Chapter Summaries

Li Long prepared for a trip to Harimu’s winter camp, buying supplies to repay him for the jade. He arrived with the goods, and Harimu recognized that Li Long had brought them out of genuine friendship.

• Li Long planned to visit Harimu and bought red paper, a brush, and ink before returning home with Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long gave Li Jianguo his share of the fish profits, then left early the next morning to buy supplies for Harimu.
• Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang went fishing again while the team learned that Li Long had sold the fish and shared the proceeds.
• Li Long bought rice, flour, oil, tea, sugar, salt, and fruit, then brought the goods to Harimu’s winter camp.
• Harimu welcomed Li Long and understood that he had brought the supplies as a sincere friend.

Li Long brought supplies to Harimu’s family and accepted velvet antler and more jade in return, then visited Jade Mountain River and received another large piece of jade. After preparing to hunt the wolves with Harimu, Li Long heard them howl at midnight.

• Li Long delivered food and other supplies to Harimu’s family, and Nasen thanked him by offering his ankle bones.
• Harimu’s mother gave Li Long dried red deer velvet antler, and Harimu also gave him two more pieces of jade; Li Long accepted them and gave Harimu ammunition.
• Harimu told Li Long that wounded wolves had been howling near the camp, and Li Long agreed to join him in hunting them that night.
• Li Long and Harimu brought supplies and ammunition to Jade Mountain River, who lent Li Long his gun and gave him a larger piece of jade while listing items he needed.
• Li Long and Harimu took positions near the sheep pen, and at midnight they heard a wolf howl from the mountain woods.

Li Long and Harimu fought off wolves attacking the sheep pen at Winter Camp, and Li Long narrowly avoided being ambushed. After the hunt, Li Long agreed to join Harimu on a wild boar hunt the next morning.

• Li Long and Harimu waited in ambush as wolves approached the sheep pen from several directions.
• A wolf circled behind Li Long, but he shot it three times before it could attack.
• Li Long wounded a second wolf as the pack fled, while Harimu killed another wolf he identified as the pack leader.
• At daybreak, Li Long and Harimu followed the wounded wolf’s blood trail into the woods, but it disappeared near another ridge.
• Harimu skinned the two dead wolves, and Li Long asked to keep their meat and innards.
• Harimu invited Li Long to hunt wild boars the next morning, and Li Long accepted.

Li Long stayed with Harimu to prepare timber and hunt wild boars while his family gathered fish and arranged to rent a horse cart for another day. When a small herd of boars arrived, the wind shifted and they fled up the opposite slope, leaving Li Long and Harimu ready to shoot.

• Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang pulled about fifty or sixty kilograms of fish from Little Haizi, and Li Jianguo planned another trip to sell them.
• Li Long chopped the fallen pine log into sections while Harimu tended the livestock, and they prepared to haul the wood the next day.
• Harimu woke Li Long before dawn, and they traveled to a valley where wild boars rooted through the snow for food.
• Li Long built a snow rifle rest and waited with Harimu as they watched the valley.
• Seven or eight wild boars rushed into the valley, but Harimu warned Li Long that the wind had changed, and the herd fled up the opposite slope.

Li Long and Harimu killed two wild boars and hauled them back to Winter Camp, where Li Long prepared to leave the mountains with his hunting goods. He reached County Town and headed to the purchasing station to find out how much his haul was worth.

• Li Long and Harimu found two dead wild boars on the ridge, bled them, and prepared them for transport.
• Li Long dragged both boars downhill on a plastic sheet and loaded them onto his cart near Winter Camp.
• Li Long rested, then packed the cart with wolves, jade, bones, pelts, antlers, and other goods before departing with Harimu.
• Li Long traveled to County Town, bought hot tea and meat buns, and hurried toward the purchasing station to sell his goods.

Li Long returned from the county with money from selling antlers and velvet antler, then brought home wolves and wild boars for his family to process. Xu Chengjun told him he could obtain bicycle and sewing machine ration tickets in exchange for ten kilograms of meat, and Li Long offered fresh wild boar meat.

• Chen Hongjun bought Li Long's antlers and velvet antler for nearly two hundred yuan.
• Li Long returned to the village with wolf pelts and wild boars, and the children crowded around to see them.
• Liang Yuemei and Li Jianguo arranged for neighbors to help process the two wild boars.
• Li Long delivered fish to Lao Luo and Xu Chengjun, then paid to borrow the cart again.
• Xu Chengjun told Li Long that a relative could get bicycle and sewing machine ration tickets for ten kilograms of meat, and Li Long offered wild boar meat.

Li Long hosted a feast after bringing home two wild boars, then traded meat to Xu Chengjun for ration coupons he wanted to use to buy a bicycle. As the family discussed sharing meat and sending money to Li Jianguo’s parents, Li Long objected to sending fifty yuan, warning that it would cause trouble.

• Li Long helped the villagers butcher and clean the two wild boars, then exchanged meat with Xu Chengjun for ration coupons.
• At the feast, Li Long said his herder friends had helped him find wild boars and explained that he had never tried wolf meat.
• Li Long rejected Liang Yuemei’s suggestion to sell pork and decided to give half a pig to Li Juan’s maternal grandfather’s family instead.
• Liang Yuemei proposed sending fifty yuan to Li Jianguo’s parents, and Li Long firmly objected that sending so much money would cause trouble.

Li Long persuaded Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei to send only twenty yuan to their parents, then delivered meat and red paper to Gu Boyuan for spring couplets. He told Gu Xiaoxia that schools would expand after spring and offered her a loan so she could prepare for a teaching exam.

• Li Long warned Li Jianguo that sending fifty yuan home would lead relatives to seek work and lodging, so Li Jianguo decided to send twenty yuan instead.
• Li Jianguo asked Li Long to take meat and red paper to Gu Boyuan and request two sets of spring couplets.
• Gu Boyuan wrote the couplets and thanked Li Long for the fish and meat that had helped his family.
• Gu Xiaoxia asked Li Long to teach her how to do business because her family could not afford her father's medicine.
• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia that schools would expand after spring and urged her to study for a teaching exam.
• Li Long offered Gu Xiaoxia a twenty-yuan loan to help her family until she could pass the exam and earn a salary.

Gu Xiaoxia accepted Li Long’s money and learned that the possible spring school entrance exam could change her future, while Gu Ermao tried to boast about his new apprenticeship and Li Long mocked his lack of courage. The next morning, Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold ten fish to the Big Meat Canteen and continued toward Stone City.

• Gu Xiaoxia told Gu Boyuan about the possible spring enrollment, and he urged her to study privately and keep the news from Wu Shufen and the production team.
• Li Long met Xu Haijun, Gu Ermao, Wu Shufen, Liu Tianfeng, and Wei Yuanfang, and Gu Ermao bragged about apprenticing as a truck driver.
• Li Long challenged Gu Ermao to prove his courage by killing a wolf and left the group.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang loaded fish and set out for Stone City after buying steamed buns in the County Seat.
• A man from the Big Meat Canteen bought ten fish from Li Long for two yuan each and said he would order from him again.

Li Long sold all his fish in Old Street and the machinery factory compound, then used the earnings to buy supplies for his mountain friends, New Year goods, fruit, and a large amount of coupon-free grain. He headed home with the cart loaded, pleased that his family and friends would have plenty to eat.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold every fish they had brought at Old Street Station and the machinery factory compound.
• Li Long gave Tao Daqiang five yuan for New Year supplies, despite Tao Daqiang reminding him that he still owed five yuan.
• Li Long bought tools and other supplies for Harimu and Jade Mountain River at the supply and marketing cooperative.
• Tao Daqiang bought candy, peanuts, canned food, and sugar cubes, while Li Long purchased persimmons and apples at the Department Store.
• Li Long spotted a coupon-free grain sale and bought one hundred kilograms each of rice and flour, spending the fish-sale money and more.

Li Long bought food and fruit for his family, then delivered supplies to Harimu and Jade Mountain River in the mountains. Jade Mountain River had another gift ready for him when he arrived.

• Li Long unloaded rice, flour, and fruit for his family, explaining that he wanted the children to eat better.
• Li Jianguo returned with forty or fifty kilos of fish, and the family shared a meal and persimmons together.
• Li Jianguo warned Li Long to avoid hunting wolves unless necessary, and Li Long agreed.
• Li Long took supplies to Harimu’s Winter Camp and delivered separate loads for Harimu’s family and Jade Mountain River’s family.
• Jade Mountain River had another gift ready for Li Long.

Li Long visited Jade Mountain River and Harimu during a harsh winter and learned that deep snow threatened their livestock. After both friends gave him New Year gifts, Li Long left grateful and determined to think of a way to help them.

• Jade Mountain River welcomed Li Long and Harimu, and Li Long delivered supplies, rice, and flour to the Winter Camp.
• Jade Mountain River and Harimu explained that deep snow had made grazing difficult and left them short of fodder for their livestock.
• Jade Mountain River showed Li Long a roe deer he had shot and insisted that Li Long take it along with a sheep.
• Jade Mountain River served boiled meat and honored Li Long by giving him the Jiangbazi first.
• Harimu gave Li Long another sheep as a New Year gift before Li Long departed.

Li Long sold a roe deer’s antlers and two cuts of mutton at the purchasing station, then searched for buyers for his sheep. The supply and marketing cooperative refused to consider buying them without a letter of introduction, leaving Li Long without a solution.

• Li Long brought a roe deer to the purchasing station, where Chen Hongjun bought its antlers for seven yuan and a woman offered to buy the hide if Li Long skinned it intact.
• Chen Hongjun and the woman each bought a leg of mutton from Li Long, and Chen Hongjun suggested he try selling sheep to Stone City factories or Production and Construction Corps units.
• Li Long went to the Big Meat Canteen, but its staff said they already had suppliers for pork and mutton.
• Li Long asked the supply and marketing cooperative about selling his sheep, but a clerk refused because he had no letter of introduction.

Li Long waited at the county supply and marketing cooperative to meet purchasing chief Li Xiangqian and sell sheep from his mountain friends. The cooperative staff bought nearly all the mutton he brought, and Li Xiangqian arrived as Li Long was left with a frozen roe deer to discuss.

• Li Long gave cigarettes to the gatehouse guard, learned that purchasing chief Li Xiangqian was due at noon, and waited inside the warm gatehouse.
• The guard helped Li Long weigh and sell a hind leg, then gathered cooperative employees who bought nearly all the mutton from his two sheep.
• Customers noticed the frozen, unskinned roe deer on Li Long's cart and asked whether he would sell it, but Li Long said it could not be sold as it was.
• Li Xiangqian arrived in a truck, and the guard pointed him out to Li Long.

Li Long secured a possible wholesale buyer for more sheep, then worried about the cost and risk of supplying them. An encounter with a solitary old man led Li Long to consider buying the man's large courtyard house for five hundred yuan.

• Li Xiangqian agreed to buy at least ten sheep from Li Long if they matched the quality of the meat on his cart, though he would pay less than one yuan per kilogram.
• After leaving the cooperative, Li Long worried that the purchase price might make selling the sheep to Li Xiangqian unprofitable and that Harimu and Jade Mountain River might not agree to sell.
• Li Long met the old man who had previously bought his fish, and the man asked to buy the remaining sheep neck for two yuan.
• The old man explained that he planned to move to Shanghai to live near his rehabilitated eldest son and offered to sell his courtyard house to Li Long for five hundred yuan.
• Li Long said he had the money, and the old man invited him to bring the cart inside and inspect the house.

Li Long inspected an old siheyuan in the County Seat and agreed to buy it for five hundred yuan, planning to return with the money the next day. He went home with a roe deer and told Li Jianguo he would be busy for the next two days.

• Li Long toured the old man's two-and-a-half-courtyard siheyuan, including its stable, damaged greenhouse, and old furniture.
• The old man offered to sell Li Long the house and its contents for five hundred yuan, and Li Long agreed to return with the money and complete the paperwork.
• The old man reassured Li Long that the house was safe because the Police Station stood across the street.
• Li Long returned to the Production Team with a roe deer, and Li Jianguo helped him unload it and asked how they would cook it.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo that he would be busy tomorrow and the day after.

Li Long arranged for Tao Daqiang to keep catching fish while he went to the County Seat to complete the purchase of Ma Mengqi’s house. After securing the paperwork, he planned to seek Harimu and Jade Mountain River’s help with a possible sheep purchase.

• Li Long told his family he would not sell fish the next day and arranged to rent the cart for five days.
• Li Long paid Tao Daqiang for two days of fishing and asked him to store the catch until they could sell it together.
• Li Long startled Wu Shufen and Gu Ermao as they met secretly by a haystack, and Wu Shufen hurried home in embarrassment.
• Li Long met Ma Mengqi in the County Seat, and they completed the house purchase paperwork at the Subdistrict Office.
• Ma Mengqi asked for two more days to pack before handing over the house, and Li Long agreed.

Li Long arranged for Harimu and Jade Mountain River to slaughter sheep so he could help them sell the meat, then prepared fish for a trip to Stone City. He and Tao Daqiang set out before dawn the next day with the fish and plans to find buyers for both.

• Li Long asked Harimu to prepare ten sheep, and Harimu agreed to tell Jade Mountain River to prepare ten more for collection the next day.
• Ma Mengqi gave Li Long a key so he could store the sheep in an empty room at the courtyard house.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that he planned to sell the mountain folk’s sheep through the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and to buyers in Stone City.
• Li Long’s family cleaned and sorted the fish, then ate toasted steamed buns and fish soup together.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang left for Stone City before dawn with the horse cart.

Li Long tried to sell fish and mutton at the Farm Machinery Factory, but learned its workers had already received meat benefits. After a gatekeeper directed him to the Sugar Factory, Li Long persuaded its logistics chief to consider buying sheep, leaving the deal uncertain as Section Chief Hu weighed his offer.

• Li Long learned from the Farm Machinery Factory gatekeeper that its workers had already received mutton, then gave the gatekeeper a carp and headed for the Sugar Factory.
• Li Long offered the Sugar Factory gatekeeper a fish and asked him to contact the logistics section about buying fish and mutton.
• The gatekeeper called Section Chief Hu, who came to meet Li Long and examined a leg of lamb.
• Li Long told Section Chief Hu he could bring fifteen or twenty slaughtered sheep from a nearby Winter Camp that day.
• Section Chief Hu hesitated over whether to accept Li Long’s offer.

Li Long secured a promise from Section Chief Hu to buy fresh mutton at ninety-five cents per kilogram, then hurried into the mountains to collect sheep from Harimu and Jade Mountain River. He delivered twenty-two slaughtered sheep to the sugar factory, where Section Chief Hu and the factory director welcomed the shipment.

• Section Chief Hu agreed to buy the mutton for ninety-five cents per kilogram after tasting the leg Li Long offered him.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold their fish, then traveled to the mountains to collect sheep from Harimu and Jade Mountain River.
• Harimu and Jade Mountain River had slaughtered nearly thirty sheep between them, and Li Long paid each man a deposit before loading twenty-two sheep onto the cart.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang brought the sheep to the sugar factory, where Section Chief Hu and the director praised the delivery.