Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

This was also the source of his uneasiness during this period - he earned too little money, his life was too depressing, the pressure at home was getting greater, and his wife's complaints were getting heavier. And he seemed to be stuck in the same place forever, doing those seemingly hard work, but never getting any results.

"How could this happen?" Li Xiangqian couldn't help asking himself in his heart. Every time he faced these problems, he would fall into a deep sense of self-blame and powerlessness. He always tried to change something and do better, but no matter what, he could not be truly satisfied.

During this period, he had almost no effective rest. He worked during the day and had to deal with various things when he got home at night. Whenever he lay in bed late at night, his heart seemed to be suffocated by a heavy force. He had obviously worked very hard and had paid so much, but life was still so difficult.

Li Xiangqian lowered his head, his mind was full of thoughts, but his body was already exhausted. Whenever he faced the bills and the sudden financial pressure, he felt powerless, as if he was crushed to pieces by the ruthless giant of life. The confidence and hope he once had have now become blurred and disappeared deep in his heart.

"I shouldn't make her worry anymore." He told himself secretly.

That night, he couldn't sleep at all. His mind was full of the family bills, the troubles at work, and the increasingly heavy responsibilities. He wished he could do something, find a way out, and make his wife no longer anxious about life. But no matter how hard he tried, he always felt that he was getting further and further away from that goal, like an unreachable destination.

The next morning, Li Xiangqian decided to find an extra job. He no longer waited for fate to decide, nor did he expect life to suddenly become tolerant. He knew clearly that only by fighting hard could he have a glimmer of hope. He took a deep breath, stood up, and prepared to start a new struggle. He didn't know if he could succeed, nor did he know if all this could change the status quo, but he knew that he had no more choices.

That night, Li Xiangqian was in a heavy mood. He felt like he was under a heavy iron plate all day, with almost no breathing space. The seemingly endless problems at work, the rising expenses at home, and his wife Liu Jing's seemingly silent expectations made him feel a little breathless. The complicated thoughts in his mind were intertwined, and it was not until he returned home and stood at the kitchen door that he suddenly realized that he had not calmed down to do a simple thing all day.

Cooking glutinous rice balls - this simple action suddenly became a stone in his heart. The taste of glutinous rice balls was once his childhood memory. His mother would often cook a pot of glutinous rice balls in the winter evenings and bring them to the table. The warm atmosphere filled the whole house. The skin of the glutinous rice balls was as thin as paper, and it was filled with sweet black sesame seeds. Taking a bite, it seemed that he could feel the love of his mother and the warmth of home. That simple feeling of happiness seemed to temporarily keep all the troubles away, as if making everything easier.

"I can also do something, for myself and for her, something simple and easy." Li Xiangqian whispered to himself, and a slight impulse in his heart made him walk into the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator and took out a pack of glutinous rice balls, his fingers carelessly running across the cold packaging. In the past, he didn't even remember whether he had these things at home, but today, he suddenly decided to cook a pot of glutinous rice balls for himself and Liu Jing. At least at this moment, he could do something that she liked, even if it was just a simple gesture.

After the water boiled, Li Xiangqian felt a little more relaxed. He lowered his head and watched the white and tender dumplings gradually float up, with their surfaces slightly bulging, indicating that they were cooked. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of rice and sweetness, and he couldn't help but think of his mother's face, the smile he often saw in his childhood, warm and loving. Li Xiangqian's eyes were slightly moist, and he didn't know why his emotions became more and more fragile, as if a heart of stone was suddenly touched lightly and cracked.

"Jing, let's have dumplings tonight." He called out, his voice much gentler than usual, as if it was a kind of comfort to himself and also a small expectation.

Liu Jing came over from the living room and saw Li Xiangqian standing by the stove, cooking the small white dumplings. She couldn't help but frown slightly. She didn't expect Li Xiangqian to do such a thing suddenly. She stood at the kitchen door and whispered, "You're cooking dumplings? Why are you in such a good mood today?"

Li Xiangqian stopped what he was doing and forced a smile: "Nothing, I just thought about what you said you liked to eat." He lowered his head, his eyes a little evasive, as if he didn't want Liu Jing to see the fatigue and anxiety in his heart.

Liu Jing looked at him, then at the gradually floating glutinous rice balls in the pot. She was silent for a while, then her mouth moved slightly, as if she felt Li Xiangqian's intention. "I didn't expect you to do this suddenly." She walked a few steps closer and stood beside him, with a hint of tenderness in her eyes, "Glutinous rice balls, your mother makes the best."

Li Xiangqian smiled awkwardly, feeling guilty. He knew that when Liu Jing mentioned her mother, she must have a lot of thoughts in her mind. The warm home she once had was no longer there, and he didn't know when he became so distant and could no longer provide his wife with the warmth and comfort that a mother would.

He suddenly felt dazed, and the dumplings in front of him gradually became blurred, as if they had become some kind of symbol, symbolizing the unspeakable alienation and emptiness between him and Liu Jing. The dumplings were sweet, but his mood became heavier and heavier.

"How have you been recently?" Li Xiangqian suddenly spoke, his tone a little low, as if an invisible force had pulled out some words from the deepest part of his heart. "Do you feel like life is getting heavier and heavier, just like me?"

Liu Jing was stunned for a moment, as if she had not expected Li Xiangqian to suddenly say such a thing. Her eyes changed slightly, and she was a little nervous. She was silent for a moment, then nodded gently, and lowered her voice: "Sometimes, it really feels heavier and heavier, like carrying a big bag on my back, and I can't breathe." She paused and sighed deeply, "Especially you always... always make people feel that life seems to have no hope."

Li Xiangqian's heart was shaken, as if the words "I don't know if there is hope" became more real in her mouth, as if all the empty emotions turned into sonorous and powerful catharsis. He lowered his head and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the complex emotions that surged in his heart.