Chapter Summaries

After receiving national recognition, Li Long returned to Wu City, visited his academic and business contacts, and brought home a rare piece of river jade. Back in Ma County, he reunited with his family and planned a gift for Director Dai to thank him for arranging the Beijing renovation.

• Li Long completed his follow-up with the Ethnic Affairs Commission in Wu City, exchanged contact details with Chen Xiangdong, and collected his luggage.
• Li Long visited Professor Luo and Professor Wu, discussed agricultural research and cash crops, and received books and magazines on agricultural machinery from Professor Wu.
• Li Long brought specialties to Engineer Liu, who sold him a distinctive piece of white river jade for one thousand yuan.
• Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard, reunited with Mingming and Haohao, and told Gu Boyuan and Gu Xiaoxia about his trip and Gu Xiaoyu's situation.
• Li Long decided to thank Director Dai for arranging the renovation by sending him a velvet antler and a deer penis.

After returning from his national award, Li Long received county backing and was assigned to a prefecture-wide speaking tour. His public appearances drew a surge of sellers to his Purchasing Station, and he returned to find its stores overflowing and buyers waiting.

• Li Long reported to the County Party Committee, where the county leaders praised his achievements and promised publicity and preferential treatment for his Purchasing Station.
• Li Long filed his award materials with the Ethnic Affairs Commission and learned that the Prefecture Ethnic Affairs Commission had assigned him to a speaking tour across all eight counties and two cities.
• Li Long sold the station's stored fritillaria, gave Gu Boyuan working capital, and left for the tour while Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang looked after the children.
• As Li Long gave presentations, sellers flocked to the Purchasing Station, and Gu Boyuan and Sun Jiaqiang bought far more fritillaria, herbs, and mushrooms than before.
• Li Long returned near the end of May and found the Purchasing Station crowded, its warehouse nearly full, and Jia Tianlong and Huang Lei waiting to buy goods.
• Jia Tianlong and Huang Lei told Li Long that prices for medicinal herbs and dried mushrooms had risen.

Li Long sold large quantities of fritillaria and dried mushrooms to Jia Tianlong and Huang Lei, earning substantial profits and sending local gifts to people who had helped him. Two Kazakh traders, Mulat and Maoken, brought fritillaria and goji berries to support his road-building work, leaving Li Long determined to resume construction soon.

• Li Long carried more than three tonnes of fritillaria outside, and Jia Tianlong bought the graded stock for nearly 320,000 yuan.
• Huang Lei bought Li Long’s dried mushrooms for just over 32,100 yuan, and Li Long deposited most of the cash he had received at the bank.
• Li Long mailed local specialties to Director Dai, Xiao Wang, and Gu Xiaoyu, then went to help at the crowded Purchasing Station.
• Mulat and Maoken gave Li Long sacks of fritillaria and goji berries to support his road-building project, and Li Long accepted their gifts and promised to repay their kindness.
• Li Long helped purchase more goods from local sellers, spending nearly 30,000 yuan in one day, and resolved to return to road construction as soon as possible.

Li Long bought the Forestry Team’s stored goods, secured the purchasing station courtyard as his property, and organized workers to begin building a mountain road. As the crew started cutting trees, someone spotted a herd of wild boars, and Li Long ran to fetch his rifle before pursuing them.

• Li Long bought supplies and hired a truck, then purchased the Forestry Team’s fritillaria and other goods from Aili for thirty thousand yuan.
• Gu Boyuan told Li Long that the county housing administration would sell him the purchasing station courtyard, and Li Long completed the purchase for just over one thousand yuan.
• Li Long arranged for Tie Lanhua to wash the fritillaria and gave Gu Boyuan fifty thousand yuan in working capital before heading to Qingshui River Village.
• Li Long and Meng Hai gathered more than twenty workers and took them into the mountains to start cutting trees and preparing the roadbed.
• When a worker shouted that a herd of wild boars was nearby, Li Long ran back to his jeep for a rifle and hurried after them into the mountains.

Li Long chased a herd of wild boars through the mountains and shot a lynx that had caught a piglet, then killed a half-grown boar as he returned. He brought both animals to the winter camp with Meng Hai’s crew, where they prepared to cook the meat and preserve the valuable lynx hide.

• Li Long pursued the wild boars through the forest while Meng Hai arrived at the roadworks and organized the crew to haul timber and clear the road.
• Li Long tracked the herd to a rocky slope, where he shot a lynx carrying a piglet and wounded a sow that chased it.
• Li Long killed a half-grown boar on his way back and returned to the workers carrying the boar and the lynx in a bag.
• Meng Hai sent Sun Sihai and Ma Ming to help Li Long carry the animals to Jade Mountain River's winter camp, where the workers gathered to inspect the lynx.
• Li Long skinned the boar and told Sun Sihai to fetch a pot and seasonings from his Jeep so they could begin cooking.

Li Long oversaw the mountain roadwork, checked the cabin and winter camps, and returned home to learn that Ma Xiaoyan wanted to report on the project. The next morning, Ma Xiaoyan visited and joined him on a trip into the mountains to inspect the work.

• Li Long served wild boar and lynx meat to Meng Hai and the road crew, then left Meng Hai in charge and stressed that everyone prioritize safety.
• Li Long found the lock missing from his wooden cabin, cleaned it, secured the doors, and later checked the mountain road, winter camps, and water pipes.
• Li Long returned to the Big Courtyard, where Gu Boyuan told him that Ma Xiaoyan had called to ask about the road project.
• Li Long and Gu Boyuan ate red-braised lynx meat and discussed the abundance of wildlife, future protections, and the need to adapt local purchasing.
• Ma Xiaoyan visited Li Long the next morning and asked to accompany him into the mountains to inspect the roadwork, and he agreed.

Li Long warned Meng Hai and the road workers about the risk of a flash flood while Ma Xiaoyan interviewed them, but the flood surged toward the worksite before they could finish. When a worker ran back to retrieve his spade and was swept away, Meng Hai and the others rushed to rescue him, and Ma Xiaoyan joined them.

• Ma Xiaoyan interviewed Li Long as he drove her to the roadworks, where Meng Hai and the workers were already working in muddy conditions.
• Li Long warned Meng Hai that rain to the south could cause a flood and went upstream to check the gully, finding no immediate danger.
• Li Long returned to the cabin, met Bolati, and accepted the roe deer Bolati had shot before heading back to the worksite.
• Li Long noticed the gully water rising and repeatedly told Meng Hai to keep the workers away from it while he searched nearby for game.
• A flash flood surged toward the roadbed, and Meng Hai called the workers up the hillside.
• One worker ran back for his iron spade and was swept into the flood, prompting Meng Hai, the other workers, and Ma Xiaoyan to rush to his rescue.

Li Long risked his life to rescue Su Qiangqiang from a flash flood, nearly drowning when the panicked man clung to him, but Meng Hai helped pull them both ashore. After the water receded, Li Long ordered safety watches for the road crew and returned to work, considering how to raise the roadbed against future floods.

• Li Long warned the crew to use a rope, but when the first villager threw it, he let go of his end and the rope swept away.
• After timber struck Su Qiangqiang and knocked him underwater, Li Long plunged into the flood and reached him, but Su Qiangqiang grabbed Li Long and dragged him under.
• Li Long struck Su Qiangqiang until he passed out, then caught Meng Hai's rope, and the crew pulled both men ashore.
• Ma Xiaoyan cleaned dirt from Li Long's eyes as Su Qiangqiang regained consciousness, and Li Long explained that he had acted instinctively.
• Li Long led the crew to higher ground, ordered them to prioritize people over equipment, and set up rotating safety watches as the flood receded.
• The crew resumed roadwork, while Li Long retrieved his rifle and considered raising the roadbed to protect it from future floods.

After rescuing Su Qiangqiang from a flood, Li Long insisted he had acted out of necessity rather than heroism and returned to work on the road. While scouting ahead for hazards, he found an injured wild boar and killed it, ending the chapter with an unexpected windfall.

• Li Long told Ma Xiaoyan that he had been frightened during the rescue and might not risk his life again, then reassured Gu Xiaoxia that he was safe and did not want to be a hero.
• Li Long learned that Su Qiangqiang had a fever from inflamed wounds, so Meng Hai kept him in the village to rest and receive injections.
• Li Long returned to the road site, instructed Meng Hai to raise and compact the roadbed, and went ahead to inspect the route.
• Li Long followed fresh wild boar tracks past a boulder that obstructed the planned road and found a half-grown boar trapped below with injured hind legs.
• Li Long killed the boar with his knife and noticed an older bite wound on its hind leg.

Li Long used explosives to clear a massive boulder blocking the planned road, testing charges and removing a dud by throwing another charge near it. After several blasts and help from Meng Hai’s men, much of the boulder was cleared, but the latest blast left another huge section split off without falling.

• Li Long examined the boulder with Ma Xiaoyan and told Meng Hai he planned to blast it while the road crew continued working.
• Li Long prepared thirty charges with a young man, then tested two and discovered one had failed to detonate.
• Li Long threw a prepared charge into the crack beside the dud, setting off both charges and clearing the unexploded explosive.
• Li Long bundled ten sticks of explosives and blasted a large chunk from the boulder, then joined Meng Hai and two men in rolling the fallen piece down the mountainside.
• Li Long blasted the remaining boulder with another bundle, but the latest explosion only split off a huge section that remained in place.

Li Long cleared a massive boulder from the route and surveyed the next stretch of road, where he chose to build around a willow tree that people had worshipped. While reinforcing the riverbank there, he discovered a huge, valuable piece of jade and concealed it beneath the rocks.

• Li Long used the remaining explosives to split the boulder and clear most of it from the route, then joined Ma Xiaoyan and the villagers for lunch.
• After resting, Li Long continued upstream to scout the route and found a grove of willows blocking a level stretch of river flat.
• Li Long noticed offerings beneath the largest willow and decided to preserve it, planning instead to curve the road around it.
• Li Long carried rocks into the river channel to build a raised roadbed beside the willow.
• Li Long uncovered an enormous green piece of jade, estimated to weigh several tons, then covered it with rocks to keep it hidden.
• Li Long told Meng Hai to avoid cutting down the large willow, and Meng Hai agreed.

Li Long told his family about the enormous jade deposit he had found in the mountains and agreed to help Gu Xiaoyu earn money by selling a jade bangle. As road construction continued, he collected explosives and ammunition and returned to the mountains, where he searched the river for more jade.

• Li Long dropped Ma Xiaoyan at her alley entrance and later wondered why she remained watching him drive away.
• At dinner, Li Long told Gu Boyuan, Gu Xiaoxia, and Sister Yang that he had found a huge, high-quality piece of jade deep in the mountains.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia selected a master-crafted mutton-fat jade bangle to send to Gu Xiaoyu for a potential buyer.
• Two workers asked Meng Hai to provide nang for lunch, but Meng Hai refused and warned them they could be replaced.
• Li Xiangqian supplied Li Long with explosives and bullets and cautioned him to be careful after his flood rescue.
• Li Long drove back to the mountains, where Meng Hai's crew continued the road and Li Long kept an eye out for more jade.

Li Long monitored the road construction as floods threatened the site, then witnessed a red deer get swept downstream toward the workers. When Zhang Xingwang rushed to save it for its valuable antlers and meat, Meng Hai knocked him down and barred him from entering the flood.

• Li Long checked the river and road route, marked places that needed sturdier foundations, and watched a small flood arrive.
• Li Long saw a red deer stag fall into the flood and get swept downstream, but he did not shoot at it because he could not retrieve it.
• Meng Hai gathered the workers on higher ground as the flood covered the riverbed and brought the struggling stag near the road.
• The workers eyed the stag’s antlers, hide, and meat while Meng Hai warned them not to enter the water.
• Zhang Xingwang charged toward the stag, and Meng Hai kicked him down, removed him from the crew, and forbade him from jumping in.

Li Long disciplined Zhang Xingwang after he endangered himself and the road project, then left the crew to relax at Hot Spring Ravine. At the Wooden Cabin, he caught an unauthorized occupant, confiscated his knives, and handed him over to a Forestry Team rider.

• Li Long threatened to withhold broom-making work from Zhang Xingwang's family, fired him from the road crew, and awarded Meng Hai a bonus and management fees.
• Meng Hai assigned the workers tasks while the flood remained high, then reassured Zhang Xingwang that he might still plead Li Long's case when broom-making season came.
• Li Long soaked at Hot Spring Ravine and continued to the Wooden Cabin, where he found its lock forced and an unknown man living inside.
• Li Long beat and searched the intruder, took his knives, and marched him east toward the Forestry Team.
• A young Forestry Team rider recognized Li Long, tied up the intruder, and took him away; Li Long then headed back toward the roadwork site.

Li Long handed the mountain roadwork over to Meng Hai and paid him to manage it, then returned to the Purchasing Station as its Fritillaria business continued to grow. Jia Tianlong arrived to buy another truckload and paid his respects to Li Long’s jade before arranging transport.

• Li Long told Meng Hai he would be away for several days, paid him wages and management fees, and reviewed the roadwork safety precautions.
• Meng Hai paid the workers, sent Zhang Xingwang away, and celebrated the reward and management fee with Wang Cailing.
• Li Long told Gu Boyuan that he had caught another thief at the mountain cabin, and Gu Boyuan reported that the Purchasing Station had accumulated more than two tonnes of dried Fritillaria.
• Li Long visited the Purchasing Station, where a customer tried to protect the premises by questioning his entry into the Back Courtyard, and Tie Lanhua told him Jia Tianlong had not arrived yet.
• Jia Tianlong arrived and asked to buy another truckload of Fritillaria; after visiting Li Long’s Big Courtyard to pay respects to the jade, he left to hire a truck and collect his people.

Li Long sold Jia Tianlong premium fritillaria and learned that Huang Lei was under investigation after a customer was poisoned by dried mushrooms. Huang Lei’s cousin Huang Ying came to buy mushrooms for him, and after inspecting Li Long’s stock, she accepted his original prices.

• Li Long sold Jia Tianlong 241 kilograms of special-grade fritillaria and 2,217 kilograms of premium first-grade fritillaria for more than 200,000 yuan.
• Jia Tianlong told Li Long that Huang Lei was being investigated after someone fell ill from dried mushrooms he had sold.
• Li Long checked his own dried mushrooms, found no suspicious stock, and decided to keep buying while tightening inspections.
• Huang Ying arrived to buy mushrooms for Huang Lei and initially blamed Li Long’s goods for the poisoning incident.
• Li Long called Huang Lei to confirm Huang Ying’s identity, then refused her request for a lower price.
• After inspecting Li Long’s carefully cleaned mushrooms, Huang Ying agreed to pay the price Huang Lei had previously negotiated.

Li Long settled the season’s sales, distributed profits, and prepared for the wheat harvest after the mountain road project paused. He slaughtered sheep for family and friends, then returned to the County Seat as the busy farming season began.

• Huang Ying and Yuan Yuemei bought Li Long’s dried mushrooms, and Huang Ying helped Tie Lanhua wash fritillaria after learning Li Long had given her suitable work during her pregnancy.
• Li Long told Huang Lei the mushrooms had been collected, inspected his warehouse stock, and distributed bonuses to Gu Boyuan, Sun Jiaqiang, and Tie Lanhua.
• Li Long paused road construction for the wheat harvest, while Jia Tianlong bought the remaining medicinal herbs and Zhao Hui collected the stored hides.
• Li Jianguo planned to harvest wheat in the village and Corps companies, so Li Long arranged for Li Qingxia to bring his Small Four-Wheel Tractor back to the village.
• Li Long slaughtered five sheep with Uncle Lao Luo and distributed their meat and offal among his family, Uncle Lao Luo, Harimu, and Jade Mountain River’s family.
• Li Long drove back to the County Seat with the old man in the late afternoon, thinking that Mingming and Haohao were nearly old enough for nursery.

Li Long strengthened his Purchasing Station’s reputation by caring for the herders’ families and offering free refreshments to customers, while a booming black tiger’s paw mushroom harvest brought in a huge supply. Huang Lei returned after clearing his name and bought more than 1,400 kilograms of Li Long’s carefully sorted mushrooms, leaving Li Long convinced that unmatched quality kept customers loyal.

• Li Long delivered a sheep and household supplies to Harimu’s family and another sheep to Jade Mountain River Family, then invited Han Fang to visit Yanjing, but she chose to stay with her mother.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia offered Sister Yang time off, but Sister Yang declined, so Li Long added the planned travel money to her wages.
• Li Long supplied free watermelons and mung bean soup at the Purchasing Station, drawing steady customers even during the off-season.
• Local mushroom pickers flocked to the mountains, and the dried black tiger’s paw mushroom harvest exceeded a tonne before mid-July.
• Huang Lei told Li Long that a witness had exposed the person who framed him by planting poisonous mushrooms, then inspected and bought more than 1,400 kilograms of Li Long’s mushrooms for over 30,000 yuan.

Li Long arranged for his brother, Meng Hai, and Wang Mingjun’s company to prepare big brooms ahead of the prefecture’s expected order, while warning that he would buy only what they had made if no quota came. After visiting the company and heading home with gifts, Li Long found two people blocking the road and prepared for trouble.

• Li Long asked Li Jianguo to organize big-broom production in the Fourth Team and pay workers for their brooms.
• Li Long asked Li Xiangqian to reserve the big-broom job for him and confirmed that production had begun at the various locations.
• Li Long told Meng Hai to prepare broom handles and oversee production in Qingshui River Village, promising to buy the finished brooms if the prefecture issued no quota.
• Li Long visited Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang and asked them to have workers prepare to make big brooms.
• Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang loaded alcohol and watermelons into Li Long’s Jeep as he set off home.
• Two people stood in the road and waved Li Long down, so he slowed the Jeep and readied himself in case they attacked.

Li Long secured a forty-thousand-broom order at a higher price and recruited Zhao Zongming’s company to help meet the quota before leaving for Yanjing. He arrived to find the renovated courtyard finished and better than he had expected, then went to find Gu Xiaoyu.

• Li Long told Zhao Zongming that the broom order had come through and invited his company to produce as many qualifying brooms as it could.
• Li Long informed Wang Mingjun, Meng Hai, and his eldest brother that production could begin in earnest.
• Li Long learned that the prefecture had allocated him forty thousand brooms at six yuan each, with delivery due by September 10.
• Li Long traveled through Wu City, bought jade pieces from Engineer Liu, and continued to Yanjing.
• Li Long inspected the completed courtyard, approved of its renovations, and left to find Gu Xiaoyu.