Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

"What the hell is this guy doing?" He Yuzhu muttered to himself, but he was not in a hurry to show up.

Li Xiangqian was digging very hard, completely immersed in his own actions. He thought to himself that today's harvest seemed to be a little more than the previous few days, perhaps because he changed the location. Although the tubers he dug out were of different sizes, they felt firmer than those he dug before. He couldn't help but raise a satisfied smile at the corner of his mouth, but then he put it away - he knew that this was still not enough.

"Not enough. This is not enough at all." He repeated to himself, but his hands did not stop moving.

Suddenly, he felt something move behind him, and there was a slight rustling sound in the grass. He raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Who?!" Li Xiangqian shouted vigilantly and immediately clenched the small shovel in his hand.

He Yuzhu was startled and quickly held his breath, lying motionless against the tree trunk. He knew that he was unlikely to be discovered, but the shout still made his heart beat faster. He looked over the tree trunk and saw Li Xiangqian looking around vigilantly, and finally lowered his head to continue working.

"How brave of you to come to a place like this alone in the middle of the night." He Yuzhu muttered to himself, slowly breathed a sigh of relief, quietly took a few steps back, and prepared to turn around and leave.

However, the moment he turned around, he stepped on a dead branch, and the crisp "crack" sound was particularly harsh in the silent night.

Li Xiangqian stood up suddenly and took two steps straight towards the direction of the sound with a sharp look in his eyes.

"Who's there?! Come out!" His voice was not loud, but his tone revealed an unquestionable firmness.

He Yuzhu knew that it was meaningless to hide any longer. He simply stepped out from behind the tree, raised his hand and laughed: "Hey, come forward, don't be nervous, it's me."

Li Xiangqian was stunned. He obviously didn't expect to see He Yuzhu here. He frowned and said with some displeasure in his tone: "Yuzhu? Why are you here?"

"I was just about to ask you, why are you running out into this wasteland so late at night instead of sleeping at home? I saw you running out at night and I was a little suspicious, so I followed you to have a look." He Yuzhu took a few steps closer, his expression half joking and half serious.

After hearing this, Li Xiangqian's face became a little stiff. He was silent for a moment, lowered his head and picked up his cloth bag: "Nothing, just looking for something to take back. Now you see it, right? It's time for you to go back too."

He Yuzhu didn't move. His eyes fell on Li Xiangqian's cloth bag, and his brows furrowed even more tightly: "What's in this bag? Can it be eaten? Don't take it back and hurt others."

"Who can I harm?" Li Xiangqian's tone was a little irritable, but he quickly suppressed it. He sighed, squatted down, opened the bag, and poured out the tubers and grass roots one by one.

"Although these things don't look good, they can be used to make porridge after being washed. It's better than starving." He looked up at He Yuzhu, his eyes showing no concealment.

He Yuzhu stared at the messy tubers for a long time, with a complicated expression. He felt that Li Xiangqian was a little too stubborn, but at the same time he felt a little admiration for him. He scratched his head and sighed, "Xiangqian, I don't mean to find fault with you, but seeing you like this, I can't blame you. How long can you last by yourself? There are so many people in the hospital, and it's not just your job to help them."

Li bowed his head and pursed his lips. He did not answer immediately, but repacked the bag, stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands.

"I know I can't do much by myself, but I can help in any way I can. Yuzhu, go back. Don't tell anyone else about this. Do you understand?"

He Yuzhu wanted to persuade him a little more, but seeing the stubbornness in Li Xiangqian's eyes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He finally nodded and sighed, "Okay, I won't meddle in other people's business. But you have to be careful too. There is always a limit to how much trouble you can make."

When Li Xiangqian heard the noise behind him, all his muscles tensed up immediately. He subconsciously lowered his head and held his breath, hiding the bag behind him. He quickly glanced around and found that although the place he was in was not open, there was not much shelter. He quickly squatted down, trying to lower his body as much as possible, and quickly hid in a half-man-high weed. His heart was beating so wildly that it seemed to jump out of his chest.

"Who would follow me?" He felt nervous, and his mind raced, trying to analyze the current situation. Could it be someone from the village? Or a neighbor in the yard who was not happy with him? Or maybe it was the refugees who were always wandering in the dark outside? He was not sure, but felt that the possibility of him being targeted was increasing.

The soil in the bushes was damp, cold and smelly. He could feel the moisture seeping into his clothes, sticking to his skin and making him feel uncomfortable. But he didn't care about that at the moment. He stared at the front with full concentration, his ears erect, listening to every sound mixed in the wind.

In the distance, there seemed to be footsteps approaching, intermittently and gently, as if someone was deliberately covering up his whereabouts. Li Xiangqian's hand tightly grasped the small shovel in his hand, and his palm was already painful from being rubbed. The grass leaves in front of him swayed gently with the wind, and he vaguely saw a blurry figure through the gap, and the shadow was slowly approaching the place where he had just squatted.

"It's coming for me." Li Xiangqian's heart sank, and a chill surged up. His mind began to think quickly about a way out, but he knew that although the bushes he hid in were hidden enough, there was no cover for him to run out. He held his breath, curled himself up as much as possible, and raised the small shovel in his hand, ready to be prepared at any time.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and one could even hear the rustling sound of the soles of the shoes rolling over the soil and dead leaves. Li Xiangqian's heart seemed to be raised to his throat. He tried hard to suppress the fear and anxiety that surged up in him, clenched his teeth, and stared straight ahead.

The figure suddenly stopped. Li Xiangqian saw that the man stopped where he had just dug, and seemed to be carefully observing the traces on the ground. He held his breath, not daring to move, but his heart was beating like a drum, and his thoughts were in a mess.

"Why are there signs of digging in this place?" A familiar voice whispered to itself.

Li Xiangqian was startled, and the tension in his heart eased a little. He recognized the voice, it was He Yuzhu! But even though he knew it was an acquaintance, he did not stand up immediately, but continued to remain quiet, tentatively observing He Yuzhu's movements. He didn't know what the other party's purpose was, and he didn't want to expose it easily.