Chapter Summaries

Li Long oversaw farm construction, helped Zhao Shijie enjoy a crab-catching trip, and collected fritillaria from Bolati. After hearing that a herb gatherer had seen a tiger in the mountains, Li Long wondered whether it was the Tiger King he had encountered before.

• Zhao Shijie inspected the pump house construction and proposed improving the farm road and filtering debris from the irrigation water.
• Hu Moren tried to befriend Liu Shanmin, who advised him to consider trading near the Russian border as the Soviet Union was about to break up.
• Liu Shanmin and his family decided to end their travels and return to Northern Xinjiang after spending two days in Yanjing.
• Li Long took Zhao Shijie to Little Haizi to catch crabs, then later visited Bolati, paid him for over two hundred kilograms of fritillaria, and accepted two young roe deer as a gift.
• Liang Shuangcheng told Li Long that a herb gatherer had seen a tiger kill a red deer, and Li Long wondered if it was the Tiger King he had met before.

Li Long took Zhao Shijie into the mountains to look for signs of a rumored tiger, but their pursuit of a yellow animal led them to old prospectors’ shacks and a mountain rich in jade. The chapter left Li Long recognizing the mountain as the source of Ma River Jade.

• Li Long reassured Sister Yang that the canned food stockpile would sell and asked her to explain the plan to the worried factory workers.
• Li Long and Zhao Shijie agreed to build a dedicated branch canal for the Cooperative’s cotton fields, and Li Long promised to take Zhao Shijie into the mountains.
• Li Long took Mingming and Haohao to Team 4 for Children’s Day, where they caught crabs with the elders.
• On June 4, Li Long and Zhao Shijie drove into the mountains with rifles, hoping to look for the rumored tiger.
• The two men chased a yellow animal through a gully, but it escaped over the ridge; beyond it, they found old shacks and traces of jade prospecting.
• Li Long recognized the loose stones by the shacks as jade material and realized the nearby mountain was the source of Ma River Jade.

Li Long took Zhao Shijie through the mountains toward the Summer Pasture, where Zhao encountered wild animals, gathered mushrooms, and met Harimu and his family. As they prepared a meal, Jade Mountain River, Talihaal, and Bek arrived, bringing everyone together at the yurt.

• Li Long left Great Jade Mountain with Zhao Shijie and drove toward the Summer Pasture, explaining the mountain grasslands and pointing out two roe deer.
• Li Long and Zhao Shijie searched a wooded ravine, found more than thirty morels, and packed them to make chicken soup later.
• Li Long stopped to show Zhao a herd of wild mountain goats before they reached the Summer Pasture, where Zhao admired the grasslands and gathered round mushrooms with him.
• Harimu greeted Li Long and welcomed Zhao, while Gulimiter served milk tea and Harimu slaughtered a sheep for their meal.
• Li Long prepared mutton kebabs as Zhao gathered branches, and Harimu said he had recently driven wolves away from the area.
• Jade Mountain River, Talihaal, and Bek arrived at the yurt while Li Long was grilling meat.

Li Long fulfilled his wish to mine jade in the mountains, then reunited with Liu Shanmin, who returned to take charge of the troubled business across the border. Liu Shanmin set out with supplies and trusted men, reaching Panfilov with his safety still uncertain as he prepared to continue to Almaty.

• Zhao Shijie praised their mountain outing, while construction crews finished the branch canal and prepared to move on to roadwork.
• Li Long returned to the jade mountain, pried out several pieces, and left after deciding his wish had been fulfilled.
• Li Long chose not to shoot two red deer when they appeared by the river, then returned home with the jade.
• Liu Shanmin told Li Long he planned to move his wife and child to Ili and gather loyal followers to resolve the situation.
• Li Long arranged for Liu Shanmin to buy fifty tonnes of canned food and twenty tonnes of sugar, and the two discussed goods Liu Shanmin could obtain later.
• Liu Shanmin traveled with the supplies to Khorgos, recruited men from Geming Bek in Yining, crossed the border, and reached Panfilov, where he obtained a gun before continuing toward Almaty.

Liu Shanmin secured his position in Kazakhstan and arranged to bring tractors, trucks, and cars to Li Long, who expanded his sugar and canned-food trade. Back in the Fourth Team, Li Long joined a donation effort for Hu Qinghe and offered to pay for team-wide medical checkups, while canal and road construction neared completion.

• Liu Shanmin told Li Long that supplies and loyal supporters had helped him settle matters in Kazakhstan, and promised to send tractors, KamAZ trucks, and luxury cars.
• Li Long assured Sister Yang and Section Chief Hu that he could sell more canned food and white sugar, and Section Chief Hu arranged daily deliveries of sugar residue.
• Li Long learned that Hu Qinghe had early-stage lung cancer and donated money toward his treatment alongside Li Jianguo, Xie Yundong, Lu Yingming, and Xu Chengjun.
• Li Long offered to pay for medical checkups for the Fourth Team, and Xu Chengjun agreed to announce the plan to the residents.
• Li Long checked on Zhao Shijie, who reported that the canal and road work was progressing smoothly and should finish within a week.
• Li Long spoke with Gu Boyuan about Hu Qinghe and wondered whether Gu Ermao was due to be released soon.

Li Long arranged free medical examinations for the villagers at Stone City No. 2 Hospital after the County Hospital could not perform all the requested tests. As June 30 arrived, the first trucks carried workers and villagers toward the hospital, while Li Long’s plans also drew attention from a television crew.

• Li Long took Zhao Shijie mushroom foraging, gave him dried morels before he left for Wu City, then arranged the medical examinations at Stone City No. 2 Hospital after the County Hospital declined to perform the full set of tests.
• Li Long publicized the examinations, and Xu Chengjun announced that villagers should gather without eating, drinking, or using the toilet that morning; Ma Jinbao’s boast about refusing to go was mocked, while Gu Laoda concealed the real reason Gu Ermao had left the area.
• Li Long persuaded Liang Donglou and Chen Xiuzhu to attend the examinations, partly because he remembered Liang Donglou later dying of lung cancer, and also invited relatives and workers to participate.
• A television station learned about the examinations and sent a crew to film them, while Li Long arranged six trucks and additional vehicles to transport people.
• Liu Gaolou arrived with a convoy of trucks, tractors, hides, antelope horns, and luxury cars, then agreed that Li Long could borrow the trucks.
• On June 30, trucks took factory and Purchasing Station workers to Stone City No. 2 Hospital, and six more trucks arrived at the Fourth Team under Liang Shuangcheng’s lead.

Li Long organized free medical checkups for residents of Team 4 and other groups, and the examinations uncovered several health problems, including a possible lung issue for Liang Donglou. After taking the elderly men at Old Ma's Place for follow-up care, Li Long returned home and found several villagers who had skipped the checkups waiting at his doorway.

• Liang Shuangcheng took the settlement trucks toward Stone City No. 2 Hospital, while Ma Jinbao stayed home expecting Li Long to invite him personally and later chased his escaped sheep across the countryside.
• Li Long guided the Liang family through their examinations, and Liang Donglou agreed to further tests after his relatives urged him to take the possible lung problem seriously.
• Li Long reviewed the checkup results with Xu Chengjun, Sister Yang, and Jade Mountain River, and he arranged for militia members to be examined on a workday rather than organizing another full village checkup.
• Li Long shared a meal with his family and the Liang family, then reminded Liang Jianguo to undergo a stomach examination the next day.
• On Monday, Li Long discussed follow-up treatment for the elderly men at Old Ma's Place, then returned home and saw several people who had missed the checkups gathered outside.

Li Long turned away villagers who had missed the group health checkups, then learned that Li Jianguo had a stomach ulcer and urged the family to help him rest. After collecting the examination results and visiting Chen Xingbang and Li Xia, Li Long left the story with Li Xia considering sending Hongqin to stay with Li Jianguo’s family.

• Li Long refused the late-arriving villagers’ request for checkups, explaining that the hospital could not arrange another examination group.
• Liang Yuemei reported that Li Jianguo had a stomach ulcer, and Li Long arranged for Li Junfeng and Li Junhai to take on more of his work.
• Li Long called Li Anguo, learned his oil refinery was expanding, and offered to look for foreign technicians and better crude oil; Li Qingxia declined to supervise the refinery.
• Li Long collected the examination reports, learned that villagers including Wang Dagui and Tang Jianyuan had diabetes, and noted other serious conditions requiring treatment or further tests.
• Li Long visited Chen Xingbang and urged him to have Li Xia and Hongqin checked, then praised Hongqin’s exam scores and rewarded her with money.
• Li Long suggested that Li Xia send Hongqin to stay with Li Jianguo’s family, and Li Xia agreed to discuss it with Chen Xingbang.

Li Long delivered medical examination reports, arranged follow-up care, and told a television reporter about the village screenings. He secured control of the Agricultural Technical Extension School’s drip-irrigated plots and rejected the township’s plan for an on-site meeting until the cooperative’s fields were ready.

• Li Long delivered examination reports to Jade Mountain River, Sister Yang, and Xu Chengjun, who called villagers to collect their results and seek care.
• He Pingchuan learned that his tuberculosis could be treated, chose to enter the hospital to protect his parents, and urged them to thank Li Long rather than demand money.
• Li Long told Liu Gaolou to find an oilfield expert, obtain crude oil, and delay repaying Liu Shanmin’s loan until mid-1993; he also asked to invest in an oilfield.
• Li Long told Zheng Chaodong that 233 people had been examined and 21 had health problems, and said he planned to organize another round early the next year.
• Principal Yang offered Li Long both Experimental Field plots for the remaining five years, and Li Long agreed to manage them and allow trainees to visit.
• Li Long told Xu Chengjun that the township should postpone its on-site meeting until the cooperative’s drip-irrigation work was complete, and Xu Chengjun dropped the idea after hearing the costs.

Li Long leased the Agricultural Technical Extension School’s experimental fields and dealt with an electrofisher caught at Little Haizi while Li Juan returned home from university. He arranged to bring a Kazakh oil-and-gas expert to work at Li Anguo’s refinery, invested in an oilfield, and ordered cotton-harvesting equipment from Liu Shanmin.

• Li Long signed a lease with Principal Yang for the school’s experimental fields and inspected the cotton work and completed irrigation infrastructure at the Cooperative.
• Yang Laoliu caught an electrofisher at Little Haizi and gave Li Long some of the confiscated fish to take home.
• Li Juan returned from Yanjing, reunited with her family, and met Han Fang the next day.
• Liu Shanmin told Li Long that a Kazakh Academy of Sciences oil-and-gas expert would come if he could participate in Party activities, and Li Long agreed to arrange a Party branch through Li Anguo’s factory.
• Liu Shanmin offered Li Long a twenty-percent stake in a medium-sized oilfield and arranged crude-oil supplies; Li Long also ordered Deere cotton pickers and Rams cotton-processing equipment for fifty thousand US dollars.
• Li Long asked Li Anguo to arrange a Party branch for the expert and install phones at the refinery and his home, and Li Anguo agreed to look into it.

Tian Junjie learned to catch crabs at Little Haizi and shared the discovery with his family and fellow anglers. In Kui City, Li Long received Liu Shanmin’s convoy, learned the true value of the imported cotton machinery, and arranged to repay Liu Shanmin while seeking technical experts.

• Tian Junjie followed Miao Xiu'e’s advice to use chicken liver as bait and caught five crabs at Little Haizi, then brought them home to his family.
• Tian Junjie’s crab catch drew attention from both families and other anglers, increasing the number of people fishing at Little Haizi.
• Li Long persuaded Factory Director Du to consider reproducing the imported cotton picker and cotton-cleaning equipment, and they discussed the need for local expertise.
• Li Long realized Liu Shanmin had sold him machinery worth far more than the supplies exchanged, so he offered fifty tons of sugar and one hundred tons of canned food as additional payment.
• Li Long asked Liu Shanmin to find experts in cotton-picking and cleaning machinery, while Ajinbek met Factory Director Du and eagerly asked to see the factory’s Party activity room.

Li Qiang took Mingming, Haohao, and Hongqin to Little Haizi to catch crabs for Li Juan, but two crab catchers bullied them and stole their catch until Yang Laoliu intervened and the Fourth Team drove the outsiders away. After hearing what happened, Li Long decided the family would no longer let anglers fish at Little Haizi.

• Li Qiang brought his younger siblings to Little Haizi to catch crabs for Li Juan, and they caught several near the floodgate.
• Two crab catchers demanded the children's spot, shoved Li Qiang and Mingming, and snatched their bag of crabs.
• Yang Laoliu whipped the attackers and urged Li Qiang to take the children to the western settlement for help.
• Xu Haijun and Xu Chengjun gathered the Fourth Team's men, stopped the crab catchers, and had them taken to the police station; the team also drove the anglers away.
• Li Anguo took Ajinbek to Oil City, where Ajinbek was approved to join organizational activities as a Special Party Member and then criticized Li Anguo's refinery plans.
• Li Long returned five hundred and fifty thousand US dollars to Liu Shanmin, then heard from Gu Xiaoxia about the incident and decided to stop allowing anglers at Little Haizi.

Li Long dealt with the aftermath of the fight at Little Haizi, supported the children and villagers, and helped pastoralists undergo medical examinations. He also discussed refinery expansion and a potential agricultural-machinery expert with Liu Shanmin, rejecting the first candidate’s demands and asking about the candidate’s student.

• Li Long visited Xu Chengjun, who defended his decision to protect Team 4’s children and agreed to put up signs charging outsiders a hundred yuan per person to fish at Little Haizi.
• Li Long thanked Xu Haijun and the others for helping during the fight, distributed gifts and mutton, and explained that the cotton picker could not yet be used with the team’s existing fields and equipment.
• Li Anguo told Li Long that Ajinbek had improved the refinery’s safety and operations, and said he planned to quit his other job and focus on the refinery.
• Li Long asked Liu Shanmin to arrange better refining equipment and a steady supply of crude oil, then saw him off without accepting payment for the gifts.
• Li Long arranged medical examinations for pastoralists from the mountains; the results revealed suspected hydatid disease, possible tuberculosis, and some heart problems, prompting further tests and treatment.
• Liu Shanmin offered Li Long an agricultural-machinery expert who demanded a high salary and unsuitable conditions; Li Long refused him and asked about his student, whose character Liu Shanmin described as much better.

Li Long arranged for Daman and Kolpova to work at Kui City Machinery Factory, sold a cotton picker and related equipment to Corps officials, and sold two tonnes of antelope horns to Jia Tianlong. The chapter ended with Daman and Kolpova arriving at the factory and Liu Gaolou bringing Li Long another large shipment, including crude oil and vehicles.

• Li Long and Liu Shanmin agreed on Daman and Kolpova’s pay and arrangements, and Factory Director Du welcomed their recruitment while hoping Daman could help develop a cotton picker.
• Li Long offered a Deere cotton picker and cotton-cleaning equipment to Cao Wenlong and his colleagues, who inspected the machinery and later bought it for 450,000 yuan.
• Jia Tianlong urgently bought two tonnes of antelope horns from Li Long for 1.2 million yuan.
• Daman and Kolpova arrived at Kui City Machinery Factory, where Factory Director Du and the staff welcomed them and Daman spoke about his probationary period.
• Liu Gaolou brought Li Long eight cars, four thousand hides, three thousand pairs of antelope horns, and one hundred tons of crude oil, while reporting that larger oil-refining equipment would arrive later.

Li Long handled business at the Border Crossing and the machinery factory while Li Qiang arranged to catch and sell crabs from Little Haizi. The chapter ended with Li Qiang agreeing to deliver crabs the next morning and refusing to take the younger children along at night.

• Kolpova kissed Li Long on the cheek at farewell, and Factory Director Du later told him she had been disappointed to learn he was married with children.
• Liu Gaolou told Li Long that traders were stockpiling everyday goods and industrial materials ahead of expected trade changes with Kazakhstan.
• Li Long arranged unloading at Ma County and learned from Factory Director Du that Daman was working with the Technical Department and had strong knowledge of agricultural machinery.
• Tian Junjie visited the Li family to buy crabs, and Li Qiang offered to catch them from Little Haizi.
• Li Qiang negotiated prices of five yuan for large crabs and three yuan for small ones, required a minimum order of thirty and a deposit, and agreed to deliver them the next morning.
• Li Qiang told Haohao he could not come crab-catching at night, while Mingming praised Li Qiang's business skills.

Li Juan and Li Qiang turned crab catching and selling into their first real-world business experience, earning money and learning to manage orders. After the crab business expanded, the story shifted to Li Long preparing the cooperative’s canal renovation with Zhao Shijie, leaving construction underway ahead of future drip-irrigation work.

• Li Juan and Li Qiang walked to Little Haizi at night, caught two buckets of crabs, and saved a soft-shelled crab for Haohao.
• Tian Junjie bought thirty crabs and then returned for more, but Li Juan and Li Qiang had cooked the remaining catch; Li Long later put them in charge of selling crabs, and they arranged a new order.
• Li Juan and Li Qiang received seven more crab orders over August and earned over a thousand yuan; Li Qiang offered to pay his own living expenses, while Li Juan bought gifts for the family and saved the rest.
• Two cooperative leaders asked Li Long how to apply for an Autonomous Region project, and he explained his experience and the need to seek connections.
• Li Long picked up Zhao Shijie, brought him to inspect the Dry Canal site, and the workers began clearing the canal and laying concrete slabs for the renovation.

Li Long visited Harimu’s pastoralist group with Zhao Shijie, then pursued and captured Wei Shuanghua, a poacher who had shot at him and confessed to killing three people. The Forestry Police confirmed the case, while Li Long kept quiet about seeing the one-eared tiger escape with a fawn.

• Li Long brought Zhao Shijie to visit Harimu and the hay cutters, where they shared food and Zhao Shijie rode a horse.
• Li Long found someone had defiled the gate of his Hot Spring Villa, pursued the culprit, and discovered a hidden cave stocked with hides, fritillaria, and guns.
• Li Long caught Wei Shuanghua trying to shoot a tiger, wounded him in a gunfight, and forced him to confess to killing three people.
• Li Long took Wei Shuanghua to the Forestry Police Station, where Xiao Wang recorded the confession and Station Chief Liang arranged an investigation.
• Station Chief Liang later told Li Long that officers had found one body and that Wei Shuanghua had confessed, while the investigation continued.

After completing a major shipment and learning that Ajinbek had left Li Anguo’s refinery for the Petroleum Administration Bureau, Li Long resumed his local work and received praise from Secretary Zhang for his projects and community contributions. Secretary Zhang summoned him to Yanjing to discuss something in person, and Li Long arrived there still wondering what she had in mind.

• Zhao Shijie finished supervising the Dry Canal restoration project and returned home, while Station Chief Liang told Li Long that Wei Shuanghua had confessed to killing four people and that the case was awaiting trial.
• Li Anguo received new refining equipment and crude oil, oversaw its installation and trial run under Ajinbek’s guidance, then learned Ajinbek had been appointed technical adviser to the municipal Petroleum Administration Bureau.
• Li Long arranged the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s order for forty thousand brooms and set prices with Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming, while He Yuqing’s village could not take part because its workers were busy.
• Secretary Zhang praised Li Long’s agricultural projects, businesses, and community contributions, then asked him to visit Yanjing for a private discussion.
• Li Long booked a flight, informed his family and associates, and arrived in Yanjing the following day still wondering what Secretary Zhang wanted to discuss.

Li Long visited Yanjing, met with the elder and Secretary Zhang, and received a calligraphy scroll bearing the words “Young and accomplished.” After visiting Li Juan and Gu Xiaoyu and preparing to return to Northern Xinjiang, he left with gifts from Director Dai and a renewed sense of the honor and responsibility placed on him.

• Director Dai arranged for Xiao Wang to pick Li Long up and take him to his courtyard, where Li Long spent the night before meeting Secretary Zhang.
• Secretary Zhang brought Li Long to speak with the elder, whose failing health left Li Long saddened after their conversation.
• Secretary Zhang gave Li Long a scroll inscribed “To my young friend Li Long” and “Young and accomplished,” then discussed Li Long’s record and his views on the Soviet Union and the Kazakh Union Country.
• Li Long visited Gu Xiaoyu and Li Juan, told them why he had come to Yanjing, and spent time with them before preparing to leave.
• Li Long bought jade and local specialties, and Director Dai gave him a box of regional gifts before Xiao Wang took him to depart for Northern Xinjiang.

Li Long returned from Yanjing, delivered big brooms and crabs to the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and warned Director Qian and Li Xiangqian against hunting the tiger. He discovered that Li Qiang was spending his meal money on stamps and helped him uncover a scheme to withhold scarce issues, leaving Li Qiang eating properly and collecting stamps more cautiously.

• Li Long hung Secretary Zhang’s calligraphy scroll in the living room, gave Li Qingxia shoes, and shared gifts with his family.
• Li Long told Li Xiangqian that the tiger was dangerous and protected by law, then arranged to deliver big brooms and crabs to Director Qian.
• Li Long inspected the big brooms from Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming as Li Jianguo and other relatives caught crabs for the directors.
• Li Long noticed Li Qiang was thin and eating instant noodles, learned he and Chang Guifeng were collecting stamps, and suspected their Philatelic Association contact was withholding scarce issues.
• Li Long checked the Post and Telecommunications Office records, ensured Li Qiang and Chang Guifeng would collect their own stamps, and asked Li Xiangqian to help address the agent’s misconduct.
• Li Qiang and Chang Guifeng got their withheld stamps back and apologized to the agent, while Li Qiang agreed to eat properly and collect only stamps he liked.