Chapter Summaries

Li Long prepared tiger bone medicine and returned with Gu Xiaoxia to the Fourth Team to celebrate New Year with his family and neighbors. During New Year visits, he discussed buying tractors and harvesters with Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong, ending the holiday feeling welcomed and optimistic.

• Li Long processed deer fetus into powder and began cleaning the tiger bones for vinegar processing, while Yang Xiulan set up a memorial for Han Bin and explained that the family would not put up couplets during mourning.
• Li Long finished processing two tiger vertebrae and began preparing Tiger Bone Alcohol as Little New Year and the Spring Festival approached.
• Li Long drove Gu Xiaoxia back to the Fourth Team for New Year's Eve, where they reunited with his family, watched the Spring Festival Gala, and gave Li Juan and Li Qiang red envelopes and pocket money.
• Li Long made New Year visits with neighbors and told Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong that he would bring tractors after the spring thaw and harvesters later in spring.
• Li Long continued visiting households with Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang, drank at Liang Dacheng's home, and returned feeling warmly welcomed as the new year began.

Li Long returned to find his family gathered for New Year and noticed that Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang were acting smugly about their new city jobs. He challenged them to drink while reminding them of Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei’s care for their parents, and the gathering ended with Chen Xingbang intimidated by Li Long’s drinking.

• Li Long gave New Year's money to the children and greeted his visiting siblings and in-laws.
• Li Long heard Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang boast about their improved status and decided to put them in their place.
• Li Long took charge of the liquor and challenged Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang to drink with him.
• Li Long proposed toasts to their parents and then to Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei for caring for the elderly couple.
• Li Long asked about Yongqiang and Junshan, then continued drinking with Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang while showing no sign of drunkenness.

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia visited Gu Boyuan for the New Year, where Li Long discussed his plans to help his friends in the mountains and listened to Gu Boyuan’s stories about the village’s early days. After the holiday visits, Li Long returned to the County Seat and prepared to go back to work, planning to visit the Woodworking Factory the next day.

• Li Long helped his drunk brother-in-law Chen Xingbang to bed after the family dinner, then told Gu Xiaoxia about the drinking and received her care.
• Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei discussed the next day’s family visits and the gifts prepared for Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia to take to Gu Boyuan.
• Li Long drove Gu Xiaoxia to Gu Boyuan’s home, where Gu Boyuan cooked for them and recounted stories from the village’s founding.
• Li Long explained that he planned to collect furniture from the Woodworking Factory and later install water pipes for his friends in the mountains.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia returned to the Big Courtyard and rejoined the family, then Li Long drove back to the County Seat on the third day of the New Year.
• Li Long lit the stoves at home after returning and told Gu Xiaoxia he would visit the Woodworking Factory the next day.

Li Long welcomed Yang Xiulan and Han Fang back to the Big Courtyard, checked on his furniture order, and received a harvester request from a company in the Agricultural Eighth Division. After resuming work at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and reuniting with Gu Xiaoxia for lunch, he realized the Corps could be a major market for harvesters.

• Li Long welcomed Yang Xiulan and Han Fang back to the Big Courtyard and assured them they could stay as before.
• He inspected the finished furniture at the Woodworking Factory, where He Changming promised the rest would be ready before the fifteenth.
• Shen Fei and Cheng Xingquan asked Li Long to reserve a harvester for their company, and he told them to return around mid-March.
• Li Long visited Director Wei and Li Xiangqian at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then cycled to meet Gu Xiaoxia after work.
• Li Long continued tending vegetables and processing tiger bones, returned the copied medical book and notes, and discussed plans to buy a tractor with Liang Wenyu.
• After several more Corps company representatives came to inquire about harvesters, Li Long recognized the Agricultural Eighth Division as a major potential market.

Li Long delivered the first load of furniture to Harimu’s winter camp and learned that Talihaal had encountered a huge brown bear in the mountains. Harimu and the others believed the bear may have driven wolves out of the Inner Mountain, and Li Long planned to return with the remaining furniture the next day.

• Li Long collected furniture at the Woodworking Factory and drove his tractor toward Harimu’s winter camp.
• Li Long arrived at the camp, greeted Harimu and his family, and unloaded the furniture.
• Harimu told Li Long that Talihaal had encountered a massive brown bear, panicked, and escaped when wolves drew the animal’s attention.
• Harimu said the bear’s tracks led west and that he and Jade Mountain River suspected it had driven wolves out of the Inner Mountain.
• Li Long told Harimu to let people know they could collect their registered furniture the next day, when he would bring the rest.

Li Long delivered furniture to Harimu’s family and discussed building a sheep-washing pool before returning to the county seat. The next day, he brought furniture to the mountain pastoralists, who celebrated its arrival, while Talihaal remained troubled by the huge brown bear.

• Harimu proposed digging a sheep-washing pool, but Li Long warned that building one would be a major undertaking.
• Li Long ate pilaf with Harimu’s family, then drove back to the county seat and collected the finished furniture from the Woodworking Factory.
• Li Long returned home and found Gu Boyuan waiting there to escape the drinking gatherings in his team.
• Li Long drove back to Harimu Winter Camp, where the pastoralists collected their furniture and celebrated with music and dancing.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long that he had seen deer and warned him that hunting alone in the mountains was dangerous.
• Li Long left plans for further furniture deliveries until spring and prepared to go to Kuytun.

Talihaal continued to suffer nightmares after encountering an enormous bear, while Li Long arranged village household registration for Sister Yang and Han Fang and traveled to Kuytun to collect harvesters. Factory Director Du honored his agreement to sell to Li Long, who left with five machines.

• Talihaal woke from another nightmare about the enormous brown bear and wondered whether he would recover enough to speak with Li Long.
• Li Long asked Li Xiangqian to arrange village registration for Sister Yang and Han Fang, and Sister Yang gratefully agreed.
• Li Long traveled to Kuytun, visited Li Anguo, and caught up with Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan over dinner.
• Li Long went to the Farm Machinery Factory, where Factory Director Du confirmed the harvesters had sold well and offered him five corrected machines.
• Li Long loaded the five harvesters onto his tractor and drove away, but someone stopped him shortly afterward.

Li Long sold harvesters through his cooperative, replenished his stock, and arranged for the Pastoral Team to buy one for haymaking. After taking furniture to Harimu’s Winter Camp and arranging a publicity matter with Ma Xiaoyan, he returned to find another stranger waiting to buy a harvester.

• Li Long sold a harvester to a farmer from Stone City Township for six hundred yuan and explained how buyers would coordinate prices and harvesting areas.
• Factory Director Du discussed the harvester’s market and the factory’s limits with Li Long, who returned to Ma County with five machines.
• A meticulous farmer from Letuyi bought a harvester, and Li Long later made more trips to Kuytun to restock as his inventory sold quickly.
• Li Long delivered furniture to Harimu’s Winter Camp, heard that Talihaal was recovering, and agreed to sell a harvester to the Pastoral Team for autumn haymaking.
• Li Long arranged with Ma Xiaoyan to help publicize the harvesting process, then found an unfamiliar potential customer waiting at the Big Courtyard.

Li Long sold harvesters and helped Tao Jianshe and Tao Daqiang buy tractors, then delivered a tractor and harvester to the Liang family and taught Liang Wenyu how to use them. The chapter ended with Li Long bringing Number 76 to Old Ma's Place to retire under Uncle Lao Luo's care.

• Li Long sold harvesters at a brisk pace while children gathered reed shoots to feed the young deer at Old Ma's Place.
• Tao Jianshe and Tao Daqiang joined Li Long to buy tractors in Stone City, and Li Long taught Tao Daqiang how to drive efficiently on the way back.
• Li Long loaded a harvester onto Tao Daqiang's tractor, then drove east to deliver a tractor and harvester to the Liang family.
• Li Long trained Liang Wenyu to drive and operate the harvester, and Liang Wenyu practiced reversing and maneuvering through the gate.
• Li Long left Number 76 with Liang Donglou to bring the old horse back to Old Ma's Place, where Uncle Lao Luo gladly welcomed him into retirement.

Li Long brought Number 76 back to Old Ma's Place and arranged to buy tractors for Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng. After the three men traveled to Stone City and purchased the tractors, they drove them toward home while Li Long worried about how quickly his money was running out.

• Li Long returned Number 76 to Old Ma's Place, then visited Xie Yundong and promised to take him to Stone City the next day to buy a tractor.
• Li Long invited Liang Dacheng to join the trip, and Liang Dacheng agreed while his family celebrated the news.
• Li Long ate roasted fish at Liang Dacheng's home and later joined his family for fish soup at his eldest brother's courtyard.
• The next morning, Li Long, Xie Yundong, and Liang Dacheng rode to County Town and took a bus to Stone City.
• Li Long bought tractors for Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng, and the three men set off toward the Oil Depot with Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng driving.

Li Long’s tractor sales stirred envy in the Fourth Team, prompting villagers to seek loans, while Li Jianguo refused to burden Li Long with their requests. As spring arrived, Li Long coordinated the delayed mountain work, cared for Gu Xiaoxia during her twin pregnancy, and continued selling and training buyers to use harvesters.

• Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng brought their new tractors home, and villagers envied their purchases and their prospects for earning money with harvesters.
• Jiang Huaizhou asked Li Jianguo to lend him money for a tractor, but Li Jianguo refused, and he later turned away two more groups seeking loans.
• Li Qingxia tested a precision seeder in the vegetable plot as the Li family prepared to plant seed watermelons and other crops.
• Li Xiangqian told Li Long that Director Qian was effectively running the Prefectural Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and Li Long informed Director Wei that mountain work would have to wait for the thaw.
• Li Long kept Gu Xiaoxia’s twin pregnancy secret from his family and drove her to and from work as her pregnancy advanced.
• Li Long continued selling harvesters and training their buyers, and by April the mountain snow had melted.

Li Long, Director Wei, and their companions brought supplies and water pipes to Harimu's Winter Camp, where they worked with the herders to pipe spring water to the homes. The first installation succeeded, and the group celebrated as the water flowed; Li Long planned to continue the work for the remaining households.

• Li Long drove Director Wei, Ma Xiaoyan, and Ye Laya to Harimu's Winter Camp while Li Xiangqian accompanied a truck carrying water pipes and supplies.
• Harimu organized the herders into teams to dig the pipe trench and prepare lunch, while Li Long dug and secured the intake at the spring.
• Li Long and Harimu buried the pipe, and the herders cheered when clear water flowed out at the Winter Camp.
• The group prepared grilled mutton and boiled meat while Ma Xiaoyan interviewed the residents and Ye Laya took photographs.
• Li Long decided to trim the exposed pipe, and Jade Mountain River told the herders to install future pipes together to avoid mistakes.
• The herders sang and danced to celebrate the new water supply, while Li Long considered the work a success and planned to extend the pipes to every household.

Li Long returned to the mountains with ammunition and tools to help the herders install water pipes, then followed Talihaal and Jade Mountain River toward the place where Talihaal had encountered a bear. They spotted several gray wolves on a rocky slope, and Li Long approached with his rifle ready.

• Li Long left the mountains after advising Jade Mountain River on his water-pipe intake, and Director Wei arranged for him to receive two hundred rounds of ammunition for protection.
• Li Long bought iron spades and pickaxes for the herders and returned to the Big Courtyard, where he told Gu Boyuan he would keep working in the mountains each day.
• Li Long drove to Talihaal's Winter Camp, passed two gray wolves feeding on a rotting red deer carcass, and helped Talihaal and Jade Mountain River secure the water-pipe intake.
• Talihaal told Li Long where he had encountered a bear, and Jade Mountain River suggested they go inspect the area while Talihaal fetched his rifle.
• Li Long, Jade Mountain River, and Talihaal headed toward the rocky slope, where they spotted several gray wolves, and Li Long advanced with his rifle ready.

Li Long and his companions searched the cave Talihaal feared, found a stranded roe deer fawn, and received a beautiful piece of Ma River jade from Sana’s family. They finished laying a water pipe at another Winter Camp, where a hot spring would provide warm water, then returned to Talihaal’s camp for supper.

• Li Long, Talihaal, and Jade Mountain River searched the bear’s cave and found only grass and dung.
• Jade Mountain River found a roe deer fawn nearby, and Li Long brought it back to the Winter Camp for Sana to feed.
• Sana’s family gave Li Long a fine piece of Ma River jade, which he admired while reflecting on how differently the tribe valued it.
• Li Long and the others dug a trench at another Winter Camp and laid a pipe from a nearby hot spring to Bek’s household.
• Li Long, Jade Mountain River, and Harimu soaked their feet in the warm water before the group returned to Talihaal’s Winter Camp for supper.

Li Long brought a young roe deer and a rare piece of jade home, then arranged to get puppies for the Big Courtyard. After helping dig a water-pipe intake at Mulat's Winter Camp, he chose five puppies and planned where to keep or give them.

• Li Long took the roe deer and jade back to the Big Courtyard, where Gu Xiaoxia and the others welcomed the animal and Gu Boyuan admired the stone.
• Li Long cared for pregnant Gu Xiaoxia and decided to return home every day while she continued working.
• Li Long met Company Commander Meng Hai while driving toward the mountains, then continued to Harimu's Winter Camp.
• Li Long, Harimu, and Jade Mountain River cleared the water-pipe intake and helped the young herders lay the pipe.
• Li Long visited Mulat's home and chose five of the six puppies from the black dog's litter.

Li Long finished installing water pipes at the herders’ winter camps, bringing home jade, antlers, gemstones, two roe deer, and two puppies. After returning, he learned he might be assigned 3,000 taibazi to weave, leaving him stunned that his casual suggestion could lead to such a large commitment.

• Li Long brought five puppies and a roe deer back to the Big Courtyard, then gave three puppies to his relatives and the Liang family.
• Li Long and Harimu replaced water pipes at the herding families’ winter camps, and Li Long collected jade, antlers, gemstones, and other goods in return.
• Li Long asked the herders to camouflage the pipe outlets before leaving the mountains and returning home.
• Li Long learned that his work with Director Wei and Li Xiangqian had appeared in the Autonomous Region’s newspaper.
• Li Xiangqian asked Li Long about weaving taibazi, and Li Long said he could handle 3,000, though the quota still needed approval.
• Li Long left the cooperative wondering whether his joking answer had effectively secured the 3,000-taibazi assignment.

Li Long planned for a possible order of three thousand Taibazi by organizing several groups of weavers from his team and nearby villages. He recruited Xu Haijun to lead one group and discussed having Liang Wenyu organize another, while waiting for the order quantity to be confirmed.

• Li Long discussed recruitment with Li Jianguo, who suggested Xu Haijun as a group leader after ruling out Daqiang and Dacheng.
• Li Long visited Xu Haijun, learned he had returned early from the army after injuring himself in reconnaissance training, and offered him work leading Taibazi weavers.
• Xu Haijun accepted, agreed to recruit suitable people, and planned to consult Xie Yundong about supplies and avoiding overlap.
• Li Long visited Liang Wenyu and proposed that he manage another group, paying him five yuan per Taibazi while he paid his weavers four yuan each.
• Li Long told Liang Wenyu to wait for confirmation of the order before recruiting and kept his plans from the other team members for now.

Li Long secured an order for four thousand taibazi, and Liang Wenyu and Xu Haijun began planning separate teams to weave them. The chapter ended with Li Xiangqian asking Li Long for one of his puppies as thanks for bringing the order.

• Liang Donglou reconsidered his impatience with Liang Wenyu and advised him to check prospective recruits and avoid making promises before the taibazi work was confirmed.
• Xu Haijun consulted Xie Yundong about organizing a second team, then asked Xu Chengjun to assess his potential recruits and hesitated over whether to invite Huang Siping.
• Li Long planned to buy fritillaria, restock his mountain cabin, and purchase premises if the Free Market or Stone City Old Street developed shops.
• Li Xiangqian told Li Long that the Prefectural Supply and Marketing Cooperative had ordered four thousand taibazi for delivery in early June, and Li Long agreed to complete the job.
• Li Xiangqian said he wanted one of Li Long's puppies as a thank-you gift, leaving Li Long dumbfounded.

Li Long arranged for Qingshui River Village to weave a thousand taibazi, then visited the Wooden Cabin to repair it and gather supplies. As he drove out of the mountains, Meng Hai waited by the road with a covered basin.

• Li Long offered Qingshui River Village an order for a thousand taibazi at four yuan each, with strict quality standards and a one-month deadline.
• He Yuqing and Meng Hai agreed to select ten additional workers and organize the weaving in their village.
• Li Long visited the Wooden Cabin, repaired its clothesline, aired the bedding, and discarded spoiled food.
• He set a net in a nearby stream, gathered grass mushrooms and wild plants, and caught only a dozen small burbot by evening.
• Li Long saw Meng Hai waiting beside the road with a gauze-covered basin and stopped the Jeep.

Li Long organized the taibazi-weaving work and prepared to take Li Jianguo’s group into the mountains, while arranging food, supplies, and plans for Liang Wenyu’s workers. The chapter ended with Li Long driving past Qingshui River Village, where He Yuqing and Meng Hai had already begun weaving taibazi.

• Meng Hai gave Li Long freshly cleaned burbot, which Sister Yang cooked for the household.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo that the taibazi-weaving job was ready, and Li Jianguo prepared to go with the previous year’s group.
• Li Long informed Xie Yundong, Xu Haijun, and Liang Wenyu about the work, arranged transport and meals, and explained supplies and quality requirements to Liang Wenyu.
• Li Long bought provisions for the mountain trip and the Wooden Cabin, then drove Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming toward the mountains after stopping to leave fish with relatives.
• Liang Wenyu and his family felt reassured when they learned Li Jianguo would be working nearby, while Li Long passed Qingshui River Village and smelled the smoke of its weaving fires.