Chapter Summaries

Li Long delivered twenty-two sheep to the factory and collected 344 yuan and 85 fen for them. He and Tao Daqiang stayed at Li Long’s old house in the County Town, where Li Long discovered half a box of money in the study.

• Section Chief Hu praised Li Long for bringing the sheep before the factory closed and arranged for the shipment to be unloaded and weighed.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang unloaded the twenty-two sheep, which weighed 363 kilograms in total, and Li Long collected 344 yuan and 85 fen from the finance office.
• Li Long gave Tao Daqiang ten yuan for his work and said they would stay in the County Town before going into the mountains the next day.
• Li Long unlocked the old house where he was staying and brought the horse cart inside with Tao Daqiang.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang lit the stoves and prepared to eat, while Li Long explored the rooms and found half a box of money in the study.

Li Long inspected the old belongings in Old Ma’s house, then set out with Tao Daqiang to settle accounts with Harimu and collect more sheep. He left the Winter Camp with ten Kelang sheep and headed to the Ma County Supply and Marketing Cooperative to negotiate a price with Section Chief Li Xiangqian.

• Li Long searched the study, bedroom, and storage room, finding old coins, books, furniture, and garments among Old Ma’s belongings.
• Li Long made shredded cabbage with sugar and vinegar, and Tao Daqiang enjoyed it with rice porridge.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang traveled to Harimu’s Winter Camp the next morning to pay for the sheep and collect the rest.
• Li Long calculated Harimu’s payment at eighty fen per kilogram, and Harimu and Jade Mountain River argued that he should keep more of the money.
• Li Long insisted on the agreed payment, asking instead for the sheep offal and for Jade Mountain River to show him where to look for Jade in spring.
• Li Long left the mountain with ten Kelang sheep and headed to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in Ma County to meet Section Chief Li Xiangqian.

Li Long took ten sheep to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Section Chief Li Xiangqian offered a low price after criticizing their quality. Li Long refused to bargain and left for the Sugar Factory in Stone City, leaving Li Xiangqian to realize he might lose the deal.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang stopped at the Big Meat Canteen, where Zhong Guoqiang offered to buy future sheep, offal, and some kinds of game.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang waited outside the Supply and Marketing Cooperative until Section Chief Li Xiangqian arrived.
• Li Xiangqian criticized the sheep and offered sixty fen per kilogram, but Li Long declined without bargaining and started to leave.
• Old Li asked Li Long where he planned to sell the sheep, and Li Long said the Sugar Factory in Stone City wanted them for Spring Festival benefits.
• Li Xiangqian realized the sheep could be sold in Stone City, while Old Li challenged his claim that he could easily find ten sheep elsewhere.

Li Long negotiated a price of eighty-eight cents per kilogram for ten sheep at the county Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then returned to Harimu's Winter Camp to collect the cleaned innards and pay the herders. Jade Mountain River told him about a herd of Mongolian gazelles near Red Mountain Mouth, and Li Long planned to return in a couple of days.

• Li Long refused Li Xiangqian's initial offer and held firm at ninety cents until they agreed on eighty-eight cents per kilogram.
• The cooperative weighed the ten sheep at 166 kilograms and paid Li Long 144 yuan and eight cents.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang returned to Harimu's Winter Camp, where the family and Jade Mountain River's household were cleaning the innards.
• Li Long helped finish washing and load more than thirty sets of innards and two large sheep onto the cart.
• Li Long paid Harimu 128 yuan to divide among the herders for the ten sheep.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long about seven or eight Mongolian gazelles near Red Mountain Mouth, and Li Long said he would return in a couple of days.

After returning from the mountains with sheep offal, Li Long was encouraged by Li Jianguo to pursue Gu Xiaoxia and brought her family a set. The chapter leaves Wu Shufen regretting her breakup with Li Long while Gu Boyuan watches Li Long leave with a complicated expression.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang returned to the Li Family home with a cartload of frozen sheep offal, and Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei welcomed them with hot mutton soup.
• Li Long gave Tao Daqiang a set of offal and planned to sell most of the rest, while Li Jianguo urged him to pursue Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long agreed to take a set of offal to Gu Xiaoxia's family and hurried away after handing it to her.
• Wang Yuzhen suggested that Wu Shufen get back together with Li Long, while Wu Shufen worried he would reject her because of Gu Ermao.
• Gu Boyuan watched Li Long leave Gu Xiaoxia's home with a complicated expression.

Li Jianguo arranged a loudspeaker announcement to sell the cleaned sheep offal, while Wu Shufen visited Gu Xiaoxia and challenged her about Li Long’s gifts and intentions. Wu left frustrated, warning Gu Xiaoxia to keep her distance from Li Long.

• Li Jianguo asked Xu Chengjun to announce that his family was selling cleaned sheep offal for five yuan a set, and Xu Chengjun reserved one.
• Ma Hongmei went to buy offal and met Wang Yuzhen, who complained that Wu Shufen had refused to go with her.
• Wu Shufen visited Gu Xiaoxia and noticed the offal basin and her Chinese textbook.
• Gu Xiaoxia urged Wu Shufen to study for a chance to leave the countryside, but Wu dismissed the idea and questioned why Li Long kept bringing Gu Xiaoxia gifts.
• Wu Shufen warned Gu Xiaoxia that Li Long was not simple and might be arrested, then left determined not to pursue him.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold fish and sheep offal in Stone City, then Li Long divided the proceeds with Li Jianguo and took time to rest. On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Long headed into the mountains for one final hunt before New Year, hoping to shoot Mongolian Gazelles.

• Li Long sold three sets of sheep offal and five Common Carp to Zhong Guoqiang at the Big Meat Canteen.
• Li Long and Tao Daqiang sold all their remaining sheep offal and fish at Stone City Old Street before two in the afternoon.
• Li Long told Tao Daqiang they would stop selling fish until after New Year, then replaced locks at his newly purchased house.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo divided the money from the offal sales, with Li Long taking eighty yuan and Li Jianguo keeping the rest.
• After two days at home, Li Long took ammunition and drove the horse cart into the mountains to hunt Mongolian Gazelles.

Li Long received his own Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle from Jade Mountain River and tested its accuracy before joining Jade Mountain River and Harimu on a gazelle hunt. The three hunters took aim at a resting herd, and Jade Mountain River counted them down to their first shot.

• Harimu told Li Long that wolves and a snow leopard had threatened his sheep, and offered him a wolf pelt.
• Jade Mountain River gave Li Long a rifle the two men had traded six sheep, two sickles, and four bricks of tea to obtain.
• Li Long tested the rifle and found both bullets had struck a willow knot, low and to the right.
• Jade Mountain River led Li Long and Harimu to a hillside overlooking resting gazelles and assigned each hunter a section of the herd.
• Li Long aimed at a large male gazelle as Jade Mountain River counted to three, and the first shot rang out.

Li Long hunted three Mongolian gazelles with Jade Mountain River and Harimu, then returned to the Production Team with the meat, horns, and pine logs. When neighbors gathered to trade bullets for gazelle meat, he welcomed the chance to exchange what his family could not eat for ammunition.

• Jade Mountain River explained that wounded gazelles would stop running if the hunters waited, and Li Long followed a blood trail to find the large male he had shot.
• Li Long and Jade Mountain River subdued the wounded male gazelle, and Jade Mountain River bled it while Harimu handled the other two.
• The three men returned to Harimu's Winter Camp, where Jade Mountain River and Harimu skinned and gutted the gazelles and helped Li Long load them and pine logs onto his cart.
• Li Long stopped at the big house in County Town to store the horns and rifle before driving home to the Production Team.
• Li Qiang spotted the gazelle horns, and Li Long told the children they could trade bullets for meat.
• Li Jianguo and Li Long unloaded the cart, while several neighbors gathered with bullets to trade for the gazelle meat.

Li Long traded most of the gazelle meat, kept the valuable horns, and treated his family to roasted mutton. He persuaded the family to visit the county town the next day, leaving them excited and restless.

• Li Long refused Wang the Miser’s offer for the gazelle horns and traded away the gazelle meat instead.
• Li Long roasted mutton for Li Qiang and Li Juan, and the family shared a happy dinner.
• Li Long persuaded Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei to take the family into town before New Year’s.
• Li Long explained that gazelles were antelopes and that their horns could be used as medicine, so Li Jianguo stored them safely.
• Li Long went to sleep while the family in the West Room stayed awake, excited about the trip.

Li Long took his family to the County Town to buy New Year supplies and gave Li Juan and Li Qiang spending money. After shopping together, they went to the Big Meat Canteen for a family meal.

• Li Long gave Li Juan and Li Qiang five yuan each, then changed their budgets to one yuan after Liang Yuemei and Li Jianguo objected.
• Li Jianguo drove the family to the County Town in the cart, and Li Long planned stops at the Department Store, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and the Big Meat Canteen.
• At the Department Store, Li Juan chose a pencil case, and Li Long bought her a new-style double-layer case and a fountain pen; Li Qiang spent his money on shrimp-shaped crisp candies.
• Li Long bought felt boots, wool socks, a leather jacket, and padded cotton trousers for his hunting trips.
• At the Big Meat Canteen, Li Long asked manager Zhong Guoqiang for a screened-off private dining area so the family could eat together.

Li Long took his family to town, bought them a sewing machine, and explained that he had obtained its ration coupon through a trade. On the way home, he began preparing Li Jianguo for the possibility that he would eventually buy Old Ma’s house.

• Li Long and his family ate a hearty meal at Zhong Guoqiang’s establishment before heading to the Department Store.
• Li Long bought a Standard sewing machine for 140 yuan, and Li Jianguo learned he had purchased it for the family.
• Li Long refused Li Jianguo’s offer to repay him, saying the purchase was his contribution to their shared household.
• Li Long told Li Jianguo that Old Ma had left him the key to his County Seat house while he went to Shanghai, laying groundwork for a future purchase.
• The Li Family’s sewing machine drew curious neighbors, and word of the purchase spread through the village.

As New Year's Eve approached, Li Long shared meat with neighbors and rejected the idea of reconciling with Wu Shufen while focusing on making money. The Li family honored their ancestors, celebrated with a festive meal, and welcomed the New Year by setting off firecrackers.

• Li Qiang enjoyed setting off small firecrackers that Li Long had taken apart for him.
• Xu Haijun visited Li Long to trade ammunition for Mongolian gazelle meat and asked whether Wu Shufen wanted to reconcile with him.
• Li Long told Xu Haijun he was focused on making money and had no plans to pursue a relationship with Wu Shufen.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo burned paper offerings at a crossroads to honor their ancestors, then the family put up Spring Festival couplets and ate dumplings.
• The Li family shared a New Year's Eve dinner, and Li Long drank two cups of liquor before waiting until midnight.
• Li Long and Li Qiang set off double-bang firecrackers together to welcome the New Year.

Li Long joined his family’s New Year visit to the Liang family for the first time, bringing generous gifts and greeting his relatives warmly. The Liang family welcomed him as one of their own, while Li Jianguo put Du Haihua to work carrying their fish inside.

• Li Long celebrated the first day of the Lunar New Year with his family, gave Li Juan and Li Qiang lucky money, and visited the Gu and Tao families.
• Li Long agreed to go with Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei to visit the Liang family on the second day of the New Year and hitched up a horse cart for their gifts.
• Li Long greeted Sister-in-Law Lu and explained that he was going to wish Uncle and Auntie Liang a happy New Year.
• Liang Wenyu welcomed Li Qiang and Li Juan, then exchanged New Year greetings with Li Long, who called him Brother Wenyu and showed him their gifts.
• Li Jianguo handed Du Haihua the sack of fish to carry inside after Du mocked the family for taking a horse cart.
• Liang Donglou and Chen Xiuzhu came out to welcome their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, including Li Long.

Li Jianguo’s family visited the Liang household for the New Year, bringing abundant meat and fish that impressed the neighbors and changed the family’s view of Li Long. Before leaving, Li Jianguo warned Liang Donglou to prepare for possible land allocation and a division of the team’s assets.

• Li Jianguo explained that his family had plenty of food and invited Du Haihua’s family to take fish, then brought everyone inside to celebrate the New Year.
• Li Juan and Li Qiang offered New Year’s greetings to Liang Donglou and Chen Xiuzhu, while Li Long also greeted them and received lucky money.
• Li Long described how he hunted wild boars and Mongolian gazelles, crediting his herder friends Harimu and Jade Mountain River for helping him find game.
• Liang Yuemei told Liang Xingmei that Li Long had changed after returning from Wu City and had bought a sewing machine for the family.
• Li Jianguo told Liang Donglou to prepare for possible land allocation after the New Year and mentioned Li Long’s prediction that the team’s assets might be divided.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang found that fish were no longer selling well after New Year, so Li Long paused fishing while he considered other ways to sell his catch. He bought equipment and traveled by bicycle to Harimu's Winter Camp to scout for game, where Harimu offered to guide him.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang caught around a hundred kilograms of fish, but buyers at Ma County's Black Market and Stone City's residential compounds showed little interest, leaving them with fish unsold.
• Li Long gave the remaining fish to Zhong Guoqiang and told Tao Daqiang he would stop fishing for two weeks; he noticed that Ma County's Black Market had more vendors and appeared to face fewer restrictions.
• Li Long discussed future fishing plans with Li Jianguo, including using gill nets after the snow melted and practicing with a cast net.
• Li Long bought a 28-Inch Forever Heavy-Duty Bicycle, a pump, cold-weather supplies, sandpaper, and a steelyard scale in the County Seat.
• Li Long took his Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle, rode to Harimu's Winter Camp, and told Harimu he wanted to scout for game; Harimu offered to take him into the mountains.

Li Long followed Harimu through the mountain forest, learning where to find game and medicinal plants. They encountered a herd of wild boars, and both men shot one, leaving Li Long ready to learn how to gut and skin his kill.

• Harimu showed Li Long a fritillaria gully and nearby spots where mushrooms and red deer could be found.
• Harimu found red deer tracks and droppings near a shrub patch, then led Li Long toward an area where he had seen wild boars and roe deer.
• Li Long and Harimu heard a herd beyond a ridge and crept toward it with their rifles ready.
• Harimu and Li Long shot one wild boar each as the herd scattered.
• Li Long said he could carry the cleaned boars on his bicycle and planned to learn how to gut and skin them.

Li Long butchered two wild boars, encountered a wolf on his way back from Winter Camp, and spent the night preparing the meat. Before dawn, he brought some to the Black Market, where he began selling it beside a fish seller.

• Li Long gutted and skinned the two boars, then Harimu dragged them to the foot of the mountain on horseback.
• A wolf appeared on the ridge, and Li Long fired at it before it fled.
• Li Long returned to the County Seat, finished skinning and cutting up the boars, and rested after working until midnight.
• Before dawn, Li Long dragged several pieces of boar meat to the Black Market and claimed a stall spot.
• Li Long told the neighboring fish seller that he had shot the wild boar in the mountains.

Li Long sold the remaining wild boar meat at a morning market and Stone City Old Street, earning more than a hundred and twenty yuan from the two boars. He returned to the mountains with Harimu and spotted a wolf as they searched for game.

• Li Long sold pork belly, ribs, and legs at the morning market, then gave Chen Hongjun a slab of wild boar meat.
• Li Long sold all his remaining meat to travelers on Stone City Old Street, charging one yuan fifty per kilo and making the meat easy to carry.
• Li Long returned home convinced hunting could earn him more than farming and planned to go into the mountains again.
• Harimu led Li Long to an area where snowcocks, roe deer, and wild goats appeared.
• Li Long spotted a wolf and pulled his rifle into his hands.

Li Long and Harimu hunted snowcocks, found a Siberian ibex skull and two red deer antlers, and Li Long shot a roe deer on their way back. After they skinned and gutted it at the Winter Camp, Li Long rode down the mountain with his haul, planning to sell the meat the next day.

• Li Long and Harimu chased a wolf into a valley, then shot four snowcocks without finding it.
• Li Long found a Siberian ibex skull and, with Harimu’s help, collected two red deer antlers.
• As they headed back, Li Long spotted and shot a roe deer beside some shrubs.
• Li Long and Harimu skinned and gutted the roe deer at the Winter Camp, where Li Long’s knife cut the hide in two places.
• Li Long rode down the mountain with the roe deer and antlers, intending to sell the meat the next day.