Chapter Summaries

Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard with cooked meat for Gu Xiaoxia, then went back to the mountains to trade supplies and prepare for weaving Taibazi. He followed Sun Jiaqiang’s directions to a gully, where he heard deer calls and spotted two wapiti fleeing from something ahead.

• Li Long brought cooked beef and offal to Gu Xiaoxia, and they shared dinner, discussed her work, and planned for the coming weeks.
• Li Long stocked up on rubber shoes and food, then traded goods and cooked meat to a Forestry Team man for fritillaria at the Wooden Cabin.
• Wu Zhongzhong sold Li Long a pair of deer antlers and told him the Forestry Team had confiscated the fritillaria he had gathered; Li Long fed him and advised him to seek harder-to-reach gullies.
• Li Long set out before dawn for the gully Sun Jiaqiang had described, checking willow shoots for future Taibazi weaving along the way.
• Li Long heard deer cries inside the gully and saw a large wapiti and a doe fleeing from an unseen pursuer.

Li Long chased and killed an injured lynx after it attacked a red deer fawn, then returned to Small White Poplar Gully with the lynx and the dead fawn. He carefully processed the valuable pelt and bones and left the lynx meat for later.

• Li Long followed two red deer to a fight between a buck and a lynx attacking their fawn, then pursued the wounded lynx.
• Li Long chased the lynx through the ravine and trees, shot it, climbed after it, and killed it with a blow from his gun.
• Li Long returned to the fight site, found the dead fawn, and carried it and the lynx back to Small White Poplar Gully.
• Li Long told Sun Jiaqiang about his catch and gave him permission to take a lynx bone in exchange for Sun Jiaqiang's advice about steeping the bones in alcohol.
• Li Long skinned the lynx without damaging its pelt, separated its meat and bones, then processed the fawn and started boiling its carcass.

Li Long spent the fritillaria season buying bulbs and game in the mountains, then returned to County Town with his haul and reunited with Gu Xiaoxia. The next morning, he brought the lynx pelt and fritillaria to the Purchasing Station, where Chen Hongjun was arguing with another seller about quality and price.

• Li Long bought Sun Jiaqiang's fritillaria, paid him twenty-five yuan, and traded supplies and food for more bulbs from two other gatherers.
• As the cabin filled with fritillaria and valuable game, Li Long loaded his goods onto the tractor and drove out of the mountains to County Town.
• Li Long reunited with Gu Xiaoxia, showed her the lynx pelt and bones, and told her he planned to sell the pelt and share the bones with their relatives.
• Li Long returned to the mountains of the Big Courtyard the next morning after spending the night with Gu Xiaoxia, then took the dried fritillaria and lynx pelt to the Purchasing Station.
• Li Long overheard Chen Hongjun disputing the quality and price of another seller's fritillaria, and Chen Hongjun noticed Li Long's sack.

Li Long sold fritillaria and pelts at higher prices, secured a larger Taibazi order, and returned home to organize its production. The chapter ended with him telling Xu Chengjun about the order and learning the team had already arranged food and supplies for the workers.

• Chen Hongjun inspected Li Long’s clean fritillaria, paid him 312 yuan for it, and bought his lynx and fawn pelts.
• Li Long gave Chen Hongjun and Li Xiangqian lynx bones, and Li Xiangqian confirmed an order for a thousand Taibazi at eight yuan each.
• Li Long returned to the family home with liquor and bones, then recruited Li Jianguo to help weave Taibazi for four yuan apiece.
• Li Long rode to Xu Chengjun’s home, reported that the Taibazi order had arrived, and learned that the team had arranged a cook and pooled provisions.

Li Long gathered workers for a mountain job weaving taibazi, then brought his eldest brother and Lu Yingming to Small White Poplar Gully to set up their work camp. After trading supplies with Sun Jiaqiang, he returned toward his cabin and spotted fresh wild-boar tracks.

• Li Long told Xie Yundong that the taibazi job was confirmed at four yuan each, and Xie arranged for Lao Huang to cook for the workers.
• Li Long recruited Tao Jianshe, while Tao Daqiang stayed home with his pregnant wife, and Lu Yingming joined Li Long and Li Jianguo on the trip.
• Li Long bought supplies and drove the tractor to his mountain cabin, where Sun Jiaqiang arrived to check on the place and traded fritillaria for food and cash.
• Li Long drove Li Jianguo, Lu Yingming, and Sun Jiaqiang to Small White Poplar Gully, where Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming built earth cellars for the weaving camp.
• Li Long returned toward his cabin after the others settled in and noticed fresh wild-boar tracks along the way.

Li Zhengting persuaded Li Zhengtang to carry their fresh fritillaria to the County Town to sell, despite the danger and hardship. After the Purchasing Station and Medicinal Materials Company rejected it, the cousins set up a market stall and were immediately confronted by the market administrator.

• Li Zhengting insisted on selling their fritillaria in the County Town, and Li Zhengtang reluctantly agreed to go with him.
• The cousins met Li Long in the mountains while carrying their sacks south, then continued their exhausting overnight journey toward the County Town.
• Li Long twisted his ankle on the way to check his snares, then shot a half-grown wild boar and collected three snared piglets.
• Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting reached the County Town exhausted and learned the Purchasing Station would not buy fresh fritillaria.
• The Medicinal Materials Company also refused to buy the fritillaria, so the cousins set up a market stall and were confronted by the market administrator before making a sale.

Li Long supplied meat and fritillaria to his workers in Small White Poplar Gully, arranged official backing for their work, and organized more people to join them. He returned to the brigade to prepare for the next trip to the mountains, while Li Zhengting and Li Zhengtang struggled to sell their fritillaria at the market.

• Li Zhengting and Li Zhengtang sold a small amount of fritillaria after borrowing a scale, then bought buns while worrying that their slow sales would not cover their costs.
• Li Long processed a wild boar, traded forty yuan with Bolati for fritillaria, and delivered salted meat to Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming in Small White Poplar Gully.
• Li Long obtained a stamped note from Li Xiangqian to protect the workers, and arranged for Sister Yang to buy the brothers’ unsold fritillaria and dry it for him.
• Li Long returned to Old Ma's Place with three wild boar piglets, then offered Xie Yundong fifty yuan to organize workers for the mountain job.
• Li Long set a five-thirty departure time for the workers and went home, where he found Du Chunfang and Li Qingxia working in the yard.

Li Long brought Tao Daqiang, Tao Jianshe, Lao Huang, Xu Feihu, Xu Dejun, and Jia Weiguo into Small White Poplar Gully to begin weaving taibazi, laying out the work rules and supplies. After settling the workers in, he returned to his cabin, while Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting spent a cold night sheltering in the mountains after selling their fritillaria and deciding to trade with Li Long instead.

• Li Long gathered the workers and drove them to Small White Poplar Gully, stopping in the county town to buy cooking oil and red tofu.
• Li Long told the men to repair the earth cellars, maintain strict taibazi quality, and ask Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming for help; he also gave Li Jianguo a certificate for inspections.
• Sun Jiaqiang sold Li Long a little over six kilograms of fritillaria, then joined Lao Huang's meal group by helping gather rods.
• Li Long unloaded the supplies, dried the fritillaria at his cabin, and planned to inspect and collect the woven taibazi in the coming days.
• Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting sold their fritillaria to Sister Yang, bought provisions and clothes, then headed into the mountains after dark.
• After hearing wolves, Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting sheltered in a narrow rocky crevice and resolved to sell their future fritillaria to Li Long, but the night wind and cold woke them.

Li Long traded medicine and supplies for fritillaria while learning that Hamiti had been badly injured. After tending to the cousins and preparing his cabin, he welcomed two unfamiliar itinerants who brought more fritillaria to trade.

• Li Long gave Li Zhengting aspirin and toasted buns in exchange for five kilos of fritillaria, and Li Zhengtang took his feverish cousin back to their Earth Cellar.
• Wu Zhongzhong sold Li Long a little over fifteen kilos of fritillaria for forty-six yuan.
• Bolati traded his group leader’s dirty fritillaria for rice, flour, liquor, tea, salt, and sugar, then told Li Long that Hamiti had been beaten and had a broken leg.
• Li Long dried fritillaria and meat, built an outdoor toilet, and prepared lunch at the Wooden Cabin.
• Two unfamiliar itinerants brought sacks of fritillaria, and Li Long agreed to pay one ten yuan and give the other eleven yuan’s worth of goods.

Li Long inspected his mountain trading post, bought fritillaria, and collected the taibazi woven by the workers at Small White Poplar Gully. He left the workers with rules for gathering and weaving, unaware that Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku were planning to rob and kill him once they found what they were seeking.

• After leaving Li Long's post, Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku discussed taking his rifle and supplies, but agreed to wait until they found their target and were ready to leave.
• Li Long bought more fritillaria and dried meat, then drove to Small White Poplar Gully, where Xie Yundong and the workers were preparing dinner and weaving taibazi.
• Li Long bought Sun Jiaqiang's fritillaria and fresh deer antler for seventeen yuan, then warned everyone against sneaking off to dig fritillaria or picking unfamiliar mushrooms.
• Li Long explained the taibazi quality standards and inspected the workers' work, rejecting pieces from Xu Feihu and Xu Dejun that needed repairs while recording the ones that passed.
• Li Long loaded the approved taibazi onto his tractor, advised the workers to gather materials in groups because of wolves and bears, and drove back to the cabin after dark.

Li Long continued trading supplies for fritillaria and old objects at his mountain cabin while learning that a wanted criminal had entered the mountains. Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku found a cache site Li Long had already emptied, then set off to search for the map’s other marked locations.

• Around the fire, Li Jianguo told the young men about Usman’s bandits and confirmed that jade could be found in the mountains.
• Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku used their map to locate rocks concealing old objects, found that someone had taken the valuable items, and decided to search the other marked sites.
• Li Long traded food, clothes, shoes, flour, liquor, and money to a hungry old man for seven kilos of clean fritillaria.
• Bolati warned Li Long that a dangerous wanted criminal had entered the mountains, and Li Long took up his gun after Bolati left.
• A drifter traded Li Long fritillaria and an old bronze mirror, then offered a heavy inscribed plate and revealed that he had three more of them.

Li Long bought four mysterious metal plates, gave dried meat and liquor to the workers at Small White Poplar Gully, and learned that Sun Jiaqiang had found a rich patch of fritillaria. The next morning, Li Long hunted a wounded wild mountain goat and took aim at it again as it ran down a gully.

• Li Long bought four metal plates from a mountain worker, hid them with the bronze mirror, and gave the man a piece of dried meat before he left.
• Li Long brought liquor and dried meat to Small White Poplar Gully, where Li Jianguo delayed the drinking until work was done and the men had finished weaving their taibazi.
• Xie Yundong told Li Long that the Forestry Team had warned them about a wanted criminal in the mountains, and Li Long said he would defend himself with his gun.
• Sun Jiaqiang returned with a large haul of fritillaria and told Li Long he had found a gully where the plants grew densely.
• Li Long went hunting near Hot Spring Ravine at dawn, wounded a wild mountain goat, and chased it across the mountains.
• Li Long reached the mountaintop, aimed at the goat as it ran down the far side, and pulled the trigger.

Li Long hunted a wild mountain goat, sold fritillaria, and delivered meat and supplies to Harimu's and Jade Mountain River's families before returning to the Wooden Cabin. He caught a thief fleeing the cabin and beat him after finding that the intruder had damaged and spoiled many supplies.

• Li Long carried a wild mountain goat back to the Wooden Cabin, processed it, and loaded fritillaria and supplies onto his tractor before heading to County Town.
• Li Long sold 18.9 kilograms of fritillaria to Chen Hongjun for 850 yuan and 50 fen, then bought supplies and food for the mountain cabin and his friends' families.
• Li Long gave goat legs and household supplies to Harimu's mother and Jade Mountain River's wife, refusing both women's attempts to pay him.
• Adili thanked Li Long on behalf of the Pastoral Team as Li Long left for the mountains and drove toward the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long spotted a man fleeing the Wooden Cabin, fired a warning shot, and forced him to carry the stolen sacks back.
• Li Long tied up the thief and beat him after discovering that the man had slashed sacks of rice and flour, trampled dried meat, and spilled alcohol.

Li Long caught a thief who had ransacked his cabin, then traded supplies for fritillaria as drifters came to him during a cold, rainy day. When his stock ran low, he drove the fritillaria to Qingshui River Township, where Gu Xiaoxia hurried him inside to warm up.

• Li Long tied up the thief who had broken into his cabin, and Bolati beat him before taking him away in exchange for fritillaria and supplies.
• Li Long repaired his stove, prepared food, and spent the afternoon gathering taibazi before rain began overnight.
• Li Zhengtang brought Li Long thirty-one kilograms of fritillaria, traded part for money and supplies, and received dry firewood and a waterproof sack.
• As drifters arrived throughout the rainy day to trade fritillaria for money, food, and firewood, Li Long sold off much of his cash and supplies.
• With over a hundred kilograms of fritillaria and little stock left, Li Long loaded the sacks onto his tractor and drove through the rain to Qingshui River Township.
• Gu Xiaoxia saw Li Long arrive soaked, pulled him into the kitchen, and told him to warm up before unloading the fritillaria.

Li Long returned to his mountain cabin, stocked it with supplies, and met a courteous stranger who claimed to have become lost while gathering herbs. The stranger left after giving Li Long old coins, but returned in the middle of the night wounded and unconscious beside a dead wolf, leaving Li Long to wonder whether he had been lured into a trap.

• Li Long returned home, shared a meal and a long conversation with Gu Xiaoxia, and spent the night with her before she went to work the next morning.
• Li Long bought food, fuel, medicine, and other supplies, then drove through the rain to restock the Small Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long found a well-dressed stranger sheltering in the cabin's lean-to, gave him sesame cakes and hot water, and watched him leave four old coins as payment before heading west.
• Li Long warned the stranger that the swollen river could not be crossed, then examined the coins and went about his day at the cabin.
• In the middle of the night, the stranger returned with numerous wounds and a dead wolf, begged Li Long to treat him, and collapsed at the doorway.

Li Long sheltered the wounded Liu Shanmin, treated his injuries, and processed the wolf Liu Shanmin had killed as payment. After Liu Shanmin recovered enough to eat and explain how he had reached Li Long’s cabin, another man ran toward them in a panic.

• Li Long treated Liu Shanmin’s wounds and fever, then drove off two wolves that came near the cabin before skinning and processing the wolf Liu Shanmin had killed.
• Liu Shanmin woke, thanked Li Long, ate breakfast, and mended his clothes while Li Long prepared the wolf meat and gathered mushrooms.
• Li Long and Liu Shanmin ate lunch, and Liu Shanmin explained that he had been injured while killing a wolf after finding its den in the mountains.
• A tall man who had sold Li Long a metal piece ran toward them in a panic.

Tang Hongsheng escaped his pursuers by reaching Li Long’s shelter, sold him a bronze incense burner, and later asked Li Long to take him out of the mountains. Li Long then went to Small White Poplar Gully to collect taibazi and buy fritillaria, where Sun Jiaqiang told him he had seen a two-headed deer.

• Tang Hongsheng encountered Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku while searching the mountains, fled to Li Long’s shelter, and sold Li Long a Qing imitation Xuande-style incense burner for ten yuan and a meal.
• Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku stopped pursuing Tang Hongsheng near Li Long’s shelter and returned to check another spot in the mountains.
• Tang Hongsheng returned to ask Li Long for help leaving the mountains, and Li Long drove him to a path leading north before continuing to Small White Poplar Gully.
• Li Long gave Lao Huang wolf innards for the workers’ meal, bought eighteen kilograms of fritillaria from Sun Jiaqiang, and inspected the workers’ taibazi.
• Sun Jiaqiang joked that he wanted to become Li Long’s underling, then told Li Long he had seen a two-headed deer; Li Long revealed that he had seen it too.

Li Long bought fritillaria from Bolati and two migrant drifters, while Liu Shanmin helped keep the trade from turning into an arrest. The next morning, Li Long set out to search near Hot Spring Valley as Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku reached their final treasure site.

• Li Long paid Bolati for thirty-two kilos of fritillaria, and Bolati warned two drifters that they could trade at Li Long’s cabin but not dig in the forest.
• Liu Shanmin persuaded the drifters to stay when Bolati arrived, and Li Long bought their fritillaria and paid Liu ten yuan for arranging the trades.
• Liu Shanmin told Li Long that someone had been watching the cabin, and Li Long gave him a club before they spent the night there.
• Li Long and Liu Shanmin ate breakfast together, then Li Long set out with his gun to search for the Two-Headed Deer and inspect the place Tang Hongsheng had mentioned.
• Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku reached their final marked treasure location, while He Yiku suspected Li Long had acquired items from Tang Hongsheng and vowed to get them back.

Li Long searched the mountain for overlooked valuables, soaked in a hot spring, and hunted game. He returned to the Wooden Cabin with one dead roe deer and another he had rescued from a marsh, leaving the ibex skull behind.

• Li Long reassured a migrant digging for fritillaria, then searched a gully and found corroded coins, a Yuan Shikai Dollar, and a ruby-set gold ring.
• Li Long soaked in Hot Spring Valley, searched the bear’s former den, and spotted Siberian ibex but decided the steep slope made one impractical to hunt.
• Li Long found an old ibex skull and later shot a young roe deer while a second became trapped in a marsh.
• Li Long lassoed the trapped roe deer and dragged it out, then left the ibex skull behind to carry both deer back.
• Liu Shanmin had cooked lunch at the Wooden Cabin, and he ate first to show Li Long the food was safe.

Li Long defended his fritillaria prices against Boss Deng’s attempt to rally drifters, then bought nearly ninety kilograms from four sellers. The next morning Bolati brought him another three sacks, while Boss Deng blamed Li Long for his group’s losses and vowed revenge.

• Li Long divided the taibazi into separate stacks after Liu Shanmin warned that a single fire could destroy them, and he planned to move them to Small White Poplar Gully.
• Boss Deng led a crowd carrying fritillaria to Li Long’s cabin and tried to pressure him into raising his prices, but Li Long refused to change his terms.
• The group split: four men sold Li Long nearly ninety kilograms of fritillaria, while Boss Deng and three others left to sell their loads elsewhere.
• Bolati arrived early with three sacks of fritillaria confiscated from men heading out of the mountains, and Li Long paid him one hundred and eighty yuan.
• Boss Deng and two companions, who had lost their fritillaria to Bolati, blamed Li Long and vowed to take revenge on him.