Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

An elderly woman looked up at him and said with a smile, "Hey, Xiang Qian, I saw your wife when she left home this morning. She said she was going to visit her cousin from her mother's side, but I didn't see her since."

"Looking for your cousin?" Li Xiangqian was slightly stunned, then nodded, "Oh, that's fine, thank you."

The woman waved her hand, "It's okay, go ahead and do your work."

Li Xiangqian turned around and went back to the house, but he became even more confused. Cuilan's cousin didn't live nearby, and they rarely visited each other. Why did she suddenly go to see her today? The more he thought about it, the more strange it seemed to him, but he couldn't find the answer. He could only sigh and said to himself, "Forget it, I'll ask her when she comes back."

In the following time, Li Xiangqian tried to calm himself down. He took out the map, spread it on the table, and studied the situation of the land again. But he couldn't concentrate, and his mind was full of Cuilan's shadow. Did she encounter something? Did she have something on her mind that she didn't tell him? These thoughts spread in his mind like vines, making him upset.

Finally, he put the map down, rubbed his face fiercely, and cursed in a low voice: "What the hell, why can't I calm down!"

He stood up and walked to the window, watching the sky gradually darken outside, and became more and more anxious. Cuilan hadn't come back yet, which made him feel inexplicably empty and worried. He even began to regret not asking her about her plans before leaving in the morning. If he had paid more attention, perhaps he wouldn't be so uneasy now.

"Oh, this woman is such a worry!" He shook his head, turned back to the table, sat down again, and tried to calm himself down.

Li Xiangqian sat at the table, staring at the wall clock. The hands moved one by one, but time seemed to have stopped. Cuilan hadn't come back yet, and the room was so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat. He originally thought that she would come back if he waited a little longer, but it was already completely dark, and even the voices in the yard gradually became sparse, and there was still no news from Cuilan.

"Where on earth did this woman go?" He felt increasingly uneasy, as if a fire was burning in his chest. He tried to comfort himself with reason: Cuilan might have just been delayed by something, or she might have chatted too long with an acquaintance. But as soon as this thought came up, it was broken by another worse guess: What if she had an accident? Did she fall on the road? Or did she encounter something bad?

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. Li Xiangqian could no longer sit still. He stood up from the table and walked a few steps to the phone. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and picked up the receiver. He dialed a familiar number and heard a beeping waiting tone. After a few seconds, the phone was picked up and a lazy female voice came: "Hello? Who is this?"

It’s Lou Xiao’e.

Li Xiangqian held the microphone tightly, his voice carrying a hint of urgency: "Xiao'e, it's me, Xiangqian."

"Hey, you're looking for me so late, what's the matter?" Lou Xiao'e's tone was somewhat teasing, and she didn't seem to notice his uneasiness.

Li Xiangqian took a deep breath and tried to calm his tone: "Xiao'e, let me ask you, have you seen Cuilan today?"

"Cui Lan?" Lou Xiao'e's tone revealed some doubt, "No, what happened to her?"

"She has not come back since she went out. I feel uneasy and want to ask you if you have seen her." Li Xiangqian's voice lowered, with a hint of helplessness and anxiety.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, and then Lou Xiao'e's voice became serious: "I didn't see her. Where did she go? Did you have a fight?"

"We didn't quarrel!" Li Xiangqian said irritably, "She said she was going to look for her cousin, but it's been a whole day and I haven't seen her at all. I don't know where she went."

Lou Xiao'e groaned softly, her tone showing a hint of worry: "This isn't right. Cuilan isn't the type to run around. Think about it carefully. Did she mention anything else when she left the house?"

"No." Li shook his head, then realized that the other party couldn't see his movements, and added, "She didn't say anything, she just took a basket and went out."

There was another silence on the other end of the phone, and Lou Xiao'e's voice lowered: "How about this, I'll ask other people for you to see if anyone has seen her. Don't worry, maybe she really was delayed."

Li Xiangqian's grip on the microphone tightened slightly, feeling both grateful and annoyed. He was grateful that Lou Xiao'e was willing to help, but he also hated himself for having to rely on others to find his wife. He whispered, "Then I'll trouble you, Xiao'e."

"Okay, you're welcome." Lou Xiao'e's voice was filled with concern. "Wait at home. I'll call you when I have news."

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiangqian leaned back in his chair, staring at the dim light in a trance. His mind was in a mess, as if countless possibilities were rolling in his mind, and each one made him feel uneasy.

As the night deepened, the room became so quiet that only the ticking of the clock could be heard. Li Xiangqian sat in a chair, glancing at the phone from time to time, expecting it to ring, but also afraid of hearing bad news. Cuilan's figure kept appearing in his mind: the way she walked, the tone of her voice, and the back of her when she left the house.

"Have I ignored her too much?" He couldn't help asking himself, "Is there something wronged in her heart that she hasn't told me?"

As soon as this thought came to his mind, his heart felt like it was stabbed by a needle. He began to recall every detail of the recent past, trying to find clues. But no matter how he thought about it, he felt that he had done nothing wrong. He had always been nice to Cuilan and tried his best to help with family matters. How could she feel wronged?

"But if it wasn't because of me, why didn't she come back?" He asked himself, but his heart became more and more confused. He felt like he was trapped in an invisible cage, with invisible walls on all sides, pressing him so hard that he couldn't breathe.

Just when he was about to be driven crazy by his own thoughts, the phone rang suddenly. The crisp ringtone was particularly harsh in the silent night. Li Xiangqian stood up suddenly and almost jumped over to grab the receiver.

"Hello?" His voice trembled a little.

"Xiang Qian, it's me, Xiao'e." Lou Xiao'e's voice came from the other end of the phone, a little tired, "I asked around, and no one has seen Cuilan. I also asked around at her cousin's house, and they said they didn't see her today at all."

Li Xiangqian's heart suddenly sank, and he almost couldn't hold the microphone. His voice was so low that it seemed to be squeezed out of his throat: "How could this happen... Where did she go?"