trade and butchered it with Bolati's help.
• Li Long covered the beef and gathered fritillaria, then drove to the County Seat and shared meat with Sister Yang, Gu Xiaoxia, Zhong Guoqiang, Chen Hongjun, and Li Xiangqian.
• Li Long sold twenty kilograms of beef to the Big Meat Canteen and gave legs to Uncle Lao Luo and Gu Boyuan, while arranging more meat for his family and Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long returned to his eldest brother's yard, where his family processed the beef and set aside portions for relatives and friends.
• Li Long ate with his family and prepared to drive back to the County Town, taking basins of cooked beef and other meat for his stay in the mountains.