Chapter Summaries

Li Long finalized plans to furnish Li Jianguo's courtyard house with secondhand items and went with Shao Licheng and Tom to the Antique Shop. There, Li Long asked to buy all 1,107 paintings and calligraphy works in stock, and the chapter ended as Manager Xu arrived to discuss the purchase.

• Li Long gave Li Jianguo the Property Certificate for the courtyard house and planned to furnish it with secondhand furniture until Li Juan and Li Qiang needed it for school.
• Gu Xiaoxia explained to Gu Xiaoyu how Li Jianguo had raised Li Long like a son, helping her understand their close relationship.
• Shao Licheng introduced Li Long to Tom, who agreed to take them into the Antique Shop for a flat payment of one hundred US dollars.
• Li Long asked the shop staff whether he could buy all 1,107 paintings and calligraphy works, and the staff member went to consult her superior.
• Manager Xu arrived at the shop after the staff member reported Li Long's offer.

Li Long bought more than a thousand paintings and calligraphy works from the Antique Shop for seven thousand US dollars, mailed most of them to Northern Xinjiang, and showed a few to his family. After exploring Yanjing’s shops and planning more sightseeing, he brought his relatives to see his two courtyards.

• Li Long negotiated with Manager Yao, paid seven thousand US dollars for the Antique Shop’s stored paintings and calligraphy, and arranged to crate and mail most of them home.
• Li Long selected seven works to carry back, paid Shao Licheng an introduction fee, and discussed the purchase with Li Jianguo, who reflected on how much the family’s living standards had improved.
• Li Long showed the paintings to Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Xiaoyu, Li Juan, and Li Qiang, then planned to buy Yanjing pastries and other local specialties to take home.
• Li Long visited the Antique Shop’s purchasing department and a consignment shop but found nothing he felt able to buy.
• Li Long and his family discussed visiting Yanjing’s historic sights, and he took Li Jianguo and the others to see his two courtyards.

Li Long and his family finished their Yanjing visit, toured the Great Wall, and prepared to return home after buying local specialties. As they left, Gu Xiaoyu tearfully said goodbye, while the family settled into the train journey and talked about returning to Yanjing.

• Li Jianguo praised the courtyard houses, and Li Long agreed to take the family to the Great Wall the next day.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long that seeing her mother had felt like seeing a stranger, and he reassured her that her feelings were understandable.
• Li Long and his family visited the snowy Great Wall, took photographs, and Li Jianguo quietly carved characters into the wall.
• Li Long and the others bought pastries, medicines, and other local specialties before boarding a train home.
• Gu Xiaoyu tearfully waved goodbye as the train departed, and Gu Xiaoxia comforted her before turning to care for Mingming and Haohao.
• During the journey, Li Long shared food with his family and discussed their Yanjing courtyard houses and possible future visits.

Gu Xiaoyu adjusted to life apart from her birth family by buying and furnishing courtyards, while Li Long and his family returned from Yanjing to Northern Xinjiang. Li Long resumed his local work and began delivering gifts to his contacts, leaving his expanding responsibilities ahead of him.

• Gu Xiaoyu listened as Fan Wenli discussed Huang Yufei’s engagement and her own marriage prospects, but she continued to feel that her real home was with Gu Xiaoxia’s family in Northern Xinjiang.
• Gu Xiaoyu cleaned Li Jianguo and Li Long’s courtyards, bought secondhand furniture, and purchased a nearby three-room courtyard house for three thousand yuan.
• Gu Xiaoyu missed Huang Yufei’s engagement ceremony and felt increasingly content spending time alone in her courtyard rather than at her parents’ home.
• Li Long and his family returned from Yanjing, where Li Jianguo, Li Juan, and Li Qiang shared stories and pastries from their trip with crowds of neighbors.
• Gu Boyuan praised Li Long’s paintings and business efforts, reminded him about the county Representative Assembly, and discussed the growing trade in Mongolian gazelle hides.
• Li Long collected crates of Yanjing specialties, delivered pastries to Professor Wu, discussed rural development with her, and continued making gift visits to his contacts in Wu City.

Li Long returned from Yanjing and described the trip while settling the proceeds from the livestock sales and sharing local specialties with his family and neighbors. The chapter ended with him advising Lu Yingming and his wife to plant watermelon for its seeds, giving them a plan for the coming year.

• Li Qiang and Li Juan devoted themselves to studying after their Yanjing trip, and Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei agreed the experience had helped them.
• Li Jianguo told Liang Yuemei they would repay Li Long for the courtyard house gradually, and he said he was trying to quit smoking.
• Li Long returned to Ma County, told Li Xiangqian about Yanjing and the courtyard house, and discussed proposals for the upcoming People's Congress meeting.
• Li Long visited Old Ma's Place and several neighbors, shared specialties, and heard that the livestock and by-products had sold well.
• Xie Yundong showed Li Long the accounts, which totaled 26,188.40 yuan, and Li Long gave him 100 yuan for his help.
• Li Long brought Yanjing pastries to his family and the Lu couple, then recommended that they plant watermelon for its seeds next year.

Li Long planned to build roads linking the Winter Camps and Summer Pasture so he could earn national recognition for ethnic unity and help his friends. After visiting Harimu and discussing the difficult mountain route, Li Long remained determined to begin the long-term project.

• Li Long told Li Jianguo that he wanted to build mountain roads and seek selection as a national Advanced Individual for Ethnic Unity; they agreed to start during the slack farming season and postpone reclaiming more land.
• Li Long developed photographs from the Yanjing trip, showed them to Gu Boyuan, and prepared for the New Year.
• Li Long visited Harimu's Winter Camp, shared photographs and halal pastries from Yanjing, and described his plan to build roads between the camps and pastures.
• Harimu explained that the route to the Summer Pasture was long, steep, and narrow, and Li Long realized the roadwork would take far longer than he had expected.
• Li Long refused to abandon the project and said he would work on it for as many years as necessary.

Li Long discovered that some tribal elders might resist his plan to build a road to the summer pasture, though Jade Mountain River and Harimu promised to rally support. As the New Year approached, Li Long prepared for the holiday with his family and returned to the village, where he persuaded Li Juan and Li Qiang to take a break from studying.

• Jade Mountain River told Li Long that some elders opposed tractors and roads as threats to tradition, while Harimu and Jade Mountain River pledged to support the road and gather the tribe’s contributions.
• Li Long decided to wait until after the New Year meeting before judging whether the road could be built, and Jade Mountain River scheduled a tribal gathering for February 9.
• Li Long gave Sun Jiaqiang a year-end bonus, learned Tie Lanhua was pregnant, and prepared New Year supplies with Gu Xiaoxia and their children.
• Meng Hai visited Li Long with a wild boar, eggs, and chickens, and Li Long sent him home with pastries and fresh greenhouse vegetables.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia returned to the Fourth Team for New Year’s Eve, where Li Long persuaded Li Juan and Li Qiang to stop studying and go play.

Yang Xiulan and Han Fang celebrated New Year while facing the prospect of leaving the South Courtyard, as Li Long hosted visitors. In the mountains, Jade Mountain River and Harimu persuaded the tribe to approve building roads to their winter camps and the Summer Pasture, leaving them to prepare for construction in spring.

• Yang Xiulan promised Han Fang they would visit Yanjing and explained they would eventually need to leave the Big Courtyard.
• Li Long and his family celebrated New Year before Li Long hosted a succession of visitors offering greetings.
• Jade Mountain River and Harimu gathered the tribe to discuss Li Long's proposal for roads connecting the winter camps and Summer Pasture.
• An elder opposed the roads, but Harimu and the younger men defended Li Long's help and argued for the benefits of modern conveniences.
• Jade Mountain River explained that the mountains were public property, and the tribe approved the road-building plan.
• Jade Mountain River asked households to contribute labor and goods toward construction after spring, and the gathering ended with food, drink, and music.

After returning to the County Seat, Li Long submitted a proposal to disband the Pastoral Team and discussed plans to build roads to the Winter Camps with Li Xiangqian. The road project depended on whether the pastoralists agreed, so Li Long planned to visit the mountains and assess the situation before seeking support from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

• Li Long and his family left the village after New Year, while Gu Boyuan stayed behind until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
• Li Long reassured Gu Xiaoxia that she should keep her job, then told her he had written a proposal about pastoral development.
• Li Long brought his proposal to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Li Xiangqian read his plan to disband the Pastoral Team and let pastoralists settle and graze livestock independently.
• Li Xiangqian asked about the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's plans for the mountains, and Li Long proposed building roads from the Winter Camps out of the mountains before tackling the Summer Pasture route.
• Li Xiangqian offered the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's support, and Li Long said he would first visit the mountains to see whether the pastoralists would agree and assess the routes.

Li Long attended the county People's Congress, then visited Harimu and Jade Mountain River to plan a road connecting the winter camps to the outside. After accepting the tribe's contributions and surveying the routes, he arranged to buy a tractor and registered three telephone installations.

• Li Long attended the People's Congress, discussed county development, and learned that private telephone installations would soon be available for four thousand yuan each.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long that the tribe had approved building a road, and Harimu and the households offered stored goods and labor to help pay for it.
• Li Long accepted the tribe's gold, gemstones, hides, jade, and other goods, then surveyed the mountain routes with Harimu and Jade Mountain River.
• Li Long decided the contributions could fund another East Is Red 70-Square Tractor and planned to use it to build the road to the winter camps.
• After the Purchasing Station reopened, Li Long registered for telephones at his home, his purchasing station, and his eldest older brother's countryside home.

Li Long arranged phone lines for his home, the Purchasing Station, and his eldest brother's village, then used the new home phone to reconnect with family, suppliers, and business partners. The chapter ended with the phone ringing as Li Long expected Gu Xiaoyu to call back.

• Li Long secured Li Xiangqian's help choosing numbers for three phone lines and arranged publicity for the planned mountain road.
• Within a week, the Post and Telecommunications Office installed the phones at the Big Courtyard and the Purchasing Station, and Gu Boyuan spoke to Gu Xiaoyu by phone.
• Li Long called Factory Director Du, who discussed delivering cultivators and offered to pay Li Long a commission for future designs.
• Li Long spent the afternoon calling business contacts, exchanging numbers, and discussing goods and upcoming purchases.
• The phone rang as Li Long guessed that Gu Xiaoyu was calling.

Gu Xiaoyu furnished Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia’s courtyards and dealt with requests from her stepfamily, while Li Long sold hides and bought a Dongfanghong 75 tractor to begin building roads into the mountains. The tractor reached Harimu’s winter camp, and Li Long agreed to hire workers from Qingshui River Village for the road project.

• Gu Xiaoyu told Li Long she had cleaned and furnished the courtyards, and Li Long sent her a thousand yuan for expenses.
• After Huang Yufei’s wedding, Lin Xuemei and Fan Wenli asked Gu Xiaoyu to obtain a Jade Buddha, so Gu Xiaoxia mailed one to her and told her to present it as a gift.
• Zhao Hui bought hides from Li Long, who divided the proceeds with Gu Boyuan and then bought a Dongfanghong 75 tractor with a bulldozer and plowshare.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo drove the tractor to Harimu’s winter camp, where local herders gathered to see the machine intended for building their road.
• Li Long promised Meng Hai that Qingshui River villagers could work on the road for daily wages, and Meng Hai and He Yuqing began planning how to organize the workers.

Li Long prepared to build a road to the pastoralists’ remote winter camps, securing support from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the County Publicity Department. As April 5 approached, he gathered tools, recruited a tractor driver, and distributed cultivators to local farmers.

• Li Long visited the Purchasing Station, where sellers said they needed money for farming supplies, and confirmed with Gu Boyuan that business could continue for another fortnight.
• Li Long told Ma Xiaoyan he planned to build a road for the pastoralists, and she promised to report the project and arrange follow-up coverage.
• Li Xiangqian pledged cooperative funds and workers for the road project, then agreed to organize weekly work parties and lead one himself.
• Factory Director Du sent Li Long six cultivators and two thousand yuan in patent fees, and Li Long distributed the machines among farmers in the Fourth Team.
• Li Long bought tools, arranged for Meng Hai to drive the tractor, and set April 5 as the start date for the mountain road work.

Li Long led the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and local herders in a road-building effort, coordinating workers and supplies while Ma Xiaoyan documented the work. By the end of the day, they had opened a tractor road to Bek's winter camp and rested before continuing toward the next household.

• Li Long drove Li Xiangqian and Ma Xiaoyan into the mountains, where Meng Hai and the herders joined the cooperative's work party.
• Li Xiangqian addressed the gathered workers, and Li Long assigned the cooperative staff and herders to clear brush, move stones, widen the roadbed, operate the bulldozer, and prepare lunch.
• Li Long arranged for explosives to loosen a steep slope, allowing Meng Hai to push the bulldozer through and open a route wide enough for a small tractor.
• Harimu and Sister Liu's team prepared lunch while Li Long checked the roadwork and Ma Xiaoyan photographed and interviewed the workers.
• Li Long called everyone to eat after the road to Bek's winter camp had taken shape, then announced an hour's rest before the team continued toward the next household.

Li Long and Meng Hai organized workers to extend the road to more winter camps, while Ma Xiaoyan submitted a report about the workers’ efforts. Meanwhile, officials at the Autonomous Region's Ethnic Affairs Commission added Li Long’s road-building work to his nomination for a national Ethnic Unity Advanced Individual award.

• Meng Hai compacted the road to Bek's and Yersen's winter camps, and Li Long shared mutton soup and beer with the workers before they returned to town.
• Ma Xiaoyan wrote an article about the work, received the executive deputy's approval, and mailed it to Wu City.
• Li Long drove into the mountains and told Jade Mountain River that Meng Hai's men would build the road so the herders could focus on their own work.
• Li Long coordinated road construction as Meng Hai brought in more workers, and the crew completed a road to a winter camp about every two days.
• Lao Song and Tursunjiang discussed Li Long's achievements and instructed Xiao Liu to add the new road-building material to his nomination for a national award.

Li Long and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative crews finished connecting the winter camps with roads, making wool sales and seasonal preparations easier for the pastoralists. An official notice then confirmed that Li Long would travel to Yanjing in May for a national commendation ceremony.

• Li Xiangqian brought the Supply and Marketing Cooperative staff back to the mountains, where Li Long assigned crews to surface roads and clear shrubs.
• Ye'erxiati slaughtered a sheep to feed the workers, and Li Long stopped him from slaughtering another and brought rice and flour in exchange.
• Ma Xiaoyan told Li Long that the Autonomous Region had nominated him for a possible national commendation, and Li Long thanked her for reporting his work.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia discussed finishing the winter-camp roads before pausing work for the busy farming season and planning the longer road to the Summer Pasture.
• Li Xiangqian's crew finished connecting the remaining winter-camp roads, and Jade Mountain River told Li Long the roads had eased preparations for seasonal migration.
• Jade Mountain River and the other pastoralists left their tractors with Li Long before migrating, and an official notice arrived ordering Li Long to attend the national commendation ceremony in Yanjing in May.

Li Long learned that he would travel to Yanjing to receive a national commendation for his work with pastoralists and local production, while Li Xiangqian received prefectural honors. As Li Long prepared for the trip and told his family, Gu Boyuan grew suspicious about Gu Xiaoyu’s interest in Li Long’s courtyard, and Li Long left for the Fourth Team amid his family’s congratulations.

• Li Xiangqian summoned Li Long to meet the county’s top leaders, who praised Li Long’s work and asked him to give presentations after returning from Yanjing.
• Li Xiangqian learned that the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had been named a prefectural exemplary collective and that he had received an Advanced Individual award.
• Ma Xiaoyan agreed to prepare Li Long’s conference materials, and Li Long gave her two air-dried legs of lamb in advance.
• Li Long told Gu Boyuan and Gu Xiaoxia about the trip, discussed Purchasing Station business with Gu Boyuan, and listened as Gu Boyuan voiced concern about Gu Xiaoyu’s interest in the courtyard.
• Li Long visited the Fourth Team, where Lu Yingming mistook the title Reference News for “Political Participation News,” then told his family he would receive a national award in Yanjing.

Li Long prepared for his trip to Yanjing to attend the National Ethnic Unity Advanced Individual commendation ceremony, while his family kept the honor quiet and he arranged matters at home. After reaching Wu City, he met officials from the Ethnic Affairs Commission, bought jade carvings from Engineer Liu, and found that Yusufu's son had joined him at the railway station.

• The Li family agreed not to publicize Li Long's national commendation, and Li Jianguo gave him money to hire someone to clean the courtyard house in Yanjing.
• Li Long visited Old Ma's Place, paid Uncle Lao Luo and asked him to let township officials inspect the deer if they came back.
• Li Long collected his prepared commendation material from Ma Xiaoyan, revised and copied it, then left for Wu City on May 9.
• Ethnic Affairs Commission leaders Song Xuejun and Tursunjiang welcomed Li Long, confirmed his arrangements for Yanjing, and assigned Chen Xiangdong to accompany him.
• Li Long visited Engineer Liu at the Jade Carving Factory and bought seventeen carvings, then purchased dried fruit and nuts from Yusufu at the railway station.
• Li Long discovered that Yusufu's twelve- or thirteen-year-old son was helping him, congratulated Yusufu on bringing his family to Wu City, and prepared to travel to Yanjing the next day.

Li Long received national recognition for his work promoting ethnic unity and helping pastoralists, then asked the Beijing Office to protect and renovate his three Yanjing courtyards. Director Dai arranged signs identifying the properties with the Beijing Office, and Li Long met Gu Xiaoyu after finding one sign already installed.

• Li Long gave Yusufu's son his tin lighter and bought five short knives, then Chen Xiangdong arranged for him to take them aboard the train as gifts.
• Chen Xiangdong escorted Li Long to Yanjing, where Li Long rehearsed for and attended the national commendation ceremony, receiving an award and praise from a former Northern Xinjiang leader.
• Li Long asked Chen Xiangdong to help secure an official affiliation for his three courtyards, and Director Dai agreed to have Beijing Office signs installed and arrange a renovation company.
• Li Long called Gu Xiaoyu to arrange a meeting and found a Beijing Office sign already installed at Li Jianguo's courtyard; he inspected the clean, aired-out rooms ahead of the renovation discussion.

Li Long protected Gu Xiaoyu from a colleague’s slander, arranged renovations for three courtyards in Yanjing, and thanked the Beijing Office staff for their help. After saying goodbye to Gu Xiaoyu, he returned to Northern Xinjiang with Chen Xiangdong to attend to urgent business.

• Li Long met Gu Xiaoyu, heard about her new courtyard, and gave her money to help renovate it.
• When a young colleague insulted Gu Xiaoyu, Li Long threatened him with a knife and ordered him to apologize and stop spreading rumors.
• The colleague apologized to Gu Xiaoyu at work after realizing Li Long was connected to the Northern Xinjiang Ethnic Affairs Commission Beijing Office.
• Li Long hired a renovation crew to work on his three courtyards and arranged for Gu Xiaoyu’s courtyard to be repaired as well.
• Li Long gave gifts to Xiao Wang and Director Dai, thanked them for their help, and prepared to leave Yanjing.
• Li Long said goodbye to Gu Xiaoyu and boarded a train back to Northern Xinjiang with Chen Xiangdong.