Chapter Summaries

Li Long visited Harimu and Jade Mountain River in the mountains, advising them about schooling and encouraging Harimu to buy a courtyard house in the county town. The next day, he drove to Wu City to buy river jade and then headed to the Jade Carving Factory to see Engineer Liu.

• Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia to learn to drive and visited Harimu, discussing road construction, the approaching move into the mountains, and the children’s schooling.
• Li Long urged Harimu and Jade Mountain River to consider transferring their children to Chinese-language schools and suggested Harimu buy a courtyard house in the county town.
• Li Long returned to the county, told his family he planned to seek cotton-growing advice in Wu City, and drove there the next morning.
• Li Long bought seven pieces of good-quality river jade from Yusufu for five hundred yuan and declined to gamble on an uncut piece.
• Li Long visited the Jade Carving Factory to look for Engineer Liu and see whether he had other valuable materials.

Li Long visited Engineer Liu to buy jade, then consulted Professor Yang about growing cotton and Professor Luo about crops on saline-alkali land. The next day, Li Xiangqian asked him about road repairs and a discounted car for Director Wei.

• Li Long bought three Hetian jade carvings and two pieces of jadeite rough from Engineer Liu.
• Li Long asked Professor Yang detailed questions about cotton planting, pest control, and seed varieties, and described the tractor-pulled sprayer he had bought.
• Li Long visited Professor Luo, who asked him to share updates on growing goji berries and cotton on saline-alkali land.
• Professor Yang and Professor Luo discussed Li Long's practical farming knowledge and unusual ambitions after he left for home.
• Li Xiangqian called Li Long to discuss road repairs and Director Wei's interest in buying a car, and Li Long offered him discounted prices.

Li Long helped Li Xiangqian find a local alternative to the canceled mountain road-repair activity, then sold Fan Mingcheng a GAZ vehicle. He later taught his eldest brother and a crowd of Fourth Team residents how to grow cotton, leaving them better prepared for the season.

• Li Long suggested that the Supply and Marketing Cooperative deliver supplies and repair buildings at the Pastoral Team's Rural Childcare Center, and Li Xiangqian agreed to bring it up with the County Publicity Department.
• Fan Mingcheng test-drove a used GAZ vehicle at the Purchasing Station and bought the army-green one for twenty thousand yuan.
• Li Long visited the Fourth Team, where Li Jianguo was teaching people to use the Dongfanghong 75 Crawler Tractor, and shared notes from a professor about cotton cultivation.
• Li Long explained cotton-growing methods to Li Jianguo and the gathered residents, covering planting, pest control, topping, and harvesting.
• Li Long answered questions about cotton bolls and spraying equipment as the residents listened into the evening.

Li Long coordinated the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s assistance for the Pastoral Team, arranged repairs for an elderly woman’s home, and helped donate books to the school. He also began teaching Gu Xiaoxia to drive, and the chapter ended with Ma Xiaoyan asking to join Li Long on his next trip into the Mountains.

• Li Long visited the Pastoral Team, selected an elderly woman’s dilapidated home for repairs, and arranged for the school to receive books suited to its students.
• Li Long bought additional books at his own expense, coordinated the cooperative’s visit, and recruited Li Junfeng and other young men to help with the repairs.
• Li Long taught Gu Xiaoxia to drive the Volga; after she hit a pothole and mistook the accelerator for the brake, he reassured her and ended the lesson.
• Li Long brought Li Junfeng and the others to repair the old woman’s home while Li Xiangqian and the cooperative staff held a book donation ceremony at the school.
• Ma Xiaoyan asked Li Long to take her on his next trip into the Mountains so she could cover the road-building project through its completion.

Li Long and the cooperative staff repaired the Old Lady’s house, began digging a hand-pump well, and delivered flour to the Pastoral Team. After helping Gu Xiaoxia practice driving, Li Long returned to his Purchasing Station when Director Wei arrived to buy a car, and Director Wei asked to test-drive a nearly new Lada.

• Li Long, Li Xiangqian, Ma Xiaoyan, and the cooperative staff helped repair the Old Lady’s roof and courtyard while Adili provided a meal.
• Li Xiangqian offered money for the sheep, but Adili refused, so Li Xiangqian arranged to bring flour for each Pastoral Team household staying behind.
• Li Long and the workers finished the repairs and dug the well opening, then Li Long collected the newly made pump head and prepared to return the next day.
• Li Long took Gu Xiaoxia to a threshing ground, where she practiced starting, driving, and braking while he kept her from shifting up.
• Li Long returned to the Old Lady’s house the next morning as the well workers reached wet ground, then left after Zhou Yuan told him Director Wei was waiting at the Purchasing Station.
• Director Wei chose Li Long’s nearly new Lada, accepted a price of forty thousand yuan, and asked to try it.

Li Long sold Director Wei a new car, oversaw the completion of a well at the Old Lady’s courtyard, and prepared supplies for the mountain road crew. He took Ma Xiaoyan to visit the workers, where he saw Meng Hai directing repairs on the road farther into the mountains.

• Director Wei inspected Li Long’s car, confirmed its paperwork, and bought it for forty thousand yuan.
• Li Junfeng and the workers finished the Old Lady’s well, and Li Long saw how pleased she and her neighbors were to have a hand pump.
• Factory Director Du told Li Long that the Farm Machinery Factory had received many orders for spraying machines, and Li Long helped Xie Yundong buy one.
• Li Long bought food and work gloves for Meng Hai’s crew, arranged to take Ma Xiaoyan into the mountains, and practiced driving with Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long drove Ma Xiaoyan to the roadwork site, where she photographed the crew and he saw Meng Hai directing workers as they extended and repaired the road.

Li Long visited Meng Hai’s mountain roadwork camp, inspected a boulder that needed blasting, and agreed to bring explosives the next day. Ma Xiaoyan helped cook for the workers and impressed them with her meal before Li Long returned to the county seat.

• Meng Hai told Li Long that a huge solid boulder blocked the road, and Li Long agreed to bring explosives after they discussed how to blast it.
• Li Long learned that the workers had killed three wolves and examined their damaged pelts, agreeing to exchange them for more cooked lamb offal.
• Ma Xiaoyan helped stir-fry wild vegetables with lamb offal, and the workers enjoyed the meal.
• Meng Hai reported the camp’s spending to Li Long, who told him to continue managing the work and left the camp.
• Li Long drove Ma Xiaoyan back to the County Party Committee, where she asked to interview him about his plans for mechanized farming and cotton growing.

Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia improve her driving before heading into the mountains to hunt. He tracked a bear, discovered it had been killed by an unknown predator, and returned to the worksite carrying the remains.

• Li Long coached Gu Xiaoxia through repeated driving practice until she started and drove the vehicle smoothly without looking at the gearshift.
• Li Long took explosives and his gun to Meng Hai's worksite, where Meng Hai told him a bear had visited during the night and fled into the mountains.
• Li Long followed the bear's tracks across the mountains and found its carcass in a ravine, mauled by an unknown animal.
• Li Long searched for the attacker but lost its trail, then skinned and collected the bear's hide, head, paws, and remaining meat.
• Li Long returned to the worksite with the bear's remains, and Meng Hai asked what he had shot.

Li Long brought bear meat back from the mountains, divided it among his family, and shared the cooked meat with relatives and colleagues. As Liu Gaolou arrived with vehicles and goods for a new trade, Li Long told Wu Yongbo that Gu Boyuan planned to investigate opening a purchasing station in Ili, leaving Wu Yongbo visibly displeased.

• Li Long warned Meng Hai and Harimu that a powerful animal, possibly a tiger, had killed the bear he found, and he took most of the bear meat home.
• Li Long gave bear meat and paws to his mother, Du Chunfang, and kept the rest for his household; Gu Xiaoxia later checked him for injuries after his mountain trip.
• Li Long cooked the bear's head and paws, shared the meat with his family and the Purchasing Station, and discussed Gu Boyuan's plan to investigate opening a station in Ili.
• Liu Gaolou arrived with four GAZ vehicles, hides, antelope horns, and a white-sugar deal, while Wu Yongbo brought five hundred hides to sell.
• Li Long told Wu Yongbo that Gu Boyuan planned to investigate opening a purchasing station in Ili, and Wu Yongbo reacted with displeasure.

Li Long persuaded Wu Yongbo that opening a purchasing station in Ili required substantial capital, but Wu Yongbo decided to open his own station in Qingshui rather than cooperate. Gu Boyuan then left for Ili in a Volga with Liu Gaolou’s convoy, while Li Long returned to the purchasing station and intervened when a customer challenged Li Qingxia’s grading.

• Li Long explained the costs and risks of opening a purchasing station, and Wu Yongbo chose to open one in Qingshui instead of joining Gu Boyuan’s venture.
• Wu Yongbo sold five hundred hides to Li Long, who found nearly two hundred were full hides and earned more than ten thousand yuan in profit.
• Li Long arranged for Gu Boyuan to take the Volga to Ili, where Liu Gaolou’s convoy would help him inspect the area and establish a purchasing station.
• Li Long collected white sugar from the Sugar Factory after the factory director approved the usual arrangement, then watched Gu Boyuan and the convoy depart.
• Li Long sorted hides at the purchasing station while Li Qingxia handled customers, then stepped forward when a man aggressively disputed the price of a hide.

The spring flood tested the new floodgates and Reed Gully Bridge, while Gu Boyuan surveyed Ili’s wildlife market and secured a promising source of pelts. Back at Li Long’s purchasing station, Li Long confronted a seller who tried to demand a higher price, leaving the dispute settled in the shop’s favor.

• Xu Chengjun and the militia opened Li Jianguo’s floodgates, safely draining Little Haizi as floodwater passed beneath the reinforced Reed Gully Bridge.
• Gu Boyuan visited Geming Bek’s family and learned that township militia hunts could supply pelts, so he arranged to buy from their township and seek contacts elsewhere.
• Bek took Gu Boyuan to a black market, where Gu Boyuan bought a red deer pelt, antlers, and other pelts after learning that sellers moved twenty or thirty pelts there daily.
• Li Qingxia refused to pay a full-hide price for a damaged pelt, and the seller tried to turn other customers against the purchasing station.
• Li Long confronted the seller and ordered him to leave, while the onlookers sided against the troublemaker.

Li Long arranged to find courtyards in Ma County for Harimu and Jade Mountain River so their children could attend Chinese-language schools. After viewing two properties with them, both men approved of the homes and their nearby schools.

• Li Long received a call from Gu Boyuan, who had visited the locations and was searching for a suitable Purchasing Station site.
• Zhao Hui bought Li Long's seven thousand-odd hides for just under 1.3 million yuan, and Li Long gave bonuses to Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng.
• Li Long offered Li Qingxia a twenty-percent partnership share, but Li Qingxia accepted ten percent and asked for a GAZ-69 to drive home.
• Li Long visited the housing administration and found two courtyards near County No. 2 Primary School and County No. 2 High School.
• Li Long drove Harimu and Jade Mountain River to view the courtyards, and both men approved of the homes and their nearby schools.

Li Long transferred two courtyards to Harimu and Jade Mountain River, arranged furniture and wooden kangs, and helped Gu Xiaoxia practice driving while their family shared a playful evening. He decided to expand Old Ma's Place's donkey herd and went to hire workers to clean Jade Mountain River's courtyard and plant vegetables.

• Li Long transferred the two courtyards into Harimu and Jade Mountain River's names, discussed their renovation plans, and ordered furniture and wooden kangs from Director He Changming and Qi Xinzhi.
• Li Long took Harimu and Jade Mountain River back to the mountains, then practiced driving with Gu Xiaoxia and encouraged her to take on more cooking at home.
• Li Long returned home with Gu Xiaoxia and joked with Mingming and Haohao about their date and their mother's cooking.
• At Old Ma's Place, Li Long learned Uncle Lao Luo had bought donkeys from Old Zhao and decided to acquire more donkeys and save extra sugar residue for winter feed.
• After failing to find his eldest brother at home, Li Long hired workers at the Day Labor Market, including people who knew how to grow vegetables, to work on the courtyards.

Li Long organized the cleanup and planting of vegetables at Jade Mountain River’s courtyard, while Factory Director He bought a GAZ vehicle and Gu Boyuan returned from Ili with news about trade and plans for a new Purchasing Station. The chapter left Li Long preparing funds and advertising for Gu Boyuan’s business and insisting that he hire more workers, including veterans, for safety.

• Li Long assigned workers to clear Jade Mountain River’s courtyard, prepared vegetable beds, and arranged for the house to be whitewashed and fitted with wooden kangs.
• Li Qingxia told Li Long that Factory Director He had chosen a GAZ vehicle, and He signed the contract and drove it away after a test drive.
• Gu Boyuan returned from Ili with four vehicles and five hundred pairs of antelope horns, while Liu Gaolou paid for the white sugar and discussed future shipments.
• Li Long asked Liu Gaolou to find two high-horsepower wheeled tractors with farm implements and said he preferred to pay in yuan.
• Gu Boyuan told Li Long about Ili’s supplies of hides and medicinal herbs and described his plan to open a Purchasing Station in Yining.
• Li Long agreed to provide Gu Boyuan with five hundred thousand yuan and advised him to advertise in three languages and hire extra workers, including veterans.

Gu Boyuan prepared to leave for Ili to establish his purchasing station, while Li Long learned that a contact there could help if serious obstacles arose. As Gu Boyuan set off with renewed confidence, Li Long considered buying powerful tractors and training Li Junfeng to operate one.

• Gu Boyuan finalized his departure plans, and Li Long agreed to transfer five hundred thousand yuan to fund the Ili station.
• Gu Boyuan visited Li Jianguo in the Fourth Team, watched the cotton planting, and declined a farewell drink so he could spend time with Mingming and Haohao.
• Li Long told Gu Boyuan that Zhang Haiyang had offered a discreet connection to a leader in Ili if the station faced serious trouble, and the two agreed to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.
• Li Long transferred five hundred thousand yuan to Gu Boyuan and withdrew another five hundred thousand to prepare for the possible purchase of high-powered tractors.
• Meng Hai returned from the roadwork with eggs and fish, reported that the work had gone smoothly, and said he would use his tractor to plant local fields.
• Li Long considered putting Li Junfeng in charge of one of the high-powered tractors because Junfeng had become steady and capable at managing the young workers.

Li Long expanded his fritillaria and trade businesses while Gu Boyuan opened a purchasing station in Yining and Liu Gaolou secured two John Deere tractors. The chapter left Li Long preparing to receive the tractors and cement as Gu Boyuan strengthened security after a lucrative opening threatened established buyers.

• Li Long took over pricing fritillaria at the Purchasing Station until Li Qingxia learned to judge its cleanliness and moisture.
• Liu Shanmin arranged two John Deere 4440 tractors for Li Long, using Li Long's request as cover for his own mission and offering them at a reduced price.
• Li Long bought cement and cleared medicinal materials, hides, and other goods from two Forestry Teams before their law-enforcement powers were transferred to Forest Public Security.
• Li Long submitted proposals on cotton cultivation and agricultural mechanization, while Gu Xiaoxia learned to drive and began using a Lada.
• Gu Boyuan opened the Yining purchasing station and spent more than ninety thousand yuan on its first day, prompting Li Long to warn him to hire guards and watch for retaliation.
• Liu Gaolou told Li Long that the two tractors had been bought for three hundred thousand yuan, and Li Long said he had three hundred tons of cement ready for delivery.

Li Long inspected his ransacked mountain cabin, bought Bolati’s freshly gathered fritillaria, and returned to the Purchasing Station as the season’s trade picked up. Liu Gaolou arrived with two high-horsepower wheeled tractors and other goods, and Li Long offered to find trucks to help him transport sugar across the border.

• Li Long found his mountain cabin ransacked, cleaned it, and told Bolati he would buy fritillaria from him when they met or through Meng Hai.
• Bolati sold Li Long nearly thirty kilos of fresh fritillaria for three hundred yuan and memorized the route to Meng Hai’s home in Qingshui River Village.
• Li Long returned to the Purchasing Station, where Fan Mingcheng brought in fritillaria and discussed his son joining his trading business.
• Liu Gaolou arrived with two high-horsepower wheeled tractors, hides, medicinal herbs, and two cars, and Li Long paid him for the tractors.
• Li Long discussed the rising value of dollars and gold with Liu Gaolou, then offered to find trucks to carry sugar across the border.

Li Long brought two secondhand high-horsepower tractors to Ma County and explained how they could support mechanized farming and earn money through contract plowing. After Jiang Zhiyu arrived at the Fourth Team, she began interviewing him about the tractors, leaving Li Long to describe their features.

• Li Long arranged trucks with the County Transport Company, hired laborers to load cement, and drove one tractor to the Fourth Team while another driver brought the second.
• Ma Xiaoyan reached the Purchasing Station after Li Long had left and turned back, planning to try again that afternoon.
• Li Long drove the tractor to the Fourth Team, where he showed Li Jianguo, Li Junfeng, and curious villagers the machines and explained their speed, power, and plowing capacity.
• Jiang Zhiyu followed the tractors to the Li family's place and asked Li Long whether they were part of his agricultural mechanization plan.
• Li Long told Jiang Zhiyu the tractors were secondhand Soviet imports, and she took out her notebook to interview him about their features.

Li Long explained to Jiang Zhiyu how tractors and future technologies could modernize cotton farming, then demonstrated his new John Deere tractors to the villagers. Li Jianguo learned to operate one, while Wang the Miser tried unsuccessfully to buy the family's old Dongfanghong 75.

• Li Long told Jiang Zhiyu that mechanized cotton farming would require technologies such as drip irrigation, improved herbicides, chemical topping, and stalk shredders.
• Jiang Zhiyu interviewed Li Long about his decision to grow cotton, and he explained the area's advantages and the guaranteed market from the county's Cotton and Hemp Company.
• Li Long started a John Deere tractor for the gathered villagers and demonstrated its electric start, speed, and reversible plow on saline-alkali land.
• Li Jianguo learned to drive the tractor from Li Long and plowed the rest of the wasteland before answering villagers' questions about the machine.
• Wang the Miser offered up to eighteen thousand yuan for the Li family's Dongfanghong 75, but Li Jianguo refused to sell it.

Li Long helped Ma Xiaoyan and Jiang Zhiyu agree to submit their reports to different outlets, and arranged for Liang Wenyu to take over the Dongfanghong 75 Tractor. After supporting the Fourth Team through cotton thinning, Li Long returned his attention to the Purchasing Station, where Chen Hongjun arrived wanting to buy a vehicle.

• Li Long arranged for Ma Xiaoyan to photograph the High-Horsepower Tractor, and Ma Xiaoyan and Jiang Zhiyu agreed to divide their submissions among different media outlets.
• Li Long and Li Jianguo decided to sell the Dongfanghong 75 Tractor to Liang Wenyu, who began learning to drive it.
• Li Long arranged the transport of cement and fifty tonnes of white sugar, then returned to support the Fourth Team's cotton farming.
• The Fourth Team's workers protected the cotton fields from strong winds and finished thinning and filling gaps across a hundred mu in less than a week.
• With cotton fieldwork easing and Fritillaria coming to market, Li Long went to oversee the Purchasing Station, where Chen Hongjun arrived seeking to buy a vehicle.