Chapter Summaries

Li Long hosted his relatives for the Mid-Autumn Festival, where Chen Xingbang’s envy of the family’s success caused friction and Li Anguo’s oil refinery practices raised concerns. After Li Long warned his second brother about the injured workers and factory safety, Li Anguo visited them, restored their jobs, and tightened safety measures.

• Li Long took Li Qiang and others to Little Haizi to catch crabs, then returned to find Li Xia and Li Anguo’s families at the courtyard for the festival.
• Chen Xingbang voiced resentment about Li Anguo’s prosperity and his own lack of opportunity, while Li Long said he would help if Chen Xingbang was willing to commit to a change.
• Li Anguo revealed that two refinery workers had been burned and dismissed them after paying a small amount, so Li Long, Li Qingxia, and Li Jianguo urged him to honor their contracts and follow Ajinbek’s safety rules.
• Li Anguo agreed to give the injured workers lighter jobs and promised to inspect the refinery’s safety measures after Li Long warned that negligence could bring legal and reputational consequences.
• Li Anguo visited both workers, assured them they could return to work, and then found and corrected several more fire hazards at the refinery.

Li Long hosted Director Qian and Director Ku at Hot Spring Villa before leaving to visit Harimu, where he encouraged him to expand his herds. After finding codonopsis and a jade stone in the mountains, Li Long learned Director Ku had offered 200,000 for his jade doll; he refused and turned his attention to the cotton harvest and possible drip-irrigated farming.

• Li Long delivered the big brooms and agreed to take Director Qian and Director Ku to Hot Spring Villa, where Director Ku showed particular interest in Li Long and his jade.
• Li Long set up supplies at Hot Spring Villa, then left Director Qian, Director Ku, and Li Xiangqian there while he drove to Summer Pasture to visit Harimu.
• Li Long urged Harimu to buy more cattle and sheep from herders who could no longer manage their livestock, and Alimu shot at wolves prowling near the pasture.
• Li Long dug up four codonopsis roots, found a jade stone near the road, and returned to Hot Spring Villa after Director Qian and the others had left.
• Li Xiangqian told Li Long that Director Ku had offered 200,000 for the jade doll, and Li Long refused to sell it.
• Xie Yundong told Li Long that cotton prices and yields had risen, prompting Li Long to consider leveling land for drip-irrigated farming after the harvest.

Li Long explained why other cooperatives could not immediately copy his drip-irrigated cotton project and advised his cooperative to prepare before expanding. As cotton profits drew more villagers toward the crop, land leveling began and interest in applying for drip-irrigation support grew.

• Xie Yundong let households take the cotton bolls left in the cooperative's fields, while Li Long ignored gossip about cotton profits spreading through the team.
• Huang Xinping and Wang the Miser asked Li Long about drip-irrigated cotton, and he explained the project's costs and preparations before offering Wang land-leveling work.
• Li Long told his cooperative to focus on mastering drip irrigation rather than expanding cotton acreage, as more villagers asked about growing cotton and members anticipated large dividends.
• Li Long sorted expired food from his mother Du Chunfang's cupboard and learned that his brother Li Jianguo was busy plowing for several brigades.
• Li Long arranged for local tractor owners to help level the cooperative's land, then saw farmers buying agricultural supplies in anticipation of planting cotton.
• On October 25, Zhao Shijie began the land-leveling work, and villagers gathered to ask about applying for drip-irrigation support.

Li Long oversaw the leveling of the Cooperative’s fields, saw its members receive substantial dividends, and reported news that Kazakh tribespeople were leaving for the newly established Kazakhstan. After Jade Mountain River learned that two young men and their families had emigrated, he came to Li Long in anger.

• Li Long explained that the newly leveled fields needed further irrigation to wash alkali from the exposed soil, while Zhao Shijie supervised the work and discussed drip irrigation with villagers.
• The tractors finished leveling more than a thousand mu after seven days, and Zhao Shijie paid the drivers and gave Cooperative members allowances before Li Long hosted a farewell meal where Zhao drank himself unconscious.
• Zhao Shijie returned to Wu City, and the Cooperative distributed dividends, with Li Long and Li Jianguo each receiving 120,000 yuan while four other households received nearly 35,000 yuan apiece.
• Li Long helped Harimu finance the acquisition of livestock and pasture from three households planning to move to Kazakhstan, then reported the emigration plans to officials including Chen Dajun.
• Jade Mountain River told Li Long that two young men under him had quit and emigrated with their families, and Li Long urged him to accept that they had chosen to leave.

As trade with Kazakhstan opened up, Li Long exchanged supplies with Liu Shanmin and advised local traders on cross-border business. Back in Team 4, he learned gambling had ruined Zhou Yongshun’s family and urged Xie Yundong to report future gambling traps, then spent time with his family.

• Liu Shanmin arrived with a convoy of cars, hides, antelope horns, and antiques, and Li Long traded them for canned food and sugar.
• Li Long told Fan Mingcheng and other traders that Kazakhstan needed food, clothing, and household goods and explained how they could cross the border to sell them.
• Li Long learned Zhou Yongshun had lost his savings and borrowed money gambling, then confirmed that Xie Yundong and the Cooperative members had avoided the card-game trap.
• Li Long urged Xie Yundong to call the police if the gamblers returned and later overheard Zhou Yongshun’s mother asking his sister-in-law to lend money.
• Li Long visited his mother and shared roasted potatoes with Mingming and Haohao as Du Chunfang continued telling them a story.

Li Long heard Fan Mingcheng describe his profitable cross-border trade and agreed to help Gu Boyuan expand their business with a fleet and recruit Kazakhstani scientists. After returning to Team 4 for the New Year, Li Long joined his sons and Tao Daqiang to break the ice before a planned winter fishing trip.

• Li Juan returned from Renmin University, brought gifts for Li Qingxia and Li Long, and drew admiration from people at the Purchasing Station.
• Fan Mingcheng returned from three profitable trips across the Border Crossing, explained how shifting demand shaped his trade, and recruited three partners.
• Gu Boyuan proposed expanding into transit trade with a fleet of trucks, while Liu Gaolou told Li Long about Kazakhstani scientists seeking work; Li Long agreed to gather details and consult Chen Dajun.
• Harimu thanked Li Long for supplying sugar residue, described his plans for managing the lambs and livestock, and moved his family back to the Big Courtyard.
• Li Long returned to Team 4 for the New Year, agreed to take Mingming and Haohao to break the ice, and set off with Tao Daqiang and the others.

Li Long spent the winter fishing with his family and friends, handled requests to join his Cooperative, and advanced plans for cotton machinery and drip-irrigated farming. As spring planting began, he warned villagers about costs and learned that a pastoralist family who had moved to Kazakhstan was struggling, while Gu Xiaoxia worried about their children leaving China.

• Li Long and Tao Daqiang broke holes in Little Haizi’s ice, caught small fish, and discussed Tao Dayong’s request to join the Cooperative; Li Long said they would not accept new members next year.
• Li Long took his family and Gu Boyuan’s group back to the fishing holes the next morning, where they caught larger fish and left other would-be fishers empty-handed.
• Factory Director Du told Li Long that cotton-cleaning equipment might be developed soon but the cotton picker would take longer, and Li Long approved collaboration with the Corps.
• Li Long kept the Cooperative closed to new members while villagers asked about cotton planting, then cautioned Xie Yundong to control costs as more land was devoted to cotton.
• Li Long learned that one pastoralist family in Kazakhstan had lost its factory jobs and could not easily return to China; Jade Mountain River decided not to intervene.
• Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long that Gu Xiaoyu had lost contact with a boyfriend sent abroad, and the couple agreed they wanted Mingming and Haohao to remain in China.

Li Long completed the cooperative’s drip-irrigation system, passed Zhao Shijie’s inspection, and personally taught the villagers to sow cotton and connect the tape. By mid-April, planting was finished and spring rain fell over the fields as the seeds began to sprout.

• Zhao Shijie supervised the pipe and pump installation, tested the system with water from Little Haizi, and approved the work after checking the filter pools and main pipes.
• Li Long reflected on why the villagers were willing to adopt new farming methods, while the trial flow caught debris and fish in the filter screens.
• Li Anguo reported that Ajinbek praised his refinery safety measures and planned to visit regularly, while Liu Gaolou later arrived with copper and aluminum and left with sugar and canned food.
• Li Long began sowing the cooperative’s cotton with drip irrigation on April 9 and trained the villagers to operate the modified seeders and lay the tape.
• After the planting was completed, Li Long showed the workers how to connect the drip tape to the branch pipes, and they finished the work before spring rain arrived.

Li Long and the Cooperative prepared for and hosted a county on-site meeting showcasing their cooperative model and drip-irrigated cotton farming. The meeting drew officials and farmers from across the county, and the chapter ended with the Cooperative’s members waiting to see the evening news report.

• Li Long explained drip-irrigation techniques to Cooperative members as their cotton seedlings grew and the first watering and fertilizing went smoothly.
• A township deputy asked Li Long to help organize an on-site meeting, and Li Long assigned Xie Yundong to present the Cooperative while he explained drip irrigation.
• Li Long reassured members of the other village cooperatives that sharing their model would not threaten their earnings, and he said wider adoption would take attention off their Cooperative.
• The township prepared scripts, signs, and a display tractor, while Li Long and Xie Yundong worked with officials to finalize their presentations.
• More than a hundred attendees came to the meeting, where Xie Yundong introduced the Cooperative and Li Long demonstrated drip irrigation in the cotton fields.
• Li Long patiently answered questions as attendees examined the fields and fish at the filter pool, then the Cooperative members watched for the evening television report.

Villagers and visitors reacted to the Cooperative’s televised drip-irrigation fields, while Li Long encouraged his sister Li Xia to expand her livestock business and managed several trade deals. After Li Anguo narrowly avoided a suspected roadside robbery, he took Li Long’s warning seriously and decided to move his family from Kui City to Oil City.

• Villagers argued over who had appeared on television as visitors came to inspect the Cooperative’s drip-irrigated cotton fields, which had reduced members’ need to hire labor.
• Li Long found Li Xia delivering meat with Chen Xingbang and encouraged her to hire workers and expand her pig and sheep business; she agreed to try.
• Liu Gaolou warned Li Long that demand for canned pork might decline, and Li Long adjusted their shipments while continuing trades in sugar, metals, herbs, and antelope horns.
• Li Anguo visited the family for the Dragon Boat Festival, then spotted two suspicious men on the road and accelerated away when he feared they meant to rob him.
• Li Anguo called Li Long, who warned him about attacks on drivers and advised moving his household registration to Oil City; Li Anguo discussed the move with Chen Lirong and began making inquiries.

Li Long’s warning to Factory Director Du prompted a police crackdown after an attempted robbery, while Li Anguo decided to move his family to Oil City. Later, Li Long bought jade materials and was attacked by knife sellers at the railway station, where he fought back and escaped with his purchases intact.

• Li Long cleaned and stored his rifle, then called Factory Director Du to warn him about robberies near Kui City.
• Factory Director Du alerted the Public Security Bureau, which launched checks that found wandering criminals and frightened two local would-be robbers into leaving the city.
• Li Anguo told Li Long that his family planned to move to Oil City, and Li Long advised him to arrange the children’s school transfers and keep his courtyard home.
• Li Long agreed to host Director Qian’s guest at Hot Spring Villa, then visited Engineer Liu and promised to supply him with carving material after retirement.
• Li Long bought jade material and bracelets from Yusufu, then saw knife sellers trying to extort a traveler at the railway station.
• When a knife seller shoved him, Li Long knocked him into his accomplices, overturned their stall, and escaped to his car with his jade purchases undamaged.

Li Long drove Wang Shengli and his family to the Hot Spring Villa, where Zhou Yuan’s claims about Li Long’s businesses and connections changed the guests’ attitude toward him. After leaving them to explore, Li Long visited Harimu at the Summer Pasture, gathered mushrooms, and bought animal skins and antlers from a herder who planned to move to Kazakhstan.

• Li Long drew a knife-wielding knife seller away from Yusufu’s stall and beat him in an alley, then drove back to the county seat.
• Li Xiangqian told Li Long that Wang Shengli and his family had arrived, and Li Long agreed to take them into the mountains while keeping his distance from the arrogant guest.
• When Wang Shengli’s son interfered with Li Long’s driving, Zhou Yuan described Li Long’s businesses and powerful connections, prompting Ms. Liu and Wang Shengli to treat him with deference.
• Li Long brought the family and officials to the Hot Spring Villa, then left them with Li Xiangqian to soak in the hot springs and gather mushrooms.
• Li Long visited Harimu and Gulimiter at the Summer Pasture, gathered mushrooms, and bought a herder’s antlers and pelts for a thousand yuan.
• Back at the villa, Li Long identified the guests’ mushrooms and shared some of his own with Ms. Liu.

Li Long faced a coercive investment demand from Qi Zhengyang, prepared for a retaliatory inspection, and used his connections and calligraphy to help end the threat. After the Purchasing Station’s reputation grew, Qi Zhengyang’s former companion returned and asked Li Long to hear her own partnership proposal.

• Li Long declined Qi Zhengyang’s offer to invest three million yuan and rejected his threats to make trouble for the Purchasing Station.
• Li Long checked his business records, contacted Chen Dajun and Li Xiangqian, and organized his staff and paperwork in preparation for possible inspections.
• A regional Joint Inspection Team examined the Purchasing Station on June 29, recognized the name on Li Long’s calligraphy, and left without finding a reason to act against him.
• Director Qian and Chen Dajun told Li Long that Qi Zhengyang and his father would no longer be able to cause him trouble, and the Purchasing Station’s business and reputation grew.
• On July 6, Qi Zhengyang’s short-haired companion returned to propose a partnership, and Li Long reluctantly agreed to hear her out.

Li Long refused a proposed business partnership with the short-haired girl but accepted her as a car broker, then advised a large-scale farmer about cotton and drip irrigation. After the girl brought him a buyer for a Mercedes-Benz, Li Long returned to the village as wheat harvest approached.

• The short-haired girl proposed partnering with Li Long to sell cars and access suppliers, but he rejected the partnership and offered to pay her referral fees instead.
• Li Long inspected the Cooperative’s cotton, helped unload new stalk-beating and film-removal machines, and explained their use to the members.
• Lü Dawen, a farmer leasing two thousand mu, asked Li Long about cotton and drip irrigation; Li Long warned that buying irrigation tape at market prices would make the investment unprofitable.
• The short-haired girl brought a young customer to Li Long, who sold him a Mercedes-Benz for 450,000 yuan and paid her 50,000 yuan in commission.
• As wheat harvest approached, Li Long suggested that Li Jianguo try buying two combines, but Li Jianguo chose to wait until the High-Horsepower Tractor had paid for itself.

As the cooperative’s cotton crop promised a record harvest, Li Long sought enough pickers by negotiating with County No. 1 Middle School to send students to work there. After preparing better pay, transport, meals, accommodation, and medical care—and enlisting support from county and education officials—the school approved the plan and agreed to send about 240 senior students.

• Li Long discussed the shortage of cotton pickers with the cooperative’s members and proposed recruiting students from County No. 1 Middle School.
• Gu Xiaoxia gathered information about the school’s existing arrangement with the Corps, helping Li Long prepare a more generous offer.
• Li Long presented his proposal to the school’s principal and academic affairs director, who requested a written plan and said the decision needed a meeting.
• Li Long contacted county and education officials for support, while Li Xiangqian assured him that the proposal would succeed.
• The academic affairs director told Li Long the school had approved the agreement and would send about 240 final-year senior high students to pick cotton.

Li Long organized the Cooperative’s preparations for hosting County No. 1 Middle School students to pick cotton, arranging beds, meals, transport, and equipment. After the school leaders approved the arrangements, buses brought the senior-year students to the Cooperative, beginning its first drip-irrigated cotton-picking season.

• Li Long signed a contract with County No. 1 Middle School and agreed to prepare suitable lodging and meals for the students.
• Li Long and the Cooperative members hauled windthrown timber from the mountains, had it sawn into boards, and built communal sleeping platforms; Tao Daqiang found a pair of deer antlers.
• Li Long arranged supplies, cooking facilities, wells, and four passenger buses, while the Cooperative members completed preparations for the students’ arrival.
• The vice principal and academic affairs director inspected the Cooperative’s courtyard and approved its beds, buses, food stores, and meal arrangements.
• Li Long delivered twenty thousand big brooms to the Prefectural Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then arranged for buses to bring the senior-year students to the Cooperative to begin cotton picking.

Li Qiang and his classmates settled into the cooperative’s lodging, toured Li Long’s uncle’s animal pens, and began picking the cooperative’s unusually productive drip-irrigated cotton. Li Long managed the work-study arrangements and explored trade opportunities with Director Qian, while the chapter ended with Li Qiang reporting classmates’ complaints about the lack of melons in the fields.

• Li Qiang explained that the cooperative owned the cotton fields, then led his classmates to see the red deer, roe deer, and wild boars at Old Ma’s Place, where Uncle Lao Luo treated them to watermelon.
• The students ate braised mutton and prepared to pick cotton as teachers praised the cooperative’s lodging and the fields’ heavy yields.
• Li Long arranged for the students to pick cotton, discussed drip-irrigation costs with Wang Mingjun, and advised Director Qian about possible foreign-trade opportunities.
• Li Qiang picked cotton quickly in the dense fields, while a television reporter interviewed students, teachers, and cooperative members about the harvest and work-study arrangements.
• Li Long returned to the fields and heard Li Qiang say some classmates were disappointed that the cotton rows had no melons; Li Long said they could plant some next year and advised him not to take the complaints personally.

The cooperative celebrated strong cotton prices and discussed how to finish harvesting and sell the crop efficiently. After arranging gifts and suggesting a faster cotton-weighing system, Li Long helped Li Qiang take classmates crab-catching for a cheerful final outing before they returned to school.

• Jia Weidong reported that the cooperative had sold twelve tons of first-class cotton for 34,800 yuan, and the members discussed expected earnings and how to harvest the remaining crop.
• Li Long suggested that Li Xiangqian ask the Cotton and Hemp Company to install a weighbridge, then distributed Central Asian specialties among workers and brought some home to his family.
• At the end of September, Li Qiang asked Li Long for equipment to take four classmates crab-catching on their last evening in the village.
• Li Long drove the students to Little Haizi, where Li Qiang led them through the shallows and they caught six crabs and more than half a kilogram of shrimp.
• The students returned safely to the cooperative courtyard, where their teacher and a biology teacher showed the catch to the others and turned the evening into an impromptu lesson.

After the cotton harvest, Li Long and the cooperative reviewed their work, expanded their labor force, and debated how to fund the next planting. The chapter ended with the members agreeing to distribute dividends and borrow from the Rural Credit Cooperative to cover next year’s farming costs.

• Li Qiang watched his classmates leave with crabs and shrimp, then returned home and wrote to his older sister about the trip.
• Li Long and the cooperative members reviewed the student cotton-picking operation and identified improvements to transport, weighing, and pay.
• Harimu took over a neighbor’s herd and pasture, then followed Li Long’s advice to recruit young herders from the Kazakh School.
• The cooperative hired more casual workers, and villagers joined them to pick the remaining cotton before collecting unopened bolls.
• Li Long discussed drip-irrigation costs with Agriculture Bureau officials while villagers speculated about the cooperative’s profits and future membership.
• Xie Yundong reported that the cooperative lacked funds for both dividends and next year’s expenses, and Li Long persuaded the members to distribute dividends and borrow for farming costs.

After the cooperative distributed its dividends, Li Long and the members planned to consolidate their household plots and secure longer contracts for their reclaimed land. Li Long and Xie Yundong won township approval to lease the land through 1998, and the cooperative prepared to seek a farming loan as village concerns about gambling and debt surfaced.

• The cooperative distributed its remaining profits, giving Li Long and his eldest brother two hundred thousand yuan each and the other households fifty-five thousand yuan apiece.
• Li Long and the members agreed to consolidate their ration-land plots instead of immediately developing another drip-irrigated tract, and Li Long discussed the cooperative’s looming need to borrow money for spring farming.
• After villagers reacted with envy and concern to the dividends and prospective loan, Li Long and Xie Yundong asked Xu Chengjun to extend the cooperative’s reclaimed-land contract through 1998.
• Xu Chengjun agreed in principle to the extension after the township approved it, and he told Li Long and Xie Yundong that team members had been caught in organized gambling.
• Li Long and Xie Yundong received the agricultural deputy township head’s approval to lease the reclaimed land at the normal farmland rate, and Xie Yundong agreed to present the cooperative’s experience when asked.