Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

He fixed it next to a hidden bush. He also sprinkled some lime powder around it and spread the herbs more evenly. He thought that if another snake swam through here, it would accidentally fall into the net bag and never escape.

The sky gradually darkened, and the moon gradually rose from the treetops. The courtyard was so quiet that one could almost hear his own heartbeat. Li Xiangqian squatted on the ground, holding the bamboo pole with his fingers, and looked around vigilantly from time to time, fearing that he would miss any subtle movement. His mind became more and more calm, focusing on every detail of the arrangement in front of him.

"What if a snake really gets into the net bag? What should I do?" This question lingered in his mind. Although he wanted to solve the problem thoroughly, he didn't like to use violent means. Catch the snake and send it to the mountain to release it? Or find a way to keep it away from his vegetable garden? He was not afraid of snakes, but he felt disgusted by their cold eyes. This sense of threat made him feel uncomfortable.

"I hope there will be a result tonight." He took a deep breath and made up his mind to stay here, even if he had to spend the whole night to see if the snake fell into the trap.

The courtyard was quiet, and the wind blew the leaves, making a rustling sound. Li Xiangqian felt his eyelids heavy, but when he thought of a snake trap, his heart tightened again, and he did not dare to slack off. Suddenly, a faint "rustling" sound came into his ears.

His body stiffened, and then he held his breath, staring at the direction of the net bag, and his mind quickly filtered through various countermeasures. The sound was getting closer and closer, as if something was swimming in the grass. His palms were slightly sweaty, and his eyes were fixed on the grass in front of him without blinking.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared next to the net he had set up, and then the net shook slightly, as if something had touched the edge of the net. Li Xiangqian's heartbeat quickened, and he held on to the bamboo pole tightly, carefully moving his body closer to the direction where the noise came from.

In the dim moonlight, he saw a snake swimming slowly, as if attracted by the smell of the net bag, and it went into the net bag. Li Xiangqian held his breath and waited patiently for the opportunity. When the snake was completely in the net bag, he suddenly pushed it with a bamboo pole, quickly tightened the mouth of the net bag, and firmly trapped the snake in the net.

"Success!" He cheered in a low voice, joy welling up in his heart, and he actually felt a sense of accomplishment. He picked up the net bag and carefully looked at the snake inside. The snake was not too big, about a foot long, and dull in color, and seemed not to be fully grown, but the cold snake eyes flashed a faint light in the moonlight, which made him feel a chill.

Li Xiangqian carefully lifted the net bag. The snake struggled desperately in the net, twisting its body constantly, trying to escape. Looking at its appearance, Li Xiangqian suddenly felt a trace of sympathy. The snake was just looking for food and habitat according to its nature, but it broke into his territory.

He whispered to himself: "Hey, little guy, I don't mean to embarrass you, it's just that you took the wrong road." Even so, he was secretly thinking about how to properly deal with the snake. He couldn't just let it go. What if it came back after he released it? Wouldn't that mean all the efforts would be wasted?

Just as he was thinking, Lao Zhang appeared not far away. Lao Zhang saw the net bag in Li Xiangqian's hand and couldn't help laughing, "Xiao Li, you really caught a fish! It seems that your formation is really useful."

Li Xiangqian smiled bitterly and nodded, then handed the net bag to Lao Zhang and asked, "Lao Zhang, what should we do with this snake? I dare not let it go casually. If it comes back again, it will be troublesome."

Lao Zhang laughed and patted his shoulder. "Leave it to me. I know there's a stream nearby. Just put the snake there. It won't come back. Don't worry."

Li Xiangqian heaved a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your help. I really don't know how to deal with it." After that, he carefully handed the net bag to Lao Zhang, loosened his grip, and felt relieved. Lao Zhang took the net bag with a smile, patted the snake in the net gently, and said, "This snake may be a threat to you, but in nature, they have their role. Let it go where it belongs."

Looking at Lao Zhang taking the snake away, Li Xiangqian finally felt relieved. Although he had won the battle with the snake, he knew that the relationship between the courtyard and nature was more subtle and complex. This land belonged not only to him, but also to the creatures that walked through the night.

He sat on the edge of the field, looking up at the night sky, feeling a lot of emotions in his heart, and suddenly felt that his efforts in the past few days to "prevent snakes" were not meaningless. At least, in this process, he learned how to get along with this land, no longer just farming, but also learned more ways to coexist harmoniously.

As the night deepened, the yard remained quiet. The moonlight sprinkled on the vegetable field, shining faintly, as if telling the silence and mystery of the land. Li Xiangqian stood up and patted the dust off his body. He no longer felt the restraint and fear he had when he first arrived, but was instead filled with a simple sense of belonging.

In the past few days, Li Xiangqian always felt something strange in his heart. Although the vegetables in the vegetable garden were growing well, the okra, cucumbers, and green vegetables were all green and full of abundant fruits, and the leaves were shining glossy in the sun. But for some reason, he felt a layer of inexplicable shadow in his heart, especially when he was working in the vegetable garden, this feeling became stronger.

He used a hoe to loosen the ground, but from time to time he glanced at the grass around him, his ears erect, almost able to hear the slightest sound of the wind blowing the grass. These days, he was always nervously paying attention to those corners hidden in the dark. In his mind, the scene of the day when the snake was caught in the net unconsciously emerged. The snake twisted and struggled in the net bag, and the cold eyes seemed to remind him that the vegetable field was not his "exclusive territory", and there were many "potential residents".

"It's really weird. The snake has been taken away by Lao Zhang, why is he still so uneasy?" He sighed, stuck the hoe heavily into the ground, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried to concentrate on the work at hand, but this inexplicable taboo lingered.

That afternoon, Lao Zhang came to visit again. Seeing Li Xiangqian sitting at the gate in a daze, he smiled and asked, "Xiao Li, what are you worried about? Didn't you send the snake away a long time ago? I see your crops have been doing pretty well these days."

Li Xiangqian forced a smile, playing with a thin bamboo pole in his hand, trying to hide his uneasiness: "Lao Zhang, please don't laugh at me when I tell you this. After I caught the snake that day, I always felt uneasy, and always felt that there was something hidden in the ground... Although I know I scared myself, I can't get rid of this feeling."