Chapter Summaries

Li Long hosted a feast at the Winter Camp, then woke at night to find wolves scavenging outside and shot one. The next morning, he skinned the wolf and prepared to share its meat with Tao Daqiang and the others.

• Li Long served mushroom soup, grilled meat, mutton, and Little Champagne to the herders, who ate, sang, danced, and rode home before sunset.
• Li Long asked Harimu to take the fawn back and told the others to divide the leftover meat before he settled into his Winter Camp for the night.
• Li Long woke to a pack of wolves outside, shot one with his Small-Caliber Rifle, and dragged its carcass to the Winter Camp.
• Li Long skinned the wolf the next morning, buried its innards, and planned to salt some meat and take the rest to Tao Daqiang and the others.

Li Long inspected the Taibazi woven by the sideline team, then followed Tao Daqiang into a secluded gully after Tao Daqiang reported seeing a roe deer with velvet antlers. Li Long shot the buck, shared its valuable antlers with Tao Daqiang, and cleared Tao Daqiang’s debt.

• Li Long checked the Taibazi and found them generally well made, though he told Xu Jianjun to trim a rough spot on a carrying pole.
• Tao Daqiang told Li Long about a roe deer with possible velvet antlers in a nearby gully, and Li Long went to investigate with him.
• Li Long spotted a buck and a doe, crept closer, and shot the buck while the doe escaped.
• Li Long cut off the buck’s velvet antlers and gave one to Tao Daqiang, saying the antler’s value cleared Tao Daqiang’s debt.
• Tao Daqiang carried the buck back with Li Long, who planned to skin it and take some meat to Tao Daqiang’s father.

Li Long brought home a roe deer and shared meat with Tao Daqiang's family, the Liang family, and Gu Xiaoxia while preserving the valuable antlers. After visiting Gu Xiaoxia at school, he arranged to take her to see her father and the mountain camp next Sunday, then returned home to process the meat, exhausted.

• Li Long preserved the roe deer's velvet antlers with salt and mud, gave Tao Daqiang the offal and promised his family a leg, and left the Sideline Team with mushrooms from Gu Boyuan for Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long delivered wolf and roe deer legs to Liang Wenyu and Liang Donglou, then rode to Hongqi Township Middle School to visit Gu Xiaoxia.
• Li Long gave Gu Xiaoxia roe deer meat and Gu Boyuan's mushrooms, washed up in her room, and agreed to take her to see her father and the mountain camp next Sunday.
• Li Long returned to the village, found Tao Jianshe away, and spent the rest of the day salting and preparing the roe deer and wolf meat until he was worn out.

After returning from the mountains exhausted, Li Long shared meat with neighbors and checked on families whose relatives were working there. Back home, he learned Gu Ermao had fled after Li Jianguo beat his family, received shoes made by Gu Xiaoxia, and proposed inviting his parents to stay with them.

• Liang Yuemei fed Li Long, who told her he had brought meat to Wenyu’s family and planned to share more with Uncle Lao Luo and the Tao family.
• Li Long gave meat to Uncle Lao Luo, discussed raising two deer at the Stable, and brought a roe deer leg to Tao Jianshe, who refused to count Daqiang’s antler toward the family debt.
• Li Long visited the families of the workers in the mountains and then agreed with Xu Chengjun to let the matter with Gu Ermao rest after learning Gu Ermao had fled.
• Li Long returned home, greeted Li Jianguo and the children, and learned Gu Xiaoxia had left him a pair of shoes she had made.
• Li Jianguo confirmed he had beaten Gu Ermao’s family, and Li Long suggested bringing their parents to stay with them; Li Jianguo agreed to send them a telegram after fieldwork.

Li Long searched Stone City for scythes to take to the herders and found fifteen at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then returned to his courtyard and planted vegetables. After Officer Guo updated him on the thief’s case, Li Long discovered old currency hidden in a crack in the courtyard wall.

• Li Long failed to find scythes in Ma County, so he rode to Stone City and bought the last fifteen from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
• Li Long browsed Old Street, bought vegetable seeds, and noticed people searching along the flooded Ma River for jade.
• Li Long planted tomatoes and peppers in his courtyard, where Officer Guo told him that the thief had committed multiple thefts and assaults and had been taken away under escort.
• Li Long found a stack of Legal Tender and Gold Yuan Certificates, along with a Yuan Shikai Dollar, hidden in the courtyard wall.

Li Long checked the rising flood at Little Haizi, helped ensure students could cross safely, and then traveled into the mountains with supplies for the herders and his Winter Camp. After unloading goods and meeting Harimu, he rested before preparing to load manure and take two fawns home.

• Li Long found floodwater flowing through Dry Ditch into Dry Canal and saw that the canal banks and Little Haizi sluice gate were holding.
• Li Long and villagers helped students cross the flooded ditch, and the next morning he drove students to school before buying supplies in County Town.
• Li Long delivered fifteen scythes, grain, and medicines to Harimu and learned that the herders planned to move to their Summer Pasture soon.
• Li Long unloaded supplies at his Winter Camp, loaded jade and hides onto the cart, and returned to Harimu’s camp for tea and nang.
• Li Long agreed to load manure with Harimu and planned to take two fawns home.

Li Long brought Gu Xiaoxia to visit her father, Gu Boyuan, in the mountains, then took her to see the Northern Heavenly Mountain. The chapter ended as they set off to explore together.

• Li Long cooked crucian carp with pepper mugwort, planted pepper mugwort in the garden, and confirmed that Gu Xiaoxia wanted to visit her father on Sunday.
• Li Long told Gu Boyuan that he would bring Gu Xiaoxia to see him, and Gu Boyuan agreed to the one-day visit.
• Li Long picked Gu Xiaoxia up at school, took her to breakfast, and bought twenty-five meat buns to bring to the mountain workers.
• Gu Xiaoxia reunited emotionally with Gu Boyuan, while Li Long handed out the buns and discussed possible broom-making work with Tao Daqiang.
• After lunch, Gu Boyuan encouraged Gu Xiaoxia to explore the mountains with Li Long before returning, and Li Long offered to show her the Northern Heavenly Mountain.

Li Long took Gu Xiaoxia into the mountains, where she found a mushroom ring and a piece of jade, and they cooked a meal together at his winter camp. The chapter left off when Li Long spotted a fox near their food and ran to fetch his gun.

• Li Long brought Gu Xiaoxia to his winter camp and led her up the slope to look for mushrooms and wildlife.
• Gu Xiaoxia picked grass mushrooms, watched a marmot, and admired the wildflowers before finding a large mushroom ring.
• While washing their mushrooms at a stream, Gu Xiaoxia found a piece of Ma River Jade and gave it to Li Long.
• Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia cooked rice and several mushroom and meat dishes at the cabin.
• Li Long spotted a fox drawn by the food and rushed to the cabin to get his gun.

Li Long spent time with Gu Xiaoxia, warned local children against raiding bird nests, and continued his mountain work and hunting. The chapter ended when Xu Jianjun was arrested for digging Fritillaria in the Forestry Team’s jurisdiction, and Li Long set out with Xie Yundong to retrieve him.

• Li Long spared a fox at Gu Xiaoxia’s request, and they shared a meal in the mountains before he escorted her back to the county town.
• Li Long crossed a newly laid concrete slab, stopped Li Qiang and the other children from raiding sparrow nests, and rewarded them with candy.
• Li Long reassured Uncle Lao Luo about the delicate young deer and later agreed to help Wei Zhonghua look for wild boars, but they found only old signs of the herd.
• Li Long inspected the team’s taibazi work and ordered three poorly woven baskets redone while the workers increased their pace.
• Xie Yundong told Li Long that the Forestry Team had arrested Xu Jianjun for digging Fritillaria in its jurisdiction.
• Li Long told the workers to continue weaving and took Xie Yundong to East Big Gully to retrieve Xu Jianjun, warning that Xu would be punished for breaking the rules.

Li Long negotiated Xu Jianjun’s release from the Forestry Team after Xu was caught digging fritillaria, then confronted him for breaking the rules. He let Xu stay with the group after Xie Yundong vouched for him, warned the workers to remain in their assigned area, and saw the Forestry Team return before work ended.

• Li Long used his Supply and Marketing Cooperative credentials to negotiate Xu Jianjun’s release, paying the herders twelve yuan for the fritillaria and damage.
• On the way back, Li Long reminded Xu Jianjun of the rules, then told the group Xu would be dismissed and charged for the payment.
• Xie Yundong asked Li Long to give Xu another chance, and Li Long agreed after Xu promised to obey the rules.
• Li Long warned the workers that the Forestry Team patrolled the area and that he would not rescue anyone caught wandering off again.
• The Forestry Team’s men appeared at Small White Poplar Gully just before work ended.

Li Long bought fresh fritillaria from two Forestry Team men, sold roe deer velvet antlers for 166.75 yuan, and returned to the mountains to dig a wild-boar pitfall. The next afternoon, the Forestry Team men arrived with another load of fritillaria, leaving Li Long ready to inspect it.

• Li Long bought a sack of fresh fritillaria from the interpreter and the Group Leader for thirty yuan, and told them he would keep buying more.
• Li Long sold two well-preserved roe deer velvet antlers to Chen Hongjun for 166.75 yuan and bought Small-Bore ammunition before returning to the mountains.
• Li Long dug and camouflaged a pitfall where Wei Zhonghua had seen wild boars, then scattered corn over it as bait.
• Li Long found the pitfall untouched the next morning and covered exposed spots with more grass, leaves, and earth.
• Li Long learned that the Forestry Team men had returned the previous night with more fritillaria, and they arrived again that afternoon with sacks still full of bulbs.

Li Long exposed an interpreter who had mixed stones into confiscated Fritillaria, then kept the deal with the interpreter’s team leader. He later killed a half-grown wild boar trapped in a pit and shared meat and a live piglet with Wei Zhonghua and the Sideline Team.

• Li Long suspected stones had been mixed into the Fritillaria and confronted the interpreter, who tried to leave with the sack.
• Xie Yundong interpreted for Li Long, and the team leader found stones in the sack and punished the dishonest interpreter.
• Li Long paid the team leader for the remaining Fritillaria and decided not to take the Sideline Team into another Forestry Team’s territory to dig.
• Li Long found a half-grown boar and three piglets trapped in a pit, shot the boar, and carried them back on his bicycle.
• Wei Zhonghua chose a healthy piglet to raise, while Li Long kept the injured one and shared the dead piglet and a boar leg with the team.

Li Long delivered wild boar meat and piglets to Gu Xiaoxia, Lao Luo, and the Wei family, then bought batteries for Harimu before the group left for the summer pasture. After returning to his mountain cabin with jade and hides, he was woken by a stranger claiming to be lost and seeking shelter, and reached for his gun.

• Li Long brought Gu Xiaoxia wild boar ribs and reassured her that her father was doing well.
• Li Long gave the Wei family a piglet and meat, and left an injured piglet with Lao Luo to care for.
• Li Long stopped Li Qiang and the other children from chanting a bawdy rhyme about saxaul blossoms.
• Li Long bought batteries, clarified that he was still a farmer to Xiao Liu, and delivered the batteries to Harimu as the group prepared to leave.
• Li Long returned to his cabin with jade and animal hides, went to sleep, then grabbed his gun when a stranger said he was alone and needed a place to stay.

Li Long shot and captured two men who tried to break into his Winter Camp, then escorted them to the Police Station, where officers discovered they were murderers. After resting, he rode back into the mountains and found Harimu’s Winter Camp abandoned.

• Li Long refused to open his door to two men, then shot and wounded them when they attacked it with an axe.
• Li Long tied the men up, treated their wounds, and escorted them out of the mountains to the Police Station.
• Officers discovered bloodied clothes in the men’s bundle and learned that they had killed a fellow herb gatherer and planned to rob Li Long.
• After questioning, the officers cleared Li Long for acting in self-defense and returned his gun.
• Guo Tiebing checked on Li Long and advised him to avoid pointing his gun at people except when necessary.
• Li Long rode into the mountains and found Harimu’s Winter Camp, sheep pen, and cattle pen empty.

Li Long returned the two suspects’ belongings to the police, then resumed supervising Taibazi production and bought fritillaria from the Group Leader. After selling hides in town, he visited Gu Xiaoxia and began thinking about installing a hand-pump well at home, leaving her to misunderstand his remark about the future.

• Li Long brought the antlers, fritillaria, and axe left at his Winter Camp to Guo Tiebing at the Police Station.
• Xie Yundong told Li Long that the Group Leader had left another sack of fritillaria, and Li Long rejected five Taibazi that failed to meet his standards.
• Li Long warned the workers about the two captured murderers, and Xie Yundong suggested making simple doors for the Earth Cellars as a precaution.
• Li Long paid the Group Leader fifty yuan for the fritillaria, and the Group Leader said his group would soon move elsewhere.
• Li Long sold hides in town, gave wild vegetables and mushrooms to Gu Xiaoxia, and decided to install a hand-pump well at home.
• When Gu Xiaoxia asked what he was thinking about, Li Long said he was thinking about life in the future, and she blushed and misunderstood him.

Li Long proposed a hand-pump well for the family, and Li Jianguo revealed that he had worked on a well-drilling crew and knew how to build one. Li Long bought the pump head and drilling rods, and returned to find the family and the Lu Family had already dug the well pit.

• Li Long left Gu Xiaoxia's home, stopped to remind the children playing with reed spears to be careful, and fetched water at home.
• Li Long discussed a hand-pump well with Li Jianguo, who explained that he had formerly worked as a professional well driller with Liang Yuemei.
• Li Jianguo agreed to dig a well in the Li Family yard for both families to use, and the Li and Lu families began preparing the pit.
• Li Long took Li Qiang and Li Juan to school, then bought a pump head and reinforcing bars from Lao Liu at the farm machinery repair shop.
• Li Long bought pipes in the County Seat and returned home to find a two-meter-square pit already dug in the yard.

Li Long helped Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming finish a hand-pump well and reinforced two pig troughs with reeds. After heading into the mountains, he bought a batch of Fritillaria from an undocumented migrant and realized other diggers might offer him a profitable source of supply.

• Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming drilled into the water-bearing layer, and Li Long helped build a cement base and drain for the hand pump.
• Li Long suggested reinforcing two pig troughs with reeds, and he, Li Jianguo, and Lu Yingming shaped them before nightfall.
• The next day, Li Long tested the pump and drew clear, cool water after the initial muddy flow.
• Li Long checked his drying Fritillaria and inspected the Taibazi woven by Xie Yundong and the others at Small White Poplar Gully.
• A migrant Fritillaria digger brought Li Long over eight kilos of dried bulbs, and Li Long bought them for three yuan per kilo.
• After the man left, Li Long reflected that the scattered diggers could become a new source of Fritillaria for him.

Li Long failed to bring down a red deer in the mountains but found an antler and pheasant eggs, then returned to the village and arranged for a hen to hatch them. He checked on the Taibazi order and sold fritillaria before preparing for the cooperative to collect the finished goods.

• Li Long spotted and shot at a red deer, but it escaped; he found one of its antlers and a nest of pheasant eggs, then fled after nearly kicking a venomous pit viper.
• Li Long gave the pheasant eggs to the Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law to put under a broody hen and told her to divide the chicks between their families.
• Li Long confirmed with Li Xiangqian that a few extra Taibazi were acceptable and that payment would follow inspection and storage.
• Li Long sold over five kilograms of dried fritillaria at the Purchasing Station for 198 yuan, then bought meat buns and took them to Small White Poplar Gully.
• By the evening of April 16, Li Long counted 307 Taibazi and arranged for trucks to collect them the next day; Tao Daqiang had woven the most, while Xu Jianjun had woven the fewest.
• Li Long reminded Xie Yundong to watch over the Taibazi carefully during the night.

Li Long finished the Taibazi job at Small White Poplar Gully, collected the payment, and bought supplies and gifts before visiting Gu Xiaoxia. He reunited with her at the Township Middle School and felt the excitement of being in love.

• Li Long learned that Xu Jianjun had endangered the group by going out alone and leading three wolves back to their camp.
• Li Long praised the workers, promised to seek them out for future jobs except for Xu Jianjun, and helped arrange their ride back with the Supply and Marketing Cooperative trucks.
• Wu Heavenly Mountain inspected and accepted the Taibazi, and Li Long collected the payment of 1,842 yuan at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
• Li Long bought thirty-three eggs and a basket at the Free Market, then purchased sponge cakes, household necessities, and footwear at the Department Store.
• Li Long waited for Gu Xiaoxia outside the teachers' dormitories, and she hurried to meet him when her lesson ended.

Li Long settled the taibazi-weaving job’s accounts with Xu Chengjun and discussed possible work in the autumn. After Gu Xiaoxia asked him to seek her father’s approval for their marriage, he promised to marry her later and encouraged her to pursue further education.

• Li Long learned that Section Chief Li had arranged a truck to bring Gu Xiaoxia’s father and the other workers home, then left eggs and sponge cake for Gu Xiaoxia.
• Gu Xiaoxia asked Li Long to have someone ask her father for her hand, and Li Long promised he would marry her but said they should wait so her career could advance.
• Li Long picked up Li Juan and took her and Li Qiang to gather pig fodder, where Li Qiang found dead fish in an irrigation ditch.
• Li Long brought the children home, prepared food, and turned on the radio so they could listen to Little Trumpet before Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei returned.
• Li Long handed Chen Qiang 1,535 yuan for 307 approved taibazi and received a stamped receipt from Xu Chengjun.
• Xu Chengjun asked whether more work would be available in autumn, and Li Long said he would need a say in who was selected.