Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

But Li Xiangqian stared at him for a while and still felt something was wrong. He Yuzhu's movements were obviously impatient, and the shovel in his hand was turning the soil intermittently. It seemed that he was working, but in fact his efficiency was pitifully low. He could no longer suppress the depressed mood in his heart, and said bluntly: "He Yuzhu, why don't you go back. I can do it faster by myself."

He Yuzhu immediately raised his head upon hearing this, with dissatisfaction on his face: "What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm in the way?"

Li Xiangqian made no secret of his impatience: "What do you think? We have limited time. If you keep dawdling like this, how much can you dig out before dawn? I don't want to waste my time in vain."

"Hey, why are you like this!" He Yuzhu stood up, patted the dirt on his pants, and said in a louder voice, "I followed you out of kindness, but you think I'm slow? You'll be exhausted to death by yourself, and if something goes wrong, what can you do?"

Li Xiangqian stared at him, his eyes revealing a bit of coldness: "It doesn't matter if I'm exhausted, at least I dug out the stuff. But if I work with you and nothing is accomplished, it's all in vain!"

He Yuzhu was speechless for a moment. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He looked down at the small iron shovel in his hand, and then glanced at Li Xiangqian's full bag of fruits. He felt a little dissatisfied. He thought to himself, Li Xiangqian looks honest on weekdays, why is he so aggressive when he works?

The atmosphere between the two suddenly cooled. Li Xiangqian stopped looking at He Yuzhu, turned back to his position, squatted down again, and started digging. His movements became more and more urgent, as if he wanted to vent the irritation in his heart through the tools in his hands.

He Yuzhu stood there, watching Li Xiangqian's busy back, feeling mixed emotions. He was a little dissatisfied, a little ashamed, and more of an indescribable annoyance. He didn't want to be looked down upon by Li Xiangqian, nor did he want to be driven back, but he also knew that he really didn't help much.

After a long while, he finally sighed, squatted down, and imitated Li Xiangqian's movements, digging little by little. This time, his movements were much more careful, although still slow, but at least he found one or two decent tubers.

Li Xiangqian heard the noise, turned around and glanced at him, his tone softened a little: "This is better. Don't think about being lazy, this matter can't be rushed, you have to work hard."

He Yuzhu raised his head and grinned at him: "I see, Lao Li, I never realized that you still have the potential to be a master."

Li Xiangqian was too lazy to pay attention to him, and he lowered his head to continue working, but he felt relieved in his heart. He knew that He Yuzhu always liked to make some jokes, but he didn't mean any harm. As long as he was willing to take action, this man could still help a little. Thinking of this, the anger in his heart gradually dissipated a little.

The sky gradually turned white, and the cloth bags in the hands of the two men gradually swelled up. Li Xiangqian looked up at the sky, estimated that the time was almost up, and stood up, patted the dirt on his hands and said: "Okay, let's stop here today. Let's go quickly and don't let anyone see us."

He Yuzhu also stood up, stretched, and rubbed his aching waist: "Ouch, my waist is almost broken. This job is really not for humans!"

Li Xiangqian glared at him unhappily: "Then don't come tomorrow."

"I won't!" He Yuzhu laughed, picked up the cloth bag and followed Li Xiangqian, "I said I would help you, so I won't quit halfway. But you have to treat me to a good meal as compensation."

"What good food can you eat? If you keep going slow, you might not even get to eat." Li Xiangqian said this, but he was not so annoyed in his heart. He knew that no matter how much He Yuzhu held him back, at least he was sincere in following him, which was better than many people in the hospital.

Li Xiangqian carried a cloth bag full of tubers and grass roots, but his steps were a little lighter than usual. Although He Yuzhu was a bit behind, at least the harvest today was not bad, and the effort was not in vain. As he walked, he lowered his head and thought, thinking about how to improve the efficiency of digging next.

"Do you think this job could be done a lot faster if we had a shovel?" He Yuzhu, who was following behind him, suddenly said.

Li Xiangqian stopped walking after hearing this, turned his head and looked at him, his eyes slightly fixed. He did not answer directly, but lowered his head to think for a while. The shovel is indeed more labor-saving than the small shovel in his hand, but the problem is that this tool is too conspicuous. Taking it out is like telling others what you are doing. If someone gets suspicious, the consequences will be disastrous.

"A shovel is a good thing, but you can't just use it casually." Li Xiangqian said in a low voice, frowning slightly.

He Yuzhu didn't seem to expect him to be so cautious. He scratched his head and said disapprovingly, "Aren't you too cautious? There weren't even any ghosts in the places we've been running these days. Who would be watching you?"

"What do you know!" Li Xiangqian said with a bit of impatience, "If this matter is discovered by others, will we still be in a good situation? If it spreads from one person to ten people, and from ten to a hundred people, will there be any share for us by then?"

He Yuzhu was choked by what he said. He didn't reply for a long time. Finally, he could only mutter: "Okay, okay, you have a lot of ideas, and you have the final say."

Li Xiangqian ignored him and continued walking forward. But in his mind, he inexplicably remembered the shovel in Banggeng's house. He remembered clearly that when he visited the yard a few days ago, Banggeng was using that shovel to stir the soil in the yard. The shovel handle was a bit old, but the shovel head was polished and shiny, and it was obviously easy to use. If that shovel was used to dig tubers, it would definitely be a hundred times better than the small shovel in his hand.

Thinking of this, he slowed down his pace, staring at the soil under his feet unconsciously, and countless thoughts turned in his head. Banggeng was a very cunning kid, with a pair of eyes that were always moving around, and nothing could escape his sight. If I wanted to borrow a shovel from him, I had to be careful not to make him suspicious, and I had to think about how to deal with his mouth.

"What are you thinking about?" He Yuzhu saw Li Xiangqian suddenly walk slower and couldn't help asking, "What evil idea are you thinking of?"

"Why do you care so much?" Li Xiangqian raised his eyes and glared at him, his tone a little impatient, but he soon regained his composure, "I was thinking that the tools we have are too poor, we have to find a way to improve them. Otherwise, with our efficiency, when will we be able to dig enough?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" He Yuzhu clapped his hands with a bit of pride on his face, "So, I said the shovel is useful, but you still didn't believe me."

"Shut up!" Li Xiangqian replied angrily, but didn't say anything more. He already had an idea in mind, but he still had to think about how to get Banggeng to lend him the shovel without arousing suspicion.