After I Was Released from Prison, I Traveled to Xinjiang Alone

Five years in prison have smoothed Zhang Guandong's edges, but hardened his fists. When he returned to Linyi, what awaited him was his girlfriend's wedding invitation and the cold eyes of society. The family said: "Go to Xinjiang, no one will know you there." So he came. In this vast land, which accounts for one-sixth of the motherland, he worked as a cotton farmer, picked grapes, carried cement at a construction site, and even narrowly escaped death in a mine in the Altyn Mountains. He thought this would be a road to redemption that would wash away the past with blood and sweat. Little did he know that an accidental act of righteousness made him involved in the shocking competition for the Hotan jade mine; a well-intentioned rescue on the ancient road revealed the century-old secret of Loulan's lost treasure. From the oasis town on the edge of Taklimakan to the busy international trade city of Alashankou, a brand new empire is rising. And the name Zhang Guandong will eventually be heard throughout Xinjiang. This is a legend written by a man on the frontier of the new era with his most primitive courage and wisdom. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.