Chapter Summaries

Li Long managed supplies for the newly opened summer-pasture road and visited Fourth Team as its asphalt paving neared completion. The chapter ended with the road’s ribbon-cutting and Li Long securing a small road-repair job for his company.

• Li Long brought supplies to Bolati, who had traded for over two hundred kilograms of fritillaria, then returned with the herbs and promised to restock the cabin.
• Li Long visited Fourth Team, saw the asphalt road reaching the settlements, and learned that the cotton fields had achieved nearly ninety percent germination after gaps were filled.
• Li Xiangqian and Zhou Yuan planned a Supply and Marketing Cooperative trip to the summer pasture for May 8, with staff, supplies, and television reporters.
• Li Long attended Fourth Team’s road-opening ceremony, where Deputy Bureau Director Guan offered his company a small asphalt-road repair project in Letuyi.
• Deputy County Chief Niu and the township leaders took part in the ribbon-cutting, and Guan considered updating the county transportation route map to include Li Long’s mountain road.

Li Long arranged a road-repair project for Meng Hai’s company, completed large sales of fritillaria and hides, and helped prepare supplies for a county delegation visiting the herders. The delegation reached Summer Pasture, where Li Xiangqian distributed supplies and Harimu began slaughtering a sheep despite their objections.

• Li Long told Meng Hai about a Letuyi asphalt-road repair project and urged him to meet Deputy Bureau Director Guan to discuss the work.
• Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui bought Li Long’s dried fritillaria and hides for just under four hundred thousand yuan, and Li Long rewarded Liang Shuangcheng and Sun Jiaqiang.
• Li Long helped Zhou Yuan divide tea, sugar, salt, rice, and flour into household allotments for the herders.
• Li Long gave Li Qingxia ten thousand yuan from the sales and prepared food and equipment for the trip into the mountains.
• Li Xiangqian led a convoy carrying officials, reporters, and supplies to Summer Pasture, where Jade Mountain River welcomed them and guided them to Harimu’s yurt.
• Li Xiangqian presented supplies to the herders, and Harimu started slaughtering a sheep despite Li Xiangqian’s attempts to stop him.

Li Long took officials and employees on an outing in the mountains, where they searched for jade, deer antlers, and mushrooms. He brought home a heavy, patterned object he believed was a meteorite and planned to contact Gu Xiaoyu about arranging leave for the upcoming June 1 wedding.

• Li Long interviewed with a reporter about the road construction and proposed that everyone search nearby gullies for treasures.
• Li Long examined a heavy, patterned stone in a hollow and carried it back, suspecting it was a meteorite.
• The groups searched for jade, deer antlers, and mushrooms before returning to eat mutton and gather more mushrooms.
• Li Long returned to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then stored the suspected meteorite in his greenhouse.
• Li Long planned to have his wife contact Gu Xiaoyu so she could arrange leave for the wedding planned by Gu Boyuan on June 1.

Li Long arranged for Meng Hai’s construction crew to begin repairing a six-kilometer road while he collected fritillaria and traded with Bolati. The chapter ended with Gu Xiaoxia hanging up on her biological mother, Fan Wenli, who then pressed Gu Xiaoyu for an explanation.

• Meng Hai told Li Long that the Transportation Bureau had approved a profitable road-repair job, and Li Long advised him to prepare materials and build up the company’s equipment.
• Li Long visited Bolati’s mountain cabin, paid him for fritillaria and a roe deer hide, and took home a leg of meat.
• Li Long found two sacks of fritillaria hidden under the wooden kang at the Mountain Pass cabin and brought them to the Purchasing Station to wash.
• Gu Xiaoxia called Gu Xiaoyu to discuss her visit, but Fan Wenli took over the call and demanded to know why Xiaoxia was contacting her sister.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Fan Wenli that she had refused to acknowledge her first and hung up when Fan would not pass the phone to Gu Xiaoyu.
• Fan Wenli regretted her earlier rejection but took her anger out on Gu Xiaoyu, demanding to know what Gu Xiaoxia wanted.

Li Long prepared a jade wedding gift for Gu Boyuan’s marriage to Teacher Song, while arranging for Gu Xiaoyu to visit and trying to obtain a Geiger counter to test unusual stones. The chapter ended with Professor Yang asking to bring students to study the cooperative’s cotton fields around May 20.

• Li Long advised Gu Xiaoxia to ignore her birth mother’s interference, and Gu Xiaoyu arranged leave to visit on May 19.
• Li Long asked Gu Xiaoyu to borrow a Geiger counter and asked Liu Gaolou to help find one through trade connections.
• Li Long learned that Yusufu had sold the tiger pelt to someone else, but he bought six pieces of fine jade from him instead.
• Li Long bought Engineer Liu’s jade bangle, necklace, and earrings as a wedding gift for Teacher Song.
• Professor Yang called Li Long and arranged to bring students to study the cooperative’s cotton fields for five or six days around May 20.

After Bek’s father underwent surgery for liver hydatid disease, Jade Mountain River decided to leave the mountains and start a cattle-and-sheep business in the County Seat. Li Long bought Jade Mountain River’s gold and antlers to provide startup money, and Jade Mountain River returned to the mountains to prepare his livestock and belongings for the move.

• Jade Mountain River brought Bek’s father to County Hospital, and Li Long arranged a transfer to Stone City No. 2 Hospital, where doctors removed one-third of the man’s liver.
• While waiting for the operation and recovery, Jade Mountain River reflected on his inability to help his tribe and decided to earn money outside the mountains.
• Li Long suggested that Jade Mountain River buy and resell cattle and sheep, supplying local restaurants and eventually expanding into wholesale.
• Jade Mountain River told Aiman he planned to leave the mountains, and she supported his decision to build a life with their family in the County Seat.
• Jade Mountain River sold Li Long two velvet antlers and a gold nugget for thirty thousand yuan, repaid the hospital money, and set off with Harimu and Talihaal to sort out his livestock.

Li Long hosted Professor Yang and his students as they studied the Fourth Team’s cotton fields and cooperative methods, while he shared ideas for future cotton farming. He also helped Jade Mountain River secure regular mutton customers, then drove to Wu City to pick up Gu Xiaoyu.

• Li Long welcomed Professor Yang and four Agricultural College students, discussed advanced cotton-growing methods with him, and took the group to the Agricultural Technical Extension School and the Fourth Team’s fields.
• Professor Yang and his students examined the saline-alkali cotton field, while Xie Yundong explained the Cooperative’s farming practices and Li Long answered the students’ questions.
• Li Long introduced Jade Mountain River to several county institutions, which agreed to buy a total of three and a half sheep each day from him.
• Li Long drove to Wu City to pick up Gu Xiaoyu.

Li Long welcomed Gu Xiaoyu from Yanjing and showed her the family’s home, business, and unusual stones, while she grew curious about the life her sister had built in Northern Xinjiang. After visiting the village and cotton fields, Gu Xiaoyu saw the scale of Li Long’s operation as he discussed plans to improve cotton production with local agricultural experts.

• Li Long met Gu Xiaoyu at the railway station, brought her home, and explained that he had imported thousands of pairs of antelope horns.
• Gu Xiaoyu tried to fool Mingming and Haohao into thinking she was their mother, then gave them toys and met the animals in the courtyard.
• Li Long tested the courtyard’s stones with Gu Xiaoyu’s borrowed Geiger counter; most showed low readings, while the strange stone ball registered higher radiation and was moved and covered.
• Gu Xiaoyu spoke with Gu Xiaoxia about their family and admired the household’s comfortable life before visiting Li Long’s Purchasing Station and seeing its busy trade.
• Liang Yuemei recognized that Gu Xiaoyu was not Gu Xiaoxia from her walk and the absence of a small cheek scar, then shared details of Gu Xiaoxia’s childhood.
• Li Long visited the cotton fields, where Principal Yang discussed the possibility of consolidating and improving the farmland after Professor Yang’s research.

Li Long hosted Gu Xiaoyu, received a convoy of cars and goods from Liu Gaolou, and began planning a new investment in drip-irrigation machinery with Factory Director Du. After Professor Yang’s fieldwork ended, Li Long’s family set out for Ili to attend Gu Boyuan’s wedding.

• Li Long spoke with Gu Boyuan about the family’s upcoming visit to Ili, then shared stories about his childhood with Gu Xiaoyu and the family at dinner.
• On May 25, Liu Gaolou arrived with twenty trucks carrying cars, medicinal herbs, antelope horns, and hides, and he told Li Long that conditions across the border had grown increasingly dangerous.
• Li Long settled the shipment’s accounts, arranged for Liu Gaolou to buy white sugar, and declined to travel with his convoy because Gu Xiaoxia had not yet obtained leave.
• Li Long proposed that Factory Director Du develop drip-irrigation tape machinery, explaining how it could improve cotton yields and fertilizer use, and promised to sketch the equipment and look for secondhand machinery to study.
• After Professor Yang left on May 26, Li Long and his family set out for Ili the next day, where Gu Xiaoxia spoke with Gu Xiaoyu about the difficulties of managing a school.

Li Long drove Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Xiaoyu, Mingming, and Haohao west to Yining, sharing the scenery and stopping at Sayram Lake before reaching Gu Boyuan’s home. After reuniting with Gu Boyuan and seeing his Russian-style courtyard, Li Long searched for another house and agreed to buy a well-kept courtyard for 4,600 yuan.

• Villagers and Agricultural Technical Extension School staff gathered at the cotton fields, where Xie Yundong and other Cooperative members shared cultivation advice learned from Professor Yang and Li Long.
• Jade Mountain River found that his usual GAZ vehicle had been sold, chose another vehicle to practice in, and continued building trust with meat buyers through his reliable deliveries.
• Li Long drove the Gu family west, described the landmarks and scenery, stopped for Big Plate Chicken and at Sayram Lake, then continued through Guozigou to Yining.
• Gu Boyuan welcomed Li Long and the family, discussed fritillaria purchasing and banquet plans with Li Long, and showed him his collection of antiques.
• Li Long walked with Mingming and Haohao through the neighborhood, asked residents about houses for sale, and the next day inspected a Russian-style courtyard with apricot trees and a grape arbor.
• Li Long bargained with the owner and agreed to buy the courtyard for 4,600 yuan.

Li Long bought a courtyard house near Gu Boyuan’s home, and the family helped prepare for Gu Boyuan and Song Xiaojuan’s wedding. After the wedding, Gu Boyuan set a date for a second celebration in the Fourth Team, and the chapter ended with Li Long’s family strolling through the city.

• Li Long agreed to buy Andrei’s courtyard house for 4,600 yuan and completed the paperwork while Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Xiaoyu, Mingming, and Haohao inspected it.
• Li Long and his family cleaned and furnished the courtyard, toured the river-valley city, and gave Song Xiaojuan jade and cloisonné gifts before the wedding.
• Gu Boyuan and Song Xiaojuan married at a hotel, where a Prefecture leader praised Li Long and stayed to drink with him.
• After the banquet, Li Long took the tipsy newlyweds home, and the family later shared sour-broth noodles with them.
• Gu Boyuan decided to hold another wedding banquet in the Fourth Team on June sixth and asked Li Long’s eldest older brother to coordinate it.
• Li Long’s family walked past the Teachers’ College, where Gu Xiaoxia reflected that she was happy with her life despite missing out on full-time study.

Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song traveled back to the Fourth Team for their wedding, while Li Jianguo organized the village preparations. After a perilous drive through mudslides and fog, the couple arrived to find their home and wedding arrangements ready, and Gu Boyuan reflected on his ties to the village as they settled in.

• Gu Boyuan asked Li Jianguo to arrange a simple wedding for June sixth, and Li Jianguo coordinated the village announcement, preparations, and helpers.
• Li Long and his family visited Khorgos and a hot spring before driving back toward Ma County with Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song.
• The two cars crossed rain-soaked Guozigou as mudslides spilled onto the road, then continued past Sayram Lake and spent the night in Jinghe.
• The travelers reached Ma County the next day, and Li Jianguo told Gu Boyuan that the Fourth Team had cleaned and prepared his courtyard.
• Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song returned to the village, where Liang Yuemei had prepared new quilts and Li Jianguo welcomed them to dinner.
• Teacher Song enjoyed the Li family's hospitality, and Gu Boyuan discussed their plans to hold the wedding, stay briefly, and return to Ili.

Li Long helped Bolati hand a thief over to Forest Public Security, checked on Meng Hai’s road crew, and brought Gu Xiaoyu to help prepare for Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song’s wedding banquet. The wedding began with a bustling celebration, and Gu Xiaoyu appeared in better spirits the next morning.

• Li Long found Bolati guarding a bound thief at the cabin, and Bolati planned to turn him over to Forest Public Security.
• Li Long collected Bolati’s fritillaria, checked Meng Hai’s road-repair work, and heard that the crew had been promised another project.
• Li Long brought Gu Xiaoyu to the Fourth Team to help prepare for Gu Boyuan’s wedding, then told Gu Boyuan that she seemed troubled after a call to Yanjing.
• Li Long spent the evening with his family, and Gu Xiaoxia spoke privately with Gu Xiaoyu before the wedding day.
• Li Long and his family attended the banquet, where Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song toasted the guests and were tricked into drinking sugar water instead of baijiu.
• The guests cheered and filled both courtyards with a lively celebration, and Teacher Song praised the people of Gu Boyuan’s team.

Li Long met with Farm Machinery Factory Director Du and Engineer Deng Xianhua to explain his plans for drip irrigation tape production equipment, and they began studying how to develop it. He visited his second older brother, Li Anguo, afterward, reconnected with Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang, and prepared to return to Ma County after another morning at the factory.

• After Gu Boyuan returned safely to the river valley and Gu Xiaoyu left for Yanjing, Li Long sold his season's fritillaria and hides, paid his taxes, and prepared to meet Factory Director Du.
• Li Long showed Factory Director Du and Engineer Deng Xianhua his sketches for drip irrigation tape production equipment and explained its components and processes.
• Factory Director Du and Engineer Deng questioned Li Long about the equipment throughout the day, then planned to refine the drawings and continue their discussion the next morning.
• Factory Director Du gave Li Long a case of liquor and cooking oil, and Li Long brought sweets to Li Anguo's home, where he reunited with Xueping, Xueqin, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang.
• Yang Yongqiang told Li Long he planned to marry a woman from the cotton mill and asked for help with his father's cotton-growing questions; Li Long promised to advise them.
• Li Long stayed overnight at Li Anguo's home, agreed to drive Xueping and Xueqin to school the next morning, and prepared to return the liquor to his parents and eldest brother.

Li Long helped the Farm Machinery Factory refine plans for a drip irrigation tape production line and secured a promise of inventor credit and a share of profits. He then met Liu Gaolou’s convoy, arranged to supply it with canned food, and received Director Qian’s help accessing the Prefectural Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s stock and suppliers.

• Li Long reviewed and revised Engineer Deng’s plans with Factory Director Du, and the factory agreed to list him first among the inventors and give him twenty-five percent of its profits once the equipment passed testing.
• Li Long met Liu Gaolou’s convoy and learned it had brought hides, antelope horns, cars, and fritillaria; Liu Gaolou also asked him to find canned food for his second uncle.
• Li Long and Liu Gaolou agreed on prices for canned fruit and meat, and Li Long advised Liu Shanmin to borrow rubles and exchange them for US dollars.
• Li Long arranged for workers to unload the convoy, then learned from Li Xiangqian that the Prefectural Supply and Marketing Cooperative could be a better source of canned food than local factories.
• Li Long asked Director Qian for help, and Director Qian offered him current canned-food stock at the county and city supply price and access to future orders from factories in Inland China.

Li Long arranged shipments of canned food and sugar, sold several imported vehicles, and paid the Autonomous Region Television Station to produce a prime-time video advertisement. The ad brought buyers to his yard, where Zhao Jinfa and Cao Guohua arrived to inspect the Tiger Head Benz and discovered they knew each other.

• Li Long delivered twenty tons of canned food to Liu Gaolou, settled their accounts, and later collected fifty tons of sugar from the factory.
• Li Long displayed his imported cars at the Purchasing Station, where Qin Lijie bought a Land Cruiser after inspecting and test-driving it.
• Li Long booked newspaper and television advertisements, then signed a contract for a month-long prime-time video ad and paid a deposit.
• Xu Yang and Qi Tianhong filmed Li Long's cars in Ma County, and Li Long paid the remaining fee after the shoot; buyers subsequently purchased several vehicles.
• After the television ad aired, Zhao Jinfa called about the Tiger Head Benz, while Cao Guohua arrived first to inspect it; Zhao then arrived and recognized Cao inside the car.

Li Long sold several imported cars after Xu Yang’s advertisement brought in buyers, and the Autonomous Region Television Station selected him for a program about entrepreneurs helping others prosper. He also agreed to fund an asphalt road to Beiyuanzi Village under conditions that involved the villagers and gave Meng Hai’s crew construction experience, while preparing for the television interview.

• Cao Guohua bought Li Long’s Tiger Head Benz for 1.2 million yuan, Zhao Jinfa ordered another, and Li Long paid the additional tax on the sale.
• Xu Yang learned that Li Long had sold seven cars after the advertisement aired, and Zheng Jun used the client information to investigate him as a possible subject for an entrepreneurship program.
• Ma Xiaoyan asked Li Long to help pave the road to Beiyuanzi Village, and Li Long agreed on the condition that villagers contribute labor or money and provide meals for Meng Hai’s crew.
• Li Long arranged for Meng Hai to inspect the road and begin construction after finishing his current project, while Han Fang celebrated her strong exam results and likely admission to Beiting Teachers’ College.
• Zheng Jun interviewed Li Long for the television program, which planned to film his work in the Fourth Team, Qingshui Hezi, and the roads he had helped build.

Zheng Jun and his crew filmed the mountain road and interviewed Harimu and other pastoralists about the changes Li Long and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had brought. After the crew left, Li Long advised Talihaal about valuable finds in the mountains, and Talihaal resolved to keep searching for a way to afford a car.

• Li Long reviewed Zheng Jun’s publicity plan, cut several proposed segments, and led the crew into the mountains to film the improved road.
• At Harimu’s Summer Pasture, Zheng Jun interviewed the pastoralists while Harimu and Talihaal prepared a sheep for the crew’s meal.
• Li Long learned that Talihaal wanted to leave the pasture but faced his family’s opposition, and he advised him to find valuable goods and build up savings.
• Talihaal showed Li Long a cracked piece of agate, and Li Long explained its modest value and identified gold, jade, velvet antler, and rough gemstones as better prospects.
• After the crew drove back down the mountain, Talihaal clenched his fists and resolved to search for valuable finds.

Li Long helped Zheng Jun’s crew film the mountain roads, the improved village roads, and villagers describing how Li Long had helped their community prosper. After Zheng Jun left, Li Long managed the cotton cooperative and his trading businesses, while Jade Mountain River began expanding his sheep business through wholesale sales.

• Li Long led Zheng Jun and his crew along a narrow pastoral trail, explained the challenges of building mountain roads, and showed a presenter a piece of jade she could keep.
• Zheng Jun’s crew filmed the asphalt road, interviewed residents and villagers about its benefits and Li Long’s role in improving local livelihoods, then interviewed workers at a Corps company before leaving for Wu City.
• Li Long returned to the Fourth Team to oversee cotton irrigation, fertilizing, and pest control, then received shipments of canned food, vehicles, and hides for his businesses.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long that he had earned eighty-five yuan reselling seventeen sheep, and Li Long advised him to keep his core meat business steady while learning the wholesale market.
• Jade Mountain River later reported that two shops had begun buying several sheep from him each day, showing that his wholesale business was growing.

Han Fang received her admission letter to Beiting Teachers' College, becoming the Big Courtyard's first student to enter a secondary specialized school, and prepared to leave for school. Li Long also inspected the cooperative's cotton fields and remained confident in the year's crop.

• Li Qiang took Mingming and Haohao to glean wheat in the Wang Family's fields, where Auntie Li welcomed them and gave them crisp melons.
• Li Long told the family that Han Fang had been admitted to a secondary specialized school, and Han Fang and Sister Yang returned to the Big Courtyard with the admission letter.
• Han Fang and Sister Yang told Han Fang's father's former workplace, Red Flag Farm, about her admission, and its representative congratulated her and offered continued support.
• Han Fang asked Li Juan for advice about boarding-school life while Sister Yang began preparing her belongings.
• Three of Han Fang's classmates visited the Big Courtyard, and Gu Xiaoxia learned their names and that they had also earned places at high school or a secondary specialized school.
• Li Long visited the cotton fields, where Xie Yundong showed him the crop and they discussed the potential yield.