Chapter Summaries

Li Long delivered grain and supplies to the Pastoral Team's residential post, where he thawed and repaired Harimu's frozen hand pump. After teaching Nasen and Sasiken how to winterize it, he began planning a more convenient water supply for Harimu and Jade Mountain River at Winter Camp.

• Jade Mountain River visited Harimu at Winter Camp, where they discussed winter slaughter, Li Long's expected visit, and gifts for his future child.
• Li Long finished selling reed bundles, deposited most of his earnings, and brought grain and potatoes to the Pastoral Team's residential post at Gu Xiaoxia's urging.
• Nasen and Sasiken told Li Long that Harimu's hand pump had frozen, so Li Long fetched boiling water and carefully melted the ice inside it.
• Li Long got the pump working again, then showed Nasen and Sasiken how to remove and bring its head and pin indoors at night to prevent freezing.
• Li Long decided to explore installing pipes to make fetching water easier for Harimu and Jade Mountain River at Winter Camp.

Li Long returned from the caretaker station, stocked up on supplies, and arranged for Sister Yang to stay with Gu Xiaoxia while he went into the mountains. At Harimu’s Winter Camp, he found the families eager to begin their winter slaughter, with several taking turns inviting him to join.

• The old lady cooked Naren for Li Long, who shared meat with Nasen and Sasiken before driving away as Adili arrived too late to catch him.
• Li Long reached the County Seat, bought rice and flour at the Free Market, and returned to prepare dinner for Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about his plans to visit the mountains and arranged for Sister Yang and Han Fang to stay in the courtyard while he was away.
• Li Long fetched Sister Yang, gave her the keys, and bought supplies, batteries, rubber cotton shoes, and alcohol at the Department Store.
• Li Long drove his loaded tractor to Harimu’s Winter Camp, where Harimu, Jade Mountain River, Talihaal, and others welcomed him and announced their scheduled winter slaughters.

Li Long attended Harimu’s winter slaughter, found a promising stream source for a water pipe, and spent the night at his wooden cabin after wolves prowled nearby. The next morning, he went to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp, where Jade Mountain River’s question about the pelts made Li Long suspect some were unusual.

• Li Long found a flowing stream above Harimu’s winter camp and considered using its pool as an intake for a buried water pipe.
• The herders slaughtered a cow, shared a meal, and told stories about their experiences and wildlife on the Summer Pasture.
• Li Long stored the pelts and offal inside his cabin, where wolves later approached but could not break in.
• Li Long found wolf tracks outside at dawn but saw no wolves, then drove to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp.
• Jade Mountain River asked whether Li Long had inspected the pelts, prompting Li Long to wonder if they included something special.

Li Long discovered that one of the pelts from the mountain herders was a tiger pelt and planned to ask Jade Mountain River and the others about the tiger’s bones. After obtaining approval for more ammunition, he prepared to return to the winter camp, where the tiger and the bones remained unexplained.

• Li Long found a nearby water source suitable for piping to Jade Mountain River’s winter camp, then drove off an approaching wolf by throwing rocks at it.
• Jade Mountain River gave Li Long a large share of brown cattle meat, organs, and suet after the slaughter.
• Li Long discovered a tiger pelt among the pelts at his cabin and decided to ask Harimu and Jade Mountain River where they had shot the tiger and what had happened to its bones.
• Li Long returned to the county town with the pelts and meat, told Gu Xiaoxia about the tiger pelt, and discussed returning to the mountains after getting ammunition.
• Li Long obtained Director Wei’s approval for two hundred rounds of ammunition after learning that Li Xiangqian was away, then went to collect it from the Security Section.

Li Long learned that Harimu had killed a tiger during a seasonal migration and buried its carcass in a snow pit, so he rode deep into the mountains with Harimu to look for its bones. They reached the pit, but the snow gave no sign of whether the carcass was still there, and Li Long took out a rope to investigate.

• Li Long found Harimu at Talihaal's Winter Camp and learned that Harimu had shot a tiger after it fell into a deep snow pit, then buried its carcass there.
• Li Long agreed with Harimu to search for the tiger's bones, and Talihaal traded him a sheep carcass for plastic water pipes while other herders asked about getting pipes too.
• Li Long returned to his Wooden Cabin, prepared his tractor in the freezing weather, and set out before dawn for Harimu's Winter Camp.
• Li Long and Harimu rode through the mountains along the migration trail, resting and feeding their horses as they traveled toward the snow pit.
• Li Long reached the pit and saw that its surface had been covered and leveled with snow, leaving no sign of whether the tiger carcass remained; he took out a rope.

Li Long recovered the tiger and sheep from a snow pit, returned from the mountains with meat and pelts, and distributed sheep as gifts to his household and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Director Wei asked whether the herders were facing difficulties, leaving Li Long to consider whether to raise a matter on their behalf.

• Li Long tied a rope to the tiger and sheep, and Harimu used his horse to haul the tiger out of the snow pit.
• Li Long and Harimu returned to Harimu's Winter Camp, where Li Long shared his plan to use the tiger bones for medicinal liquor before driving back to the Wooden Cabin.
• Li Long attended several Winter Slaughters, collected twelve sheep carcasses and pelts, then returned to the County Seat with a full trailer.
• Li Long sorted the meat and pelts at home, shared a meal with Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Boyuan, Han Fang, and Sister Yang, and told them about the Winter Slaughters.
• Li Long delivered sheep to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the herders' name, and Director Wei asked whether the herders needed help.

Li Long arranged for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to bring clean water to the herders’ winter camps in spring, then distributed meat and hides and delivered lamb to people who had helped him. After his family visited, Li Long confided in Li Jianguo about the tiger he was hiding and began discussing larger plans for the coming year.

• Li Long proposed laying about a thousand meters of plastic pipe to bring mountain water to the herders, and Director Wei agreed to organize the work for spring and involve Ma Xiaoyan in publicizing it.
• Director Wei and Li Xiangqian distributed the herders’ meat and hides among the cooperative’s sections, while Li Long delivered lamb to Ma Xiaoyan, Ye Laya, Chen Hongjun, and Zhong Guoqiang.
• Li Jianguo brought relatives to visit Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia, and the two families spent the day together at the compound.
• Li Long showed Li Jianguo the tiger’s head and explained that Harimu had given him the animal; they agreed to keep its identity secret and process its bones privately.
• Li Long gave Li Jianguo a red deer penis and, after locking the side-room door, outlined his plans to expand his activities the next year, startling his brother.

Li Long planned to expand into wheat harvesting and future farm machinery while weighing how to secure local business opportunities. He decided to lease Little Haizi so his father could keep fishing there, and also considered leasing Reed Lake for its reed bundles.

• Li Long told Li Jianguo he planned to buy more tractors and harvesters, recruit drivers, and pursue wheat-harvesting work across nearby townships and Corps companies.
• Li Long discussed seeking harvester dealership rights from Factory Director Du and planned to buy newer, high-horsepower machinery as it became available.
• Li Jianguo suggested adding tractor plowing work, and he reminded Li Long that Liang Wenyu could be recruited to drive and harvest wheat.
• Li Long proposed leasing Little Haizi before an outsider could, explaining that the team could still be allowed to fish there; Li Jianguo and Gu Boyuan considered his argument.
• Li Qingxia supported leasing Little Haizi, and Li Long said he would arrange a ten-year lease with the team and register it with the township.
• Li Long also decided he wanted to lease Reed Lake so he could continue fulfilling the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s reed-bundle orders.

Li Long shared a meal with his family and discussed opportunities in farming before bringing a sheep and five thousand yuan to Liang Donglou’s household. He offered to help Liang Wenyu buy a Tractor and Harvester so he could earn money harvesting wheat, leaving the Liang family to plan for the purchase next spring.

• Liang Yuemei and Sister Yang prepared a generous meal, and Li Long, Li Jianguo, and Gu Boyuan discussed selling seeds and growing seed crops.
• After the meal, Li Long drove to Liang Donglou’s village with a sheep and gave it to the family.
• Li Long told Liang Donglou and Liang Wenyu that harvesting wheat with a Tractor and Harvester had earned him roughly enough to buy a Tractor in one season.
• Li Long offered Liang Wenyu five thousand yuan to buy a Tractor and Harvester and harvest wheat in the Commune, saying he wanted his family to benefit from the work.
• After Li Long left, Liang Wenyu said he would share the harvesting income with him, and Liang Donglou decided they would buy the equipment next spring.

Li Long arranged tractors and harvesting work with Liang Dacheng, Xie Yundong, and Tao Daqiang, then learned from Wang the Miser that the team had more farmland than officially recorded. Wang the Miser left reassured that Li Long would not compete for his plowing work, while Li Long planned to visit Factory Director Du in Kuytun.

• Li Long offered tractors and harvesting opportunities to Liang Dacheng and Xie Yundong, whose wife initially feared the risks but later returned home with him after her father intervened.
• Li Long told Tao Daqiang that he, Li Jianguo, Xie Yundong, and Liang Dacheng would each harvest wheat in a different township next season.
• Li Long shared lunch with his family and stayed to talk with Du Chunfang before Wang the Miser arrived.
• Wang the Miser asked whether Li Long planned to buy a crawler tractor, and Li Long said he would focus on wheat harvesting rather than compete for plowing work.
• Wang the Miser told Li Long that the team had 2,432 and a half mu officially registered and 2,610 mu in actual farmland, then invited him to his younger brother's pig-slaughter feast.
• Li Long planned to rest before going to Kuytun to see whether Factory Director Du had begun producing harvesters.

Li Long dealt with an aggressive roe deer at Old Ma's Place, then processed a frozen tiger carcass and discarded its spoiled meat. He set out by tractor for Kuytun with supplies for his brother, stopped to shoot a gazelle, and scattered the tiger meat in the wilderness; the military supply station came into view as he neared his destination.

• Li Long saw that Uncle Lao Luo had injured his arm when a buck roe deer knocked him down, then entered the pen and sawed off the animal’s antlers.
• Li Long tried cooking the tiger meat, found it sour and foul-smelling, and decided to discard it, while keeping the cleaned bones and tiger penis.
• Li Long prepared to travel to Kuytun, loaded rice and flour for his brother, and asked Yang Hua what messages he had for Yang Yongqiang.
• Li Long drove west with his rifle, shot a gazelle near the road, and scattered the tiger meat across the surrounding wilderness.
• Li Long continued through the Gobi toward Kuytun and spotted the military supply station ahead.

Li Long visited Li Anguo’s family in Kuytun, brought them food and gazelle meat, and learned that Yang Yongqiang had to remain with the company through the end of the year. After meeting Section Chief Ma, Li Long went to the Kuytun Farm Machinery Factory to negotiate with Factory Director Du about the harvesters.

• Li Long found Li Anguo, Chen Lirong, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang at their cramped rental home, gave the children snacks, and left most of his supplies and gazelle meat with the family.
• Yang Yongqiang explained that company rules and militia training kept him from going home until the new year, while Li Long described his plans to order more harvesters and buy equipment for his family and Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long took a gazelle leg to Section Chief Ma, who said Li Anguo would likely receive a place in the company’s residential compound the following year.
• Li Long spent the night at a state-run inn, brought breakfast to Li Anguo’s family the next morning, and drove to the Kuytun Farm Machinery Factory.
• Li Long found Factory Director Du making harvesters and agreed to discuss the machine’s problems and provide firsthand operating data.

Li Long reported the harvester’s flaws to Factory Director Du, negotiated Beiting Prefecture agency rights, and bought five machines to bring home. On his way back, he shot three Mongolian gazelles and arrived at Li Xia’s courtyard, where she greeted him with tears in her eyes.

• Li Long listed the harvester’s problems, and Factory Director Du told him their machine had won second place at an agricultural machinery exhibition.
• Li Long negotiated agency rights for several areas, agreed to buy harvesters at wholesale prices, and signed a contract with Factory Director Du.
• Li Long loaded five harvesters onto his trailer and drove to Li Anguo’s rented home, where he ate with his brother’s family before setting off again.
• Li Long refueled, headed east, and shot three Mongolian gazelles along the road.
• Li Long reached Li Xia’s courtyard with a gazelle, and Li Xia hurried to open the gate and welcomed him tearfully.

Li Long returned from Kuytun with harvesters and gazelles, visited his family, and came back to the county town to rest beside Gu Xiaoxia. Wei Tianxing then asked to buy a harvester, and Li Long sold him one under an agreement that divided up harvesting territory and prevented price-cutting.

• Li Long visited Li Xia and Hongqin, gave them snacks and a gazelle, then drove home to Gu Xiaoxia after dark.
• Li Long rested, dressed the gazelles, and left the harvesters stored at the Big Courtyard before taking meat to his family in the team.
• Li Long visited Yang Hua to report that Yang Yongqiang would remain for militia training, then asked Xu Chengjun to excuse him from this year's training.
• Wei Tianxing came to Li Long to buy a harvester after failing to obtain one in Kuytun.
• Li Long agreed to sell Wei Tianxing a harvester for 550 yuan under an agreement reserving him a separate township and setting a shared wheat-harvesting price.

Li Long taught Wei Tianxing to operate the harvester he bought, then told Li Xiangqian about the gazelles he had seen near Kuytun. Li Xiangqian arranged a hunting trip with Director Qian, and Li Long prepared to join him.

• Wei Tianxing paid Li Long 550 yuan for a harvester, and Li Long carefully taught him how to mount, remove, and operate it.
• Wei Tianxing hauled the harvester home and began considering whether to buy more harvesters from Li Long.
• Li Long visited Li Xiangqian and reported seeing herds of Mongolian gazelles near Kuytun, while Li Xiangqian showed him 1,500 meters of Coarse Plastic Pipes he had bought.
• Li Xiangqian told Director Qian about the gazelles, and Director Qian decided to travel out to hunt them.
• Li Xiangqian summoned Li Long to join the hunting trip, and Li Long took his gun to the Cooperative as a Jeep arrived.

Li Long joined Director Qian, Li Xiangqian, and driver Xiao Si on a Jeep hunting trip, where they shot several Mongolian gazelles. The Jeep and its advantages left Li Long determined to pursue a car driver's license, while the hunters ended with a full load and Director Qian eager to continue.

• Director Qian arrived at the cooperative with a new driver, Xiao Si, and invited Li Long and Li Xiangqian to go hunting.
• On the drive west, Li Long admired the Jeep and learned from Director Qian how difficult it was to obtain and register one, deciding to focus on getting a driver's license first.
• Xiao Si and Li Long shot two gazelles, then gutted them and removed their horns before continuing west.
• Director Qian and Li Xiangqian joined the hunt at a larger herd; Director Qian shot the herd leader, Li Xiangqian wounded a male that Xiao Si finished off, and Li Long shot a female for meat.
• The group loaded the gazelles into the Jeep, filling its back, and Director Qian asked whether they would keep hunting.

Li Long joined Director Qian and the others on a gazelle hunt, where they encountered wolves attacking a herd and shot several animals. On the drive back, Li Long revealed he had seen what might have been a tiger, and Director Qian offered him a Jeep if he could sell him its pelt.

• Director Qian told Li Long to discard two gazelles and continue hunting until they had enough horns.
• Li Long spotted seven wolves surrounding gazelles, and the group stopped to shoot at the wolves and herd.
• Li Long brought back a wolf he had shot through the neck and gutted it so Director Qian could have it mounted; Li Xiangqian took a ram’s head for its horns.
• Director Qian learned Li Long had sold a snow leopard pelt and asked him to bring any valuable pelts to him.
• Li Long said he had seen a striped, yellow-furred animal carrying a roe deer near his mountain cabin, and Director Qian believed it might have been a tiger.
• Director Qian urged Li Long to sell him a tiger pelt if he found one and offered him the Jeep in exchange.

Li Long traded his rare Northern Xinjiang tiger pelt to Director Qian for a Jeep, then distributed the game from the hunt among his friends and family. The next morning, Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia became interested when Li Long described the hunt, and Li Long considered organizing one for the team.

• Li Long agreed to trade his complete tiger pelt and tiger head to Director Qian for a Jeep, and Director Qian asked Li Xiangqian to arrange Li Long's driver's license.
• Li Long showed Director Qian the pelt, head skin, and skull at his courtyard, then Director Qian left with the pelt and promised to deliver the Jeep within a few days.
• Li Long processed the Mongolian gazelles and wolves, shared meat with Uncle Lao Luo, Tao Daqiang, Xie Yundong, Liang Dacheng, and Jia Weidong, and told Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Boyuan about the hunt.
• Li Long visited Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia the next morning, and they became eager to organize a hunt for the team.
• Li Long considered using his guns and borrowing a Type 56 from the team leader to arrange the hunt.

Li Long arranged another gazelle hunt with his family and received the Jeep, documents, and fuel coupons Director Qian had promised in exchange for the tiger pelt. After inviting Gu Boyuan to join the hunt, the story left him waiting for his father-in-law’s answer.

• Li Long and his family discussed hunting gazelles again, and Li Jianguo went to Xu Chengjun to borrow a Type 56 rifle and twenty-five rounds of ammunition.
• Xiao Si delivered the Jeep to Li Long’s courtyard along with its registration certificate, a work ID, and fuel coupons from Director Qian.
• Li Long showed Gu Xiaoxia the documents and invited her to join the upcoming hunt, but she declined because she dreaded the cold.
• Li Long cleaned his three guns and planned to take Li Jianguo and his eldest brother hunting in a few days.
• Li Long visited Gu Boyuan at the Agricultural Supplies Store and invited him to join the hunt east of Kuytun.

Li Long secured a license to drive the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s Jeep and borrowed it to take his father and elder brother hunting. The family found a herd of Mongolian gazelles near Anjihai and prepared to shoot together.

• Gu Boyuan declined Li Long’s invitation to go hunting because he was busy running the Agricultural Supplies Store.
• Li Xiangqian arranged for Li Long to demonstrate his driving and receive a license, and Ma Chunlei approved him after checking his driving and vehicle knowledge.
• Li Long picked up his license, then took the Jeep to the Li family’s home and explained that the cooperative had assigned it to him for work.
• Li Long drove Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo west to hunt, and the three stopped near a herd of gazelles and loaded their guns.